Curse of the Christmas movie! How stars who appeared in festive favourites have been struck by tragedy – from Love Actually’s Liam Neeson to star of It’s a Wonderful Life who was orphaned at 15

• Two child stars who appeared in It’s a Wonderful Life went on to face tragedy 
• Read More:  The top 10 worst Christmas mistakes we commit over the festive season… But how many are YOU guilty of?

By their very nature, Christmas movies are supposed to be feel-good films for the whole family to enjoy.

But in recent years, some of the most popular films have become tinged with sadness due to the tragic circumstances cast-members found themselves in. 

It’s a Wonderful Life, starring James Stewart and Donna Reed, became an instant fan favourite when it hit screens in 1946.

However, some fans might not be aware of the devastating death of one of its supporting stars or how another was left orphaned at 15.

Meanwhile, one of the most loved actors in Will Ferrell’s Elf also quit acting for years following the death of a beloved sibling. 

It’s a Wonderful Life starring James Stewart and Donna Reed is a cult favourite Christmas movie which came out in 1948. However, some viewers may not know the tragic fate of two of its stars

Here FEMAIL delves into the curse of the Christmas movie – and why you may never look at them the same.

Liam Neeson – Love Actually 

He’s made a name for himself as a formidable Hollywood action star – but Liam Neeson’s role in Love Actually is arguably one of his most famous performance to date.

In the hit, ensemble cast festive film, Liam plays Daniel – a grieving widower who helps his stepson Sam find the confidence to ask out his dream girl.

Tragically, life imitated art just six years after the movie was released when Liam’s wife Natasha Richardson was involved in a fatal skiing accident.

In 2009, the Parent Trap actress – who shared two young sons with Liam – was in the middle of a beginner’s skiing lesson in Quebec, Canada, when she fell and hit her head.

Unaware of her serious her injury was, Natasha returned to her hotel where she complained of a headache two hours later. A young ski instructor at the complex said the star was ‘disoriented, confused and vomiting’ when the ambulance was called.

After falling into a coma, Natasha was flown to Lenox Hill Hospital New York where she tragically died of a epidural hematoma – which occurs when a skull fracture tears a blood vessel. 

Pictured: Liam Neelson playing Daniel in the hit ensemble Christmas movie Love Actually, which came out in 2004

Six years after the movie came out, Liam Neeson lost his wife Natasha Richardson in a skiing accident. The couple pictured at the Golden Globes in 1997

Liam Neeson, arrived in Montreal from a Toronto film set on a private jet. He kept an all-night vigil by her side but was told his wife was brain dead.

At the time, the family confirmed the tragic news with this statement: ‘Liam Neeson, his sons, and the entire family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Natasha. 

‘They are profoundly grateful for the support, love, and prayers of everyone, and ask for privacy during this very difficult time.’

Five years later, Liam revealed in an emotional interview with Anderson Cooper how he still didn’t feel as though his wife’s death was ‘real’. 

Discussing her final hours, the actor said: ”She was on life support… I went in to her and I told her I loved her, said “Sweetie, you’re not coming back from this, you’ve banged your head.”‘

”She and I had made a pact, if any of us got into a vegetative state that we’d pull the plug. That was my immediate thought,”Okay, these tubes have to go. She’s gone.”‘ 

‘[Her death] was never real,’ he told Cooper. ‘It still kind of isn’t. There’s periods now in our New York residence when I hear the door opening, especially the first couple of years… anytime I hear that door opening, I still think I’m going to hear her.’

Neeson told Cooper his grief is less immediate but still a part of his life.

The actor told his wife in hospital: ‘Sweetie, you’re not coming back from this, you’ve banged your head.’ The couple pictured in 1993

Natasha Richardson and Liam Neeson shared their sons Micheal (left) and Daniel (right). The boys pictured with their mother in 2008

‘It hits you. It’s like a wave. You just get this profound feeling of instability… the Earth isn’t stable anymore and then it passes and it becomes more infrequent, but I still get it sometimes.’

However, the actor said the family takes comfort in the fact that Natasha lives on in three other people.

He explained: ”Donated three of her organs, so she’s keeping three people alive at the moment. Her heart, her kidneys and her liver. It’s terrific and I think she would be very thrilled and pleased by that.’

In 2021, Natasha and Liam’s son Michael – who is also an actor – admitted that he wished he ‘could have adult conversations’ with his mother and said he was always a ‘mama’s boy’.

He told The Times: ”I was a mama’s boy growing up and she was really my best friend. I mean we were all a close family, but Danny [his younger brother] was my dad’s boy and I was my mom’s boy, for sure.’

Natasha and Liam’s son Michael (pictured) – who is also an actor – admitted that he wished he ‘could have adult conversations’ with his mother

Going on to discuss how he felt following her tragic accident, he went on: ‘It was so sudden. When it’s unexpected and it’s just a complete freak accident, it really sort of messes with your mind, whether you believe in fate or not.’

Micheál added that the experience of losing his mother at such a young age made him go through ‘a bit of a head spin’ and he had years of ‘distracting’ himself from the loss, but said he still often gets hit by grief suddenly.

Karolyn Grimes – It’s a Wonderful Life 

When the cameras filming It’s A Wonderful Life stopped rolling, life wasn’t so picture-perfect for the child at its centre. 

James Stewart and Karolyn Grimes pictured filming the Christmas movie It’s a Wonderful Life in 1948

Karolyn Grimes, now 83, starred as six-year-old Zuzu in the 1946 movie that follows an angel who saves a father set on killing himself so his family can benefit from the life insurance. 

Grimes, who lives in Seattle, starred in 16 movies as a child, including The Bishop’s Wife, starring Cary Grant, David Niven and Loretta Young, and John Ford’s Rio Grande with John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara.

But with her mother suffering from early-onset Alzheimer’s, Grimes revealed that life took a tragic turn as she hit her teenage years.

In an interview with the Washington Post in 2011, the actress explained: ‘My mother died when I was 12, and right after my dad died in a car crash. I was 15 and had no family.’ 

After this, Karolyn was sent to live with an uncle and aunt in Missouri – and was banned from acting.

Karolyn Grimes, 83, was a six-year-old child star when she appeared in the Christmas classic ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’.

American child actress Karolyn Grimes, star of such films as Sister Kenny and It’s a Wonderful Life in June 1946

She claimed: ‘They were kind of nutso religious fanatics who didn’t believe in movies, dancing, singing, that kind of thing. I don’t think they believed in laughing, either.’ 

Her aunt cut her off from friends and people she’d met during filming. Instead, she went to college and became a medical tech at a clinic outside Kansas City. 

After marrying and giving birth to two daughters, she divorced – and the girls’ father died in a hunting accident.

Following the tragedy, she remarried, had a son and daughter and helped raise her second husband’s three children from a previous marriage.

Then her 18-year-old son committed suicide, and her husband died of cancer. She retired to take care of her teenage daughters, two of whom became single parents.

‘My life has never been wonderful,’ she told the Washington Post. ‘Maybe when I was a child, but not after age 15.

‘And maybe that’s what makes the film so important for me and a lot of other people.

‘The Jimmy Stewart George is suffering terribly in the movie — you can just see it. He’s in Martini’s café and saying to himself, “God, I’m not a praying man, but please show me the way”.’

‘Gosh, it makes me cry,’ she said.

Grimes remembers being paid $75 a week – about $830 today – or around $10,000 over the 12-week shoot of It’s a Wonderful Life.

She only remembered taking part in the film thirty years later, when she saw footage out of the corner of her eye on the television.

She recognised the faces and ‘then it hit me. I was in that movie. I was Zuzu.’

Kelly Preston – Jack Frost 

Kelly Preston and Michael Keaton pictured during the filming of the 1998 Christmas movie Jack Frost

Over the course of her 37-year career, Kelly Preston starred in the hit movies Jerry Maguire, What a Girl Wants and The Last Song.

However, it’s her performance in Jack Frost that will resonate with younger viewers most.

In 1998, the mother-of-three appeared in the Christmas movie alongside Michael Keaton and Joseph Cross.

In the hit film, Michael Keaton plays Jack – a father who is killed in a car accident and returns to life as a snowman to put things right with his son.

Tragically, Kelly passed away of breast cancer in 2020 at the age of 57.

In 1998, the mother-of-three (pictured) appeared in the Christmas movie alongside Michael Keaton and Joseph Cross

Pictured: Kelly Preston and John Travolta. The couple met on the set of The Experts in 1987 and married in 1991

The actress left behind her two children Ella Bleu and Benjamin and husband John Travolta.

Kelly and John met while making the 1987 film The Experts and while Preston was married to actor Kevin Gage; they divorced that year after two years of marriage.

Preston then got engaged to Travolta in 1991 in Gstaad, Switzerland. Preston and Travolta were married at a midnight ceremony in Paris later that year. 

Announcing the tragic news, John issued a statement saying his wife had ‘fought a courageous fight with the love and support of so many’. 

The couple’s 20-year-old daughter Ella said she had ‘never met anyone as courageous’ as her mother as she paid her own emotional tribute today.

She said at the time: ‘I have never met anyone as courageous, strong, beautiful and loving as you.

‘Anyone who is lucky enough to have known you or to have ever been in your presence will agree that you have a glow and a light that never ceases to shine and that makes anyone around you feel instantly happy. Thank you for being there for me no matter what.

The actress left behind her two children Ella Bleu and Benjamin and husband John Travolta (pictured)

Left: Kelly Preston and John Travolta in New York in 1999. Right: The couple attending the Golden Globes in 2017

‘Thank you for your love. Thank you for your help and thank you for making this world a better place.

‘You have made life so beautiful and I know you will continue to do so always. I love you so much mama.’

However, this wasn’t the first tragedy to have struck the Travolta-Preston family.

In 2009, the couple’s 16-year-old Jett died after hitting his head in the bath during a seizure at their holiday home in the Bahamas. 

Their son had been hospitalised with Kawsaki disease as a baby and was also on the autism spectrum.

Dozens of relatives flew to Grand Bahama to comfort John Travolta and Kelly Preston, who said that ‘Jett was the most wonderful son that two parents could ever ask for’.

‘We are heartbroken that our time with him was so brief. We will cherish the time that we had with him for the rest of our lives,’ they said at the time.

The family was struck by tragedy in 2009 when 16-year-old Jett died after suffering a seizure in the bath during a family trip to Barbados 

John Travolta (second left), his wife Kelly Preston (right) and their children Jett (second right) and Ella (left) during the 2000s. Jett died in the Bahamas in January 2009

Kelly Preston would later say: ‘Everybody grieves in their own way. I felt at times like I was drowning. It felt like a sea of wet blankets.’

The shock of Jett’s death was followed by a legal row with an ambulance driver and lawyer who were accused of trying to extort $25million from the couple by threatening to reveal sensitive details about the death. 

Travolta testified during a criminal trial that ended in a mistrial and was prepared to testify a second time, but decided to stop pursuing the case. He cited the severe strain the case and his son’s death had caused the family. 

Travolta described his son’s death in 2009 as the ‘worst thing that ever happened in my life’ and told how the Church of Scientology had helped him and his wife through their grief. 

Macaulay Culkin – Home Alone

Macaulay Culkin pictured in Home Alone 2, which hit screens in 1993. The child star was 12 years old at the time

At the age of 10, Macaulay Culkin sky-rocketed to fame when he was cast as Kevin McCallister in the first Home Alone film in 1990.

By the time he was 12 years old, the child star had reached millionaire status thanks to his performances in Richie Rich and The Good Son – making him the family’s breadwinner with the ability to reportedly bring in £6m with every performance.

Before bagging the life-changing role, Macaulay had been used to a much more modest lifestyle – as his former actor father Kit worked in a parish church while his mother Patricia held down a job in a call centre.

Speaking to New York magazine in 2001, Home Alone’s casting director Billy Hopkins claimed: ‘They were so poor I had to use my own money to make sure that he got to and from rehearsal.

‘Macaulay would crawl under the bleachers at the theater to look for change that had fallen out of people’s pockets. They were like the Beverly Hillbillies.’

What’s more, Macaulay’s younger brother Kieran told Vanity Fair 2018 that the family-of-nine’s New York apartment didn’t provide much in the way of privacy.

Macaulay Culkin pictured in 2012 strolling through New York holding a can of Red Bull energy drink

Macaulay Culkin was arrested in 2004 for possession of marijuana. Pictured: the child actor’s mugshot released by Oklahoma police force

Describing how the space was effectively ‘just a hallway’, he added: ‘There were no separating doors, except for the bathroom, which didn’t have a lock.

‘They raised seven kids in that apartment—for years! They just kept bringing babies home to this little space.’ 

As such, Kit and Patricia used their son’s earnings to buy the family a huge brownstone in New York’s Upper East Side.

A 1993 New York Times article alleged that Kit – who took on the role of Maculay’s agent – had given his son a diva-like reputation in Hollywood thanks to his hands-on approach, which resulted in The Good Son hitting theatres a year late.

Four years after his big screen debut, Kat and Patricia’s 20-year relationship came to an end –  prompting the feuding couple to battle over who would have custody of the child actor.

Setting out her argument, Patricia told a US court that Kit had a problem with ‘excessive drinking’ and accused him of ‘physical abuse and unfaithful behaviour’.

Rachel Miner and Macaulay Culkin at ‘The Mighty’ premiere in 1998. The couple married that year and separated in 2002

In denying her claims, Kit branded his ex-wife an ‘inept’ businesswoman as he laid out his case to continue managing Macaulay. 

When he was only 15 years old, Macaulay sued both his parents for £13m and was successful in ‘divorcing’ them as his legal guardians – meaning they no longer had access to his fortune.

Appearing on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast in 2018, Macaulay claimed his father had been ‘physically and mentally’ abusive.

Describing how Kit was ‘jealous’ of him, the actor added: ‘Everything he tried to do in life, I excelled at before I was 10 years old.’ 

In 2016, Kit told the Daily Mail: ‘I don’t consider [Macaulay] a son anymore.’ 

As a result of his ongoing difficulties with his parents, Macaulay – who was now richer than his wildest dreams – struggled with life in the limelight. 

Speaking to The Guardian in 2000, Macaulay explained how his work impacted his adolescence and said his father treated him as though he were a ‘machine’.

He said: ‘I remember one time near the end of school year, I was walking down the road with my mother saying what I wanted to do this summer and suddenly I knew there was something she did not want to tell me. 

‘She said: ‘Don’t make plans this summer. You might be working.’ Then you find out they had already signed the contract.’

Maculay Culkin and his Disney star fiance Brenda Song have reportedly been together for five years and welcomed their second child in March 2023

‘It started feeling like a chore,’ he told Esquire in a profile published in February 2020. ‘I started vocalizing that and not being heard: I was saying, ‘I wanna go to school ‘– I haven’t done a full year of school since first grade.’ 

In the late 1990s, Macaulay took a break from acting and married Supernatural actress Rachel Miner – who was 17 at the time – when he was just 18 years old. 

Two years after their separation in 2002, Macaulay was charged with possession of marijuana.

In the years that followed, the child star appeared increasingly gaunt in public – sparking concern about his rumoured drug habit.

From 2002 to 2011, Macaulay – who has never publicly spoken about his love life – was in a relationship with That 70s Show actress Mila Kunis.

Appearing on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast in 2018, the now mother-of-two said her break-up with Macaulay was ‘horrible’.

Giving rare insight into their romance, Mila said: ‘I f**ked up. I was an a** in my 20s and I’ll be the first to admit it. And that’s something that took me a long time to come out and be like, ‘Yeah, you know what, I was a d**k,’ and accept it and I own it now.’

She didn’t say exactly what she did to her former beau, but revealed: ‘And it’s f**ked up what I did and it’s f**ked up how I did it. When I got to be single I said, ‘I just need to figure myself out’. I genuinely need to know why I did what I did, and, like regroup myself as a human being.’ 

Following their break-up, Macaulay hit back at reports that he was addicted to drugs.

Speaking to The Guardian in 2016, he said: ‘No, I was not pounding six grand of heroin every month or whatever.’

The 42-year-old now appears happier than ever – having been in a relationship with Brenda Song – who shot to fame on The Suite Life of Zach and Cody – for the past five years.

In March, it was reported that Maculay and his fiance Brenda Song had secretly welcomed their second child.

Earlier this month, the Home Alone star was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame – with his on-screen mother Catherine O’Hara introducing him in an emotional speech.

Richard Attenborough – Miracle on 34th Street

Pictured” Richard Attenborough and Mara Wilson promoting the 1994 film The Miracle on 34th Street

Richard Attenborough starred in over 38 movies before his sad passing at the age of 90 in 2014.

And for some viewers, he will always be remembered for his touching performance in the 1994 Christmas classic ‘Miracle on 34th Street’.

However, the late actor, who was born in Cambridge, was the older brother of Sir David Attenborough, was also touched by tragedy in his life.

Following his death, it was revealed that he had asked for his ashes to be placed with those of his beloved daughter and granddaughter who he lost in the Boxing Day tsunami.  

Probate records released yesterday reveal that the Labour peer and actor, who died aged 90 in August 2014, left an estate of £1.5 million in the UK and a request in his will that he be cremated. 

Richard Attenborough (front in blue shirt) was devastated by the loss of his daughter, Jane, and granddaughter, Lucy (both centre and in pink) in the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami

Richard Attenborough pictured with his younger brother David at the 1993 BAFTA awards in London

He asked for a third of his ashes to be ‘interred in casket together with or alongside’ the ashes of his daughter and granddaughter in a vault at St Mary Magdalene Church, Richmond, on the outskirts of London. 

Jane Holland, who was a charity arts officer, and her daughter Lucy died when their holiday villa in Khao Lak, southern Thailand, was destroyed by giant waves.

Jane’s husband Michael, a shipbroker, and son Samuel, an actor, escaped because they were playing golf on a course a mile or so inland.

Their other daughter Alice, then 17, suffered serious injuries but survived.

Mrs Holland’s mother-in-law Audrey, 81, who was on holiday with them, also died in the disaster.

Following the natural disaster, Richard said that his loved ones were still very much alive in his memory.

He said: ‘I can talk to people about Jane now, although sometimes I can’t get the words out. I can also see her. I can feel her touch. I can hear her coming into a room.

‘She comes in laughing or excited or determined, but always full of commitment. That was the very essence of Jane – commitment. And music.’

Carl Swizter – It’s a Wonderful Life 

Carl Swizter (far right) pictured during the filming of Our Gang – a popular comedy series about a group of children’s adventures – in the 1930s

Carl Swizter had a minor role in It’s a Wonderful Life as a Mary Hatch’s date to the high school dance.

Audiences will remember that the disgruntled teen – whose date has been distracted by the hero George Bailey – then causes the gym dancefloor to open onto the swimming pool below.

The actor had starred in the comedy series Our Gang as a child and was famous for his warbling singing voice.

According to History.com, Carl’s mother had taken him and his brother to the Hal Roach studios – who had signed Laurel and Hardy – during a family vacation to California. 

Following this, Carl was cast as Alfafa in the series which followed a group of children and their adventures.  

Carl Swizter (far right) had a minor role in It’s a Wonderful Life as Mary’s disgruntled date to the high school dance. He was shot and killed at the age of 31

After It’s a Wonderful Life, Carl struggled to find work and began taking odd jobs and working as a bartender. 

During this time, he also reportedly had several run-ins with the police.

In January 1959, Carl went to the home of Moses Stilz to demand he pay him some $50 he believed he was owed.  

After a fight broke out, Moses shot Carl – who was only 31 when he later died of his injuries. 

Bruce Willis – Die Hard 

Bruce Willis pictured during the first Die Hard in 1988. The star has since retired from acting after being diagnosed with dementia

Bruce Willis starred in many hit films over the course of his career – but the Die Hard franchise remain fan favourites decades on.

In February, the star’s family announced that the actor had been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia.

The Hollywood icon, 68, withdrew from acting last year as he began his fight with the illness that caused his language abilities to deteriorate – and now his condition has ‘progressed’ according to a joint statement from his family on Thursday.

FTD affects the lobes of the brain behind the forehead, which deal with behavior, problem-solving, planning and emotions –  with symptoms including personality changes, obsessive behavior and speaking difficulties.

The statement, from his wife Emma Heming, ex-wife Demi Moore and five daughters and posted on The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration’s website read: ‘Our family wanted to start by expressing our deepest gratitude for the incredible outpouring of love, support and wonderful stories we have all received since sharing Bruce’s original diagnosis. 

‘In the spirit of that, we wanted to give you an update about our beloved husband, father and friend since we now have a deeper understanding of what he is experiencing.’

The Hollywood icon (pictured in 2020), 68, withdrew from acting last year as he began his fight with the illness that caused his language abilities to deteriorate

Bruce Willis with his second wife Emma Heming in April 2017. The couple share daughters Evelyn and Mabel

FTD occurs when nerve cells in the lobes behind the forehead die and the pathways that connect them change. 

The left temporal lobe is involved in the meaning of words and the names of objects. The right recognizes faces and familiar objects. 

Symptoms are different from just the memory loss that is associated with Alzheimer’s disease. 

These may include; personality changes, such as becoming tactless, uninterested in others and unsympathetic, repeated and compulsive movements, such as continued use of certain phrases, hoarding and obsession over timekeeping, craving unhealthy food and forgetting table manners, speaking difficulties, including slow speech, grammatical errors and asking the meaning of familiar words like ‘bread’.

Willis had reportedly been struggling with cognitive issues on the sets of his films for years – and even needed an earpiece to feed him lines.

A unnamed source told Page Six his declining cognitive ability had been an open secret in Hollywood as the actor repeatedly had trouble acting in his films. 

Over the course of his four-decade career, Variety reports, his movies have grossed over $5 billion worldwide. 

James Caan – Elf 

James Caan and Will Ferrell pictured in the 2003 movie Elf, where Caan plays Buddy’s father Walter

James Caan became a household name thanks to his role in The Godfather – but his appearance in the Christmas Elf opened him up to a whole new generation of fans.

The actor – who passed away at the age of 82 last year –  played Walter in the hit 2003 movie, which also starred Will Ferrell, Zooey Deschanel and Jon Favreau. 

In the film, Walter plays a father who doesn’t prioritise spending time with his family and hates the spirit of Christmas.

James’ own personal life wasn’t exactly smooth-sailing either – with the star marrying four times.

However, the loss of his beloved sister Barbara in 1981 devastated James and caused him to spiral into drug addiction. 

James Caan and his sister Barbara pictured before her death in 1981. The star quit acting for several years and spiralled into a depression

Barbara, who was also an actress and worked as the president of James’ production company, passed away at the age of 38 from leukaemia. 

Speaking to The Independent in 2021, he explained: ‘Barbara was like my best friend.

‘She was the only person I was afraid of in the world. When she died, passion became this whole thing with me. That’s what I loved about my sister: she was just so passionate about whatever she did. 

‘I started doing cocaine, which is like a death sentence. That lasted a while.’

As a result, James quit acting and avoided the spotlight – choosing to coach his son’s baseball team for a while. 

During this time, James also battled clinical depression and only returned to acting five years later, when he was offered a role in Gardens of Stones in 1987. 

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