Historical Figures Who Grew Up as Orphans

Before they made their names as artists, politicians and entertainers, many of the great icons of the past struggled through Dickensian childhoods that included the loss of their parents or family support. Some were raised by foster parents and friends, while others struck out on their own or came of age in orphanages. From a founding father to a Hollywood sex symbol, find out more about some historical figures who endured hardscrabble upbringings.

Marilyn MonroeActress Marilyn Monroe, 1955. (Credit: Baron/Getty Images)

Long before she became Hollywood’s most iconic blond bombshell, Marilyn Monroe was Norma Jeane Baker, the daughter of a single mother in Los Angeles. Monroe would later describe her childhood as being almost completely devoid of happiness. She never knew her father, and her mother suffered from recurring psychiatric problems that eventually saw her committed to an institution. With no parental support, young Norma Jeane spent the majority of her childhood in a string of orphanages and foster homes, including some in which she was sexually abused. She finally left the foster system at age 16, when she married a neighbor named James Dougherty, who soon shipped out for service in World War II. Norma Jeane began working in a wartime factory, and it was there that an army photographer spotted her and suggested that she try her hand at modeling. She proved to be a natural in front of the camera, and by 1946 she had dyed her hair blond, changed her name to Marilyn Monroe and started a new career as an actress. Her big break followed in 1950, when she nabbed memorable roles in the films “The Asphalt Jungle” and “All About Eve.”

Malcolm X

Malcolm X , 1965. (Credit: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

Before he became famous for urging African Americans to win their rights “by any means necessary,” Malcolm X suffered through a tumultuous and often violent childhood. Born Malcolm Little in 1925, the future activist was visited by tragedy at age 6, when his father was killed in a Michigan streetcar accident that may have been engineered by local white supremacists. The Little family spent the next several years in dire poverty, and Malcolm bounced between foster care and juvenile homes after his mother suffered a psychological breakdown that saw her committed to a state mental hospital. In 1941, 15-year-old Malcolm quit school and moved east to live with a half-sister. He later dabbled in drug dealing and petty crime, and in 1946 he was arrested for burglary and sentenced to prison. It was during his seven-year stint behind bars that he joined the Nation of Islam and adopted the moniker Malcolm X. Following his release in 1952, he embarked on the career that would see him become one of the United States’ most influential and controversial activists.

Andrew JacksonAndrew Jackson’s White House portrait.

Although he was just 8 years old when it began, Andrew Jackson sacrificed a great deal during the American Revolution. The son of Irish immigrants had already lost his father shortly before he was born, and he was forced to grow up quickly while serving as a Continental courier in the backcountry of the Carolinas. In 1781, 13-year-old Andrew and his brother Robert were captured by a group of British soldiers, one of whom slashed the future president with a sword after the boy refused to clean his boots. Robert would later die from smallpox while in enemy hands, and Jackson’s mother perished that same year. Having lost all the members of his immediate family, Jackson briefly lived with relatives before striking out on his own and working as a saddle maker and schoolteacher. Despite having little formal education, he later distinguished himself as a lawyer and politician before winning fame as a general during the War of 1812. Jackson never had any kids of his own, but before winning the White House in 1828, the former orphan served as the guardian to several different parentless children. He also adopted two Native American boys whose families had been killed during his military campaigns.

Ella FitzgeraldJazz singer Ella Fitzgerald. (Credit: George Konig/Keystone/Getty Images)

Ella Fitzgerald traveled a difficult path on her way to becoming America’s “First Lady of Song.” Her parents split shortly after her birth in 1917, and her mother died unexpectedly when Ella was just 15. The aspiring entertainer was sent to live with an aunt in Harlem, but she soon drifted to the streets and worked as a lookout for a brothel and a numbers runner for an illegal lottery. Fitzgerald’s frequent absences from school eventually saw her placed in New York’s Colored Orphan Asylum, where she remained for over a year before running away. She lived for a time on the streets of Harlem, dancing for spare change and sleeping in friends’ homes, but she finally caught a break in 1934, when she won an amateur singing contest at the Apollo Theater. Fitzgerald’s tuneful, versatile voice soon earned her a gig with bandleader Chick Webb and his orchestra. By 1938—just six years after the death of her mother—she had scored her first hit with the song “A-Tisket, A-Tasket.”