Is Cindy Crawford related to Joan Crawford? Actress opens up about experiencing "survivor's guilt" after her brother died

Actress and model Cindy Crawford opened up about her brother's death, which left her and her sisters grappling with "survivor's guilt" as children. Speaking on the Kelly Corrigan Wonders podcast on May 11, the supermodel recalled the helplessness her family experienced when her brother, Jeffrey, passed away from leukemia at the age of three.

"My dad wanted a boy, so the fourth was the boy and I think that there was a lot of guilt. There’s like that survivor guilt of the other kids and especially because we knew that my dad really wanted a boy. We felt like 'Well it should’ve been one of us,'" she added.

After her family's story circulated online, many speculated about the potential relationship between Cindy Crawford and the late Oscar-winning actress Joan Crawford, given their shared surname. However, there are no reports that prove the two are related. Cindy was born in 1966, while Joan died in 1977, well into her sixties, although her exact age remains unknown.

Joan Crawford also had an adopted daughter named Cindy (short for Cynthia), which further created confusion about the relationship between the model and the actress. However, Cynthia and her twin, Catherine, were born in 1947.

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"It should’ve been one of us" — Cindy Crawford explained her survivor's guilt in new interview

Cindy Crawford spoke candidly about her childhood memories in a new podcast on May 11. Speaking to the hosts, Kelly Corrigan and Christy Turlington Burns, she opened up about a painful memory from her childhood.

Reflecting on the experience, Crawford revealed that she was eight years old when her brother was first diagnosed at the age of two. She explained how she and her sisters would have nightmares for years after their brother's death.

"It was so weird, like for years, my sisters and I would all have these same nightmares, that it should’ve been one of us," Cindy Crawford said.

Crawford also shared how she underwent therapy during COVID-19 to confront and reflect on her feelings. Recounting the moment, Crawford stated:

"I realized that one of the questions the coach asked me was something like, ‘What did you need to hear at that time that you didn’t hear?’ and I realized. And my mom wouldn’t have known to say this, she was 26 years old and had just lost a child, but I needed to hear, 'Yes, we’re so sad that Jeff has died, but we’re so happy you are here.'"

As a mother of two children, Cindy Crawford added that her experience has shaped her parenting style to lead to more healthy and open discussions between herself and her children.

It is not uncommon to find celebrity families under the same name in Hollywood, i.e., Julia Roberts and her niece Emma Roberts. So it stands to reason that people mistakenly assumed Joan Crawford and Cindy Crawford were related.

However, the timeline does not match, as Joan's twin daughters, Cynthia (Cindy) and Catherine (Cathy), were born on January 13, 1947, in Tennessee.

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Joan Crawford adopted five children

According to Vanity Fair, Joan Crawford adopted five children, one of whom was reclaimed by his birth mother. Her relationship with her eldest two children, Christina and Christopher, became estranged, leading them to be excluded from her will. A year after Joan died in 1977, Christina published a scathing memoir titled Mommie Dearest in 1978, in which she depicted her adopted mother as an alleged abusive alcoholic.

However, this claim was firmly refuted by the twins Cynthia (Cindy) and Cathy. In a 2008 interview with Vanity Fair, Cathy said:

"We lived in the same house as Christina, but we didn’t live in the same home, because she had her own reality. Cindy and I had a different reality—the opposite. I don’t know where she got her ideas. Our Mommie was the best mother anyone ever had."

Of all four of Joan's children, only Christina, aged 84, is still alive. Christopher died in 2006 at the age of 62. Cindy died in October 2007 at 60. Cathy died at the age of 72 in 2020.