Jake and Mary Jacobs marked their 70th anniversary of a happy marriage last year, but their journey wasn’t simple.
Mary, who is White, and Jake, who is Black, lived in the same city in 1940s Britain. At that time, there weren’t many Black men there.
Even though Mary’s father told her to leave, Mary chose love over easy choices.
“When I told my father I was going to marry Jake, he said, ‘If you marry that man, you will never set foot in this house again.’”
Mary and Jake first met at a technical college where Mary was learning typing and shorthand, and Jake was undergoing Air Force training. They met during the war when Jake moved from Trinidad to Britain.
Jake impressed Mary with his understanding of Shakespeare, and they got to know each other. One day, they invited Mary and her friend to join them for a picnic. Unfortunately, someone passing by saw them and reported Mary to her father. The woman was shocked to see two English girls talking with black guys. After this incident, Mary wasn’t allowed to visit her father again.
After Jake returned to Trinidad, they kept in touch through letters. A few years later, he came back to the U.K. to find a better-paying job.
Jake surprised Mary by proposing, and she, at 19, said yes. However, when she told her family, they kicked her out.
“I left with only one small suitcase. No family came to our registry office wedding in 1948.”
Mary’s father was upset about her marrying a black man, and Mary didn’t realize that society felt the same way.
The early years of their marriage in Birmingham were tough. Mary cried every day, hardly ate, and they faced many challenges. Nobody would talk to them, they couldn’t find a place to live because nobody would rent to a black man, and they had little money.
Even walking down the street together was hard because people would point at them, Mary explained.
Mary and Jake were excited to become parents, but at eight months, Mary gave birth to a stillborn child. She mentioned it wasn’t due to the stress she was under, but it deeply saddened them, and they didn’t have any more children.
As time passed, their lives improved. Mary became a teacher and eventually an assistant principal, while Jake found a job with the Post Office. They made new friends, but Mary felt the need to explain to people that her husband was black before introducing them.
“My father passed away when I was 30, and even though we reconciled by then, he never approved of Jake,” she shared.
Currently, Jake, 89, and Mary, 84, live in Solihull, a town south of Birmingham. They recently celebrated 70 years of marriage.
Jake said he has no regrets, but he also mentioned that today’s black youth may not fully understand the challenges he faced in 1940s Britain.
“When I arrived in the U.K., I faced abuse every day. Once, on a bus, a man rubbed his hands on my neck and said, ‘I wanted to see if the dirt would come off.’ Back then, working in an office as a black man with white girls wasn’t considered safe,” Jake explained.
Despite all the challenges, bias, and abuse, the pair is still deeply in love and has no regrets about being married. They have been happily married for more than 70 years.
These two are a true inspiration, and I wish them a lifetime of pleasure because of the love they have for one another.
Macaulay Culkin removed his parents from his foundation at age 15: his father disowned him years later
Even though Macaulay Culkin rose to fame as a child, his career took a turn for the worse when his parents divorced and started arguing about who would be in charge of Macaulay Culkin’s wealth and profession.
Macaulay Culkin let a lawyer handle the matter and took his parents’ names out of his foundation trust. His father declared years later that Macaulay Culkin was no longer his son.
On August 26, 1980, Macaulay Carson Culkin was born in New York. He is the son of Patricia Brentrup and former Broadway performer Christopher Cornelius “Kit” Culkin. But his parents have never tied the knot.
The third of seven children is Macaulay. Along with his sister Quinn, he has two brothers who are also actors: Kieran and Rory. At the tender age of four, Macaulay made his stage debut in the musical performance of “Bach Babies.”
As a young age, he started pursuing the performing arts. He trained at Balanchine’s American Ballet School and had several television commercial appearances.
In 1988, he made his screen debut in the drama “Rocket Gibraltar.” The next year, he made appearances in “See You in the Morning” and “Uncle Buck.”
His breakthrough performance was as Kevin McCallister in the comedy “Home Alone” in 1990. Due to the film’s widespread success, Macaulay overnight rose to prominence.
He received nominations for a Golden Globe, an American Comedy Award, and a Young Artist Award for his performance. He returned to the role in the global hit “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York” in 1992.
He starred in multiple popular movies, including “My Girl” (1991), “The Good Son” (1993), and a motion picture adaptation of “The Nutcracker” (1993).
He starred in “Getting Even with Dad,” “The Pagemaster,” and “Richie Rich” the following year. He wanted to lead a regular life after becoming weary of acting after the last movie.
His parents divorced in 1995, sparking a protracted custody dispute that lasted for two years. At this time, Macaulay—who was now the highest-paid child star—made the decision to hold off on accepting any additional jobs until after his parents’ custody battle was resolved.
After being together for more than 20 years, Macaulay’s parents, Kit and Brentrup, separated in 1995 when he was just 14 years old.
His managers were also the actor’s parents. They began bickering after their split over how to raise their kids and handle Macaulay’s rising profession.
Kit and Brentrup received a 15% commission on Macaulay’s profits while overseeing him. Macaulay’s profits were expected to be $50 million by 1990.
Because Kit was allegedly abusive, unfaithful, and had abandoned Macaulay and his siblings, Brentrup petitioned for temporary custody of Macaulay and his siblings in June 1995.
She was worried that Kit’s actions might turn off prospective workers who wished to resume working with their kids. But Kit wanted co-management and joint custody with Brentrup, while Brentrup asked for sole custody.
Kit was accused by the producers of blackmail, extortion, and harassment. He had such a terrible reputation that people referred to him as the “Stage Father from Hell.”
In “The Good Son,” Kit had threatened to cut Macaulay from the follow-up film “Home Alone” unless he was given a significant role. Producers and filmmakers reconsidered hiring Macaulay and his siblings after learning about the controversy involving his father.
Macaulay disclosed that he and his siblings declined to accompany their father throughout the custody dispute. He believed his father to be a pitiful individual.
Macaulay, watching his parents battle in court, acted impartially and decided to take Kit and Brentrup out of his trust fund. He said:
“I found an executor, someone who would handle my finances, and I legally removed my parents’ names from my trust fund.”
He feels that this decision pushed their custody battle to a much quicker conclusion, even though the press has misconstrued it. Take note that in the end, custody went to Brentrup.
Following the protracted struggle, Macaulay’s father—who passed away in January 2014 while preparing dinner—had nothing nice to say about him. He declared:
“I no longer consider him to be a son.”
Following their split, Kit made the decision to relocate to the west with his girlfriend Jeanette Krylowski. In addition, he accepted that he would never see his kids again.
Macaulay’s fatherhood began on April 5, 2021. Dakota Song Culkin is the son he and his fiancée Brenda Song welcomed into their family in Los Angeles.
Dakota, Macaulay’s sister, passed away in an automobile accident on December 9, 2008, at the age of 29. Their son bears her name. On the “Changeland” set in Thailand, Macaulay and Song first got together.
Macaulay announced that he and the former Disney Channel actress were prepared to start a family a year after they first started dating. In 1998, he wed actress Rachel Miner before he began dating Song. In 2002, following two years of separation, they got divorced.
We’ve seen more of Macaulay’s return to the spotlight in recent years. He declared on Twitter in October 2021 that he will not be part of the Disney+ revival of “Home Alone.”
Macaulay wore a colorful costume when she walked the Gucci Love Parade runway in November 2021 on Hollywood Boulevard.
He was dressed in vibrant floral bomber jacket over Hawaiian shirt and wide-leg camel beige slacks. Macaulay flashed his cream-colored Gucci double G leather belt, hands tucked into his pockets.
He accessorized his retro vacation ensemble with caramel-colored, 1970s-style sunglasses and clogs.
Although it’s common for fans to see their idols walk the catwalk, Macaulay surprised them by sharing the podium with Jodie Turner-Smith and Jared Leto.
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