Don Cheadle opens up about mother's death, dementia: 'Such an evil, mean disease'
Don Cheadle opened up about the recent loss of his mother, Bettye Cheadle, on Running Wild With Bear Grylls. Grylls seems to have a way of getting celebrities to discuss deeply personal things in the far-flung wilderness.
After crossing a river gorge by rope, the two sat down and talked about Cheadle’s personal life. The actor recalled a lesson he had learned from his mother. He said a fan came up to him and complimented him on a film he was not entirely proud of, and when he admittedly “kind of made a face,” his mother said, “You just told him that his opinion was terrible. You just, you know, he loved that movie. Just say ‘Thank you’ and keep it moving.”
Cheadle’s mother died in January 2016, and he talked about the struggles inherent in his mother’s disease. “She went through a real tough spell. She had dementia and it’s just such an evil, mean disease. To watch someone just deteriorate in that way, it’s hard to believe.”
The actor went on to so say, “It’s one of those diseases where you’re just constantly in denial even though you’re watching it happen right in front of you, and it’s just really hard.”
Watch: Joseph Gordon-Levitt opens up about deceased brother on Running Wild.
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