15 Celebrities Who Were Raised by Single Parents

Publish date: 2024-05-18

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While the notion of growing up in a happy home with two parents and a loving household is ideal, it’s not a reality for everyone. Even the most famous, most successful celebrities in the world are sometimes the product of a single family home in which one parent was absent either by choice or by death. Many of these celebs turned out just fine, even if they probably wished their mother and father were both present. It’s what most kids want, but it’s something that becomes more understandable as kids grow up. Read on to find out which celebrities were raised by single parents.

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JK Rowling

She’s one of the most famous authors in all the world, and she was raised by a single mother. The Harry Potter author was raised by her mother, and she’s not doing so badly on her own. She seems to have grown into a relatively smart and pretty successful woman, considering her idea about a wizard at a beyond awesome school made her a few dollars over the years. She also comes from a long line of single mothers, even her grandmother and great grandparents were single mothers to their children, and they’re doing all right.

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Lance Armstrong

Lance Armstrong

He’s a famous cyclist, though he’s also a controversial one after admitting he used performance enhancing drugs when he won all of those Tour de France races. However, he’s still famous and he still made quite the career for himself. He was not raised in a traditional home (if you can still call it that). He never knew his birth father. While it’s a little unclear what happened to him, the popular theory is that he walked out on his family before Lance was even born – though that’s not something that’s ever been confirmed.

(Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

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Eric Clapton

He’s a famous singer and musician, and he never knew his real parents. While he technically wasn’t raised in a single parent home, he kind of was. See, he never knew his real father. He also never knew that the young girl he was raised with and thought was his sister was actually his real mother until he was much older. His grandparents raised him as their own and called his mother his sister, never telling him about it through his childhood. So while he was technically not raised by his mother, she was still a single mother his entire life.

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Kate Beckinsale

She was raised most of her life by a single mother. Her story is a bit more traumatic and tragic than the many of the others on this list, however. She did know her birth father. He was part of her life for the first six years of her life until he died when she was 6. After that, the beautiful actress was raised by her single mother, who did a wonderful job raising a bright and talented young woman. Sometimes children just have seriously bad luck and an unfortunate experience at a young age, and she was one of those.

(Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

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Julia Roberts

Much like Kate Beckinsale, Julia Roberts is another actress raised by a single mother after the untimely death of her father. Julia Roberts was just 10-years-old when she lost her father. Her mother then went on to raise her by herself. She occasionally opens up about the death of her father, telling reporters and fans that it was a very difficult time in her life, and that while things were tough at times, her mother was her rock and her foundation. Her mother eventually remarried, but he was raised by a single mother for a time.

(Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images For Relativity Media)

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Justin Bieber

While he’s currently experiencing some legal drama and some serious attitude issues, which is something that often happens at his age when kids are in the limelight and have so many expectations placed on them at such a young age, he was a relatively good kid for a while. Bieber was raised by his single mother. She was only 18-years-old when she gave birth to the pop superstar. She’s been known to say that she wanted more for him and that she wanted him to succeed and not have the kind of withdrawals that sometimes come from not having a father present.

(Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for CMT)

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Tom Cruise

He’s one of four kids raised by his single mother. His mother often struggled to make ends meet, but she often worked several jobs to ensure her kids had what they needed so that they weren’t behind in life or feeling left out whenever she could possibly prevent it. Since he’s one of the richest and most famous actors in the world, it’s safe to say that she obviously instilled some serious motivation and determination in the lives of her children, and they turned out all right despite their absent father.

(Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

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Barbara Streisand

She’s one of the most prolific singers and famous actresses in the world. She has a lovely voice, a wonderful stage presence and a great reputation for being cool. She was also raised by a single mother. She had a very unfortunate childhood in which she lost her father at the tender age of 2. His death isn’t something she remembers well being so young when it occurred, but her mother was forced to raise her by herself, which is not the easiest job in the world. However, Streisand rose above the tragedy in her life and did well for herself.

(Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

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Demi Moore

She’s another wildly successful actress raised by a single mother. Demi Moore’s father decided he was not prepared to be a father and left her mother before she was even born. Her mother was pregnant with Moore when Moore’s father decided to bail, leaving a woman pregnant and helpless to take care of their child without his help. However, Moore’s single mother managed to make ends meet enough to raise her so that she could become a famous actress who never has to worry about being a single mother to her own kids because she has the financial means to do so.

(Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)

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Pierce Brosnan

Sometimes being 007 is not enough to prevent you from experiencing unfortunate circumstances and events in life. When Pierce Brosnan was a still a baby, his father abandoned him with his mother. He wasn’t even a year old when his real father took off, leaving his mother to spend years raising him on his own. She did a good job, however, considering he was able to rise above his circumstances and create a successful career for himself. Brosnan has often credited his mother for making him turn into such a success.

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Charlize Theron

Now, this is a story that simply puts things into perspective and makes you realize just how precious life really is. Charlize Theron grew up in a single parent home, but not before growing up in a two parent home for many years. Her father was abusive and an alcoholic and her mother ended up killing him when she was just a teenager. Her mother shot him when he attacked her and Charlize and the killing was ruled self-defense. She was then a single mother who raised her daughter in their South African hometown until she grew up and moved out.

(Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images For BAFTA Los Angeles)

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Adele

She’s a mother now herself, and that probably means she’d like to do things a bit differently for her own child. However, despite the fact that she is not a single mother, she’s probably got much more to offer her daughter than her mother should she ever become a single mother herself. Adele’s father left her mother when she was just a toddler. She was 3-years-old when her father left, leaving her to be raised by her single mother in the UK. She’s now one of the most successful singers with one of the most beautiful voices in the world.

(Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

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Jack Nicholson

It’s a bit unclear what happened to him when he was a child, but he’s been known to say he was raised by his single mother and never even met his real father. As to whether or not his mom was abandoned when she was pregnant or even knew who his real father was is a mystery, but it’s not a mystery that he was raised by a single mother in a time in which single mothers simply did not exist. However, she did a good job with him and he’s quite the success today.

(Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

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Al Pacino

He’s another famous actor that was raised in a house with several people, though his mother was single. He grew up in his grandparent’s home. His mother was there with him, and she was single. However, she had a bit of an advantage in raising him considering she had her parents to help her do it. She was single, but she wasn’t really alone in raising him being that they were there with her. It’s also unknown whether or not he knew his real father or not. However, he’s still a famous success and that says something.

(Photo by David Livingston/Getty Images)

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Bill Clinton

The former president of the United States was raised by his single mother. His father didn’t abandon his family, but Clinton never met his father. Unfortunately, his mother was left to raise him on her own before Clinton was even born. His father was killed in an automobile accident when his mother was only 6 months pregnant with Clinton, leaving him to be born to a single mother and no opportunity to ever meet his real father. It’s a tragic story and an even more tragic experience that no child should ever have to face in his lifetime.

(Photo by Mathias Kniepeiss/Getty Images For 2nd CGDC Annual Meeting 2012)

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