If you dread the  thought of going home for the holidays because you have to spend time with your family, you’re not the only one. Check out these 6 A listed actors with mommy issues and keep them in mind next time your grandmother gets tipsy on Thanksgiving and asks you for the umpteenth time when you’re getting married and having a kid. Find the strength in the following examples to not give in to family emotional blackmail at the next Christmas party. Not only did these celebrities manage to leave all their troubles behind, but they’re now making enough money to stay in therapy for years.

#1 Jack Nicholson

The three time Academy Award winner only found out who his real mother is when he was thirty seven years old. And not because she thought it was high time she told him, but because TIME Magazine thought it was high time he was told. And also make a lot of money from publishing the story. It turns out Nicholson’s alleged mother, Ethel May, was actually his grandmother and his sister, June, was actually his mother. Umm, does this sound like a telenovela plot twist to anyone else? Apparently June relinquished baby Jack’s custody in order to continue her career as a dancer. What is more, Nicholson’s father already had a wife when he married June. And you thought your eccentric aunt coming to visit was bad news?

#2 Kelsey Grammer

The Grammer family’s history sounds like a horror story. Kelsey’s father was shot twice in 1968 after he was lured out of his house. This was followed by his younger sister being killed in 1975 when Kelsey was required to identify the body. Five years later, two half brothers of Kelsey died in a scuba diving accident. Oh, we forgot to mention Grammer was married and divorced three times. But that pales in comparison with the more tragic events in his family. Which still leaves us with the question: were the Grammers gangsters?

#3 Tobey Maguire

The son of two poor parents, Maguire was passed from relative to another relative in his childhood. His father, Vincent, took custody of his nieces after their mother died of cancer. Trying to find new means to provide for his family, Vincent robbed a bank but was caught shortly after.

#4 Alec Baldwin

Although Baldwin was born and grew up comfortably in a family of actors, his behavior towards his daughter indicates he has some real issues. In a leaked voicemail we can hear him brutally insulting his daughter, who was eleven years old at the time, calling her a “rude thoughtless pig”. His outrageous behavior was caused by his daughter missing their scheduled phone call. Baldwin subsequently apologized for his outburst, but the leaked tape still affected his custody trial with his former wife, Kim Basinger. That should teach him some manners.

#5 Charlize Theron

Theron was fifteen years old when her alcoholic father went into a fit of drunkenly rage while waiving a gun and firing randomly through his house, not caring about his wife or daughter getting hurt. In self defense, Charlize’s mother shot her husband dead and managed to protect her teenage daughter who was hiding in her room. The Oscar winner actress praises her mother to this day for her courage.

#6 Demi Moore

Moore and her mother, Virginia, were abandoned by her father before she was born. Virginia was a bipolar alcoholic who was incapable of taking care of herself, let alone of baby Demi. So Moore was brought up by her stepfather. The latter wasn’t all milk and honey either. He had his own problems which he could only fix by killing himself. Virginia was still a drug addict when Demi broke off their relationship. From there on her mother started posing nude for porno magazines, parodying her daughter as an actress and model. The two women reconciled just before Virginia passed away.

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