Top 10 Famous People Who were Adopted

It does not matter where you come from as long as you reach where you want to. Lineage, birthplace and other details are impertinent before a person’s endeavour to build up his/her fortune. There are a number of famous people who have an alternate identity of being adopted children. Being adopted in their childhood eventually did not deter them from dreaming big. Adoption can often turn into a sensitive issue with apprehensions of an impending confrontation between adopted children and their parents, in case the truth is hidden for a long time. At times, adoptive parents have to play a greater role than other parents. That happens in order to make the children feel secure about their existence. Adoption is a noble thing to do as one ends up providing a home for somebody who is in need of one. Off late, many celebrities like Angelina Jolie and Nicole Kidman have walked the extra mile and have happily taken the responsibility of a few young helpless infants. Natural calamities and other unfortunate events often destroy families and human lives crumble in a whisker. As fellow-beings, it is almost our duty to help those orphans who are left behind and give them a good life. Who knows those very children may grow up and become as famous as those whom I am going to mention below. Here,I present Top 10 Famous People Who Were Adopted. Read on.

 10. Dave Thomas

 

It is possible that many of us are not aware of the name Dave Thomas but I am sure that many of us have heard about KFC and Wendy’s Hamburgers. Dave Thomas was the head chef of Kentucky Fried Chicken and later on opened his own chain of restaurants called Wendy’s. A survey carried out in the 1990s showed that 90% of Americans knew who Thomas was. He was born on 2nd July, 1932 to an unmarried woman. When he was just six weeks old, he was adopted by Rex and Auleva Thomas. Dave Thomas also went on to create Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, perhaps in a bid to help all those with whom he could relate to....

 9. Ingrid Bergman

 

This actress of Swedish origin has got three Academy Awards in her kitty. Did you know that she too was an adopted child? Battling against all odds she proved her worth. She was very young when she lost her parents and went on to live with an aunt. After encountering successive tragedies, she found a guardian in the form of her uncle. She is best known for her roles in films like Casablanca, For Whom the Bell Tolls and Alfred Hitchcock’s Notorious.

 8. Richard Burton

  

He has been best remembered by a section of the media as Elizabeth Taylor’s second husband but he is much more than that. He has acted in a number of movies, including Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and My Cousin Rachel. He eventually got nominated for seven Academy awards. He was born on 19 November, 1925 in an economically deprived family. After braving against poverty for many years and even losing his mother at a young age, he was eventually adopted by his school headmaster Philip Burton. Besides being a successful actor, he has had academic inclinations.

 7. Babe Ruth

 

This baseball legend lost 6 out of his 7 siblings during his childhood. Then after, he was placed in an orphanage by his parents, keeping in mind their poverty. During his career spanning for around 20 years, he played for top-notch teams like New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Boston Braves. He broke many records and created many more.His childhood was not particularly hunky-dory and baseball came as a breath of fresh air for him. His interest in baseball was inculcated during his stay at St. Mary’s School.

6. John Lennon

 

This founding member of the famous boy band Beatles took the world by a storm with his acoustic skills. After a bitter separation of his parents and being asked to choose between the two, Lennon eventually grew up under the care of his uncle and aunt. His partnership with the likes of Paul McCartney turned out to be the most successful in the world of music in the 20thcentury. After the Beatles got disbanded in 1970, he embarked on a solo career as an independent musician. He came out with a number of critically and commercially successful albums. In 2008, the magazine Rolling Stone adjudged him as the 5thgreatest singer and songwriter of all time.

 5. Edgar Allan Poe

 

Poe is considered as a revered American author, literary critic and poet of the 19th century. His works, in the form of the poem ‘The Raven’ and the story ‘The Purloined Letter’, catapulted him to instant fame and attention. He lost his mother at a young age, after being abandoned by his father before-hand. John and Frances Allan took him under their wings but never formally adopted him. Nevertheless, he found his true calling in literature and poetry and the rest is history.

 4. Steve Jobs

 

Did you know that Steve Jobs, who made ‘Apple’ a household name, was actually an adopted child ?Ashton Kutcher is about to bring this man to life on the 70 mm celluloid in his movie, aptly titled ‘Jobs’. Jobs lost his battle for life to pancreatic cancer and the world lost a gem.He has been under constant media glare till he died and even after his death, the curiosity surrounding Jobs has failed to die. This famous entrepreneur in turn had an eventful early life. He was born out of wedlock and his father put him up for adoption, when his biological mother’s family resented the whole episode. Paul and Clara Jobs were his adoptive parents.

 3. Marilyn Monroe

Monroe has been a distinguished fashion icon and actress of her era and has retained a demi-god status among fashion enthusiasts even today. Who can forget her famous shot in a flowing LWD (Little White Dress), sporting a cropped hair-do and scarlet red lip hue? Her childhood and birth details have remained shrouded in a mystery till today. Such was the case that at a point of time , she even refused to acknowledge her biological father and that she was related to him. She spent her early life in foster homes before venturing into the modeling circuit and then Hollywood happened. She is seen as this quintessential American blonde icon even today.

 2. Bill Clinton

 

Bill Clinton has been the 42nd President of The United States of America and the second one in the history of its constitution to be impeached from office. He has acted as an able President and has been loved by his people although, his tenure has been marked with certain controversies.The post Cold-War era is often called the Clinton era. He was a member of the Democratic party and is often called the ‘New Democrat’. He uses the surname of his step-father, the man whom his mother married after his biological father’s death. “We must work tirelessly to make sure that every boy and girl in America who is up for adoption has a family waiting to reach him or her. This is a season of miracles, and perhaps there is no greater miracle than finding a loving home for a child who needs one.” – Bill Clinton

1.  Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela has received world-wide appreciation and recognition for being the first undeterred voice against the practice of Apartheid in South Africa. He acted as the first black President of South Africa from 1994-1999.Recently he has been in the news because of his ailing health.After he lost his father at the age of 9, the chief of the Thembu clan adopted him. This was seen as his goodwill gesture towards the services of Mandela’s father. One can gauge Mandela’s popularity from the fact that his birthday on 18th July is called the Mandela Day, to commemorate the peaceful activism done by the man himself.