Parental Relationship Breakdown, Divorce

Adler-Collins, Je Kan

Adler-Collins was the child of a military family who was taken into care at the age of three when his mother shot his father during a domestic dispute. He was abused in care for years, but ... [more]

Alda, Frances Jeanne

Alda (her stage name) was born Fanny Jane Davis in New Zealand. Her parents divorced when she was 15 months old, and her mother, a professional singer, died in 1884, after which young Fanny... [more]

Angelou, Maya

Angelou was born Marguerite Johnson in California. Her parents divorced when she was a young child and she and her brother were sent by their father to live with his mother i... [more]

Baca, Jimmy Santiago

When their parents divorced and abandoned them, Baca, aged two, and his siblings were sent to live with grandparents. By the time he was five his mother had been murdered by her second husb... [more]

Brosnan, Pierce

Brosnan's parents separated when he was a baby and he was raised by relatives in Ireland while his mother went to London to train as a nurse. In 1964 he joined her in London. As a young m... [more]

Brown was born into a poverty-stricken backwoods family in South Carolina (different sources give his year of birth as 1928 and 1933). His parents separated and when he was five he was sent ... [more]

Chaplin, Charles Spencer

The Chaplin half-brothers started out in variety as children - their parents were in show business - and went on to long and successful careers in America. Sydney was a straigh... [more]

Chaplin, Sydney

The Chaplin half-brothers started out in variety as children - their parents were in show business - and went on to long and successful careers in America. Sydney was a straigh... [more]

Dahlberg, Edward

Dahlberg was the son of a married hairdresser who had been kicked out of the house before he was born by her husband for being unfaithful. He and his older brother were sent to a Jewish orp... [more]

Fashanu, John

Justin and John Fashanu were birth brothers. Their Guyanese-British mother and Nigerian father separated when they were toddlers, with their father returning to Nigeria. Unable to cope on... [more]