My grandparents never understood why my mother Noreen chose such exotic names for her children: Damon and me. My granny insisted on calling my brother Dermot - a good Irish name - until she died; I was just known as 'wee one.'
Natascha McElhone
Related My mother wanted to name me Jackie or Jacqueline but she got to name my sister and my brother, so my... ARIEL WINTER My mother was a full-time mother. She didn't have much of her own career, her own life, her own ... ANGELINA JOLIE I lived with my mother all my life until she died, and I don't really think I knew her, because ... HARRIET WALTER For those that don't know, my sister was born with Down Syndrome, and she was institutionalized ... NIKKI SIXX My father died in 1989 before I knew what I was going to do with my life. I had just graduated from ... PAUL GIAMATTI It was never a conscious decision - I was introducing myself as Duffy and my friends were calling me... DUFFY Mind you, I've always been musical... Mother used to sit me on her knee and I'd whisper, ... LES DAWSON My mum - and my granny and I - would close the curtains, turn on the TV and snuggle up and watch ... CHERIE LUNGHI As I have discovered by examining my past, I started out as a child. Coincidentally, so did my broth... BILL COSBY My mother had a heart attack when she was about 50. My uncle died of a heart attack at 58. Both of m... JOY BEHAR I don't believe in regretting - one should try to move on. My mum was good at that. She was deep... ROBERT WINSTON Tuppence was what my grandmother nicknamed my mother, so she gave it to me. My sister is called Ange... TUPPENCE MIDDLETON My mother desperately wanted children. She had a child that was stillborn - something I learned when... STANLEY HAUERWAS I met Gemma, my wife, when she was 12. She had a schoolgirl crush on me and her dad had arranged for... GARY NUMAN My mother's very proud of the name she gave me. She thought it sounded rhythmically better. It d... HOLLY MARIE COMBS Jane was my wicked stepmother: she was generous, affectionate and resourceful; she salvaged my schoo... MARTIN AMIS When I asked my mother why crowds shouted my name and said 'We love you,' she would dust it ... SHIRLEY TEMPLE My mother was the greatest example to me of anyone I've ever known. She didn't have an easy ... LAUREN BACALL My ma and pa are both very artistic, so I suppose it's in my blood. But my ma's the one who ... GREY DAMON I lost my mother when I was 7 and they put her in a mental hospital. My brother and I watched her be... QUINCY JONES teacher:"I'm teacher, not because i want to teach children something. I am teacher just because I li... MY TEACHER My mother didn't want me to be in fashion. She was in the fashion business, so was my brother, a... DONATELLA VERSACE What distinguished my life from my brother's is that my mother didn't like me. When I became... JAMAICA KINCAID My grandmother was a chemist. She worked at the Banting Institute in Toronto, and at 44 she died of ... EVA VERTES My mother was a very beautiful lady, I thought. She was very good to me. I guess - she died when I w... B. B. KING My mother fed my love of demons, science fiction, and paranormal. She was a devout horror movie fan ... SHERRILYN KENYON My mum was a wonderful mother. She died, aged 80, of Alzheimer's disease, which was dreadful to ... BONNIE TYLER My mother was a teacher. She was grooming my brother and me to be successful, accomplished people. LAVERNE COX I know that my grandmother certainly did nothing to warrant my mother stealing all of her jewelry th... ASHLY LORENZANA My mother told me Homer Ditto was not my father. Nope. Mom had had a fling with some other guy who w... BETH DITTO I'm really close to my mother. She sacrificed a lot for me and my sister. She gave up her career... RANBIR KAPOOR I had a very distant relationship with my father. It was always just me and my mother. It was a shat... JOAN LINGARD I tried to get my mother to move in with me, but she wanted to stay in her own home. When my mother ... CAROL REBELLO I tried to get my mother to move in with me, but she wanted to stay in her own home. When my mother ... CAROL S. REBELLO My mother died of cystic fibrosis before I knew her. I was two years old, and I don't remember h... JOHN LLOYD YOUNG My mother was murdered by my step-father, my brother's father, who was also named Joel, twenty-f... NATASHA TRETHEWEY I remember when I watched 'Hellraiser' with my mother. She cried when she saw my name in the... CLIVE BARKER I love my mother. My mother made sure, her stubbornness - she made sure we was going to eat. She mad... TRACY MORGAN My number one inspiration was my mother. She worked two jobs and had breakfast and dinner prepared. ... CHRISTOPHER JUDGE It was just music all day... My neighbors were musicians, and my brother and my family and everybody... TROMBONE SHORTY As far back as I can remember, my mother would have me down by the bed at night with her, praying. I... CHARLES R. SWINDOLL I was raised by my great-great aunt. I was adopted within our family. My mother had me when she was,... ERIC DICKERSON I told my mother-in-law that my house was her house, and she said, 'Get the hell off my property... JOAN RIVERS My mother would work 14 hours, and she'd come home, and she'd just get right into cooking...... MICHELLE PHAN I remember the first time I pulled out of my driveway in my grandparents' Nissan Ultimate or Cen... EMILY RATAJKOWSKI I never understood why when you died, you didn't just vanish, everything could just keep going o... ANDY WARHOL I didn't write about my mother much in the third year after she died. I was still trying to get ... ANNE LAMOTT She's always there for me when I need her; She's my best friend; she's just my everythin... ASHLEY OLSEN Wrapping my arms around her, I walked her backward into the brick. “Tell me you chose me, Echo.”... KATIE MCGARRY On the Internet, on IMDB, they've got that my middle name as Archibald. I don't have a middl... BILL PAXTON David Holdaway was my stage name. I was an actor for about eight years in the '90s. I had to cha... DAVID NICHOLLS Like my mother, I was always saying, 'I'll fix my life one day.' It became clear when I ... LIZ MURRAY You see, my mother was a district nurse until she died when I was 14, and we used to move from time ... PAUL MCCARTNEY My father is Italian, and I never met my paternal grandparents. The family name was 'Caroselli... STEVE CARELL My mom keeps me going, man. She deserves such a good life. I just wanna give it to her. My dad, too.... BIG SEAN I guess the most seminal moment going early way back was my father died when I was 3 years old. I wa... RAM SHRIRAM Skylar is my first name and Astin is my middle name, and my real last name is Lipstein. When I was 1... SKYLAR ASTIN My mother opened a bank account for me when I made $60 on my first day of work as an extra. She'... LAURA DERN My sisters have been baptized and my dad is a deacon at his church now. Sadly my mother passed away ... SHERRI SHEPHERD If I could have gotten my way at an early age, I would have entered the priesthood, but my mother in... DONNA BRAZILE Doc has been my name all my life, and John is my middle name. I'm proud of all my names - Malcol... DR. JOHN I phoned my grandparents and my grandfather said 'We saw your movie.' 'Which one?' I... BRAD PITT My mother was a dramatic and egocentric person, and she died before my father, who died of Alzheimer... SUE MILLER My brother Alan - who was seven years younger than me - died from leukemia when he was 52. He never ... BRIAN BLESSED I was the black sheep of the family, and my mother never really understood me. ANDRE RIEU I blame my mother for my poor sex life. All she told me was 'the man goes on top and the woman u... JOAN RIVERS In my career, there's many things I've won and many things I've achieved, but for me, my... DAVID BECKHAM Actually, my mother and Alfie came for three weeks' Christmas vacation and stayed for 21 years. ... FRANK MCCOURT I most want to be remembered for being as great a mother to James and Lennon as my mum was to me and... PATSY KENSIT My grandmother spent her whole life working as a maid, a cook and a babysitter, barely scraping by, ... JULIAN CASTRO After Chris' funeral I decided to grow my hair. Then a month later my uncle died of cancer. That was... CHADD LITTLE My father, Cecil Banks Mullis, and mother, formerly Bernice Alberta Barker, grew up in rural North C... KARY MULLIS My father has been the real anchor of the family. He's the one who has always encouraged my moth... YVETTE CLARKE One of the bibles of my youth was 'Birds of the West Indies,' by James Bond, a well-known or... IAN FLEMING I... chose my wife as she did her wedding-gown, not for a fine glossy surface, but such qualities as... OLIVER GOLDSMITH My first agent dissuaded me from calling myself 'Cumberbatch.' I had six months of not very ... BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH I never met a person as determined as my mother. From working hard for six kids to just trying to ke... SUGAR RAY LEONARD I was my mother's favorite, and she'd help me with everything. H. R. GIGER My mother is Italian and my dad's Irish. In my family, we're expressive. Nobody holds back. KATE WALSH I was born on October 21, 1956 in Burbank, California. My father, Eddie Fisher, was a famous singer.... CARRIE FISHER My sister lives with my family because she has separated from her husband and my older brother had d... MAHEN SHARMA I felt a smile on my face. "Thanks." "For what?" "Using my name instead of calling me a thing. JOHN CORWIN My mother was in vaudeville, but after she had her children, she quit working. DEAN STOCKWELL I never liked my father. He really was a dullard and misanthrope. My mother and he were married for ... EDMUND WHITE Carrie Fisher was the most remarkable person I've ever known. I made my first three albums in he... JAMES BLUNT At one time in my life, from the time I was seven until I was about 13, I didn't speak. I only s... MAYA ANGELOU My mother is an actress, and my aunt Margaux was a model. And it's funny, as much as I'm all... DREE HEMINGWAY I was raised in a dominantly Filipino family. I didn't know I was 'mixed' until I got ol... VINCENT RODRIGUEZ III I'm an absolute clean freak. I'll go to my friends' houses and even start cleaning. I... CASSIE SCERBO All nationalism is based on racism and hate. I'm Scottish; I was born in Scotland, as my parents... PHILIP KERR Barbra Streisand has always been an inspiration for me. I admire Jennifer Lopez because she's be... LAUREN LONDON A part of me understands why a mother is equally proud of all her children, but that little boy insi... LUKAS FORCHHAMMER Both my grandfathers and my mother's brother were musicians. STURGILL SIMPSON I would ask my mother to show me how to walk - and she did show me. That's why I think it's ... NAOMI CAMPBELL My mother died young. A lot of people wanted us to be adopted out, but before she died, my mother as... EMMA BIEL My mum had this idea I was going to be this long-haired hippie playing guitar and bought me one when... LIBERTY ROSS My older brother's really good at making fun of me for just being a workaholic and never taking ... NIKKI REED My mother told me I was dancing before I was born. She could feel my toes tapping wildly inside her ... GINGER ROGERS I watched my mother do what she did best, and realized there would never be a way to cut myself from... SARAH DESSEN My mother doesn't really embarrass me. Even when I was young. She understands my career. BOW WOW
More Natascha McElhone
I grew up with my stepfather in Brighton, but I did spend a lot of time with my natural father, and ... NATASCHA MCELHONE Living with very limited expectations is a much more immediate way of living. You really do just mak... NATASCHA MCELHONE I don't believe in categorising a gender, as it makes for discord. People always say, 'That&... NATASCHA MCELHONE My granny was very concerned that we weren't baptised - Mum had been desperate to escape her own... NATASCHA MCELHONE Scribbling things down is my therapy. I filter later. NATASCHA MCELHONE Mum left school at 15, and after a few years of modelling and dating jazz musicians, was married by ... NATASCHA MCELHONE I happen to find motherhood a very natural state, but I know a lot of other people don't. NATASCHA MCELHONE My stepfather introduced me to The London Library when I was about 18; the clientele has definitely ... NATASCHA MCELHONE My concentration span is truly that of a gnat. Some people have this ladder, and that's all ther... NATASCHA MCELHONE My kids always say to me, 'Can we watch TV?' I say, 'Absolutely!' because then I can... NATASCHA MCELHONE I'm very different to my mum. I'm not as beautiful as she is, nor - she probably despairs ab... NATASCHA MCELHONE Growing up, I wasn't allowed dolls, and my brothers weren't allowed guns. I inherited my bro... NATASCHA MCELHONE I was brought up by a Marxist rationalist stepfather, so I don't believe in the supernatural or ... NATASCHA MCELHONE The bills are just getting paid. It's bad when you have to take it out on your own family at home at... JASON MCELHONE Suicide seemed to me the greatest kind of freedom, a release from everything, from a life that had b... NATASCHA KAMPUSCH people do not emphasize with victims and give them limitless sympathy, but can very quickly switch t... NATASCHA KAMPUSCH Our society needs criminals like Wolfgang Priklopil in order to give a face to the evil that lives w... NATASCHA KAMPUSCH Während ich mir mit Fernsehen und Radio die Illusion von Gesellschaft ins Verlies holte, konnte ich... NATASCHA KAMPUSCH Aber man lebt nicht ewig in einem Alptraum. Der Mensch hat die Fähigkeit, selbst in den abnormalste... NATASCHA KAMPUSCH