We Didn't Learn These Tragic Secrets About Actors Until After They Died

Everyone has secrets — even celebrities. And just like us, some celebrity secrets are good ones, like hidden talents that wound up playing huge parts in their movies. But there are also secrets that celebrities would rather keep out of the public forum, like gossipy rumors that turned out to be true. And in a handful of cases, those secrets are deeply tragic: Serious illnesses, personal information that might prove harmful to careers, children born out of infidelity, or details revealed in their autopsy reports.

With the exception of the latter, these things are often revealed during their lifetimes, and at inopportune times, which require damage control for their reputations. For actors, these scandals tend to overshadow the movies they're promoting. For others, the tragedies are brought to light after their deaths, either through medical reports, family statements, or posthumously published tell-all books. Following is a list of celebrities whose tragic secrets we only found out after they died.

Moviegoers and actors alike mourned the death of Gene Wilder at the age of 83 on August 29, 2016. The two-time Oscar nominee had been at the heart of so many beloved movies, from "Young Frankenstein," "Blazing Saddles," and "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory." that for many fans, his passing felt like the loss of a loved one. That impact may have been doubled when Wilder's family revealed that his death was due to complications from Alzheimer's disease, with which he had been diagnosed three years prior to his passing. The disease causes progressive memory loss, mood swings, and other behavioral issues, and eventually contributes to death.

NPR quoted a statement from his nephew, Jordan Walker-Pearlman, who said that the family's decision to keep Wilder's health status private was out of concern for his fans, especially the younger ones. "The decision to wait until this time to disclose his condition wasn't vanity, but more so that the countless young children that would smile or call out to him, 'There's Willy Wonka,' would not have to be then exposed to an adult referencing illness or trouble and causing delight to travel to worry, disappointment or confusion," wrote Walker-Pearlman. "He simply couldn't bear the idea of one less smile in the world."

David Carradine's turn as the super-assassin Bill in Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill" features in 2003 and 2004 seemed to signal a return to prominence for the actor. Carradine had worked primarily in low-budget films after his rise to stardom in the 1970s with the series "Kung Fu," but the Tarantino films netted him a Golden Globe nomination and a chance at returning to A-list features. That promise was cut short five years after the release of "Kill Bill Volume 2" when Carradine was found dead in a hotel room in Bangkok, Thailand, on June 4, 2009.

Details slowly emerged about the nature of Carradine's death. ABC News reported that the 72-year-old actor was found in a closet, naked and bound in a manner that led Thai police officials to suggest that he died as a result of auto-erotic asphyxiation, a practice which involved reducing the oxygen supply to the brain to heighten sexual pleasure. A photograph of Carradine's body, clad in fishnet stockings and a woman's wig, was later circulated in a Thai tabloid. Carradine's family later requested a private autopsy, which found that while the actor died of asphyxiation, the manner of death may have been either accidental death or homicide. No additional information appears to have been issued since that 2009 investigation.

In what seemed like an instant, actor Mark Salling scaled the heights of fame with a starring role on the popular Fox comedy-musical series "Glee" before plunging into despair after an arrest for possession of child pornography in 2015. The actor pled guilty to the charges in 2017 and awaited sentencing in 2018, which was expected to include four to seven years in prison. He never made it to the hearing: Salling died by suicide at the age of 35 on January 30, 2018.

Tragically, the March 2018 report noted two details that were not initially made public: At the time of his death, Salling had a blood alcohol level between 0.08 and 0.096%, which was slightly above the legal driving limit in California. The report also noted that Salling had made an attempt on his own life in August 2017, and had been hospitalized for a month after the incident.

A number of celebrities have admitted (often under duress) that they had fathered children outside of their marriage; That list includes Arnold Schwarzenegger, Eddie Murphy, Clint Eastwood, and most recently, the Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl. However, one Hollywood rumor about a child born out of wedlock went unconfirmed until after both of the famous figures passed away. The child in question was Judy Lewis, whose parents were Golden Age superstars Clark Gable and Loretta Young.

Young admitted that she had become pregnant with Gable's child in her authorized biography "Forever Young," which was published three months after her death in 2000. The actors had an affair after completing filming on a 1935 screen adaptation of "The Call of the Wild," after which Young discovered she was pregnant. A devout Catholic, Young dropped out of sight to give birth to her daughter, whom she claimed to the public was adopted. She refused to tell her daughter about the circumstances surrounding her birth until 1966. The actor also appears to have held onto an additional secret about her affair with Gable until shortly before her death: her daughter-in-law, Linda Lewis, said that Young alleged that her intimacy with Gable had not been consensual.

Nearly five decades after his death, rock and roll pioneer Elvis Presley continues to bring in an astonishing amount of money. Sales of music and licensed products have elevated his estate's worth to approximately $100 million — a staggering figure when compared to the singer and actor's net worth at the time of his death. When he died in 1977, Presley's net worth was allegedly just $5 million, an amount compromised by the cost of owning his home at Graceland and various record label and personnel issues.

That number was largely nullified in 1981 when the Internal Revenue Service reported that the Presley estate owned $14 million in back taxes. Licensing of Presley's name and likeness helped to lessen that blow, and by 1989, the estate was worth more than $75 million. But tax issues continued to dog Presley's surviving family in later decades: His daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, reportedly owed the IRS $1.8 million at the time of her death in 2023, while his granddaughter, actor Riley Keough, had her own tax woes: the state of California filed a lien against her regarding more than $68,000 in unpaid taxes that same year.

At the height of his fame, Mickey Rooney was among the highest-paid actors of Hollywood's Golden Era, earning the top box office draw slot from 1939 to 1941 as well as a special Juvenile Academy award (one of six eventual nods and two wins) in 1938. He remained active on-screen for the next seven decades in films like "The Muppets" and "Night at the Museum" until his death in 2014. Because his career was so long and celebrated, many fans were surprised to learn that not only was Rooney's estate worth just $18,000 but that he had also cut his biological children and estranged wife out of the will.

Rooney's will, which was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court in April 2014, disinherited his eight surviving children (son Mickey Rooney Jr. later died in 2022) and eighth wife, Jan Chamberlin, from whom he separated in 2012. Attorney Michael Augustine stated that the estate's reduced value was due in part to financial mismanagement by a stepson of Rooney's, and some of the proceeds would go to another stepson, Mark Aber, who had served as the actor's caretaker in his final years. Several of Rooney's biological children objected to the will, but they ceased their efforts in August 2015.

Tall, confident, and strikingly handsome, Rock Hudson was a go-to leading man for romantic dramas and comedies for over three decades in Hollywood. Hudson's on-screen partners included such legendary performers as Elizabeth Taylor, Julie Andrews, Claudia Cardinale, and Doris Day, but off-camera, Hudson led a very different life. But a diagnosis of AIDS, which Hudson revealed to the public in 1985, shone a light on a world that the actor had worked diligently to keep hidden away during his lifetime.

Hudson was gay during a period in which public figures could risk condemnation and the loss of their livelihoods for such a declaration. The full scope of Hudson's real private life would not be made public until after his death on October 2, 1985; although books and other media covered his past, the 2023 documentary "Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed" revealed that Hudson had numerous partners during his heyday in the 1950s and 1960s, but worked overtime to keep his personal affairs out of the public eye. "If he'd had the choice, he would have stayed in the closet," said the film's director, Stephen Kijak, to The Guardian.

When actress Raquel Welch died at the age of 82 on February 15, 2023, her representative, Steve Sauer, told Entertainment Tonight that the star of film, television, and stage had passed away after a brief illness. In April of that year, ET obtained Welch's death certificate, which stated that the cause of death was cardiac arrest. The medical examiner's report also revealed a surprising secondary health condition that the actress had kept private for several years.

TMZ was the first to publish Welch's death certificate, which listed Alzheimer's disease as a contributing factor in her passing. It also noted that Welch had suffered from the disease for several years; the actor had remained active as late as 2017 with a recurring role on the Canadian TV comedy series "Date My Dad" and a co-starring role in the Eugenio Derbez feature comedy "How to Be a Latin Lover." Neither Welch's representation nor her family appear to have commented on the revelation since the certificate was made public.

Paul Reubens' signature role — the puckish Pee-wee Herman — endeared him to generations of audiences, who delighted at his irreverent feature film debut, "Pee-wee's Big Adventure," as well as his long-running and celebrated Saturday morning TV series, "Pee-wee's Playhouse." Reubens revived the role in 2009 for a well-received stage production and in 2015 for the film "Pee-wee's Big Holiday." Fans were giddy at the prospect of more Pee-wee, but their hopes were dashed when Reubens died at the age of 70 on July 30, 2023. The cause of death was acute hypoxic respiratory failure, but the underlying cause was acute myelogenous leukemia. At the time of his death, Reubens had also been diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer.

In a statement issued after his death, Reubens explained that he had been diagnosed with cancer six years prior to his passing, but wished to spare his fans of the news. "Please accept my apology for not going public with what I've been facing the last six years," he wrote. "I have always felt a huge amount of love and respect from my friends, fans, and supporters. I have loved you all so much and enjoyed making art for you."

The characters Alan Rickman played during his long film career never seemed to be at a loss for words: Hans Gruber in "Die Hard," Severus Snape in the "Harry Potter" franchise, and Alexander Dane/Dr. Lazarus in "Galaxy Quest" could be counted upon to deliver a withering put-down or an urbane but menacing threat. Off-camera, Rickman was a private individual and put down many of his personal observations and thoughts in diaries.

When those diaries were published as "Madly, Deeply: The Diaries of Alan Rickman" in 2022, many fans got the full picture of a struggle that few, if any knew about during his lifetime. Rickman was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2005 and had his prostate removed the following year. The procedure coincided with the filming of the fifth "Potter" title, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," which Rickman briefly considered abandoning. He eventually decided to reprise Snape, writing in his diaries (via The Guardian), "The argument that wins is the one that says: 'See it through. It's your story." After suffering a stroke in 2015, Rickman was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, which he died of on January 14, 2016.

Actor Nicholas Tucci amassed an impressive resume of film, television, and other media appearances in a relatively brief period of time. Many of these were fan favorites, including the unnerving horror movie "You're Next," guest roles on "Daredevil," "Ramy," "Pose," and "The Blacklist," and his voice acting turn in "Wolfenstein: The New Order," all of which took place between 2006 and 2023. Tucci's schedule was so busy that it seemed like his breakout project was imminent, but tragedy intervened when Tucci's family announced his death from cancer at the age of 38 on March 3, 2020.

In a statement on Facebook, Tucci's father, Alexander, explained why his son's diagnosis was held from the public until after his death. "Nick chose to keep his illness private so that he could continue to pursue his professional and artistic dreams for as long as possible," he wrote. "In the last year, he was able to audition, go on location, and continue the work he loved so much." Alexander Tucci also thanked the entertainment communities and fans for their support. "To all," he added, "thank you for your gift of friendship to my son." Nicholas Tucci's last credited role was in the 2023 indie film "Ballad of a Hustler."