It seems like we're always learning something new about our favorite stars, but how much do you know about the people who raised them? Sometimes, their greatness can come down to how they grew up and how they spent their childhoods. These are some of the biggest celebrities who could have been brought up in a totally different family...
Faith Hill
Born and raised in the town of Jackson, Mississippi, this country star started her life with a different family. She was adopted while still a newborn into a family with two older brothers. She joined the Baptist church her family belonged to and learned how to sing songs and play guitar there. Now, she's a worldwide success!
Nicole Richie
It's pretty common for celebrities to adopt, but not all of those kids become celebs in their own right. Nicole was raised by rockstar legend Lionel Richie and his now-ex-wife Brenda Harvey-Richie in California. Though it's never been confirmed, there are rumors that one of Nicole's biological parents is a former bandmate of Lionel. At age nine, she officially became part of the Richie family.
Kristin Chenoweth
Junie and Jerry Chenoweth adopted little baby Kristin at only five days old. The Chenoweth family raised their new little girl in the state of Oklahoma. There, she began perfecting her singing chops and started performing in the local church circuit. She was a legend around town before she even entered high school, but even more so to this day.
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe lived in various foster homes throughout her youth as her unmarried mother couldn't afford to care for them both. A family friend, Grace McKee Goddard, fostered Marilyn at age 11 and would eventually become the child's legal guardian. When she was only 16, Marilyn got married so that she could escape the foster care system and pursue her acting career. It was a long road to a good life...
Jenna Ushkowitz
You might know her from Glee, but this actress could have been someone entirely different had she not been adopted from Seoul, South Korea as a three-month-old baby. Her adoptive parents raised their baby in the neighborhood of East Meadow, New York, with their other son, Gregg. She's gone on to create Kindred: The Foundation for Adoption, which assists adoptees and their families with valuable resources and support.
Jamie Foxx
Before he was a world-famous actor, Jamie Foxx was a child of divorce. When his parents split up, it was his maternal grandmother who took him in at just seven months old. He was raised for his whole life in the town of Terrell, Texas. There, he joined a local church choir and fell in love with singing, performing, and later, acting.
Debbie Harry
Debbie Harry is better known by the stage name Blondie, but before she was on a stage she was stuck in the foster care system. Adopted by Richard and Catherine Harry, she was only three months old when she found her new life. Throughout her life, she sang in local religious choirs in her hometown of Hawthorne, New Jersey. There, she found a love for singing but wanted to pursue an edgier sound.
Ray Liotta
Remember this Goodfellas actor? Adopted at six months old, Ray Liotta went on to become a beloved actor. His adoptive parents, Mary and Alfred Liotta owned a small town auto parts store and were active in their community and town politics. The family also adopted a little girl named Linda, and together they all lived in Newark, New Jersey throughout Ray's childhood.
Sarah McLachlan
Sarah was raised in Nova Scotia, Canada after being adopted at a very young age. Her adoptive parents funded her passion for music with voice lessons and guitar training. Her band, October Game, finally got their big break with a record deal when McLachlan was only 17. Unfortunately, the exciting deal didn't go through, but she found her way to success eventually.
Melissa Gilbert
Prior to starring in Little House on the Prarie, Melissa Gilbert was adopted into a show business-oriented family. From her birth, she was destined to be a star. Paul Gilbert and Barbara Crane, her adoptive parents, had both been career actors for several years, so they were more than happy to help Melissa with her own dreams of acting when she was just 10 years old.
Kelly Preston
Kelly's adoptive past is a bittersweet one. After her biological dad drowned in an accident when Kelly was just three years old, her mother started dating again. She eventually got remarried to Peter Palzis, who was a beloved stepfather to Kelly. He adopted the young star a few years later. She attended the University of Southern California after growing up in Hawaii and Australia. She studied theater and drama.
Frances McDormand
Born in Chicago, Illinois, actress Frances McDormand was adopted from a very young age. The McDormand family also adopted her siblings. Together, they moved frequently around the country, eventually landing in Pennsylvania. There, she began to pursue acting while she was still in high school. After graduating, she went to the prestigious Yale School of Drama to become one of the best in her craft.
Colin Kaepernick
In another timeline, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback could have been playing for the Green Bay Packers. He was adopted in 1987 by his parents Rick and Teresa Kaepernick, who had lost two sons at birth to congenital heart failure. He was only five weeks old at the time. He was previously born to a nineteen-year-old Heidi Russo in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He has never met his birth mother and does not know the identity of his birth father.
Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi
She might have claimed to be a Jersey Shore girl, but Snooki was actually born in Santiago, Chile. At six months old, she was adopted by Helen and Andre Polizzi. The couple raised their little girl in Marlboro, New York. "I was always meant to be with my adoptive parents," she said in her Youtube video, "which I hate saying adoptive parents because they're my parents, it's weird." She's always known about her status as an adopted child.
Steve Jobs
Once upon a time, two parents gave up one of the smartest businessmen to an adopting couple. Steven Paul Jobs was born in 1955 to Joanne Schieble and Abdulfattah Jandali. He was adopted as a baby by Clara and Paul Jobs. When Jobs was 27, he decided to search for his birth parents. He discovered that the Jandali family eventually was married and had a child together. He reportedly would get angry with people who referred to Paul and Clara as his "adoptive parents."
Simone Biles
Simone Biles and her sister, Adria, had a tough time growing up. "My biological mom was suffering from drug and alcohol abuse and she was in and out of jail," Biles revealed on a TV show. At the age of three, Biles' maternal grandparents stepped up to the plate to care for the children. Ron and Nellie Biles raised the kids in Texas and legally adopted their grandchildren as their own in 2003.
Nelson Mandela
When he was only 12 years old, Nelson Madela's biological father passed away due to lung disease. Mandela was later adopted by Chief Jongintaba Dalindyebo, the leader of the Thembu people as a way to honor his father. He relocated from the remote village he was born into the Chief's capital city residence. With this new livelihood, he was able to receive an education and become the activist we know today.
Lee Majors
Lee Majors was the son of Carl and Alice Yeary. Tragically, both of his parents passed away in separate incidents. Nevertheless, he was left without any caretakers by the age of two. His paternal aunt and uncle adopted the toddler and raised him with their family out in Kentucky. He didn't know about his status until he was a teenager. "I made up my mind right then that my stepparents would never regret having adopted me," he said.
Ice-T
No, his real name is not Ice-T. Known to his parents as Tracey Lauren Marrow, the SVU actor was a mere eight years old when he lost his mother. Four years later, his beloved father suffered a heart attack that took his life. Ice-T was forced to move to Los Angeles to live with his aunt, who eventually adopted the star. He began acting while living in the city.
Tim McGraw
This celebrity is actually the secret child of another celebrity. Raised by Betty Smith, it wasn't until 1967 that singer-songwriter Tim McGraw learned that his father, Horace Smith, was not his biological father. At age 11 he discovered that Horace was not his dad, but it was actually a professional baseball player, Tug McGraw. The player abandoned the family after learning that Betty was pregnant. The two didn't begin a relationship until Tim was 18.
George Lopez
When George Lopez was two months old, his father walked out on him and his family. Ten years later, his mother followed that lead and abandoned her son. His maternal grandmother, Benita Gutierrez, cared for the ten-year-old comedian. He was raised in Los Angeles with Gutierrez and her husband, Refugio, where he ultimately found career success.
Andy Dick
Born in Charleston and adopted at birth, the comedian was raised by a married couple, Allen and Sue Dick. He lived for 40 years before meeting his birth parents, who gave him up due to being unwed and not ready for children. "There was a book about adoption called The Primal Wound. The first sentence says, just so you know, you have a primal wound that will never heal," Dick told Hollywood News. "I closed the book and never read it."
Skrillex
Imagine finding out that your longtime family friends were actually your birth parents. That's what happened to Sonny "Skrillex" Moore. He was sixteen when he learned the true status of his parentage was that his adopted parents were friends of his biological parents. His adopted parents were Scientologists and he grew up under these teachings, though has since denounced them.
Jack Nicholson
Raised by Ethel May and John Nicholson in New Jersey, Jack always believed that these were his parents. When he was 27 years old, a Time reporter interviewed him and revealed that Ethel May and John were not his parents but actually his maternal grandparents. His real mother was who he thought was his sister, June Nicholson. Sadly, all of these people had already passed away and he never learned their story.
Keegan-Michael Key
Keegan-Michael Key was adopted at birth and raised in Detroit, Michigan with his adoptive family. Like his birth parents, it was an interracial marriage. These parents later divorced, although his father remarried. When he was 25, Keegan Michael was finally able to meet his birth mother, who revealed that he had two siblings, one of whom was a famous comic book author Dwayne McDuffie. Sadly, they had already passed away at that point.
Gerald R. Ford
Some people are born into greatness and others have greatness thrust upon them. At age 12, the young president discovered the truth of his parentage, his "father" was actually his stepfather and had legally adopted him when he was young. He also learned that he once went by a different name. He was once named Leslie Lynch King Jr. but was renamed after his stepfather, Gerald R. Ford Jr.
Gary Coleman
Not all adoption stories are good ones. Actor Gary Coleman was a successful child star thanks to the support from his adoptive parents, Sue and W.G. Coleman. The couple adopted him at birth. As an adult though, he was forced to sue his parents regarding issues with handling his hard-earned wages. When they both passed away in 2010, Coleman was not in contact with either of them and stays largely under the radar now.
JC Chasez
Did you know this boy bander was adopted when he was five years old? Born in 1976, his biological mother knew she would not be able to properly care for her new son. Instead of raising him herself, she asked her own foster parents, Roy and Karen Chasez, to raise him for her. The child became a family member and was adopted when he was five. He would later become a singer with NSYNC.
Michael Oher
Michael Oher's story is a well known one. After attending his high school, Briarcrest, he caught the attention of several football coaches. However, his troubled upbringing with an alcoholic mother and imprisoned father left him without a lot of support, financial or otherwise. Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy, a couple with kids at the same school, housed and eventually adopted Michael into their family. His story is chronicled in the book and movie The Blind Side.
Bill Clinton
Before he was President of the US, Bill Clinton had to go through personal trials and tribulations. His biological father passed away when his mother was still pregnant. She worked and parented the child on her own until she was remarried to Clinton's stepdad, Roger Clinton. The man went on to raise Bill like his own soon and always saw him as such. Bill Clinton even legally changed his last name to that of his stepfather when he turned 15.
Apl.de.ap
Born into poverty in the Philippines, the Black Eyed Peas singer always knew life would take him down a different path, but he never knew just how different. At age 14, he was brought to the United States thanks to an American sponsor named Joe Ben Hudgens. Hudgens brought him overseas to give him a new life and eventually legally adopted the star.
Eleanor Roosevelt
Even Eleanor Roosevelt has a history with the adoption system. The First Lady was only 10 years old when she joined her two younger brothers who were put into the care of Mary Ludlow Hall, their grandmother. They moved to Manhattan, New York to live with her after their mother died of diphtheria and her father passed two years later.
Daunte Culpepper
When his biological mom was serving time in prison, she had no idea that her pregnancy would become a future NFL legend. He was adopted by Emma Culpepper at just one day old. Culpepper was a giving woman, raising over 15 adoptees throughout her life. When she passed in 2007, Duante said in an interview, "It was the best thing that happened to me in my whole life. I never really had a man in my life. She was my mother and my father."
John Lennon
John Lennon lived most of his life not under the care of his parents, but under the watchful eyes of his Aunt Mimi. After his parents split when he was four years old, John was sent away due to his mother being unable to care for him. When he was 18, he got his final moments with his mother before she ultimately passed away in a car accident. The year was 1958.
Lance Armstrong
Before he was the controversial biker that we know today, Lance Armstrong was just another kid running around (or rather, biking around) the streets of Plano, Texas. Upon his birth in 1971, he was given the full proper name Edward Gunderson. He didn't get to revel in the name for long though. Once his mother Linda remarried, he was still a very young child. Terry Armstrong, his stepfather, legally adopted him and gave him the name he has today.
Liz Phair
Singer Liz Phair is a child that grew up with nonbiological parents. She was born to her biological mom in New Haven, Connecticut, but was adopted by Illinois couple Nancy and John Phair, who raised her and her adopted brother in their home state. In 2006, Phair told Women's Health, "My parents were very responsible. They said, 'We wanted you more than anything in the whole world.' They were perfect about it."
Richard Burton
Originally named Richard Jenkins, Burton was born to a poor family in southern Wales. At the age of two, his mother passed away, leaving behind 13 children. Richard was the second youngest. Cecilia, his aunt on his father's side, took him in as his father was unfit to care for all the kids alone. In 1943, his teacher and guardian Phillip Burton informally adopted him. He took on his last name when he reached 18.
Eric Clapton
At age 16, Eric Clapton's mother became unexpectedly pregnant with the soon-to-be songwriter. Instead of being raised by his mother though, he was raised by his maternal grandparents and led to believe that his mother was his sister. The grandparents pretended to be his real parents throughout his life and were his legal guardians until he became a legal adult at the age of 18.
Ingrid Bergman
Ingrid Bergman is one of Hollywood's most famous classic film stars, but there was a tragedy in her past. She lost her mother only three days after her birth and was raised solely by her dad. Justus Bergman, her father, cared for his daughter until he too passed away when she was just a 12-year-old girl. From there, Ingrid traveled between her various aunts or uncle's homes until she made it as a big-time actress.
Eartha Kitt
Born in 1927 on a South Carolina cotton farm, Eartha was raised by a woman who she believed was her mother named Anna Mae Riley. She eventually went to live in NYC with Anna Mae's sister, who she believed was her aunt, Mamie Kitt. This turned out to be her biological mother. Her father remains a mystery. She only knows that he was white and owned the farm Mamie had worked on.
Lana Condor
Born in Thailand as Tran Dong Lan, Lana was adopted by the Condor family after a few months of living in an orphanage. She also has a brother who is adopted. Her adopted father, Bob Condor, has been twice nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for his work in journalism. He was also previously the vice president of Yahoo Sports Media.
Jacob Sartorius
Before he dated Millie Bobby Brown or starred in Youtube videos, Jacob could have been another kid in Tulsa, OK. After being born there, he was adopted by his new family because his birth parents were unable to care for him. They moved him to Virginia and he grew up in Reston, VA. By the age of 7, Sartorius began to pursue performing online, in local musicals, and in school. He was always naturally drawn to the spotlight.
Jordan Fisher
Born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1994, Fisher's biological mom was 16 when she gave birth to her son. At the age of 11, he began to be raised by his maternal grandparents, Rodney and Pat Fisher, as well as his two siblings Cory and Trinity. His mother had difficulties with substance abuse and was unfit to care for the family. She has never had a relationship with any of her children despite Fisher's success.
Trace Cyrus
Trace Cyrus is the adopted brother to pop superstar Miley Cyrus. Born as Neil Timothy Helson in Ashland, Kentucky, he was the child of his mother's first marriage. His mother, Leticia "Tish" Cyrus, had him with Baxter Neal Helson. When she got remarried to Billy Ray Cyrus, the country star adopted Trace and moved the family to Thompson's Station, Tennessee. After being adopted, his name was changed Trace Dempsey Cyrus, as he was still very young.
Rachel Crow
Rachel had a tough childhood, growing up with a birth mother who raised Rachel in a crack house for a time. Barbara Crow, adopted the child a year after she was placed with them at only 6 months old. Rachel once said of her parentage in an interview, "I have two amazing parents already... It is crazy because everybody is like, 'She's not your real mom.' And I am like 'Yeah, she is!'"
Babe Ruth
Not much is known about the origins of this famous ballplayer, but one thing is for certain. When he was seven he was sent to live in an orphanage, despite having lived with his parents up until that point. He was sent to St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys. The orphanage doubled as a reform school, so it's believed that Ruth's troubled delinquency led him to some more extreme repercussions for his actions.
Keyisha Cole
Born on October 15, 1981, in Oakland, California, Cole was the child to another celebrity, though she didn't know it at the time. She is the biological daughter of a woman named Francine Lons and the prolific boxing trainer Virgil Hunter. She met her father when she was an adult, but she lived her first two years with her mom. At age two, she was adopted by Leon and Yvonne Cole, family friends who gave her their last name.
Dean Cain
Superman certainly didn't think of his own biological father as a hero. "He's not the kind of man I want to be," he said of his dad, "He was an unfaithful husband and not much of a father." Roger Tanaka, a U.S. serviceman, is his biological father. His mother, actress Sharon Thomas, was later able to remarry director Christopher Cain, who adopted the young star. Cain has never met his DNA father.
Nancy Reagan
Former First Lady Nancy Reagan was adopted by her stepfather when she was eight, but it was a long road to get there. She was the daughter of a car salesman named Kenneth Seymour Robbins and Edith Prescott Luckett, a famous actress. Her grandmother was a silent film star, Alla Nazimova. She lived with various family members until her mother found a suitable husband who would adopt her daughter.
Michael Bay
Michael Bay was given up to an adoption agency as a newborn and has never met, heard from, or sought out his birth parents. He was adopted into the Bay family by Harriet and Jim Bay. His mother worked as a child psychiatrist and owned a bookstore while his father was a Certified Public Accountant. He was raised Jewish.
David Berkowitcz
Born as the child of an illicit affair, Berkowitz's mother gave him up to avoid losing the affection of the married man she was having an affair with., Joseph Klineman. Pearl and Nathan Berkowitz, a couple living in the Bronx, adopted the child. His mother died when he was 14, and his childhood with the woman his father remarried was troubled, which likely contributed to his serial killings later in life.
Kristin Davis
After her parents divorced when she was only a baby, her fate was left up to her mother. Eventually, she was adopted by her stepfather, Keith Davis, who was a professor at the University of Colorado Boulder at the time. Her mother, Dorothy, met him when she was working as a university data analyst in 1968. She and her three step-siblings later moved with the family to South Carolina for her stepfather's work.
Jesse Jackson
Jackson was born to Helen Burns, a then-16-year-old high school student. His father was Noah Louis Robinson, a neighbor to Burns who was 33-year-old and married. After his birth, Helen married a post office maintenance worker, Charles Henry Jackson. Jackson later adopted the young activist. Despite taking his stepfather's name, he considered both men in his life to be a father.
Edgar Allan Poe
Poe's father abandoned his family only a year prior to the death of his mother from pulmonary tuberculosis. The young writer was then placed in the estate of John Allan, a Richmond, Virginia merchant who dealt everything from cloth to wheat, tombstones to tobacco, and even slaves. Though they never formally adopted him, he was considered to be a part of the family and took on their surname as his middle name.
Louis Armstrong
Born to Mary Albert and William Armstrong in New Orleans, this jazz legend was the child of teen pregnancy. His father abandoned the mother and son shortly after his birth. He was then raised by his grandmother until his mother was ready to care for him at age 5. The duo spent their years in poverty and living in a bad part of town nicknamed The Battlefield. A Jewish family he worked for often helped him out with food and music expenses.
Scott Hamilton
Born in Toledo, Ohio, Hamilton was adopted only after six weeks of being orphaned. Dorothy and Ernest Hamilton raised the boy in Bowling Green, OH. Both parents were professors. His parents' had two other children. Susan is their biological daughter and Steven was also adopted. Since not much is known about his past, his mysterious illness that resulted in him not growing caused alarms. Today it is thought to have been a brain tumor that cured itself.
Dave Thomas
Dave's biological father was named Sam and his biological mom was named Molly, but he doesn't know much else about them. He was adopted a short time after his birth by Rex and Auleva Thomas. He went on to become a spokesman for adoption, even creating the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. He spent parts of his youth in Kalamazoo, Michigan, with his grandmother whom he credits with teaching him to treat others with respect, a core value in his business life.
Newt Gingrich
His mother married a man who was not his biological father. Robert Gingrich later adopted the child and gave him his last name. His stepfather was a career Army man who served tours in both Korea and Vietnam. Candace and Susan Gingrich, and Roberta Brown are all his half-siblings from his mother's marriages. He also has a half-sister and half-brother, Randy McPherson, on his father's side of the family.
Langston Hughes
Like many others, after his parents divorced, Langston was raised by his maternal grandparents. His mother, Caroline "Carrie" Langston, was a schoolteacher and married James Nathaniel Hughes. His name was a product of his mother's former name and his father's last name. His father left shortly after he was born, abandoning not only Carrie and Langston but Langston's older sister as well.
James Baldwin
Born to Emma Berdis Jones, Baldwin grew up apart from his drug-addicted father. The two moved to Harlem where his mother later married a Baptist preacher named David Baldwin. The two of them had eight more children together, as well as her new husband's son from a previous marriage. They were in poverty, and Baldwin recalled being looked down upon by his stepfather, who he referred to only as his father in essays.