Anorexic Celebrities
Some Noted Anorexic Celebrities
Since so many celebrities, even anorexic celebrities, serve as role models to today's young people, it's only fitting to present some of them as either tragic or positive examples to those who would like to emulate them. There are some things you should know about this list of anorexic celebrities. The first mentioned here have since died, either from the disease, or from complications arising from the disease, such as general poor health. Rather than speak ill of the dead, the purpose is to show that famous people can also have problems with anorexia, and are not always successful in dealing with them. The second thing to know is that many present-day celebrities have chosen to go public with their experience, in order to help others to either avoid the disease, or to seek treatment.
Many anorexic celebrities go through life without their condition ever having been known, or in some cases they died from the disease before it even had its present name. Actress Audrey Hepburn, who was indeed a very beautiful woman with a petite and slim figure, battled with anorexia for much of her life. Sigmund Freud's daughter Anna Freud, suffered from anorexia, brought on it is believed through depression. Her anorexia was in part due to a rather difficult and sometimes complex life.
If you have ever read anything by Franz Kafka, you would likely not be surprised that he suffered from one kind of ailment or another, as some of his writings are quite weird or surreal, yet at the same time brilliant. Kafka had an obsessive-compulsive personality, was generally underweight most of his life, and was very much an achiever, traits which are often present in an anorexic person. Sometimes anorexic people have been pushed into their condition by outside forces. Olympic gymnast Christy Henrich and ballet dancer Heidi Guenther both died of the eating disorders at age 22, after being told that they had to lose weight in order to compete or perform. Henrich weighed only 60 pounds at the time of her death. Many remember Gilda Radner, the talented and often goofy comedienne from Saturday Night Live. Though she died of cancer in 1989, Ms. Radner battled anorexia and other eating disorders for years, yet it was never evident in her performances.
What about those who are still living? Many of course have recovered from the disease, some may still be battling it. The ones listed below however, have elected to go public with their stories, in hopes of preventing others, including no doubt their admirers, of following in their footsteps. Many of them, not too surprisingly are models, or were models at one time or another in their lives. Being overweight can be a career killer for models, so it is little wonder that some become anorexic in their efforts to stay slender and beautiful.
Sandra Dee is best known as an actress, but was also a model and battled anorexia for many years. Model Kate Dillon was successful in her battle with anorexia and now takes pride in "not losing weight". Kristen Haglund was anorexic at the age of 16. With her family's support she recovered from the illness, and went on to win the Miss America Title in 2008. Three famous actresses, anorexic celebrities all, are Sally Field, Mary-Kate Olsen, and Jane Fonda. All have recovered from the disease, and Jane Fonda has campaigned actively to raise awareness about the effects of anorexia.
There are of course many more anorexic celebrities that can be added to the list, but the point is, some did not recover, others have, and have taken the important step in making their experiences a matter of public knowledge.