Once reliant on welfare and deeply ashamed of her difficult childhood, Sarah Jessica Parker overcame poverty to become one of Hollywood’s most celebrated actresses. Growing up as one of eight siblings in a struggling working-class family in Ohio, she often lived without electricity and relied on free school lunches, an experience that left a lasting mark.

Her parents divorced early, and her mother remarried a truck driver, with whom she raised eight children. Money was tight, and Sarah remembers the stigma of receiving free meals and the constant financial struggles her family faced. Despite the hardships, her mother’s love and determination kept the family together.