Unusual celebrity religions

 Farrah Fawcett in 1977 (AP Photo/ABC, file)

This week, the world lost three celebrities. Ed McMahon, Johnny Carson's Tonight Show sidekick, passed away after becoming increasing ill in the last month. Ed was a lifelong Roman Catholic. Farrah Fawcett's unfloundering faith assisted her in her valiant battle against cancer, to which she succumbed on Thursday. She was born and raised a Catholic and at the end of her life kept a rosary in her bed so that she could pray. Michael Jackson died of cardiac arrest on Thursday afternoon. He was raised as a Jehovah's Witness but recently converted to Islam in November 2008. The deaths of these three religious cultural icons have raised interest in the faith of famous people on TV, in the movies and in newspapers and magazines.

Most celebrities are members of Christianity, Catholicism, Judaism, Islam or Hinduism. They are too numerous to mention in this column at this time. However, today we will examine the less common faiths that some celebrities have embraced.

Buddhism:
Richard Gere is well-known to be an adherent to Buddhism. Many other well-known celebrities are also followers of the Buddha: Uma Thurman, Kate Bosworth, Orlando Bloom, Goldie Hawn, Jennifer Lopez, Keanu Reeves, rocker Patti Smith, filmmaker Oliver Stone, singer Tina Turner and rocker David Bowie, just to name a few.

Scientology:
Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes have discussed their faith in Scientology in the media. Other followers include Kirstie Alley, Beck, Erika Christensen, Jenna Elfman, the late Isaac Hayes, Juliette Lewis, Lisa Marie Presley, Kelly Preston, Jada Pinkett Smith and her husband Will Smith, and John Travolta.

Hare Krishna:
Rick Allen of Def Leppard is a member of this Hindu sect. Hare Krishna is a very musical religion and Allen says he loses himself while drumming and chanting.

Quakers:
Dame Judi Dench and Ben Kingsley are both adherents of the Quaker faith.

Baha'i:
Carole Lombard was a second generation Baha'i follower. Other famous followers include Dizzy Gillespie, Vic Damone and Rainn Wilson.

Sikhism:
The actress Parminder Nagra is a practicing Sikh.

Zoroastrianism:
Conductor Zubin Mehta and Queen's Freddie Mercury practiced Zoroastrianism.

Christian Science:
Christian Science boasts lots of "Old Hollywood" followers, including Mary Pickford, Ginger Rogers, Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Joan Crawford, Doris Day, Alfre Woodard, Milton Berle, Henry Fonda, Robert Duvall, Jean Stapleton and Georgia Engel.

Seventh Day Adventists:
Joan Lunden, Magic Johnson and Art Buchwald have this faith in common.

Jehovah's Witnesses:
It was well known that most of the Jackson family is of this faith. Other followers include Serena and Venus Williams, Selena, Prince, Geri Halliwell and Mickey Spillane.

Nazarenes:
Debbie Reynolds, Deborah Norville and Gary Hart follow the Nazarene faith.

Unitarianism:
Christopher Reeve became a Unitarian when he turned 50 years old.

Combination of Faiths:
There are many celebrities who follow more than one faith due to intermarriage or other reasons. This list includes George Lucas, who considers himself to be a Buddhist Methodist. Angelina Jolie and J.D. Salinger practice(d) eclectic spirituality.

For more information:
http://www.religionfacts.com/celebrities/religions_of_celebrities.htm
http://www.adherents.com/adh_fam.html

Photo Credit:  FILE - In this Jan. 1977 file photo originally released by ABC, actress Farrah Fawcett-Majors from "Charlie's Angels," is shown. Fawcett died, Thursday, June 25, 2009, at a hospital in Los Angeles. She was 62. (AP Photo/ABC, file)