Sometimes the most gifted and brilliant people have the most tragic lives.
And somehow, this Hollywood star has been able to continue with his passion and entertain despite the trauma he’s endured in his life.
His father was murdered
Some say his voice sounds like a cigar savoring fine whiskey by a crackling fire. He’s also been praised as one of the best characters in one of the greatest comedy series ever aired on American television.
Today, at 70, he remains one of the most respected actors in the U.S. And the six-time Emmy winner shows no signs of slowing down. Maybe that’s because he’s learned to cherish everything life has to offer, given the unimaginable hardships he’s endured.
Born in 1955 in Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, this Hollywood icon’s childhood was already fractured by his parents’ divorce. After his parents’ split, he was raised in New Jersey by his mother and maternal grandparents.
When he was twelve years old, his grandfather, Gordon, died of cancer. His grandfather meant the world to the young actor.
After his father left and stayed behind in the Virgin Islands, his grandfather had become the most important man in his life. But his grandfather’s death from cancer — likely linked to years of alcohol abuse — hit him hard. Toward the end of his life, his grandfather grew less patient with the boy.
“And that begun the idea that there was something wrong with me,” he recalled in 1999.
A year later came the next, terrible blow: at just 13 years old, his father was shot and killed outside his home by a stranger. The killer was found not guilty by reason of insanity, leaving him feeling utterly helpless.
