Tragic Details About Cybill Shepherd's Kids

Note: The article includes mentions of substance abuse.

Actor and model Cybill Shepherd has lived quite a life, filled with very high highs and some unfortunately low lows. And like their mother, Shepherd's three children have also weathered some tough times — particularly daughter Clementine Ford-Wilcox, the most publicly visible of Shepherd's kids. Though the popular perception is that Hollywood stars' children live magical lives where they face no true hardships, common sense dictates that even the most privileged humans face challenges and experience trauma. The glow of celebrity certainly did not protect Shepherd's children from tough experiences. 

Shepherd has said that she always wanted to be a mom, and when her director/writer boyfriend Peter Bogdanovich refused to help her realize that dream, she very publicly left him. Shepherd married David M. Ford, and together they welcomed Clementine in 1979. Five years after her 1982 split from Ford, Shepherd married Bruce Oppenheim. That same year, she welcomed twins Molly Ariel Shepherd-Oppenheim and Cyrus Zacharia Shepherd-Oppenheim. 

Shepherd's kids have varying degrees of publicness, but because their mother is a Hollywood biggie, their darker moments — self-made and not — have received plenty of press. Here is a look at some tragic details about Cybill Shepherd's three kids. From trouble with the law (based on poor decisions and substance misuse) to a heartbreaking medical diagnosis to dognapping, this list has it all.

Cyrus Shepherd-Oppenheim keeps the lowest profile of all of actor Cybill Shepherd's children, but at one point in his life, he prompted a big headline. That occurred in 2010 when Shepherd-Oppenheim made some poor choices that landed him in handcuffs and, later, in rehab. But wherein everyday 20-somethings can make reparations for their errors and move on with their lives, children of Hollywood stars have no such luxury. Google Shepherd-Oppenheim and his arrest is one of the only things you will find, which is a tragedy in itself. After all, who wants to be defined solely by their lowest moment? This in no way excuses Shepherd-Oppenheim's actions, but certainly, he must have evolved in the decade and a half since his arrest.

Shepherd-Oppenheim was 22 years old and a student at the University of Pennsylvania when he was arrested for stealing cash, a digital camera, a leather make-up case, and a small travel bag from two passengers on a flight from San Diego to Philadelphia. He was apprehended at the airport and charged with theft and receiving stolen property, which led to him being ordered to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and pay $55 in restitution. "At the successful conclusion of the year, all charges are dismissed and the record of his arrest is expunged. It would be as if this never happened," said attorney Bill Brennan at the time (via The Philadelphia Inquirer). Except the internet is forever, and the unfortunate incident remains Shepherd-Oppenheim's one big headline.

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

Cybill Shepherd has been an outspoken advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, in large part because of her late sister. "My sister Gladys Terry Shepherd, she was a lesbian and she loved women her whole life," Shepherd noted while accepting an award from the Trevor Project in 2019 (via The Hollywood Reporter). "But she could not feel safe coming out at the time." Shepherd's visibility as an ally only increased after two of her children came out as members of the queer community, although her daughters have had very different experiences publicly navigating their sexuality. 

For daughter Molly Shepherd-Oppenheim — a TV writer who goes by her middle name Ariel — the coming out process and everything thereafter seems to have been smooth sailing. Shepherd-Oppenheim married fashion designer Eliza Ladensohn in 2019, and their love story was even chronicled in The New York Times.

Shepherd-Oppenheim's sister, Clementine Ford-Wilcox, has had a much harder time with her sexuality. It wasn't because of anything personal but because of the press and the fans. After Diva UK published an article with the headline "Clementine Ford Comes Out" back in 2009, placing a level of emphasis on her sexuality that made Ford-Wilcox uncomfortable, fans interpreted subsequent interviews as the star attempting to tiptoe back into the closet. This created fan-hate that was hard for the "The L Word" actor to tackle. Ford-Wilcox also received criticism when she later fell in love with a man (her now-husband Cyrus Wilcox), due in large part to society's need to force people into unnecessary boxes.

Clementine Ford-Wilcox followed her mother into show business, but never achieved the same level of fame as Cybill Shepherd. This means that, even though Ford-Wilcox is the one who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, her illness has often been framed in terms of how it affects her mother. "Why is the Race to Erase MS Gala so important to me? My darling Clementine. My darling Clementine has multiple sclerosis, but she is doing very well," Shepherd said at a charity event in 2022 (via Variety). "That diagnosis of my daughter Clementine was one of the most difficult days of my life, but she's doing great right now and I have two grandchildren."

An MS diagnosis is obviously a devastating one for an individual, but Shepherd is right in that it really does affect an entire family. Other stars like actors Christina Applegate, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, and Selma Blair have bravely detailed the way their diagnoses changed not only their lives, but also the lives of their partners, kids, and so on. 

For Ford-Wilcox, symptoms started while she was a regular on the soap opera "The Young and the Restless." "The eye pain was in April, and the following November was when I lost feeling in my feet. The next doctor said, 'It sounds like classic MS.' I got my MRI and he was like, 'Yep. You have MS.' I had a second and even third opinion and it was the same diagnosis," Ford-Wilcox told Soap Opera Digest.

As if dealing with a multiple sclerosis diagnosis is not hard enough on its own, Clementine Ford-Wilcox felt an added pressure to keep her health struggles to herself while she was a cast member on "The Young and the Restless," where she played Mackenzie Browning in 2009 and 2010. Ford-Wilcox first discussed her MS publicly in 2018, via social media. While on "Y&R," Ford-Wilcox told no one on the set of her difficulties, even after her diagnosis, and even though they may have been able to ease her experience. "I lost feeling in my feet," she told Soap Opera Digest years later. "It was very weird to be walking around in soap opera heels. It's almost as if I didn't know where my feet were. But like I said, I didn't want to share it because I was constantly afraid of getting fired."

Ford-Wilcox was ultimately let go from the soap, after which she quit acting for many years. There was simply too much going on for the star to feel like acting should be a priority in her life, she said. "That whole period of my life was a mess. Total chaos. I mean, I was on the show, I was diagnosed with MS and then my relationship fell apart. Right after that, I was fired! It was like the worst year and a half of my life at that point," she said in that same interview from 2020. "Now, I'm in a different place and thinking about acting again, but I'm taking it slowly this time." 

Though Clementine Ford-Wilcox has lived a wonderful life, she has been dealt a few more blows than her two younger half-siblings. One of these tragic incidents — a dog theft — ended on a positive note, but that does not erase the trauma of the ordeal. Ford-Wilcox adopted her pup Winnie in December 2021, and she quickly became a huge part of the family. Though it is unclear if it was Winnie's original purpose, the canine also came to serve as support for Ford-Wilcox in terms of managing her anxiety and her multiple sclerosis symptoms. So, the entire family was gutted when a dog sitter they found on a popular app refused to return their dog after what was supposed to be a routine boarding stay.

"We boarded our dog through Rover with this woman who had done an enhanced background check, and she disappeared with our dog. She did radio silence," Ford-Wilcox shared in a tearful Instagram video in May 2022 (via People). "If you could please go to my main page and just share it and share it and share it and maybe we can get her back." 

The star decided to make things public after finding the sitter's apartment vacant and the dog's collar in the trash, and one of her famous friends even got involved. "Help. Spread the word. This woman stole my friend's dog. Share far and wide. I'm begging you," posted actor Sarah Paulson. While no details were provided on her retrieval, Winnie was eventually returned home safely.