Although they may appear to live gilded, carefree lives, for some stars, the Hollywood dream is more of a living nightmare thanks to the ghosts and tragedies that haunt their pasts. And as the trial date for the shocking triple murder of Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother and nephew looms on April 23 - just under four years since the shootings - we delve into some of T-town's most shocking events, and reveal the stars who've endured more than their fair share of tragedy.
Charlize Theron
The Oscar winning actress and new mum to adopted baby boy, Jackson, has never spoken publicly about her mother shooting her father dead at the family farm near Johannesburg when she was just 15. But her police statement, which emerged a few years ago shows that her sister, Elsa, found Charlize huddled under a blanket, after mum, Gerda, fatally shot her alcoholic husband, Charles, in a shooting that was judged to be in self-defence.
"Someone hammered on the kitchen door. I told my mum that it was my dad. My father said he would shoot us both dead with his shotgun," said the now 36-year-old actress at the time. "My mum said she was afraid he would kill us. The next moment I heard a number of shots. Then I heard her screaming. When I went into the passage, I saw my father's brother [Danie, who was wounded in the hand] standing. My mum was sitting in a corner of the bedroom. [She] wept and said, ‘Charlize, I've shot them'. Then I saw the body of my father."
Kelsey Grammer
The 57-year-old Cheers star was once the highest-paid man on US television, and saw his hit show Frasier run for 20 years. Married four times, and with four children and twins on the way with his fourth wife, Kayte Walsh - 24 years his junior - Kelsey's tumultuous love life (his second wife was a stripper, who Kelsey claimed once pulled a gun on him - the union lasted a year), could have something to do with the myriad of tragedies that have plagued his life.
When Kelsey was 13, his father Allen, 38, was shot to death in his living room by an intruder, a cab driver who was later tried and found not guilty by reason of insanity. Even more tragically, in 1975, Kelsey's 18-year-old sister, Karen was abducted, raped and murdered in an event Kelsey called "The worst part of my life", and of which a friend says, "He still cries about." One man received the death sentence for his part in Karen's death. But that was not to be the end of the star's family tragedy, and he was once more left grieving when his twin half-brothers, Stephen and Billy died during a scuba diving accident in St Thomas on June 1, 1980, with Stephen going to search for his brother when Billy failed to surface, and suffering a fatal embolism during an improper ascent. Billy's body was never found; leaving his mother, Sally, convinced he was killed by sharks.
Woody Harrelson
The 50-year-old actor is winning rave reviews for his role as Haymitch in The Hunger Games, but his famously sunny persona hides a family tragedy that includes the JFK assassination. Woody's father, Charles, born in Texas in 1938 was tried as a murderer-for-hire over the killing of grain dealer, Sam Degelia Jr, in 1968, with a mistrial seeing him re-tried in 1973 and found guilty. Released in 1978, shortly after he was paroled, Charles was implicated in the assassination of a US District judge and handed two life sentences.
"[He] is one of the most articulate, well-read, charming people I've ever known," said Woody of his father who died in 2007, and who had claimed to have assassinated John F Kennedy by being one of the ‘Three Tramps' hiding in a box car on the railroad tracks behind Dealey Plaza.
Rebecca Gayheart
The Vanished actress and wife of Grey's Anatomy's Eric Dane, aka McSteamy, struck and fatally injured nine-year-old Jorge Cruz Jr in June 2001 in Los Angeles, pleading no contest to vehicular manslaughter. Handed three years' probation, a one-year driving suspension, 750 hours of community service and a Dh10,000 fine, the now-40-year-old star was charged with misdemeanour manslaughter, with Fox News reporting, "The Los Angeles City Attorney's office declined to file a more serious felony charge against the former Beverly Hills 90210 star, saying the accident did not involve alcohol or drugs. But the lesser charge… indicates that investigators believe some degree of negligent driving caused the child's death." Gayheart expressed her "sorrow and regret" for the incident, paying for the little boy's hospital and funeral bills.
Matthew Broderick
Sarah Jessica Parker's actor husband was initially charged with causing death by dangerous driving - later reduced to a charge of careless driving - in an accident that left two women dead in Northern Ireland in 1987.
The Ferris Bueller star was on holiday with his then-girlfriend, Dirty Dancing actress, Jennifer Grey, when he veered his rental car into the wrong lane, colliding head-on with a car being driven by 28-year-old Anna Gallagher and her mother, Margaret Doherty, 63, both of whom were killed.
"I don't remember the day. I don't remember even getting up in the morning. I don't remember making my bed," Broderick told authorities at the time of the accident which left him with a broken leg. "What I first remember is waking up in the hospital, with a very strange feeling going on in my leg." The actor was fined Dh630, in what the family of the dead women called "A travesty of justice".
Unusual suspects
These celebrities have also been implicated or proven guilty in some deadly crimes…
Pete Doherty
Kate Moss's ex-boyfriend, Pete Doherty, escaped charges over the death of 30-year-old actor, Matt Blanco, who was found with fatal head injuries beneath the first-floor balcony of an East London flat in 2006, minutes after he was spotted arguing with Doherty and the singer's friends.
"Doherty, the drug-ravaged ex-Libertines singer, left the party before the police and ambulance service arrived," reported the Daily Mail. "He is captured on CCTV practically stepping over Mark's body in the street."
Phil Spector
After 40-year-old actress, Lana Clarkson, was found dead at the California home of legendary music producer, Phil Spector, Spector's driver testified that the producer told him, "I think I just shot her". Charged with second-degree murder, Spector's legal team claimed Lana had shot herself at his house, despite only having met Spector that night at the House Of Blues in Hollywood. The first trial in 2007 ended in a hung jury, whilst the second in 2009, saw Spector sentenced to 19 years to life.
Vince Neil
The lead singer of heavy metal band, Motley Crue, was sentenced to 30 days in jail, five years probation and ordered to pay Dh9.36 million to the victims of a crash in 1984, which occurred when he lost control of his vehicle and collided with an oncoming car. His passenger, Nicolas Dingle, was killed, with the two occupants of the other car suffering serious injuries. Neil had a blood-alcohol level more than twice the legal limit and was arrested for drunk driving and vehicular manslaughter, but he served only 15 of the 30 days in jail.
