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Nicole Kidman Says Her Late Parents ‘Guided’ Her Through Life: Meet Mom Janelle Ann and Dad Antony
Nicole Kidman received the award for best actress for her performance in Babygirl at the Venice Film Festival on September 7, 2024, but she was unable to accept the accolade in person due to an unexpected tragedy in her family. The Australian-American actress had to leave the festival early after she learned about the death of her mother, Janelle Ann Kidman, whose passing came days before the 10th anniversary of the death of Nicole’s father, Antony Kidman. Nicole has remembered her mom and dad fondly, explaining that her parents “guided” her through life.
Who Was Nicole Kidman’s Mom, Janelle Ann Kidman?
Nicole was born on June 20, 1967, in Honolulu, Hawaii, while Janelle and Antony were in the U.S. on student visas. Janelle was a nursing instructor at the time, and she also edited her husband’s books. Additionally, she was a member of the Women’s Electoral Lobby, an Australian feminist group.
Janelle died at 84 years old in September 2024. After Nicole left the Venice Film Festival early, Babygirl director Halina Reijn accepted her award and shared a statement on her behalf.
“Today, I arrived in Venice to find out shortly after my brave and beautiful mother, Janelle Anne Kidman, had just passed,” Nicole wrote. “I’m in shock and I have to go to my family, but this award is for her.”
The statement continued, “She shaped me, she guided me and she made me. I am beyond grateful that I get to say her name to all of you through Halina. The collision of life and art is heartbreaking. My heart is broken.”
Nicole’s rep confirmed her mom’s death in a statement to The New York Post, saying, “The family is heartbroken and asks for privacy at this time.”
Janelle’s cause of death is unclear at this time. However, Nicole spoke about her mother’s health struggles in 2022. “We’re down here primarily to take care of my mother and to have her surrounded by her grandchildren,” she said during an interview with NPR’s Fresh Air while in Australia. “We were able to take her into the gallery after hours and show her the Matisse exhibit. Which, coming from a mother who raised me in the arts, was a soothing balm.”
Nicole continued, “I’m at the place where I’m being given the chance to view the world—because of how close we are, my mom is giving me the chance to view the world through an 81-year-old woman’s eyes. That is so beneficial right now because she’s so cognizant. She has every faculty, brain faculty, available. She hasn’t lost anything. She hasn’t lost any memory, which is fascinating.”
She concluded, “And she’s extremely bright. So she’s giving me access ’cause she’s also very direct and very honest. And so I’m getting access to the world through her eyes, my mother’s eyes, so, therefore, a part of me almost at 80.”
Who Was Nicole Kidman’s Dad, Antony Kidman?
Antony was a biochemist, clinical psychologist and author. At the time of Nicole’s birth, he was a graduate student at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. When he became a visiting fellow at the National Institute of Mental Health, the family moved to Washington, D.C., where Antony and his wife took part in anti-Vietnam War protests.
Antony died at 75 years old on September 12, 2014. It was reported at the time that his death, which occurred at a hotel in Singapore, was the result of a heart attack following his morning exercise.
Nicole told The Weekend Australian that her father “was always such a guiding light in my life.”
Shortly after Antony’s death, the actress told Vogue US, “You’ve caught me at a time when I’m still recovering and in grief. There are times you go, ‘Gosh, I wish I could just go and hide in a hole and never come out.’”
Nicole also revealed in April 2024 that she had an “awful” reaction when she saw her dad’s body in the morgue — she “started to shake and laugh.”
“Because it was so devastating when I saw his body,” she said at the Emmys For Your Consideration event for her show Expats on April 28, 2024. “My mom looked at me and she actually had to slap my face and say, ‘Nicole, snap out of it,’ because I was so short-circuited in my brain.”
Though Nicole said she was “ashamed” of her reaction, she realized it was “real.”
“And it’s based in the deepest love and not being able to handle a situation,” she concluded.
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