Losing a child is something no parent should ever experience.
Children should outlive their parents, and when that doesn’t happen, entire worlds come crashing down, and all of a sudden, nothing is the same and grief settles in the hearts of the bereaved parents.
Earlier this month, on January 12, 2023, Sopranos actor John Ventimiglia lost his daughter.
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Odele was a 25-year-old mother of baby Shiloh, who is now left to be raised without the most important person in her life.
The tragic news was shared by John’s wife, Belinda.
“Heartbroken to have to post our darling Odele’s funeral notice,” she wrote. “Her sister Lucinda and I have been overwhelmed by the messages of support and love we have received, and your remembrances of how cherished Odele was to so many. Odele was greatly loved, and leaves a huge hole in our lives.”
The post continued, “Odele is survived by her sister, Lucinda Ventimiglia, mother, Belinda Cape, father John Ventimiglia, and her beloved daughter Shiloh.”
The family thanked everyone for their condolences and prayers and asked for donations instead of flowers. They started a GoFundMe page to to support baby Shiloh. The amount raised has been $55,000 so far, and suppressed the initial goal of $50,000.
Odele’s older sister, Lucinda, shared her heartbreak over her younger sister’s passing. “Odele Cape Ventimiglia – 4/7/1997 – 1/12/2023 words will never be enough to express the grief we are all feeling. I loved my little sister a lot and I will spend the rest of my life searching for her in everything,” she wrote.
“A funeral for Odele will be held at 12 pm next Thursday, 1/26, at Old First Reformed Church in Park Slope. my family and i are so grateful for all the care and support we have been receiving during this impossible time. it has never been more clear how much she meant to so many people. sending love to everyone who is trying to cope with her loss – look after each other and keep Odele in your thoughts 🤍🤍🤍,” the statement continued.
The cause of death hasn’t been revealed yet.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the Ventimiglia family.
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Being born into royalty means living lavishly, visiting plenty of places, and having plenty of friends, including celebrities.
Take Prince Harry for example. Not only he married a well-known actress, Meghan Markle, who started her career as a briefcase girl on the game show Deal or No Deal back in 2006 and had her big breakthrough with the huge hit series Suits, but he is said to hang out with the likes of David Beckham and Tom Hardy.
When Harry and Meghan tied the knot in 2018, their wedding was broadcast and watched by millions. Among those who attended it were the Suits cast, Oprah Winfrey, George and Amal Clooney, James Corden, Idris Elba, and more.
However, royal experts questioned the attendance of some of the celebs.
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According to reports, Harry and Meghan didn’t even know the Clooneys at all.
“There’s a story doing the rounds that while Carolyn Bartholomew, Diana’s former flatmate, was waiting for the wedding service to start, she turned to the couple alongside her and asked how they knew Harry or Meghan,” Johnson wrote in the online publication AirMail.
“‘We don’t,’ the Clooneys answered brightly.”
However, it was later shared that the Sussexes visited George and Amal in Italy, and George even said that the four have had dinner several times in recent years.
Other experts kept wondering how Harry and Meghan knew Oprah at the time, and many believed that they actually didn’t.
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Royal expert Andrew Morton – the author of Diana: Her True Story – also questioned the celebrity guest list.
“(She) populated the wedding with A-list Hollywood celebrities who … have proved their worth to her by speaking out in public about the criticisms of her,” Morton said.
“I don’t think she (had) even met Oprah Winfrey (before the wedding). I don’t know whether Harry had. But she invited these people along, and now she has her own court.
“She’s a new player and she’s been quick out (of) the starting box. Unlike Prince Harry’s friends who keep quiet, Megan’s A-list celebrity friends, the court of Meghan, is a very voluble court and they’re very powerful.”
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Over the years, Harry have visited many different places, both as part of his royal duties, which he stepped down from shortly after tying the knot, and privately.
Back in 2014, Harry was said to attend the wedding of his and William’s friend Guy Pelly who married American Holiday Inn heiress Lizzy Smith. The ceremony took place at the famous Graceland property which belonged to ‘The King of Rock and Roll,’ Elvis Presley, and later to his daughter, Lisa Marie Presley. Graceland is where both Elvis and Lisa Marie are laid to rest.
However, as much as this unique property is considered legendary by millions, Harry wasn’t quite impressed with the legendary musician’s estate.
Graceland has 23 rooms and measures 17,552 square feet. Today, it’s one of the biggest tourist attractions in the US, attracting around 600,000 people annually, and is reportedly the second most-visited house in the US, behind only the White House.
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In his memoir, Spare, Harry described the visit to Graceland as “claustrophobic.”
“Everyone kept saying, ‘Well, well, so this is where The King lived.’ ‘Who?’, ‘The King, Elvis Presley’, ‘Oh, The King. Right,’” Harry said.
“People variously called the house a castle, a mansion, a palace. But it reminded me of the badger sett. Dark, claustrophobic. I walked around saying, ‘The King lived here, you say? Really?’”
“I stood in one tiny room with loud furniture and shag carpet and thought, ‘The King’s interior designer must have been on acid.’”
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Harry added: “In honour of Elvis, every member of the bridal party wore blue suede shoes. At the reception, there was much kicking up of those shoes. Young British men and women dancing drunkenly and singing gleefully without pitch or rhythm. It was riotous, ridiculous. And Guy looked happier than I’d ever seen him.”
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Animals make our lives a bit more special. Owning a pet means having a friend who will never judge you or question your choices.
But what happens to the pets when their owners die? Apparently, some continue to live lavish lifestyles thanks to the fortune their humans left them.
Yes, if you didn’t know, animals can inherit money and others valuable possessions.
A woman named Ellen Frey-Wouters was a proud owner of two beautiful cats, Troy and Tiger. She took really good care of them and had them ever since they were little babies. Knowing that after her passing the cats could end up on the streets, she decided to leave all of her money to them, which was around $300,000.
Ellen also assigned a carer for her animals, a woman named Dahlia Grizzle, who is now looking after the cats as Ellen died recently at the age of 88.
During her life, Ellen suffered many loses. Her husband passed away in 1989 and her only child died when he was still very young, so Ellen found comfort in her cats’ company.
In case Troy and Tiger pass away, the remaining fortune would be handed to Ellen’s sister.
As for now, the cats are living a very comfortable life. They sleep on big beds with sheets of silk and have food prepared specially for them.
This decision shocked many, but this isn’t the first time that someone leaves their fortune to their pets.
There are plenty of stories about people who did what Ellen had done.
When Leona Helmsley, a billionaire from New York known for her arrogance, died, it was her dog who inherited her fortune.
What are your thoughts on this? Do you believe what these two women did was the right thing to do?
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Jayne Mansfield was definitely born to be a star. The moment she appeared on the big screen, millions fell for her charm and distinctive looks. She was promoted at the time as the “Marilyn Monroe King-Size,” and her provocative figure turned her into the sex symbol of the ’50s.
This beauty was born Vera Jayne Palmer on April 19, 1933, in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Her father, who was a musician and passed down to his daughter the love for singing and the violin, died when she was just three years old. Her mother later re-married and the family moved to Dallas, Texas. Speaking of her childhood, Jayne once said, “Something went out of my life,” she said. “My earliest memories are the best. I always try to remember the good times when Daddy was alive.”
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The aspiring actress who dreamed of experiencing the glamour of the Hollywood life married her first husband Paul Mansfield even before graduating from high-school. She and then 20-year-old Paul went to to study acting at the Southern Methodist University and welcomed their daughter Jayne Marie Mansfield in their lives a year after tying the knot.
Jayne’s curves were both a curse and a blessing. She had a hard time finding a job as an actress because producers and directors believed she was too provocative. However, her body would later become her trademark.
At the time she auditioned both for Paramount and Warner Brothers, Jayne was noticed by Milton Lewis, the head of casting at Paramount. ”I had been to three different universities and two or three dramatic schools before I went to Hollywood, preparing myself for my hoped career as an actress. I did a soliloquy for Joan of Arc for Milton Lewis who was head of casting at Paramount Studios in order to audition. And he seemed to think I was wasting my ”obvious talents”. He lightened my hair and tightened my dresses, and this is the result,” she said of him.
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In 1955, Jayne landed a role in the movie Female Jungle and was named the Playmate of the Month and featured on the cover of Playboy Magazine.
Soon after, her name started becoming more and more popular and she appeared in a number of movies including the comedy Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?, the Western The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw, The Burglar, and Too Hot to Handle.
Beautiful Jayne married three times and had five children. She was the first actress to film nude scenes, for which some of her movies were censored. She died in a car crash when her vehicle collided with a tractor trailer. Her then-boyfriend Sam Brody and the car’s driver died at the scene while the actress’ three children who were also in the car were uninjured. Gorgeous Jayne Mansfield was 34 when she left this world.
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Jayne’s daughter Mariska Hargitay was just three when her mother died. She then moved in with her dad Mickey Hargitay.
Mariska is now 58 and a famous actress herself. She followed into her star mother’s footsteps and that’s her way of keeping Jayne’s legacy alive. Throughout the years, Mariska was advised by many to change her name and her looks, so that she resembles her late mother even more than she already does and take on provocative roles, but she refused that multiple times.
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Mariska is best known for the role of Olivia Benson in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. The series aired back in 1999 and it’s still on and very popular.
The actress says that being a daughter of such a huge star like Jayne Mansfield feels precious, although there is always the pressure of achieving her mom’s success, just like with most actors who follow into their famous parents’ footsteps. “I used to hate constant references to my mom because I wanted to be known for myself,” she told Closer. “Losing my mother at such a young age is the scar of my soul.”
Mariska sometimes posts photos of her mother, and the one above, in which she and Jayne are side by side, shows that she is a spitting image of her mom, the pinup icon.
“Being a wife and mother is my life, and that gives me the most joy,” Mariska said of her mom speaking to The Closer Weekly. “I understand [my mother] in a new way that gives me peace. Now I understand the love she had in her, and it makes me feel closer to her.”
In 2013, the stars of Marishka and Jayne Mansfield on the Hollywood Walk of Fame were placed side by side.
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Mariska has been married to husband Peter Hermann, an actor and producer. The day she met his is still a memorable one.
“He was very handsome, and it was distracting,” she recalled in an interview with Insider. “Then he would come back the other day, and all the producers would look at me and give me eyes. I’d never been like that to anyone ever. It was funny because I was single, I was 35, and my friends were like, ‘Mariska, you need to get out more, nobody’s going to show up on your show and ask you to marry them.’”
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As they started dating and time passed by, Mariska suddenly began to have misgivings and she and Peter decided to part ways. It was an extremely difficult moment, and they both cried as they conversed.
Luckily, they were able to work through their differences and decided to spend their lives together.
On her 40th birthday, Peter said of his wife, “I think I got a look at what she is like when she is planted, when she is in the soil she’s designed to be planted in. And I wanted to be that soil. Something like that!”
Mariska and Peter welcomed their first child, August, in June 2006. However, they wanted more children and decided to adopt.
In 2011, they adopted Amaya Josephine after attending her birth.
“I basically pulled Amaya out,” Mariska told Good Housekeeping when the girl turned one year old. “Peter and I held her, and then the birth mother and I hugged for a long time. That was profound. That was one of the most meaningful moments I’ve ever had in my life.”
A few months later, they adopted another child, son Andrew Nicholas.
“Being a wife and mother is my life, and that gives me the most joy,” she told Closer Weekly. “I understand [my mother] in a new way that gives me peace. Now I understand the love she had in her, and it makes me feel closer to her.”
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Ever since she became part of the royal family, Kate Middleton has been a much loved person and a fascinating public figure.
She is an exceptional woman who seems to be carrying a lot of weight on her shoulders, especially now that she received the title Princess of Wales. Being a Princess, a mother, and a future Queen, or Queen Consort at least, she has her hands busy at all times, but she still manages to perform everything with excellence.
Recently, the couple left Kensington Palace in favor of Adelaide Cottage, just a 10-minute walk from Windsor Castle, which marks another change since Queen Elizabeth’s passing. The children attend new school, and the last couple of months have truly been hectic for the Prince and Princess of Wales.
On top of everything, the royals now have to deal with the accusations brought up in Harry’s all-tell memoir Spare. As expected, he revealed plenty of things about the members of the Firm, and Kate, his sister-in-law, wasn’t spared either.
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However, no one from the Palace made any comments regarding Harry’s book or the interviews he’s giving to the media. What’s most, besides speaking of her and revealing details of her private life, Kate is said not to be very angry as she is “totally immersed” in her work and reportedly too busy “to take much notice.”
With Charles acceding to the throne, Kate and her husband William were handed much bigger and more meaningful responsibilities, most of which close to Kate’s heart. Among the rest, Kate became the patron of English rugby after Prince Harry’s departure from the royal fold.
At the time being, Kate is said to be getting ready to launch a brand new campaign to help children and future generations.
This isn’t the first time the lovely Princess to be doing something meaningful for the children in need. Throughout the years, she has worked tirelessly to highlight social issues such as child care in hospitals and homelessness among children.
“Of course, there have been other distractions but the princess has had far more important things on her mind. It’s an important and exciting time,” a royal source told Mirror.
“The campaign she has been working on really is the result of several months behind the scenes (and) will launch a new three to five year programme.”
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Further, the source added, “(Kate) spends a lot of time reading, meeting and speaking with professionals across the entire field – but this isn’t just one project, it’s an opportunity to make generational change for all our children.
“There are a number of creative parts in the process for parents and non-parents to be involved across the country with lots more to come and the hope is as many people as possible, from those in the medical and academic world as well as parents and non-parents, join the journey.”
Despite being busy performing royal duties, Kate still finds time for herself.
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Growing up in the countryside, Kate is used to being outdoors and enjoying the nature.
“I’m very lucky I’ve come from a very strong family. My parents were hugely dedicated to us – myself and my siblings. I really appreciate now, as a parent, how much they sacrificed for us,” Middleton said on the Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast.
“They would come to every sports match, I was very keen on sport, they’d be the ones on the sidelines shouting. We’d always have our family holidays together. I think the things that resonate with me most are the simple things, and I think I see that even with my own children.”
She is helping her children get ready for school and helps them with their studying, but at the same time, she manages to find little time to exercise.
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According to the Daily Mail, her routine involves a move called the plank which is similar to a push-up, only with one’s forearms resting on the ground.
“There are three elements; the basic plank, the side plank, and the prone skydive, all of which are positions Kate can hold for 45 seconds or longer and repeat at least ten times each,” the source told the Daily Mail.
“The side plank requires you to balance on your side, holding your body straight with feet together and one arm flexed directly under your shoulder.
“Meanwhile, the prone sky dive plank is slightly less excruciating, as you have to lie on your tummy and gently raise your chest off the floor until your tummy muscles beg for mercy,” the source added.
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She also works out with an inflated gym ball and plays sorts, including hockey and tennis, as well as cross-country running. What’s most, she often joins her kids on the trampoline which is in their garden. “It’s running around after the children – I do it all. Whenever I can squeeze in exercise, I do, even jumping on the trampoline with my children before school,” Kate revealed, as per Express UK.
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In life, it happens that we meet someone and we instantly know that’s the person we would like to spend our eternity with. However, not everyone is lucky enough to match with their soulmate during the adventure called life, so when you do, make sure you grab that individual firmly and never let go their side.
An 80-year-old man brought breakfast and flowers to his wife who was in a nursing home. Someone who has spotted him doing this each morning asked him about his wife and why she was staying at the facility. The man replied that she suffered from Alzheimer’s.
“Would your Wife be worried if one day you didn’t come and bring her breakfast?” the curious person asked the elderly man. The man then replied, “She doesn’t remember. She doesn’t even know who I am, she hasn’t recognized me for five years.”
Surprised, the person asked yet another question, “So why do you bring your wife breakfast every morning, even though she doesn’t even recognize you?” With a smile on his face, the devoted husband answered, “She doesn’t know who I am, but I know who she is.”
This has truly touched our hearts to the core.
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Although the name Pattie Mallette might not sound familiar at first, this woman is the mother of one of the greatest pop stars of today, Justin Bieber.
Mallette’s life had been a troubled one. She had her son at the age of just 17, and today, she’s a fixture in Justin Bieber’s world.
In her 2013 book Nowhere but Up: The Story of Justin Bieber’s Mom, Mallette opened up of her childhood struggles and revealed that she had been sexually abused multiple times by different people while growing up.
She was molested by a babysitter as well as a friend’s grandfather. “I was sexually violated so many times that as the years went by it began to feel normal,” she wrote. “It’s a strange marriage—knowing something is wrong yet at the same time finding it familiar and commonplace.”
Unfortunately, these experiences led to alcohol and drug abuse, something Mallette struggled with as a teenager. “I’ve learned it’s normal and natural for anybody who’s been through sexual abuse to carry that shame and that blame and feel like there’s something wrong with you,” she said on the Today Show. “So I definitely carried that.”
At the age of 17, Mallette attempted suicide. As a result, she ended up at a mental facility and learned that she was pregnant mere months after leaving the place. She and her child’s father, Jeremy Bieber, dated ever since she was 15, but they were involved in an on-and-off relationship. At one point in her life, she was selling drugs and got engaged in small-time theft.
She gave birth to Justin Bieber in London, Ontario, on March 1, 1994.
Although she has been a single mother, she dedicated her world to her son. It was Mallette who knew her son was very talented for singing so she signed him up for the 2007 Stratford Star talent competition, where he placed second singing “So Sick” by Ne-Yo.
In order for her family and friends to see Justin singing, Mallette posted videos of him on YouTube and that’s when someone influential noticed his talent. Well, the rest is history.
Today, besides publishing a book which was number 17 on New York Times’ Bestseller List, Mallette is also a producer.
This woman had a non-traditional childhood but she still managed to raise her son the right way and help him become a superstar.
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In a world full of people who possess immense talents, only a handful manage to reach stardom and make a name for themselves. So what does it take to become a celebrity? I guess that despite talent and determination, one needs to be lucky as well.
Troy Donahue was a very skilled young man who stole the hearts of many with his acting, and above all, his looks.
During the 50’s and the 60’s, Donahue was considered one of the most handsome young men who took Hollywood by storm. He was blond, tall, well-built, and had blue eyes. Along with his talent, it was a perfect combination for success and Donahue was soon dubbed America’s heartthrob.
Sadly, the circumstances surrounding him led his life to become a complete mess.
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Being born to a mother who was a stage actress, Donahue fell in love with acting from early age. Speaking to People magazine back in 1984, the Summer Place actor said, ”I can remember always being exposed to Broadway and theater people. I can remember sitting with Gertrude Lawrence while she read her reviews in ‘The King and I.’”
Donahue studied journalism at Columbia University but he never stopped dreaming of becoming and actor, and during the time he hit screens for the first time, he already had an agent and changed his birth name, Merle Johnson, to Troy Donahue.
”At first, they had Paris, the lover of Helen of Troy in mind. But I guess they thought they couldn’t name me Paris Donahue because there was already a Paris, France and Paris, Illinois,” he said.
Troy Donahue as Parrish McLean, Sharon Hugueny (1944 – 1996, left) as Paige Raike, and Diane McBain as Alison Post, in a promotional portrait for ‘Parrish’, directed by Delmer Daves, 1961. (Photo by Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)
He made his film debut with Man Afraid and signed with Warner Bros two years later.
”They’d asked me to light a cigarette, and when I did, they screamed and fell down,” Donahue recalled.
However, despite becoming a famous name in the industry, he wasn’t well-paid. ”I was living like a movie star but wasn’t being paid like one,” he revealed and added: “I lived way over my head and got into great trouble.”
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During the course of his life, he was married four times, and each of his marriages ended in divorce. The reason why his love life, and his life in general, didn’t go as planned was due to his alcohol addiction.
”I was loaded all the time. I’d wake up about 6:30 in the morning, take three aspirins mixed with codeine, slug down half a pint of vodka, and then do four lines of cocaine,” he shared.
According to him, his addiction wasn’t the reason his career declined, because he was never drunk while on set. Sadly, he had a hard time battling alcoholism and shared that he started drinking when he was still very young, it had nothing to do with the way his career progressed.
Connie Stevens seduces Troy Donahue in a scene from the film ‘Susan Slade’, 1961. (Photo by Warner Brothers/Getty Images)
He only stopped drinking after his final marriage failed and he finally asked for professional help in May 1982. ”I look upon my sobriety as a miracle. I simply do it one day at a time. The obsession to not drink has become as big as the obsession to drink. I was very fortunate.”
When he finally got on the right track, Donahue met this woman he used to date and she told him that he had a 13-year-old son, Sean. It was then that she decided to tell him she gave birth because she knew he wasn’t an addict any longer.
The boy looked exactly like Donahue and he didn’t even need a DNA test to prove that Sean was indeed his son.
Around this time, he was only getting roles in B-list movies, but that didn’t concern him much.
American actor and singer Troy Donahue wearing a dark blue tuxedo and bow tie, attending an unspecified event, location unspecified, circa 1995. (Photo by Vinnie Zuffante/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Troy Donahue died in 2001 at the age of 65 due to heart attack.
Since getting sober, he led a healthy lifestyle and maintained a great relationship with the son he learned of later in life.
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