Hugh Jackman 'makes peace' with mom Grace McNeil who abandoned him as a child
Hugh Jackman's mother, Grace McNeil, abandoned her family in Australia when he was eight years old and went to the United Kingdom, news outlets revealed on Monday, August 24. McNeil's sudden departure was described as "painful" by the Hollywood actress, 52, but it appears that time heals all wounds.
MEAWW earlier reported on Jackman earlier this month, when his Twitter video sparked concern among his fans worldwide, as the actor reportedly underwent a biopsy test on his nose on doctor's orders. Last year, the 'Wolverine' actor lent support to a bullied girl who said she was threatened and asked to kill herself.
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Jackson simply captioned a snapshot of himself hugging Grace while they both smiled warmly at each other on Instagram on Monday, 'Mum.' Fans reacted positively to the photo, with one commenting, "Ma'am, you have raised a gentleman. My respects to you both." However, another supporter quickly corrected the record, saying, "Actually, his father reared him," the Daily Mail reported.
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Jackman described his mother abandoning him as a child as "traumatic" in an interview with Australia's Who magazine in January 2018, the Mail revealed. Grace abandoned the Broadway star when he was an eight-year-old youngster, without even saying goodbye.
In the late 1970s, she left Australia and went to England, leaving her husband, Christopher Jackman, to raise their children alone. Hugh's sisters, Zoe and Sonia, moved to the United Kingdom with Grace after the marriage split, but Hugh and his brothers, Ian and Ralph, stayed in Sydney with their father.
"It was traumatic," Jackson had said, reminiscing his difficult childhood. "I thought she was probably going to come back. And then it sort of dragged on and on." After his mother left the family, he only visited her around 'once a year,' according to the star of 'The Greatest Showman'. It didn't hit him until he was '12 or 13' that his mother would never return.
Hugh told Australia's 60 Minutes program in December 2012 that he still remembered "the morning she left." He said: "I remember her being in a towel around her head and saying goodbye. [It] must have been the way she said goodbye. As I went off to school, when I came back, there was no one there in the house. The next day there was a telegram from England. Mum was there. And then that was it. Dad used to pray every night that mum would come back."
Speaking to an interview with the Australian Woman's Weekly Jackman had said, "The thing I never felt - and I know this might sound strange - I never felt that my mum didn't love me. I've spoken about it at length with her since and I know she was struggling. She was in hospital after I was born suffering from post-natal depression. There wasn't a support network for her here."
However, mother and son eventually reconciled. "I am 43 now and we have definitely made our peace, which is important. I was always quite connected with my mum. I have a good relationship with her," he said in a 2011 interview with the Sun.
