As we grow and as time passes, we kind of get accustomed to living ‘next’ to certain celebrities. Well, ‘next’ is more like in the same lifetime. And yeah, while you see your life passing and you notice yourself getting older, those celebrities you grew up with kind of stay immortalised. And because of this, people don’t really think that celebrities get old. But, they do. And even though all of them are celebrities and they might have wealth beyond your wildest dreams, some of them (believe it or not) still end up in nursing homes. Fame doesn’t protect anyone from getting old.
Sooner or later, the tours and red carpets stop, and even some of the biggest names in history go to nursing homes. And not those where healthy seniors play golf and do water aerobics, but those that have 24/7 medical care and trained staff. When your mind and body need more than your family can help with, there’s really no other choice. It happens to celebrities, too. Sometimes it’s the kind of life they lived because of all the money they had that ends up catching up with them in a way that that same money simply cannot fix. Seems like all the ‘recreation’, all the late nights, they partying, etc., etc. – all of it sometimes takes its toll; a toll even celebrities end up paying.
Four super famous people who spent their last years in a nursing home
Imagine yourself working in a nursing home, or even being a resident. And then you suddenly see a celebrity you watched in the cinema and on the red carpet, sitting there, next to you. Sounds wild… but that sometimes happens. It’s often forgotten (even though it’s obvious) that even famous people are still people. Meaning, they get old. And when they do, perhaps they can’t take care of themselves anymore, and they need help. And nursing homes, even the glamorous ones, can sometimes be a pretty unpleasant place to be. This is also the reason why soon-to-be residents usually do their research beforehand on what their life is going to be like from now on, or what to expect when hiring a nursing home abuse lawyer if something happens. Hopefully nothing happens, but you never know, because while researching, you’re bound to cross lots of nasty stories. But let’s set that aside now, as why we’re REALLY here is to see which celebrities have spent their last years/months/days in nursing homes.
Rosa Parks
First one on the list, Rosa Parks. This is the name everyone knows. She’s the woman who refused to give up her seat on a bus and, in doing so, pretty much changed history. And even though she was all over the place for a good while, her later quests became quite a bit quieter… and harder. Once she was diagnosed with dementia, things took a sad turn. Dementia’s a horrible illness that slowly, but surely, takes away bits of what makes you you. You lose your memory, all of that you’ve been gathering over an entire lifetime, slowly being deleted. And at one point, not only would you forget your name, your family, your friends, you’d forget you ever were someone the entire world knew. And, as you can imagine, the worse it gets, the less of an ability you have to take care of yourself. It’s dreadful. Rosa Parks ended up in Detroit. First, she was in assisted living, but later, they transferred her to a nursing home for long-term 24/7 care. And even though ‘assisted living’ sounds bad, next to a nursing home, it’s a walk in the park. Assisted living means that you’re still able to (somewhat) take care of yourself. If you require a nursing home, then that’s gone. A nursing home, however, is where you go when things get really tough, and you need nurses around all the time. This is where Rosa Parks eventually lived, and it was even reported that she had problems with money because long-term care is extremely expensive. She passed away in 2005 at the age of 92.
Glen Campbell
You probably remember him from his hit song “Rhinestone Cowboy.” Glen Campbell was a huge star and, in 2011, he and his family did something truly brave. They told the whole world that Glen had Alzheimer’s, and he went on a farewell tour. Instead of hiding away, protecting his privacy and dignity, Glen intentionally let people see what this disease REALLY looked like. All the nastiness that comes with it. As the illness progressed, Glen Campbell transferred to a memory care facility down in Tennessee. This isn’t the same thing as a regular nursing home; it’s designed specifically for people with Alzheimer’s. Places like this one have secure areas where residents can’t wander off and get lost, and they provide them with activities so they stay calm and engaged. In Glen’s case, that meant music, which is hardly surprising. The staff still talks about the corner where he’d sit and play his guitar. He stayed in that home until he passed away in 2017.
Casey Kasem
If you listened to the radio, then you knew who Casey Kasem was. He had one of those voices… It was a voice that pretty much EVERYONE recognised. For years, Casey counted down the top 40 hits on the radio. Unfortunately, his later years were messy and sad, and it wasn’t just due to his illness. He had Lewy body dementia, which is an incredibly hard form of dementia that affects both your thinking and your movement. He ended up in long-term care facilities, but what really made this whole story so public was the fight between his kids and his second wife. They argued about everything. Who should make decisions for him, how he should be cared for, and even where he should be buried. It was all over the news, and it was… well, it was horrible, painful to watch. Casey’s case showed how illness can tear families apart. He passed away in 2014 in a hospital.
Rita Hayworth
If someone asked to list the ten most popular female movie stars, then Rita Hayworth would likely make that list. Heck, even if you just left out ‘female,’ she’d still have a great shot of making it onto that list. Rita, nicknamed the ‘Love Goddess’, also couldn’t escape time. Later in life (in the early 1980s), she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. But back then, people didn’t really know what Alzheimer’s was. Rita Hayworth ended up spending the last years of her life in a nursing home in New York. Her daughters were by her side the entire time. Her daughter once opened up about how Rita, the fearless celebrity everyone knew, became scared and paranoid. Rita became so distressed that they had to (at one point) soundproof her room to keep the other residents safe. It’s really heartbreaking when you think about these things. But there’s this extra level of dread when you think that, regardless of what you were in life, all of this is coming for us in many shapes and forms. And even stars sometimes can’t avoid ending up in nursing homes. Rita died in 1987. The later chapters of her story had a huge impact on how Alzheimer’s was viewed from then on.
The sad thing about decisions involving long-term care is that they’re not about status or money; they’re all about the inevitable and about safety. And, sooner or later, even the richest among us need the kind of help only trained professionals can give. These stories are all sad, but the beautiful thing about them is that, because they involved famous people, the rest of the world learned something. They showed us what Alzheimer’s and dementia looked like and started conversations nobody had before. So in a way, even at the end, these stars were still giving the world something.
Two interlinking opportunities:
From www.celebremagazine.world/experience/what-long-term-goals-should-guide-the-retirement-planning-process/ with anchor where you want to live.
From www.celebremagazine.world/business/setting-financial-goals-the-key-to-future-success/ with anchor retirement.
Article edited by Alexander Elisab