Medical Problems, Chronic Illness
Grant, Julia
Grant was born George Roberts, the eldest of eight children. His mother was an alcoholic and his father a fisherman who was seldom home. From about the age of 12 he looked after his brothe... [more]
Hamilton, Scott Scovell
Hamilton was adopted at six weeks of age by two university professors, joining an older born-to daughter. Later his family adopted another son. He stopped growing when he was three or fo... [more]
Jones, David Ivon
Jones was orphaned as a young child and brought up by his grandparents, but his grandmother also died when he was a boy. He contracted tuberculosis as a child and as a teenager he emigrated... [more]
La Marr, Barbara
La Marr was born Reatha Watson in central Washington state, but her parents moved to California when she was very young. She left home at the age of 14 and never returned, making a living a... [more]
Lue Gim Gong
Lue was born into a wealthy farming family in Canton. An uncle who had already emigrated to the USA returned with stories of the great opportunities there, and at the age of 12 Lue prevaile... [more]
Mahuta, Robert Te Kotahitanga a Koroki
Mahuta was adopted by King Koroki, head of the Maori King movement, and raised near Huntly. His adoptive sister is Queen Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu. He left school at 15 without ... [more]
Martinson, Harry Edmund
Martinson was born in Jämshög in southern Sweden. His father died when he was six, and his mother abandoned her seven children to emigrate to America. The rest of his childhood was spent in... [more]
Mills, Billy
Mills was born on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota and was orphaned when he was 12. He was then sent to the US Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding school in Lawrence, Kansas. He gra... [more]
O'Connor, Hugh
O'Connor was born in Rome and adopted by the famous American actor Carroll O'Connor (All in the Family) and his wife while he was in Rome in acting in the 1963 film Cleopatra, with Richard ... [more]
Paulger, Irene
Paulger was the child of an unmarried woman and was raised by her grandparents on a farm in the Taranaki province of New Zealand. She trained as a teacher and was sent to the extremely isol... [more]
