Alex Carson
For the most part, it seems that celebrities try to live fairly normal personal lives. The majority of celebrities end up getting married and having kids at some point in their lives, even if those marriages don’t always last very long. However, there are plenty of celebrity figures in the entertainment industry that have opted out of having children. Join Facts Verse as we take a look at how these celebrities don’t have kids, and now we know why.
Dolly Parton
One of the prime examples of a woman in the entertainment industry that has opted out of having kids is Dolly Parton. Some women in the entertainment industry have opted out of having kids because they haven’t been able to find the right long-term partner. However, this isn’t the reason that Dolly has passed on having kids. Dolly has been married to the same man for the duration of her career, and that man’s name is Carl Thomas Dean. They tied the knot all the way back in 1966, when Dolly was just starting out as a singer.
Given that Dolly and her husband have been happily married for over half of a century, many might wonder why the two have chosen not to have any kids. As it turns out, the reason that Dolly has passed on having kids over the years is because she prefers her career. According to Dolly, the reason that she’s been able to accomplish so much over the course of her career is because she doesn’t have kids.
It seems that Dolly’s decision not to have kids hasn’t bothered longtime husband Carl Dean. Carl rarely shows up in the spotlight, with the longtime husband preferring to keep to himself. It seems that Dolly and Carl Dean appreciate their time apart, which is arguably why their marriage has been able to last for so long while so many other marriages in the entertainment industry fall apart after only a few years.
Although Dolly Parton hasn’t had any children of her own, the beloved country singer likes to view herself as a mother figure of sorts to other peoples’ children. In the 1990s, Dolly founded the Imagination Library. The Imagination Library works to provide books to children, which is just one of many ways that Dolly has used her power to help kids. The singer has also recently released her first children’s album.
Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Aniston is another woman in the entertainment industry that has never had children. However, for Jennifer, not having kids was less of a conscious choice and more of something that just happened over time. Jennifer broke out into prominence in the 1990s thanks to her starring role on the hit sitcom Friends. As soon as Jennifer became a celebrity, the tabloids started speculating about her personal life. By the time that Friends came to an end in the 2000s, everyone was incredibly curious about when Jennifer was finally going to make the decision to settle down.
In the year 2000, while Friends was still on the air, Jennifer Aniston married movie star Brad Pitt. Many began speculating that the actress was making preparations to start a family. However, this never happened. In 2005, Jennifer and Brad divorced. Of course, many will know that the reason for Jennifer and Brad divorcing was because Brad had been unfaithful to his wife on the set of the film Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Brad starred in the film with Angelina Jolie. Over the course of it’s production, Angelina wooed Brad.
Today, we know that Brad’s infidelity towards first wife Jennifer had nothing to do with the couple not having children. However, tabloids at the time were quick to speculate the reason Brad cheated on Jennifer was because she refused to bear him children. According to Jennifer, these rumors were just another link in a chain of hurtful things that tabloids said regarding her choice not to have children. Tabloids have been obsessing over whether or not Jennifer is going to have kids for decades, and it seems that this is still occurring now that the actress is in her 50s.
Jennifer Aniston never made the conscious decision to never have kids. However, she didn’t want to have kids at the peak of her fame because she felt that it would hurt her career. Because of this, tabloids have labeled Jennifer over the years as someone who has put her career ahead of her family life. However, Jennifer claims that this isn’t entirely true. The actress has always been open to the idea of having children at some point, it’s just never occurred.
When critics disparage Jennifer as someone who has never had kids because she’s always been too focused on her career, the actress points to Dolly Parton for defense. Jennifer has been criticized for not having children, but Dolly hasn’t. Still, it seems that Jennifer has done some work in recent years to try and finally have a kid. Jennifer claims that she attempted to become pregnant via in vitro fertilization in the last couples of years, but that she had no success. Jennifer is currently single, having only remarried once after divorcing Brad Pitt. Jennifer’s second husband was a less notable actor by the name of Justin Theroux. They married in 2015 before divorcing in 2017. Jennifer is now 53 years old, and it’s possible she’ll have a kid in the next few years!
Helen Mirren
Helen Mirren is yet another female celebrity that hasn’t had any kids. On the childless-celebrity spectrum, Helen falls closer to Dolly Parton than to Jennifer Aniston. Helen is one of many celebrities that have made the conscious choice to not have any kids over the course of her life. Like Dolly, Helen’s choice not to have kids was because she has always preferred focusing on her career. However, unlike Dolly, Helen does stepchildren from her husband’s previous marriage. Helen has been married to a director by the name of Taylor Hackford since the late 1990s. Taylor came into the marriage with two sons, though one has since passed away.
Many years back, Helen Mirren claims that she used to fantasize about possibly having children someday. However, she eventually decided against it. Though Helen has remained steadfast in her decision not to have kids over the course of her lifetime, she has shared a story about one moment in which she regretted her decision. According to Helen Mirren, she broke down into tears after watching the 1989 dramedy Parenthood. Helen allegedly cried for 20 minutes after watching the film, as it made her regret her own decision never to have kids. Still, the impact wasn’t powerful enough to make the actress go back on her choice.
Andy Griffith
Andy Griffith might not be the first name that pops up in the public’s mind upon hearing the term “childless celebrities” as the actor had a few adopted kids. However, Andy never had any blood children. None other than Ron Howard revealed the reason that Andy Griffith never had any blood children after the actor’s death. Of course, Ron rose to prominence as a child actor, playing Andy’s on-screen son over the course of The Andy Griffith Show. According to Ron, he learned the reason that Andy couldn’t have any kids of his own during one fateful day of filming. On that day, Andy shared a story with the cast and crew of the show about how he had suffered from mumps as a teenager. As it turns out, this case of mumps left Andy unable to have kids of his own.
Ron Howard was so young at the time of hearing this story from Andy Griffith that he apparently had to ask his father what it meant on the way home from the set of The Andy Griffith Show. Though Andy couldn’t have any children of his own, he adopted a few kids with his first wife. Andy marred first wife Barbara in 1949, and they went on to adopt two sons. The couple then divorced in 1977, after which point Andy remarried twice before his 2012 death. Tragically, Andy had to live through the death of one of his adopted sons before his own passing. One of the beloved performer’s adopted sons passed away from alcoholism in 1996.
Christopher Walken
When it comes to kids, Christopher Walken is a celebrity that has always had an outlook similar to both Dolly Parton and Helen Mirren. Like Dolly Parton, Christopher has been married to the same person since the 1960s. Christopher Walken met longtime wife Georgianne while the two were working together on a production of West Side Story. They ended up tying the knot in 1969, and they’ve been together ever since! Despite this, the two have decided not to have any kids. Like Dolly, it’s because they prefer working. Although Christopher has no kids of his own, he has several nieces and nephews thanks to his two brothers. Christopher claims that he loves having these nieces and nephews come over to visit, but he’s also always glad when they leave. Instead of kids, Christopher and his wife have several cats.
Stevie Nicks
Stevie Nicks is yet another celebrity that chose working instead of having kids. This decision was a good deal harder for Stevie than it was for the aforementioned celebrities, and she was actually pregnant just before finding success with her band Fleetwood Mac. Stevie ended up getting an abortion so that she could keep performing with the band. Stevie is still childless today, and she doesn’t regret it.
Oprah Winfrey
Finally, let’s take a look at Oprah Winfrey. Not only has Oprah never had kids, but she’s never been married! Still, Oprah and her longtime romantic partner may as well be married. Oprah has been with romantic partner Stedman Graham since the mid-1980s. In the early 1990s, the two became engaged and even set a date for their wedding. However, this wedding never came to fruition. Despite this fact, the two are still together. When asked about why she never had kids, Oprah claims she’s not the mother type.
All of the aforementioned celebrities have opted out of having kids for one reason or another. Now it’s time to hear from you: did you know that both Christopher Walken and Dolly Parton have been married to their spouses since the 1960s, and that neither have kids? Comment down below!
