Sunday, June 11, 2006

In Their Honor: The List (updated August 16, 2016)

I’ve been working on this since I read that Lady Bird Johnson, widow of President Lyndon B. Johnson, suffered ‘several’ pregnancy losses before she went on to bear two full-term, healthy daughters. According to the White House website, she had four (some sources say three), but still it is a significant, even startling number when you consider that this was a woman with access to the best care money could buy. I knew there had to be more famous women out there who have been through this. That said, I have complied this list. I have left out several names from my original list because I have not been able to find reputable documentation of their loss(es). Please note that rumors/unsubstantiated reports/tabloid stories will not appear here.

Really, though, through my three losses to date, I was surprised at the number of celebs who have admitted to it. It’s heartening to read of so many successful, wealthy, high-profile women who no doubt have endured this grief, often multiple times. (The actress Jennifer O’Neill reportedly has suffered pregnancy loss a mind-boggling nine times.)

Some have been very public with their personal tragedies, such as Tori Amos and Courteney Cox. Others have been slighted. In my research, I’ve read that, for example, Princess Masako’s ‘stress’ associated with her position led to her miscarriage, as was her subsequent depression (tsk tsk). Some losses have been attributed to underlying health problems (Mary Tyler Moore’s investigation of her own miscarriage led to her diabetes diagnosis in her late twenties), while others have come as a possible result of damage from then-illegal abortions (Marilyn Monroe, Yoko Ono) and/or drug use (Marianne Faithfull, Courtney Love). But the fact is, perfectly healthy women have these, and we all know of diabetics, drug users and elective abortion survivors who have gone on to have live births.

That said, I wanted to put this list out there, so those of us who have had our dreams dashed know that we’re not alone. The years after the names signify the year that a single loss has occurred, while ‘multiple’ signifies more than one loss. In cases where specifically a stillbirth has been reported, I have noted that. The line underneath the names describe the celebrity’s claim to fame.

As I’ve said, this list is by no means exhaustive. If you know of any others and have a reasonable source, feel free to let me know and I’ll update it as more knowledge becomes known.

—Eve

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Originally compiled January 22, 2006 on my original blog
Last updated August 16, 2016




Lilly Allen (miscarriage 2008; stillbirth 2010)
British singer and talk show host

Kirstie Alley (miscarriage 1990)
Actress, Jenny Craig spokeswoman; ‘Miscarriage made me fat’

Tori Amos (multiple)
Singer, songwriter, activist

Pamela Anderson (miscarriage 1995)
Actress, pinup

Michele Bachmann (miscarriage)
Politician

Anita Baker (multiple)
Singer

Josephine Baker (1941 stillbirth)
Dancer, icon

Lucille Ball (multiple)
Actress, comedienne

Dawn Barlow (2012 stillbirth of daughter Poppy)
Dancer, wife of Take That singer Gary Barlow

Pat Benatar (ectopic)
Singer

Majel Barrett (multiple)
Star Trek actress

Ellin Berlin (crib death of three-week-old son on Christmas day, 1928)
Novelist, wife of 'White Christmas' composer Irving Berlin

Andrea Bernard (2004 stillbirth)
Actress, wife of Rick(y) Schroeder

Michelle Bernard (multiple)
Conservative television figure

Valerie Bertinelli (miscarriage 1986)
Actress

Cherie Blair (miscarriage 2002)
British First Lady

Mary J. Blige (miscarriage 2004?)
Singer; 'queen of hip-hop soul'

Lucrezia Borgia (two stillbirths and four miscarriages)
Renaissance figure; the Borgias are said to have been the inspiration for The Godfather

Anne Boleyn (stillborn son)
Wife of Henry VIII, mother of Elizabeth I

Joan Branson (death of four-day-old, prematurely born daughter Clare Sarah, 1979)
Wife of entrepreneur Richard Branson (Virgin Group)

Sarah Brightman (three, including one ectopic)
Classical crossover singer and theatre actress

Kelly Brook (stillbirth 2011)
British glamour model and actress

Foxy Brown (miscarriage 2003)
Rapper

Sarah Brown (death of newborn daughter, 2002)
Wife of Gordon Brown, British Prime Minister

Elizabeth Barrett Browning (multiple)
Victorian poet

Measha Brueggergosman (twins stillborn at five months, 2011)
Classical crossover singer and Canadian television personality

Barbara Bush (miscarriage 1960s)
First Lady

Jane Campion (death of 12-day-old son, 1993)
Director, The Piano

Mariah Carey (miscarriage 2008)
Singer

Vanessa Carlton (ectopic 2013)
Singer

Diahann Carroll (multiple)
Singer

Nell Carter (multiple)
Actress

Priscilla Chan (multiple)
Physician, wife of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg

Margaret Cho (miscarriage 2014 or 2015)
Comedian, actress

Merry Clayton (miscarriage 1968)
Singer; she miscarried after recording her famed background vocals on the Rolling Stones track 'Gimme Shelter,' although it is highly unlikely her singing precipitated it

Courteney Cox (miscarriage 2001)
Actress

Joan Crawford (multiple)
Actress

Doris Day (multiple)
Actress

Sandra Dee (multiple)
Actress

Natasha Stott Despoja (ectopic, 2006)
Australian senator

Diana, Princess of Wales (miscarriage, early 1980s--between William and Harry)
Icon, would-be Queen

Celine Dion (miscarriage 2009)
Singer

Barbara Eden (1961 miscarriage, 1971 stillbirth)
Actress

Linda Evangelista (1999 stillbirth)
Supermodel

Marianne Faithfull (daughter Corrina stillborn at seven months, 1968)
Singer, Rolling Stones acolyte

Connie Francis (multiple)
Singer

Bethenny Frankel (miscarriage 2011 or 2012)
Reality show personality and food entrepreneur

Deborra-Lee Furness (multiple)
Actress, wife of Hugh Jackman

Mayte Garcia-Nelson (infant)
Dancer, ex-wife of Prince

Peaches Geldof (miscarriage 2006)
Model, daughter of rocker/activist Bob Geldof

Kathie Lee Gifford (miscarriage 1992)
Talk show host

Vanessa Marcil Giovinazzo (multiple, 2011)
Actress

Robin Givens (miscarriage 1988)
Actress, ex-wife of Mike Tyson

Renee Elise Goldberry (miscarriage 2005)
Actress, Hamilton

Jane Goody (miscarriage of twins, stillbirth)
British reality show personality, cervical cancer victim

Katharine Graham (miscarriage, stillbirth)
Journalist, Washington Post publisher

Ffion Hague (multiple)
Wife of Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs William Hague (U.K.)

Linda Hamilton (miscarriage 1980s)
Actress

Audrey Hepburn (multiple)
Actress, UN Ambassador, icon

Amal Hijazi (miscarriage 2011)
Lebanese singer

Amanda Holden (miscarriage 2010, stillborn son 2011)
British actress and presenter

Xaviera Hollander (ectopic)
Sex columnist, writer, The Happy Hooker

Maria Elena Holly
Wife of rock 'n' roll pioneer Buddy Holly. When she learned of his February 3, 1959 death in a plane crash from a television report, she went into shock and miscarried.

Whitney Houston (multiple)
Singer, actress

Jill Ireland (multiple)
Actress

Eleanor Jackson (stillborn son)
Wife of Stonewall Jackson, Civil War figure

Katherine Jackson (stillborn son)
Mother of Michael Jackson; stillborn twin's other was Marlon

Lady Bird Johnson (multiple)
First Lady

Frida Kahlo (multiple)
Artist; inspired Henry Ford Hospital (The Flying Bed)

Katharine, Duchess of Kent (miscarriage and stillbirth)

Grace Kelly (multiple)
American actress, princess of Monaco

Lisa Robin Kelly (miscarriage 2003)
Actress, That '70s Show

Joan Bennett Kennedy (miscarriage, stillbirth)
Sister-in-law of President John F. and Jackie Kennedy

Nancy Kerrigan (multiple)
Olympic figure skater

Nicole Kidman (miscarriage 2001)
Actress, model

Gladys Knight (miscarriage 1960)
Singer

Beyonce Knowles (miscarriage noted in 'Glory,' by Jay-Z)
Singer

Andrée Lachapelle (stillborn daughter)
Actress

Shayne Lamas (miscarriage 2014)
Actress, General Hospital, The Bachelor

Lucy Lawless (miscarriage 2001)
Actress

Vivien Leigh (multiple)
Gone with the Wind actress

Annie Lennox (stillbirth 1988)
Singer

Lisa Ling (miscarriage 2010)
Television personality

Sophia Loren (multiple)
Actress

Courtney Love (miscarriage 2001)
Rocker, widow of Kurt Cobain

Susan Lucci (miscarriage)
Soap opera actress, All My Children

Loretta Lynn (multiple – due to Rh factor)
Country music legend

Nicoletta Mantovani (stillbirth of one of her twins)
Assistant-turned-wife of Luciano Pavarotti

Kym Marsh (stillbirth, 2009)
Actress, Coronation Street

Penny Marshall (miscarriage)
Actress, Laverne and Shirley; director

Mary Martin (stillbirth, 1945)
Actress, mother of Larry Hagman; her daughter, Heller Halliday, was attacked by a dog, leading Martin to go into shock.

Eva Amurri Martino (2015)
Actress, daughter of Susan Sarandon

Owada Masako (miscarriage 1999)
Crown Princess of Japan

Mary Matalin (multiple)
Political advisor

Bette Midler (miscarriage 1987)
Singer, actress

Heather Mills McCartney (two ectopic and six other miscarriages; *unfortunately doubtful because it seems that everything that comes out of her mouth is a lie); in divorce papers, however, one miscarriage was verified
Activist, ex-model, ex-wife of Paul McCartney

Liza Minnelli (multiple)
Singer, actress

Joni Mitchell (miscarriage 1990)
Singer

Rosa Monckton (stillborn daughter, 1994)
Charity fundraiser, best friend of Princess Diana. This is especially notable because Diana allowed her to bury her daughter Natalia in her private Kensington Palace garden. With Diana's death, however, Rosa was forever unable to visit Natalia's unmarked grave.

Marilyn Monroe (multiple)
Actress, icon

Lucy Maud Montgomery (stillbirth of son Hugh)
Author, Anne of Green Gables

Demi Moore (miscarriage 1987)
Actress

Mary Tyler Moore (miscarriage in the mid-1960s, led to her diabetes diagnosis)
Actress

Ada Nicodemou (son Harrison stillborn, 2014)
Australian soap opera actress, Home and Away

Sinead O'Connor (multiple)
Irish singer

Jennifer O'Neill (multiple)
Actress

Athina Onassis-Roussel (miscarriage 2013)
Heiress, step-granddaughter of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (miscarriage, stillbirth, neonatal death)
First Lady, editor, icon

Yoko Ono (multiple)
Artist, muse

Lisa Osbourne (second-trimester loss of a boy, 2013)
Blogger, wife of Jack Osbourne, daughter-in-law of Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne

Anita Pallenberg (infant son Tara, 1976)
Erstwhile partner of Rolling Stone Keith Richards

Gwyneth Paltrow (miscarriage)
Actress, entrepreneur, wife of Coldplay frontman Chris Martin

Molly Picon (stillborn daughter, 1920)
Musical theater actress

Pink (a.k.a. P!nk) (miscarriage)
Singer

Sylvia Plath (miscarriage 1961)
Bell Jar writer, poet; inspired 'Tulips'

Jane Pratt (stillborn twins, 2005)
Magazine editor, Jane

Gladys Presley (stillborn son 1935)
Elvis' mother; it was his twin

Katie 'Jordan' Price (multiple)
British glamour model and reality TV personality

Gilda Radner (multiple)
Comedienne

Tana Ramsay (five-month in utero loss of son, 2016)
Cookbook author, wife of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay

Giuliana Rancic (miscarriage 2010)
Television personality

Amanda Redman (multiple ectopic)
Actress

Aliza Reger (stillborn daughter)
Entrepreneur and CEO

Debbie Reynolds (two seven-month stillbirths)
Actress, dancer, icon, mother of actress Carrie Fisher

Sophie Rhys-Jones, Countess of Wessex (ectopic)
Wife of Prince Edward of England

Molly Ringwald ('late-term' miscarriage)
'Brat Pack' actress

Joan Rivers (multiple)
Comedienne

Ann Romney (miscarriage early 1980s)
Wife of politician Mitt Romney

Katey Sagal (stillbirth and miscarriage)
Actress

Hillary Scott (miscarriage noted in song 'Thy Will')
Country singer, Lady Antebellum

Jane Seymour (multiple)
Actress

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (stillborn girl)
Author of Frankenstein

Brooke Shields (multiple)
Supermodel, actress, adversary of Tom Cruise

Elizabeth Siddal (stillborn daughter)
Wife of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, muse

Justine Simmons (daughter, right after birth)
Wife of Reverend Run (Run-DMC)

Katie Stajan (post-delivery loss of son Emerson, 2014)
Wife of Calgary Flames center Matt Stajan

Danielle Steel (multiple)
Romance novelist

Sharon Stone (multiple)
Actress

Jennifer Syme (stillbirth 1999)
Actress, late girlfriend of Keanu Reeves

Elizabeth Taylor (miscarriage brought on by physical abuse by first husband Nicky Hilton)
Actress, icon

Emily Tennyson (stillborn son)
Wife of poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Emma Thompson (miscarriage 1997)
Actress

Bess Truman (multiple)
First Lady

Lana Turner (multiple)
Actress

Bonnie Tyler (miscarriage 1990 or 1991)
Singer

Tracey Ullman (multiple)
Comedienne

Meredith Viera (multiple)
Television personality

Barbara Walters (multiple)
Television journalist

Vanna White (miscarriage 1992)
Game show host

Laura Ingalls Wilder (infant boy, 1889)
Little House author

JoBeth Williams (multiple)
Actress

Wendy Williams (one miscarriage, two stillbirths)
TV and radio personality

Oprah Winfrey (stillbirth in teen years)
Entrepreneur, TV personality

Trinny Woodall (multiple)
BBC TV personality

Pia Zadora (miscarriage 1996)
Singer, actress