Home Alone curse left famous stars including Macaulay Culkin haunted by drug abuse, legal meltdowns and heartache
HOME Alone may bring delight to thousands of families every Christmas, but the film’s stars have had a seriously tough time since.
The iconic movie, released in 1990, tells the tale of Kevin McCallister who is accidentally left alone at his American home when his family travel to France.
He relishes the independence initially yet things turn twisted when thieves try to break in.
Child star Macaulay Culkin shot to international stardom when he played Kevin in the original 1990 film.
He reprised the role for Home Alone 2 (1992) and after their successes, he went on to star in My Girl (1991), The Good Son (1993), The Pagemaster (1994) and Richie Rich (1994).
Yet in his personal life, he suffered heartache when he effectively ‘divorced’ his parents in 1994 to stop them handling his vast fortune.
In 1998, aged just 18, Macaulay married actress Rachel Miner, but the couple separated in 2000 and divorced in 2002.
On January 23, 2018, the actor told Marc Maron’s that his father was “physically and mentally” abusive and that his dad was “jealous” of what he had achieved at such a young age.
He also became embroiled in Michael Jackson’s child sex scandal, yet insisted he had never been abused by the popstar.
In an interview on the podcast, he explained how their friendship came to be and said: “A lot of things were happening, big and fast with me and I think he identified with that.”
John Heard played Kevin McCallister’s dad, Peter, in the iconic movie.
In 1991, he was involved in legal wranglings after he was arrested on suspicion of assaulting actress Melissa Leo.
Heard and his second wife Sharon had two children together, his son Max and a daughter named Annika.
In 2017, Max shockingly died. Sharon wrote an obituary for their son which said “died peacefully in his sleep” and “was in deep grief of not having a father participating in his life”.
Six months later, Heard was found dead in his hotel room by a maid aged 72 after suffering a heart attack.
John Candy played the cab driver in a minor role
Meanwhile John Candy, who played cab driver Gus Polinski, sadly died four years after the film’s release.
After starring in nearly 40 movies in his career, John passed away while filming wild west comedy Wagons East!
Wrapping his last scene and cooking a celebratory meal for his assistants, he was found dead in his bed the next day.
The film wasn’t a huge hit despite it being his last performance.
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