Actress Sarah Jessica Parker says she grew up in 'Dickensian poverty'

Her story is truly one of rags to riches. Though she's so closely associated with New York City, actress Sarah Jessica Parker was actually born to a poor family in the mining town of Nelsonville, Ohio, in 1965. She's the fourth of eight children.

When Parker was just three years old, her parents divorced. Her mother, a school teacher, remarried soon after, introducing four more children into the family from her new husband's previous marriage. Financially supporting such a large family was a continuous struggle.

Image: Sarah Jessica Parker's mom, sarahjessicaparker / Instagram

Sarah Jessica Parker described her childhood as one of "Dickensian poverty" in an interview with The New York Times. “We didn't have electricity sometimes. We didn't have Christmases sometimes, or birthdays, or the bill collectors came, or the phone company would call and say, 'We're shutting your phones off.'"

In an interview with The New York Times, she talked about the stigma of being on welfare. ''I knew I was different from the kids who paid for lunch or brought their lunch from home.”

Despite her family’s financial struggles, Parker told People, “For the most part, we had everything we needed, and not having everything you want is a blessing.” She added that there was a lot of love, culture, and art at home and always something to do.

Parker described her childhood to People as somewhat idyllic. “We were kicked outside till the street lights came on, you make up games, we had ballet lessons, and we went to theater and ballet and the opera... That was in the days when they still funded arts programs.”

Despite financial constraints, Parker's mother and stepfather nurtured her interest in the performing arts. She started attending ballet and singing classes at a young age, sparking a passion that would eventually become her very profitable career.

When Parker was nine, her family moved to Cincinnati, then to Dobbs Ferry, New York, and eventually to New York City. These moves were primarily to support her emerging career.

At age 11, Parker scored her first Broadway role in 'The Innocents,' kickstarting her professional acting career. Then at 14, she played the lead in the Broadway production of 'Annie.' She told The New York Times that most of the money she and her siblings earned was “absorbed into the family.”

She told People that being the poorest kid in the neighborhood fed her drive to work hard. “I wanted to be a professional, not just for satisfaction, but I wanted to not worry about money and allow others to not worry about money.”

In an interview with Huffpost, Parker said that she has learned to be open about her feelings. “I used to not ever tell anybody because I thought that too many people were reliant on me to not be anxious, like they were all looking at me to make them feel better,” she said.

Now a mother of three children with her equally famous partner, Matthew Broderick, she goes overboard to ensure that her kids aren’t spoiled. “I like to withhold things from my children, things they want, I think they should yearn for, and earn so that when you get it, it has such meaning.”

Her past poverty also pushed her to become a conservative investor, according to a New York Times profile. As opposed to her 'S-- and the City' character, she told Good Housekeeping that she rarely splurges, but she keeps a close eye on the markets. At the same time, she's made some excellent real estate deals.

Parker told Good Housekeeping that she’s “very” close to her family, and most of her siblings have stayed in New York. In fact, she’s not the only success story in the entertainment industry in her family. Her brother Timothy Britten is a professional actor, and her other brother, Pippin (pictured), is a playwright, theater director, and Dean of the New School For Drama.

From living in a home she described as “messy and chaotic” during her childhood, she now resides on West 11th Street in Greenwich Village, a locale that the Wall Street Journal has dubbed the “New Billionaire’s Row.” Among her neighbors are Liv Tyler, Rupert Murdoch, and the CEO of Softbank.

Parker’s life is indeed a Cinderella story. With hard work, talent, financial caution, and perhaps a healthy dose of luck, she has built up her net worth to an estimated $200 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.

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