19 Celebrities Who Were Orphaned As Children

Some people disagree about Marilyn Monroe's father's identity. However, all accounts say he did not attend her childhood. Her mother suffered mental instability and placed Monroe there, then known asNorma Jean Baker.She lived with a foster family. The state declared Monroe a ward of the state when she was seven. Her mother's friend raised her for a few years, but she later moved through an orphanage, other foster homes, and other relatives.

Ray Charles's father, Bailey Robinson, abandoned the family when Ray Charles was 10. Ray Charles's mother, Aretha, died in 1947 when he was 15. Charles stayed with family friends for about a year. Then, he went to Seattle to pursue music.

Ella Fitzgerald's father, William, left her family when she was an infant. Her mother, Tempie, died of a heart attack in 1931 when Fitzgerald was 15. After her step-father abused her, Fitzgerald ran to her aunt's house. She stayed in an orphanage and a reformatory. She was even homeless for some time.

Malcolm X's father, Earl Little, died when Malcolm was six. He died in a streetcar accident under suspicious circumstances. The family suspected a white racist group murdered him. When Malcolm was 12, his mother, Louise, had a nervous breakdown and spent 24 years in a state hospital. Malcolm X lived in foster homes for a few years. Eventually, he stayed with his half-sister.

Eleanor Roosevelt's mother, Anna Rebecca Hall, died from diphtheria in 1892. The next year, when Roosevelt was nine, her father, Elliott, died from the same disease. Her maternal grandmother raised her.

Ice-T's mother, Alice Marrow, died when he was in the third grade. His father, Solomon, raised him until he died of a heart attack when Ice-T was 12. His aunt and uncle then raised him.

Ingrid Bergman's mother, Friedel, died when Bergman was three. Her father, Justus, died when she was 13. Bergman lived with an aunt who died of heart disease six months later. Another aunt and uncle then raised Bergman.

Babe Ruth went to an orphanage when he was seven. Few people know why Ruth went there, but Ruth later suggested he ran the streets and misbehaved. Of the eight children born to Katherine and George Ruth, Sr., only Ruth's sister Marnie survived infancy.

Edgar Allan Poe's father, actor David Poe, Jr., left the family when Poe was an infant. Poe's mother, Elizabeth, died from pulmonary tuberculosis when Poe was just two. A foster family raised him.

When J.R.R. Tolkien was three, his father, Arthur, died from rheumatic fever. His mother, Mabel, died when he was 12 from type 1 diabetes mellitus. A family friend raised Tolkien and his siblings.

Mariya and Count Nikolai Tolstoy died when Leo Tolstoy was very young. Various family members raised him and his siblings.

Johann Sebastian Bach's parents, Johann Ambrosius Bach and Maria Lammerhirt, died within eight months. Bach was only nine years old then. His oldest brother, Johann Christoph Bach, raised him.

Barbara Stanwyck's mother, Catherine Stevens, died in 1911. Stanwyck was four years old. Her father, Byron, left the family quickly after that. Her older sister raised Stanwyck briefly; later, she stayed in foster homes.

Herbert Hoover's parents, Jesse and Hulda, both died by the time Hoover was nine. Hoover and his siblings lived with different family members during their youth.

George Lopez's father deserted him as an infant. His mother deserted him when he was ten. His maternal grandparents, Benita and Refugio Gutierrez, raised him.

When John Keats was eight, his father Thomas died from a skull injury after falling from a horse. His mother Frances died of tuberculosis when Keats was fourteen. Two guardians raised Keats later.

Bessie Smith's father William died when she was very young. Her mother Laura died when Smith was nine. Her older sister raised Bessie Smith.

Little information exists about Jim Thorpe's childhood. His mother, Charlotte Vieux, died during childbirth when Thorpe was eleven. His father Hiram died from an infection when Thorpe was sixteen.

Benjamin and Sarah Bean, Leon Leonwood Bean's parents, both died when he was twelve. Other family members raised him.