1.
Heath Ledger memorably and sadly died in 2008 after being found unresponsive by his masseuse — and, it was originally reported, his housekeeper. However, bizarre details about the moment he was found were later revealed. The masseuse, Diana Lee Wolozin, actually made three calls before calling the police: and all were to Mary-Kate Olsen.
Olsen’s number was on speed dial in Ledger’s phone, and Wolozin apparently called her for help and advice, as she knew the two were friends — Olsen had her private security sent over. There were later reports Olsen and Ledger had been dating, though they were unconfirmed. Police believe Ledger was already dead when Wolozin found him.
2.
In another weird celebrity connection I wasn’t expecting, Marlon Brando once confronted Michael Jackson about his child sex abuse allegations at his ranch Neverland. “I had asked him if he was a virgin and he sort of laughed and giggled. He said, ‘Oh, Brando.’ I said, ‘Well, what do you do for sex?’ And he was acting fussy and embarrassed.”
Brando reportedly told prosecutors during Jackson’s 1994 abuse trial, “He said he hated his father and started to cry. And I said, ‘Well, who are your friends?’ He said, ‘I don’t know anybody my own age. I don’t like anybody my own age.’ I said, ‘Why not?’ He said, ‘I don’t know, I don’t know.’ He was crying hard enough that…I tried to assuage him. I tried to help him all I could.”
3.
Guillermo del Toro’s father was kidnapped for 72 days in 1997, with a $1 million ransom…which was initially reported to have been paid by director James Cameron, a friend of del Toro. Del Toro later clarified that he had paid the ransom, but Cameron had offered, and that Cameron “came in and took charge” of the situation, paying for a hostage negotiator to come in.
4.
Jack Nicholson was raised by his grandmother, who he believed to be his mother — turns out, the much older “sister” he’d had was his real mother. His mother was only 18 when she had him, as a result of a relationship with a married man. To avoid scandal, Nicholson’s grandmother claimed him as her own.
He didn’t find out the truth until after his mother died when Time magazine did a profile on him in 1974 (directly before the release of Chinatown) and discovered the truth in their research. The most eerie part? Nicholson’s character finds out the truth about another character — namely, that her “sister” is actually her daughter — in the film.
5.
Nicholson isn’t the only celeb to discover something through a magazine profile, though, in these two sad examples, the stories were already published when the stars realized the truth. First, Anthony Perkins found out he had HIV from a tabloid magazine. He had no idea he’d even been tested for it.
Perkins had received blood tests for a palsy on his face. His wife Berry Berenson said after his death that she thought someone must’ve tested his blood for HIV without telling him and then leaked the story to the press. His diagnosis couldn’t even be confirmed — he had to go back and test again.
6.
Jane Fonda also discovered the true way her mother had died — by suicide, and not a heart attack, as her father claimed — through a magazine.
7.
Paula Abdul has made multiple remarks about being in a plane crash in the ’90s, suffering injuries that led to her retreating from the spotlight for some time. There’s just one problem: there is no record of the crash ever happening. Abdul’s description doesn’t match any crashes at the time, though it is possible it was not reported and the wreckage was not found. Still, as the Jezebell article points out, this would mean Abdul and the other passengers just left the burned-out plane in a field and never reported it.
8.
Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman made waves when he married 18-year-old Mandy Smith, whom he had been dating since she was 13. Wyman was in his fifties. But the scandal didn’t end there — Wyman’s son Stephen ended up marrying Mandy’s mother. The two were closer in age than Wyman and Mandy. As this Grunge article points out, if Bill and Mandy had still been together when the second Wyman and Smith got married, Stephen would’ve been his own step-grandfather.
9.
Sean Penn was once in jail with the infamous Night Stalker serial killer. In fact, the murderer, Richard Ramirez, essentially sent Penn fan mail asking for an autograph. Penn, who was spending 60 days in jail at the time for reckless driving and punching an extra — said Ramirez wrote, “Hey, Sean, stay tough and hit them again — Richard Ramirez, 666.” Penn replied with a note saying he felt “absolutely no kinship” with Ramirez, despite both being inmates, and said, “I hope gas descends upon you before sanity does, you know? It would be a kinder way out.”
10.
Ashton Kutcher once narrowly escaped a serial killer. In 2001, when Kutcher was 23, he planned a date with 22-year-old fashion student Ashley Ellerin. He was supposed to meet her at 8 p.m. for dinner and drinks but ended up getting there around 10:30 or 10:45, having gotten distracted watching the Grammy Awards at Kristy Swanson‘s house. When he arrived at Ellerin’s house, she did not come to the door, which was locked — he assumed she’d gotten angry with him for being late and left. Since the lights were on, Kutcher looked through the window and saw “what [he] thought was a red wine spilled on the carpet.”
But he said, “That wasn’t alarming because I went to her house party [days before] and it was like a college party. I didn’t think much about it.” He left, and Ellerin was found stabbed to death the next day. The “Hollywood Ripper,” Michael Gargiulo, was found guilty for her murder. When Kutcher heard the news of the murder, he called the police because he was worried his fingerprints were on the doorknob. He did not become a suspect, but he did testify in Gargiulo’s trial.
11.
Another celebrity connected to a murderer is Woody Harrelson, who is the son of hitman Charles Harrelson, who murdered Judge John Howland Wood in 1979. This fact would become much stranger in light of Harrelson’s starring in No Country for Old Men. Though the film did not include it, the No Country for Old Men novel featured the line, “Here a while back in San Antonio they shot and killed a federal judge,” which was likely referring to the murder perpetrated by Woody’s father.
12.
This one has got a lot of *if*s in it, but it’s still wild to me. *If* O. J. Simpson did murder his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman (he was notably acquitted after a highly publicized trial, but found liable for the deaths in a civil suit), it’s possible he learned how while shooting the pilot for Frogmen, a failed TV series he was meant to star in shortly before the murders.
Footage from the pilot was actually submitted as evidence in his trial (though it didn’t end up being used), as it could have proved O. J.’s proficiency with a knife. Simpson had reportedly received military training for the role. Also, Simpson’s costar Todd Allen had once gone with O. J. to Ross Cutlery — the suspected source of the murder weapon, which was never found — between shooting.
13.
In a less dark celebrity fact that I nonetheless find strange, Meghan Markle did the calligraphy for Robin Thicke’s 2005 wedding invitations — not because the two were friends, but because the then-23-year-old was doing calligraphy before making it in Hollywood to make ends meet.
14.
You probably already know Jane Fonda comes from a famous family, but you likely didn’t know she also comes from royalty. Fonda is related to Jane Seymour, one of Henry VIII’s six wives (which include Anne Boleyn — notably, the wives are the subject of the musical Six.) In fact, she was named after Jane — and says she went by Lady until the fourth grade in reference to Seymour.
15.
Martin Luther King Jr. paid the hospital bill when Julia Roberts was born. Why? Roberts’ parents ran a theater school that let in the Kings’ children at a time when few programs would admit Black children. When her parents couldn’t pay the hospital bill, Martin and Lorette stepped in.
What’s a wild celebrity fact you know? Let us know in the comments.
