9 Celebrities Who Were Lied To About Their Biological Parents

Find out how these stars learned the truth about their parents…

For three decades, Wynonna Judd believed that her mother Naomi Judd’s first husband, Michael Ciminella, was her dad. Naomi had married Michael as a pregnant teenager but kept the truth from her daughter for years. When Wynonna was 30, Naomi revealed that her father was a man named Charlie Jordan. Wynonna never had the chance to meet him before his death.

“There was all this pressure and everybody kinda freaked out, and he went off to join the Army,” Wynonna explained on The Judd Family: Truth Be Told. “Look, I understand it, but I was really angry with her about it. I was so devastated that I thought there was a part of me that’s missing. The glass is half empty.”

She continued, “My understanding is that Charlie knew about me and that he always felt like he couldn’t do anything about it. I guess he didn’t feel he was worthy or whatever, like, ‘Wynonna’s got this life and I can’t just show up in it.’ And for a while, I wasn’t ready to go meet him. What if he’s a jerk? What if we don’t make a connection? What if, what if, what if? Fear, fear, fear. But when I finally decided to, it was too late.”

Kerry Washington was 41 years old when she discovered the truth about her biological father. Ahead of an appearance on the ancestry show Finding Your Roots, Kerry’s parents told her that the man who raised her was not her biological father and instead, she had been conceived through an anonymous sperm donor. Reflecting on the moment she found out, Kerry says it “turned my world upside down.”

“When I got this information, I was like, ‘Oh. I now know my story,’” Kerry told People, adding that she had always felt that something was being kept from her. “I didn't know what my story was, but I was playing the supporting character in their story.”

“I think that dissonance of like, ‘Somebody is not telling me something about my body’ made me feel like there was something in my body I had to fix,” she added, noting that she struggled with anxiety, self-esteem issues, and an eating disorder for years -- which she believes may have been rooted in her parents’ secret.

As a child, Demi Moore was raised by her mother, Virginia, and her husband, Dan, whom Demi believed to be her father. As a “snoopy” teenager, Demi came across her mother and Dan’s wedding certificate -- realizing that she was born a year before they tied the knot. While at first Virginia claimed it was a mistake, Demi knew her mother had previously been married and began to have suspicions about her father.

“One day, when my mother and I were driving, I told somebody we were in the car with the story of her being married before. Then I turned to my mother out of nowhere and said, ‘Is he my real father?’ I don’t even know why I said it. She said, ‘Why do you ask?’ I said, ‘Just answer me.’ She said yes,” Demi told Vanity Fair.

She continued, “At that time this Charles -- that was his name -- lived in Texas, so my aunt called him. He’d always wanted to meet me but was forbidden; he’d never even seen a photograph. He came [to my aunt’s] and stayed. It was a bizarre experience…I was never supposed to know he existed. He was never involved in my life. My mother left this man before I was born while she was pregnant. When I was born, Danny was there. That’s why, for me, he’s my father.”

When Tim McGraw was a little boy, he was raised by his stepfather, Horace Smith, whom he believed was his biological dad. It wasn’t until he was 11 and snooping in his mother’s closet for Christmas presents that he found his birth certificate and discovered the truth. The document revealed that his true father was MLB pitcher Tug McGraw.

“I called my mom at work, and of course, she came immediately home. We drove around for a long time, and she explained everything to me…Mom got hold of him and said that I had found out and wanted to meet him. Of course, I did in Houston, Texas. I think he gave up a grand slam that night,” he said on Larry King Live.

Tim continued, “It was awkward. I was 11 years old. I was a kid. I think it was more traumatic for everybody around me than it was for me. I think it probably became a little more traumatic for me as I got a little older.”

Liv Tyler grew up believing that her father was musician Todd Rundgren -- but her mother, Bebe Buell, was hiding a secret. When Liv was 8 years old, she met Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler and began to have suspicions that he was actually her father, especially after meeting his daughter Mia who looked just like her.

“I didn’t know who Aerosmith was. And my mom said, ‘Come here I want to introduce you to someone,’ and I was watching Todd play and I was like, ‘Ugh, I don’t wanna come!’ And she pointed to this guy standing at the bar and I was like, ‘Is that Mick Jagger’s son?’ And he bought me a Shirley Temple,” Liv told Wonderland.

She continued, “I fell madly in love with him. I had no idea who he was. After we met, he, Steven, started calling and we’d go see him. He was just out of rehab, so part of going through those steps is making amends by reaching out to my mom after years of being a drug addict and not ever being there.”

Jack Nicholson was raised by his maternal grandmother, who was named Ethel May, but grew up believing that she was his biological mother. It wasn’t until he was 37 that he learned that the woman who Jack believed was his sister, June, was actually his mom. June had gotten pregnant as a teenager by a man named Don, who was married. In order to avoid bringing unwanted attention to the family, Jack’s grandmother raised him as her own.

Jack didn’t find out until well into adulthood when the secret was uncovered by Time magazine. Unfortunately, both June and Ethel May had passed away by the time he learned the truth.

“I was very impressed by their ability to keep the secret, if nothing else,” he later told Rolling Stone.

Eric Clapton was also raised by his maternal grandparents, believing that they were his biological parents. Instead, the woman he believed was his sister, Patricia, was actually his mother, as she had gotten pregnant as a teenager by a married man. He found out the truth when he was nine years old, but didn’t take the news very well. When Patricia returned home from living abroad with his younger half-siblings, Eric asked to call her “mom” and he was rejected, leading to a dark period in his life.

“She said in a very kindly way, ‘I think it’s best, after all they’ve done for you, that you go on calling your grandparents Mum and Dad,’ and in that moment I felt total rejection,” he wrote in his autobiography Clapton.

He continued, “Though I tried to accept and understand what she was saying to me, it was beyond my grasp. I had expected that she would sweep me up in her arms and take me away to wherever she had come from. My disappointment was unbearable, and almost immediately turned into hatred and anger. Things quickly became very difficult for everybody. I became surly and withdrawn, rejecting everyone’s affection, as I felt I had been rejected.”

When Patty Duke welcomed her first child, Sean Astin, there were many questions in the press about the identity of his father. Patty believed that Addams Family star John Astin was the little boy’s father, and the couple eventually got married. But when Sean was 14, Patty revealed that his true father was Desi Arnaz Jr. Sean began to build a relationship with Desi and for over a decade, Sean believed the actor was his dad.

His world changed again at age 26 when a family member of Michael Tell, a man Patty had briefly married, told Sean that Michael was likely his father. After a paternity test, it was uncovered that Michael was indeed Sean’s father -- although Patty never believed the test results.

“If you want to know who I am, John Astin is my father, Michael Tell is my biological father,” Sean told People in 2001. “I have a good relationship with Mike. That’s who I am. I don’t fault anybody, I don’t fault myself or with Desi, who is like my godfather, I have such a powerful love bond with this man, he’s a gorgeous human being.”

Model Daisy Lowe grew up believing that her father was her mother Pearl Lowe’s ex Bronner Handwerger. It wasn’t until she was much older and learned that neither of her parents shared her O-type blood that she began questioning things. After a paternity test, it was discovered that Daisy’s actual dad was her godfather, Gavin Rossdale.

“The funny thing was, the moment that I found out that he could be my dad, I was like, ‘Oh this makes perfect sense.’ We think in the same way and we have so many quite frightening similarities. The guy who I thought was my dad, I didn’t really know, and when I met him I came home and I said to my mum, ‘I feel no connection with this man,’” Daisy said on the That Gaby Roslin podcast.