ONTD Original: The Tragic Life of Comedians... 🎭
They say the best comedy comes from a sad place. And a lot of known comedians have had a very hard life. (Some do remain trash tho, and this is in no way an attempt to make them look good or more sympathetic. Just sharing stuff i recently found out).
Stephen Colbert's family died on a plane crash
Click to viewWhen Stephen Colbert was 10 years old his father and two older brothers were killed when Eastern Airlines Flight 212 crashed in a North Carolina cornfield. He closed himself and didn't grieve them til' college.
Adam Devine was hit by a cement truck and was on a wheelchair for many years
He was hit by a cement truck when he was 11 years old, he got caught in the tires and broke almost every bone in his body. He had to have 26 surgeries and was on physical therapy and on a wheelchair for many years.
Ellen Degeneres girlfriend died in a car crash.
Before coming out, one of Ellen's first girlfriends got killed by a car, they were on a brief break and as she was driving home she sw a car split in two. She kept going and later found out that it was her girlfriend.
Craig Ferguson's alcoholism drove him to almost jump from a bridge on Christmas Day.
While Craigyferg has been sober for almost 29 years, at one point it got so bad that Craig started thinking about taking his own life. He later recalled on The Late Late Show that it was Christmas Day in 1991, and he got the wild idea to jump off Tower Bridge in London as he felt he couldn’t take it anymore. He didn’t follow through with his plan, though: he got so drunk that he forgot what he was planning to do.
Freddie Prinze Jr.'s dad's battle with depression led to his suicide.
Comedian Freddie Prinze suffered from depression, which deepened in the weeks after his wife filed for divorce. One night after talking on the telephone with his estranged wife, Prinze received a visit from his business manager and while he was there, Prinze put a gun to his head and shot himself, however he survived and was put on life support, and eventually got taken out of it by his family.
Jim Carrey was homeless for most of his early life and his girlfriend committed suicide.
Growing up, Carrey’s family was very poor and they often found themselves homeless, he grew up on a car and he had to drop out of school to support them. In 2015, his ex-girlfriend Cathriona White committed suicide. A couple of wrongful death lawsuits were filed against him in the wake of this tragedy.
Lucille Ball was a victim of domestic violence.
Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz were considered the perfect couple on television but the real-life marriage of the two stars behind “I Love Lucy” was far from it. Desi was a raging alcoholic and Lucille's daughter mentioned that they fought many times, and sometimes he even tried to get violent towards Lucille.
Kevin Hart's dad was a drug addict and kept stealing from them.
Kevin Hart's experience growing up with his father, Henry, was difficult since he was so heavily addicted to drugs. He said "nothing else mattered to him." Since Henry spent most of his son's formative years in and out of jail, Hart was raised by a single mom. Hart recalled how his dad allegedly broke into his mom's house to steal money. Another incident involved Henry robbing Hart's brother's barbershop and crashing his car.
Phil Hartman was murdered by his drug-addicted wife.
On May 28th, 1998, Hartman’s wife, Brynn, fatally shot him. After confessing to the murder, she also committed suicide. She had been intoxicated and using cocaine at the time. He was a series regular on Newsradio which addressed the situation between seasons.
Source: Me and 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9