Tragic Details About Hallmark Star Andie MacDowell

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The following article includes discussions of mental health, alcohol addiction, and domestic violence.

Andie MacDowell transformed from a regular Southern girl to a Golden Globe-nominated actor, but her journey was far from easy. MacDowell's small-town upbringing in South Carolina included a lot of hardships, some of which went on to influence her work. Throughout her career, MacDowell has played complex characters that often paralleled her own experiences. In "Maid," MacDowell's relationship with Margaret Qualley – her daughter onscreen and off — at times reflected that.

"Paula is lovable because she's broken," she told The Washington Post of her character. "[When] she does wrong, she's not really in control of that. She hasn't gotten the help she needs, so she's acting out because she's unwell." MacDowell's family dynamics were a lot like that. She grew up with an absent, sometimes violent father who was unable to cope with her mother's mental health and alcohol addiction. Given her circumstances, MacDowell had to grow up fast.

Luckily, MacDowell was able to break the cycle and give her children a much healthier environment in which to grow up. That's, at least partially, because she harbors no resentment toward her parents. Instead, she absorbed the positives of their influence and embraced their faults with compassion. In different ways, her parents were the product — and victim — of their flawed times. But MacDowell turned a complicated upbringing into a fruitful life in the spotlight. From dealing with her father's absence to feeling responsible for a mentally ill mother and living with a chronic condition, MacDowell has endured a lot.

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Now in her 60s, Andie MacDowell is happy with how her life and career have turned out in a landscape that can be brutal for aging women. But not everything is perfect. MacDowell's efforts to look as fantastic as she does took a toll. "Most recently, what happened when I was working last season as I did the Peloton like a crazy person," she said on "The Drew Barrymore Show" in January 2024 (via the Daily Mail). But unbeknownst to her, the stationary cycling exercise was aggravating a health condition she didn't know she had.

"It's not appropriate for my body," she said. MacDowell sought professional help because of the amount of pain she was in. "I thought I was literally falling apart like I was gonna have to get new pieces," she explained. And something was indeed wrong. MacDowell was diagnosed with piriformis syndrome, a condition in which the piriformis muscle of the buttocks presses on the sciatic nerve and causes inflammation. "I thought I was gonna have to have hip replacement," she said.

Luckily, MacDowell successfully managed her condition with the help of a personal trainer who developed exercises to strengthen her buttocks and hip muscles. "It doesn't hurt anymore — it's a miracle," she said. MacDowell didn't always put herself first. It took time, but she's learned to prioritize her health. "It took me a while to get comfortable with that because I was so addicted to my children," she told Prevention. 

Andie MacDowell had a tough childhood. Shortly after she was born, MacDowell's mother, Pauline Johnston, experienced a mental health episode that resulted in a schizophrenia diagnosis. But MacDowell believes her mother was the victim of her times' poor understanding of — and discriminatory approach to — women's mental health. "I think a lot of times people do these diagnoses because maybe they're having a psychotic event," MacDowell said on NPR's "Fresh Air" in 2021.

Because she had just had a baby, MacDowell suspects Johnston may have been experiencing postpartum depression. Instead, she was institutionalized in North Carolina while her four daughters (seen above) stayed in Gaffney, South Carolina. "They gave her shock treatments, and she was sent away for about three months to a place in Asheville," she said. For months, the mother and newborn were separated by nearly 90 miles. One day, she just returned home. "It was like they would send women off and they were 'cured,'" she said.

Even as a child, MacDowell could see that her mother needed help. Yet, she lived over two decades without receiving proper treatment for her condition — whether it truly was schizophrenia or something else. MacDowell believes it was severe depression that could have been alleviated with adequate treatment. As a consequence, she watched a lifetime of what she considers unnecessary pain all around. "She was always suffering. So I have lived with deep suffering my whole life," MacDowell told USA Today in 2019.

After she returned home from the psychiatric hospital, Pauline Johnston began to drink. The habit turned into a lifelong alcohol addiction. Because she was so often inebriated, Andie MacDowell took it upon herself to ensure her mother was safe. As young as 10, she made it a part of her routine to wake up throughout the night to ensure her mother had stubbed out her cigarettes all the way. "There were burn marks all over the floor and on the couch; it's amazing we didn't burn down," MacDowell told The Guardian in 2019.

MacDowell continued to feel responsible for Johnston into adolescence. At 16, she found herself and her mother jobs at McDonald's. That way, she could keep an eye on her and prevent her from being fired as often as she was when she was still a schoolteacher. But it wasn't always possible. "One day I was driving her in and thinking: 'She's not quite sober, but I think she's sober enough,' and she got fired," she recalled in a 2018 interview with The Guardian.

Johnston never held a job again. Despite the rough times, MacDowell harbors no ill feelings toward her mother. "[We] had a great relationship and I always felt loved," she said in the 2019 conversation. Instead, she regrets that her mother had to endure what she went through. "I have a lot of compassion. Poor thing. It's an awful disease," she told People in 2018.

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Andie MacDowell left South Carolina when she was 21 to pursue a career in modeling. After living briefly in New York City, she moved to Paris, where her career took off. But those early years were rough for her, as she worried about leaving her mother to fend for herself. Surprisingly, Pauline Johnston got sober a year after MacDowell moved out. However, the two decades of alcohol addiction had already caused irreversible damage. Johnston died of a heart attack a year later. She was 53, and MacDowell was 23.

MacDowell took her mother's death hard. "There were years when I tortured myself about what I could have done," she told the Daily Mail in 2011. One of the most cherished mementos she had from Johnston was a letter she received the previous year. "She said she had quit drinking and that she was so proud of me," she said in her 2019 interview with The Guardian. The letter didn't make her grief any easier. "That was the last year of her life and I didn't really get to be around it, which was super sad," she said.

MacDowell knew she had done all she could for her mother, but the guilt was still hard to live with. "I think about going back to Gaffney. I'd like to go back and try to find out from other people what that year that I didn't get to experience was like," she said. 

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When she was 6 years old, Andie MacDowell's father left the family for good. But she seems to understand his decision. In her eyes, Marion MacDowell lacked the tools to handle Pauline Johnston's untreated mental illness and alcohol addiction. "I just think he couldn't live in the chaos," she said in the "Fresh Air" interview. The situation had been escalating for a while, so leaving was perhaps the best outcome. "My father was a beautiful man, but I saw him hit my mother when I was 4 and give her a bloody nose," she said.

However, Andie seemingly resents her father for thinking only of his own well-being. "He left me in the chaos, which I find fascinating. That's something I've really struggled with because he got out. He took himself out, he got himself out, but he left us, which was fascinating to me," she told host Terry Gross. Despite his absence, Marion continued to have a relationship with Andie. When Andie received an honorary degree for her philanthropy work from Lander University in 2001, Marion was in the audience with his family.

Marion also attended Andie's wedding to Rhett Hartzog that year. "I am very happy for her," he told Hello! Additionally, Andie has highlighted Marion's influence on her upbringing throughout the years. "Anyone who met my father would say he was a gentleman, and he taught me how to be a gentlewoman," she wrote in a 2024 Facebook post.

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, may be the victim of child abuse, or has experienced a hate crime, contact the relevant resources below:

• The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

• The National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.

• The Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.