Behind the clean publicity photographs of old Hollywood families, some parents were living with diagnosis that no studio could soften and no headline could safely explain. Red Skeleton’s 9-year-old son was diagnosed with leukemia and given about a year to live. Jacqueline Suzanne’s little boy was sent to a children’s psychiatric institution after shock therapy failed.
Arthur Miller’s newborn son had Down syndrome and was placed in institutional care within days. One, Red Skeleton and Georgia Davis. Richard Skelton. Red Skeleton and Georgia Davis had two children. Their son Richard was born in 1948. The diagnosis came when Richard was 9 years old.
Doctors found leukemia and told the family he might have only a year to live. The illness changed the household immediately. Skelton’s television network told him he could take as much time off as he needed, but he returned to work in January 1957 because he believed staying active would help him keep Richard’s last year as normal as possible.
After the diagnosis, the family took Richard on an extended trip so he could see as much of the world as possible. On July the 22nd, 1957, they had an audience with Pope Pius I 12th. Richard later said that meeting was the high point of the trip. The family returned to the United States as his illness advanced.
Richard Skelton died in Los Angeles on May 10th, 1958, 10 days before his 10th birthday. Two, David Tomlinson and Audrey Freeman. Willie Tomlinson. David Tomlinson and Audrey Freeman’s third son, Willie, grew up in a Britain where autism was still barely understood. As a child, Willie showed the features of autism at a time when even getting a clear diagnosis was difficult.
Families were often left with almost no guidance, few specialist schools, few trained teachers, and very little public language for children who did not speak, learn, or react like others. Tomlinson and Audrey became part of the early parent fight for autistic children and adults. They joined roughly 20 families who helped create Somerset Court, the first residential home in Europe devoted specifically to autistic adults.
Tomlinson also used theater and television contacts to raise money for the fledgling autistic movement, including Robert Moley, Ian Carmichael, Felicity Kendall, and even the Beatles. Willie later lived at Somerset Court, then moved to a nearby offshoot. He had his own workshop there and became known as a skilled craftsman in wood. Three, Julie Numar and J.
Holt Smith. John Jules Smith. Julie Numar’s son, John Jules Smith, was born in 1981 when she was 48. He was born with Down syndrome. For Numar, the birth came after three miscarriages and Jon became her only child. His medical problems deepened when he was still a toddler.
He contracted menitis, survived the infection but lost his hearing. After that, communication became part of the daily care. Jon was deaf and non-speaking. Numar learned sign language so she could reach him. She later said visual things delighted him because sight became one of the main ways he connected with the world.
The household adjusted around his needs. Jon lived with Numar, made art, attended art classes, and spent time with her in the garden. In later years, his scoliosis also limited how much he could walk. Numar had two longtime assistants who helped with meals, household tasks, John’s care, and his art classes. Four.
Jacqueline Suzanne and Irving Mansfield. Guy Mansfield. Guy Hildy Mansfield was born on December 6th, 1946. The only child of Jacqueline Suzanne and Irving Mansfield. The first signs appeared in early childhood. Guy screamed, hit his head against the wall, and lost the few words he had learned. At three, Dr. Loretta Bender, a specialist in children’s psychiatric disorders, diagnosed him with autism, a condition still only beginning to be identified.
Bender treated him with shock therapy. When it failed, she advised the Mansfields to play Sky at the Emma Pendleton Bradley home, a psychiatric institution for children in Rhode Island. The family kept the truth outside the newspapers. Friends were told that Guy was away at school in Arizona because of severe asthma.
The reason, according to people close to the family, was that his parents still hoped he might recover and did not want him stigmatized. In 2000, Guy was still living in institutional care and still receiving regular visits. Five. Edner and Carol Gene Vogelman. Charlie Asner. Edner’s youngest son, Charlie, was diagnosed with high functioning autism when he was about 8 or 9 years old.
Before the diagnosis, the family did not have a clear name for what was happening. Charlie had poor social skills, struggled to fit in with classmates, and behaved in ways adults could mistake for defiance or lack of empathy. Asner later said he had seen his son as high-spirited and a rulebreaker before doctors identified autism.
The diagnosis changed the family’s direction. Charlie’s autism became part of Asner’s public advocacy, and Asner spoke about how communication with his son required patience, repetition, and careful explanation. He said he had to slow down, make each word count, and make sure each thought was understood. The autism work continued into the next generation.
Matthew Asner, Ed’s older son, later had children on the autism spectrum and helped build the Edner Family Center for neurodeivergent people and their families. Six, Bert Bakarak and Angie Dickinson. Leah Nikki Bakarak. Leah Nikki Bakarak was born on July 12th, 1966, the only child of Bert Bakarak and Angie Dickinson.
She arrived three months premature and weighed less than 29 o. Nikki spent her first months in hospital care, separated from ordinary touch while doctors tried to keep her alive. The effects of that birth followed her into childhood. Her eyesight was damaged. She developed strabismas and later her poor vision kept her from pursuing geology, the subject she studied at California Lutheran University.
She also did not speak until she was three. The harder problems were behavioral and sensory. Nikki was socially withdrawn, obsessive, and dependent on repetition. She had bouts of frustration and rage, and sound could become unbearable to her. No one gave the family the right name in childhood.
Bakarak later said doctors did not call it asberers or autism. They called it behavior things. At 14, Nikki was hospitalized for psychiatric treatment. She was diagnosed with Asberers only years after it entered the American Psychiatric Manual in 1994. Angie Dickinson later said hospitalization was the worst thing that could have been done to her daughter.
Nikki died on January 4th, 2007 at the age of 40. Seven. Richard Burton and Cybil Williams. Jessica Burton. Richard Burton and Cybil Williams had two daughters. Kate was born in 1957 and Jessica was born 2 years later while the family was living in Seleni, Switzerland near Lake Geneva.
Jessica’s life moved almost immediately outside the public Burton story. Her condition was described as severe autism with psychiatric illness. Kate Burton said Jessica was placed in institutional care when she was 6 years old. The separation became permanent. Kate later said Jessica had been in a home for a very long time and that her care had become part of the family’s life.
In a 2003 interview, Kate described her younger sister as severely autistic and said she was living in an institution in the United States. There were few public details about Jessica’s daily life. No career, no interviews, no public appearances, no adult biography. The one clear family detail was financial.
Kate said Richard Burton had earned enough money to make sure Jessica could receive care for the rest of her life. Eight. Robert Redford and Lola Van Wagan. Scott and James Redford. Robert Redford and Lola Van Wagan’s first son, Scott Anthony Redford, was born in 1959. He lived only 2 and 1/2 months.
The cause was sudden infant death syndrome, a condition in which an apparently healthy baby dies unexpectedly during sleep. There was no long treatment, no warning diagnosis, and no recovery plan. Scott was buried before his father’s film career had fully begun. The family later faced another medical crisis, but this time in adulthood.
James Redford was 25 when he was diagnosed with primary sclerosis colonitis, a rare disease that damages the bile ducts and can lead to liver failure. In 1993, James underwent two liver transplants. Decades later, cancer was found in his bile duct while he was waiting for a third transplant. Scott Redford died as an infant in 1959.
James Redford died in 2020 at 58. Nine. Carol Oconor and Nancy Okconor. Hugh Oconor. Carol Oconor and Nancy O’ Conor adopted Hugh in Rome in 1962 when he was 6 days old. The medical crisis came when Hugh was 16. He was diagnosed with Hodgkins disease, a cancer of the lymphatic system. Treatment included surgery to remove a malignant lump in his neck and his parents later said the radiation left him sick enough that he began using marijuana to ease the nausea.
That was the first step into a much longer addiction. Hugh later moved from marijuana to alcohol, quaudes, cocaine, amphetamines, and prescription drugs. He went through rehabilitation more than once, but the illness that began with the cancer treatment kept turning into another kind of medical fight. On March 28th, 1995, Hugh called his father and said he could not face another rehabilitation program.
He died that day at 32. Harry Thomas Persigian was later convicted of possessing and furnishing cocaine to Hugh. In 1997, California passed the Drug Dealer Liability Act, backed publicly by Carol Okconor. 10. Mia Pharaoh’s family, Moses, Tam, and Thaddius. Mia Pharaoh’s home included several adopted children whose medical problems began before they entered the family.
Moses Pharaoh was adopted from Korea when he was 2 years old. He had cerebral palsy, a condition that affects movement and muscle control. He later became a family therapist and photographer, but his childhood began with a physical disability that required care, adaptation, and a household built around different needs.
Tam Pharaoh came from Vietnam and was blind. In New York, she needed special education and Pharaoh tried to build a school plan around her disability. Tam died in 2000 with heart problems given as the cause. Thaddius Pharaoh was adopted from Kolkata, India in 1994. He was paraplegic and used a wheelchair.
He had spent his early life in an orphanage before coming to the United States. 11. Olivia de Havland and Marcus Goodrich. Benjamin Goodrich. Benjamin Briggs Goodrich was born on September 27th, 1949. The only child of Olivia De Havland and writer Marcus Goodrich. His illness began when he was 19. Doctors diagnosed him with Hodkdins lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system.
Benjamin survived the first fight and continued building a life outside Hollywood. He graduated from the University of Texas, worked as a statistical analyst for Lockheed Missiles and Space Company in Sunnyvale, California, and later became an international banking representative for Texas Commerce Bank in Houston.
But the cancer story did not end with survival. Reports on Benjamin’s death describe a long illness and connect his final condition to the after effects of Hodgkins treatment. For patients treated for Hodgkins lymphoma, late complications can include heart disease years after treatment. Benjamin died in Paris on September 29th, 1991, 2 days after his 42nd birthday.
- Neil Young and Peggy Young. Ben Young. Ben Young was born in 1978, the first child of Neil Young and Peggy Young. The diagnosis came in infancy. Neil later wrote that when Ben was about 6 months old, a doctor told the parents their son had cerebral pausy. Ben’s condition was severe.
He had major physical disabilities and could not speak in the ordinary way. The next problem was school. Ben needed teachers who could work with children who had severe speech and physical impairments. Neil and Peggy could not find the right place for him. In 1986, they helped create the Bridge School in Hillsboro, California.
The school was built for children like Ben. Children who needed help communicating, learning, and taking part in ordinary life despite severe disabilities. Ben later graduated from Half Moon Bay High School in 1998. One year later, he started a chicken farm on the family ranch. 13. Arthur Miller and Ingamorath. Daniel Miller.
Daniel Miller was born in November 1966, the second child of Arthur Miller and Ingamorath. The diagnosis came at birth, Down syndrome. Within days, Daniel was placed in a home for infants in New York City. When he was about four, he was moved to Southbury Training School in Connecticut, a large state institution only about 10 minutes from the Miller home in Roxberry.
Ingamorath visited him often, reportedly almost every Sunday. Miller rarely spoke about Daniel and did not mention him in his 1987 memoir, Time Bends. Southbury was overcrowded by the early 1970s. Former staff remembered Daniel as friendly and able, but also remembered children living in large rooms, wearing communal clothing, and growing up with little personal property.
Daniel left Southbury at 17, moved into a group home, and later lived with support in a more independent setting. Before Miller died in 2005, Daniel was included equally in his will. 14. Bob Denver and Drea Denver. Colin Denver. Colin Denver was born in 1984, the son of Bob Denver and his fourth wife, Driema Denver.
Two years later, Colin was diagnosed with severe autism. His condition also included a seizure disorder. The diagnosis changed the household immediately. Bob and Drea moved back to West Virginia near Dramma’s family and their daily life became centered on Colin’s care. Drea later said people wrote to the family website asking where Bob had gone.
They did not know he had stepped away from the old career rhythm to care for a severely autistic child at home. The Denvers spent the next two decades caring for Colin full-time. Drayma said they did it without outside help and gave up everything for him. In 2004, Bob and Drema formed a nonprofit foundation to help children with special needs and their families.
Little Buddy Radio was created as part of that work. 15. Sylvester Stallone and Sasha Chak. Sir Joe Stallone. Sir Joe Stallone was born in 1979, the second son of Sylvester Stallone and Sasha Ch. As a baby, he appeared briefly in Rocky 2, playing Rocky Balboa’s infant son.
At home, his parents began noticing signs that did not fit ordinary development. Sarjo was quiet, withdrawn, and hard to reach through normal communication. At three, he was diagnosed with autism. The diagnosis changed the family’s daily life. Seario did not become a public Hollywood child. He was kept mostly out of the spotlight, while Sasha carried much of the work at home.
Stallone later said Sasha did the hard in the trenches care while he used film premieres to raise money. In 1985, Stallone and Chak established a research fund administered through the National Society for Children and Adults with Autism.
