15 Famous Women You Didn't Know Attempted Suicide

Many people aspire to be a famous actor, singer, or athlete, but being famous might not be all it is cracked up to be. Surely, it has its high points, such as money, glamour, and popularity. However, fame also comes with its downsides. Between the paparazzi, tabloids, stress, and peer pressure, fame is bound to wear down a person's mental health. Many celebrities suffer from depression, bipolar disorder, and other mental illnesses. Unfortunately, these mental illnesses and the stress sometimes become too much for some famous people, and they attempt suicide. Fortunately, sometimes their attempts are unsuccessful, but many celebrities including Robin Williams have ended their lives. We tend to forget that the famous people we admire or gossip about are human too and are facing the same battles that we are. Learning that some of the women we idolize have tried to kill themselves for whatever reason somehow makes them more relatable and more human. These famous women that have tried to attempt suicide and lived to tell about it come from all different backgrounds. Some of these women are no longer with us, but the reason for their deaths is not due to suicide.

15 Drew Barrymore

We know Drew Barrymore as the hilarious actress who has starred in a number of Hollywood hits in the last decade. What you might not know is that her acting career started when she was a child, and she grew up in the public eye, which is difficult for any child. She had a troubling childhood as a result of being raised by her partying mother after her father left them when Barrymore was a baby. She attempted suicide after getting out of rehab. She was just fourteen-years-old when she cut both of her wrists with a kitchen knife. Fortunately, she survived her painful suicide attempt.

14 Halle Berry

Actress Halle Berry tried killing herself from the carbon monoxide fumes from her running car after her failed marriage with her first husband and Atlanta Braves player, David Justice. Many people experience depression after a failed marriage or any relationship for that matter. Berry faced the feelings many other women feel after a relationship ends. However, something saved Berry before it was too late. She told Parade Magazine that she was sitting in her car when an image of her mom finding her dead body came to her. Because of this image of her mother, Berry realized it would be wrong to kill herself.

13 Princess Diana

The late Princess Diana tried to kill herself because she was upset by how Prince Charles treated her. She tried killing herself by throwing herself down the stairs. According to an article from the Los Angeles Times from 1992, a British newspaper claimed Princess Diana attempted suicide at least five times. In addition to throwing herself down the stairs, the newspaper said she cut her thighs and chest with a knife, her wrists with a razor, and threw herself into a glass cabinet. They also said she tried cutting herself with a lemon slicer. All of these alleged attempts were said to be because of her troubled marriage.

12 Elizabeth Taylor

Actress Elizabeth Taylor tried overdosing on Seconal in the 1960s when actor Richard Burton ended their secret affair. Seconal is a very powerful sleeping medication. At the time of the affair, Taylor was married to another actor, Eddie Fisher, but became infatuated with Burton while filming Cleopatra. Fisher was Taylor's fourth husband and despite her marriage to him and her Hollywood fame, she was so depressed over her affair with Burton ending that she attempted suicide. Her suicide attempt was depicted in a book about her called How to Be a Movie Star: Elizabeth Taylor in Hollywood by William J. Mann.

11 Fantasia Barrino

Made famous when she won American Idol in 2004, singer Fantasia Barrino tried to commit suicide by taking a combination of pills when she and her boyfriend broke up in 2010. Her manager called 911 when he found her nearly unconscious in her mansion. On “Good Morning America,” Barrino said she thinks she did it because she was carrying so much weight on her shoulders over six years, and it got to be too much. Shortly before trying to kill herself, Barrino's lover's wife threatened to sue Barrino. However, Barrino said that the potential lawsuit and other allegations were just part of the reason she tried to kill herself, not the whole reason.

10 Donna Summer

Disco queen, Donna Summer, tried jumping out a window to kill herself. However, when she went to jump out the window, her foot got caught in a curtain. At the same time, her maid was trying to get in, but the door was locked. Summer heard the maid trying to get in and told her she would let her in. Summer says that hearing the maid made her “wake up” and she realized what she was doing. She said at the time, it was like she was in a daze and didn't know what she was doing. She also said that if the maid wouldn't have showed up, she would have died. Unfortunately, years later, Summer lost her life to cancer.

9 Shelley Long

Shelley Long who played Diane Chambers on the television show 'Cheers' attempted suicide in 2004 when she overdosed on pain medication. She was fifty-five when she tried to take her life. This was after her marriage ended when her husband left after twenty-two years of marriage. Her friends said that she was battling depression for a year and a half and was constantly getting more depressed before she tried killing herself. They also said she spent a great deal of time in bed and barely ate anything. She had even told friends that she didn't feel like she had anything to live for.

8 Patty Duke

Actress Patty Duke was diagnosed with manic depression after trying to kill herself several times. She had a family history of manic depression. She began to really unravel after she won an Oscar Award when she was just sixteen for best supporting actress. Duke played Helen Keller in the Broadway play Miracle Worker, which was turned into a movie. Along with trying to kill herself several times, she also abused drugs and alcohol. She wasn't officially diagnosed with the illness until twenty years after her Oscar Award. Ten years after her diagnosis, she published her book A Brilliant Madness: Living with Manic Depression Illness.

7 Nina Simone

In the 1970s Nina Simone tried ending her life by overdosing on sleeping pills. The suicide attempt came after being attacked in London. After the attack, the singer was left feeling helpless and depressed. Traumatic events often lead to depression, so it is no wonder why Simone felt depressed after being attacked. Simone was a pianist and singer. She sang jazz, folk, and blues music. In addition, she was a civil rights activist, and many of her songs were about the Civil Rights Movement. There is not much information available about her attempted suicide, but she had several health problems in the last years of her life.

6 Marianne Faithfull

Actress Marianna Faithfull attempted suicide in 1969 days after Brian Jones from the Rolling Stones was found dead in his pool. His death occurred shortly after being fired from the band. At the time, Faithfull was in a relationship with Mick Jagger who was the lead singer of the Rolling Stones. Faithfull decided to kill herself to get back at Jagger and Keith Richards who was the guitarist for the Rolling Stones and who Faithfull was in love with despite her relationship with Jagger. She wanted to get back at them for mocking Jones. She wanted to punish them, so she took a bunch of pills. She survived her attempted suicide but was in a drug-overdose coma.

5 Paris Jackson

Paris Jackson, daughter of the late Michael Jackson, attempted suicide in 2013 when she was just fifteen and was rushed to the hospital. She cut herself so deeply with a kitchen knife that it left a horrible scar. It is believed that this was not her first time attempting suicide because she had a secret blog that contained messages and pictures related to suicide and cutting. Sources say that in the months before her suicide attempt, Jackson was being treated for severe depression at the UCLA Medical Center. Also before the suicide attempt, Jackson was spending more time with her biological mother.

4 Tina Turner

Singer Tina Turner revealed in her autobiography that she tried to kill herself in 1968. Turner had accused husband Ike of spousal abuse on several occasions, which might have been the reason for her suicide attempt. Turner got her start as a singer by singing for Ike's band, which is where their relationship started. She had his baby in 1960, and by 1962, they were married. Turner's career started taking off, and Ike was her producer. However, it was no secret that their relationship had problems. The couple divorced in 1978, and by the 80s, Turner had successfully made a comeback all on her own.

3 Alexa Ray Joel

In 2009 Billy Joel's daughter Alexa Ray tried to kill herself when she and her boyfriend broke up after five years together by overdosing on non-prescription medication. After taking the pills, Joel called 911 and was treated in the hospital. She said that she didn't want to die, but she didn't want to feel the way she did anymore. A year after her attempted suicide, Joel stated that she was happily single again and was happy living in New York. She said that at the time of her attempted suicide, she was living alone after her relationship ended and her apartment seemed too big and lonely.

2 Sally Kirkland

Actress Sally Kirkland's suicide attempt was the closest call out of all of them. She was even pronounced dead at the time of her attempted suicide. Kirkland thinks it is a miracle she is alive today. Her suicide attempt occurred after abusing drugs in her 20s. However, her near death experience scared her so much that she got straight. She was able to get herself clean by painting and practicing yoga. It is not unusual for celebrities to abuse drugs or alcohol, especially for actors and musicians. What is unique, however, is the way Kirkland got herself on the right path on her own.

1 Amber Portwood

Reality star Amber Portwood from “Teen Mom” tried to kill herself twice by taking pills that treat opioid addiction. She told ABC News that she took thirty pills in the span of three days. Portwood's daughter was taken away from her, which ultimately lead to her depression and suicide attempts. She stated that once she had her daughter, she believed that was the reason for her existence. Then, when she lost custody of her daughter, she didn't feel like she had a purpose so she started doing drugs and partying a lot. Ultimately, she chose to go to jail instead of drug-rehab because she had been to rehab before, and it didn't help her. She thought the only way she would get better was by being locked up.