Sharon Stone has revealed that despite claims of royal ancestry and family wealth, she grew up in deep poverty because of a tragic family turn of events.
The 67-year-old Basic Instinct icon opened up during an appearance on Drew Barrymore’s talk show while promoting her new role in Euphoria. Stone explained that her father came from a once-wealthy family with noble roots, but strict inheritance rules meant he received nothing.
According to Stone, her father’s relatives were among the original oil drillers in Oil City. But disaster struck when an oil well explosion killed key family members, leaving the fortune in limbo. Because women were barred from inheriting at the time, the money reportedly went to the oldest surviving male relative instead of Stone’s grandmother and her children.
As a result, Stone said her grandmother was forced to work as a nurse in an asylum while raising the family under harsh conditions. Her father, who was only four years old then, later worked hard enough to buy back the family’s once-grand home, though it had fallen into ruin.
The actress also shared that her mother came from severe hardship, saying she was removed from her home because of abuse and sent to work as a maid, cook, and laundress from the age of nine. Stone said both of her parents were shaped by Depression-era struggles and wartime poverty.
Stone previously uncovered more about her lineage while appearing on Finding Your Roots, where host Henry Louis Gates Jr. revealed that Charlemagne was her 38th great-grandfather. She also learned she descends from French king Hugh Capet.
Although the Hollywood star now enjoys global fame and success, she said her upbringing was marked by dysfunction and struggle — proving that noble bloodlines do not always guarantee an easy life.
