Famous actors may look like they have it all, but they're just as susceptible to tragedy as everyone else. These are the legendary stars who've lost children far too young.
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00:00Famous actors may look like they have it all, but they're just as susceptible to tragedy
00:04as everyone else. These are the legendary stars who've lost children far too young.
00:09Aspiring comedian Dex Carvey was well on his way to carving out a career path similar to that of
00:14his father, Saturday Night Live veteran and Wayne's World star Dana Carvey. But the 32-year-old's
00:18trajectory was tragically cut short on November 15, 2023, by an accidental drug overdose.
00:25The following day, TMZ reported that first responders were called to Dex's girlfriend's
00:29home, where he was found locked in a bathroom and unresponsive. Paramedics pronounced him dead on
00:33the scene. Dana Carvey posted a message on Instagram that confirmed Dex had died of an
00:38accidental overdose. He also praised his son's talents, writing,
00:41"[Dex packed a lot into those 32 years. He was extremely talented at so many things — music,
00:46art, filmmaking, comedy — and pursued them all passionately."
00:50Dex opened for his father's 2016 Netflix stand-up special,
00:53Dana Carvey's Straight White Male 60, and appeared in several film and television
00:57projects like Joe Dirk 2, Beautiful Loser. Dana noted in a second Instagram post that he would
01:02take a break from work and social media in the wake of his son's death to, quote,
01:06"...figure out what life looks like now that we are a family of three."
01:09Dana and his wife, Paula Zweigerman, have a second son, comedian Thomas Carvey.
01:14A video of an orange sky lantern drifting silently over a landscape posted to Regina
01:18King's Instagram account was the poignant way in which the Oscar winner paid tribute to her late
01:23son on January 19th, 2023. Ian Alexander Jr. would have turned 27 on that day,
01:28but he died by suicide on January 20th, the year before. She captioned the post,
01:33"'Of course, orange is your favorite color. It's the fire and the calm.
01:37I see you in everything I breathe.'"
01:39Alexander was the only son of King and her ex-husband, record producer Ian Alexander Sr.
01:43In a 2011 CNN Red Chair interview, King said that Ian was a source of pride and strength for her.
01:49She gushed,
01:49"'You don't know what unconditional love is. You may say you do, but if you don't have a child,
01:53you don't know what that is, and when you experience it, it is the most fulfilling,
01:57ever.'"
01:58Ian Alexander Jr. was a DJ and frequently appeared with his mother at red carpets
02:02and other industry-related events.
02:04"'I understand that grief is love that has no place to go.'"
02:11For John Wick star Keanu Reeves, the tragedy of his child's death was compounded by the loss of
02:15her mother less than two years later. Reeves met and fell in love with Jennifer Syme,
02:20an actor and assistant to director David Lynch, in 1998. Eight months later,
02:24their daughter, Ava Archer Syme Reeves, was stillborn on December 24th, 1999.
02:29The couple's relationship did not survive the loss of their child,
02:32though they remained on friendly terms. Two years later, Syme herself died on April 2nd,
02:372001, when her car collided with parked vehicles in Los Angeles, California.
02:41Reeves was a pallbearer for Syme, who was buried next to their daughter.
02:45In an interview with Parade in 2006, he tried to encapsulate his grief over their deaths in words.
02:50He said,
02:51"'I miss being a part of their lives and them being a part of mine.
02:54I wonder what the present would be like if they were here, what we might have done together.'"
02:58At the same time, he also said that their absence helped him to value what he had.
03:02He explained,
03:03"'Much of my appreciation of life has come through loss.'"
03:06Jett Travolta, the son of actors John Travolta and Kelly Preston,
03:10had a history of seizures caused by what his family believed was Kawasaki syndrome.
03:14Also known as Kawasaki disease, this is a condition that causes the inflammation of
03:18blood vessels, and in particular, the coronary arteries, which bring blood to the heart.
03:23The younger Travolta had also been described as autistic, which ABC News noted is more
03:27frequently associated with seizures than Kawasaki. Regardless of the cause, Jett Travolta died at the
03:33age of 16 after suffering a seizure in 2009 at the family's vacation home in the Bahamas.
03:38A post-mortem revealed that the seizure was a cause of death,
03:41though a spokesperson for the Royal Bahamas Police Force told the Associated Press that
03:45Jett died after hitting his head in a bathtub while experiencing the seizure.
03:49John paid tribute to his son on what would have been his 30th birthday.
03:52He posted a picture of them together on Instagram with a message that read in part,
03:57"'My dearest Jetty, I miss you more than words can say. I think about you every day.'"
04:01Sadly, the Travolta family would feel another loss before long.
04:05Kelly Preston died of breast cancer at the age of 57 in July 2020.
04:09The Netflix documentary Sly delves into the early life and career of Sylvester Stallone,
04:14covering his professional struggles and the creation of his most enduring screen characters,
04:18Rocky Balboa and John Rambo. But the film also pauses briefly to explore the price tag of
04:23Stallone's meteoric career through his relationship with his son, Sage.
04:27Sylvester cast Sage as Rocky's son, Robert, in Rocky V. The film detailed the connection Rocky
04:32lost with his son as he pursued another shot at boxing stardom. And while the characters reconcile,
04:37Stallone implied in Sly that his real-life professional pursuits had a pretty severe
04:40impact on his relationship with Sage.
04:43You know, unfortunately, you put things before your family, and the repercussions are
04:50quite radical."
04:52Sage Stallone pursued a career as a filmmaker while also co-founding Grindhouse Releasing,
04:57a distribution company devoted to exploitation and cult film titles,
05:01alongside Oscar-winning editor Bob Mirosky. Sage was found dead in his home on July 13,
05:062012, at the age of 36. His death, which was initially attributed to a drug overdose,
05:12was caused by atherosclerosis, a condition related to coronary artery disease.
05:17Masked singer-host Nick Cannon announced a parent's nightmare in 2021 when he told the
05:22audience of his talk show that his five-month-old son, Zen, had died.
05:26Cannon became aware of his son's health conditions due to what appeared to be persistent sinus
05:30issues. A doctor's examination revealed that Zen had a condition called hydrocephalus,
05:34which was caused by a buildup of excess cerebral spinal fluid in the brain.
05:38Further tests revealed that he also had a malignant brain tumor, which required
05:42surgery and a shunt to ease the fluid pressure. Sadly, Zen's condition worsened.
05:48It was cancer in the brain, and the tumor began to grow a lot faster."
05:58Cannon and Zen's mother, model Alyssa Scott, devoted their energies to spending time with
06:02their son until his death, which was announced on the December 7 broadcast of Cannon's talk show.
06:08One year later, Cannon posted an image of his son on Instagram with the caption,
06:12"'Physically I'm definitely on the mend, but mentally and spiritually I'm broken.
06:16Losing a child has to be the heaviest, most dark and depressive experiences that I will never get
06:20over.'" In November 2021, composer and guitarist Cormac Roth announced on Instagram that he had a
06:26stage 3 form of germ cell cancer called choriocarcinoma. The 25-year-old, who's the son
06:32of Oscar-nominated actor Tim Roth, stated that the disease had taken its toll. He wrote,
06:37"'It has taken away half of my hearing, 60 pounds of weight, my confidence,
06:41and will continue its murderous path until I can manage to stop it somehow and kill it.
06:45But it hasn't taken away my will to survive or my love of making music.'"
06:49Cormac's family issued a statement on October 16, 2022, revealing that he had died of the disease.
06:54They wrote,
06:55"'He died peacefully in the arms of his family who loved and adored him.
06:58He fought with incredible bravery for the past year and maintained his wicked wit and humor to
07:03the very end. He was a wild and electric ball of energy and his spirit was filled with light
07:07and goodness.'" The daughter of comedy and TV legend Carol Burnett and producer Joe Hamilton,
07:13Carrie Hamilton, was well on her way to establishing her own career when cancer
07:17cut her life short in 2002. Carrie co-starred in season 5 and 6 of the series' fame,
07:22and earned critical praise for her turn as Maureen Johnson in the first national tour of Rent.
07:27"'Carrie was kind of a force, and everybody who met her fell in love with her. She was just
07:33out there and cheerful.'" She also starred in the cult indie film Tokyo Pop and appeared
07:38opposite her mother in episodes of Fame and Touched by an Angel. Carrie and Carol co-wrote
07:43a stage play, Hollywood Arms, which was inspired by Burnett's 1986 memoir, One More Time, and her
07:48childhood in Hollywood during the 1940s. Sadly, Carrie did not live to see the play enjoy a
07:53critically praised and Tony-winning run on Broadway in 2002, as she died of complications from lung
07:58cancer on January 20th of that year. She was 38. The late performer has since received many
08:03posthumous honors. The Balcony Theater of the Pasadena Playhouse was renamed the Carrie Hamilton
08:08Theater in 2006, while Burnett helped to establish the Anaheim University Carrie Hamilton Entertainment
08:14Institute in 2010. Hudson Madsen was the eldest of three children of character actor
08:19Michael Madsen and his third wife, Deanna Martin. Hudson was found dead in Hawaii in January 2022.
08:26A spokesperson for the Honolulu Medical Examiner confirmed to People magazine that Hudson was a
08:30suspected suicide and died of a gunshot wound to the head. Hudson, who had served in the United
08:35States Army, lived in the Wahiawa district of Honolulu County with his wife, Carly.
08:39Michael expressed shock and confusion over his son's death, saying in a statement,
08:43I didn't see any signs of depression. It's so tragic and sad. I'm just trying to make
08:48sense of everything and understand what happened." Madsen is best known for his collaborations with
08:52director Quentin Tarantino on films like Reservoir Dogs and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
08:57Additionally, Tarantino is Hudson's godfather.
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