Free Celebrity Wills

Read a portion of the Last Will of Henry VIII (1491-1547), King of England, Ireland and France.

• Henry Tudor was a significant figure in the history of the English monarchy. Besides his six marriages, he is more popularly known for his role in the separation of the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church, and establishing himself as the Supreme Head of the Church of England.
• Henry changed religious ceremonies and rituals and suppressed the monasteries, while remaining a fervent believer in core Catholic theological teachings, even after his excommunication from the Roman Catholic Church.
• Henry was, by all accounts, an attractive and charismatic man, educated and accomplished, who ruled with absolute power. His overwhelming desire to provide England with a male heir led to the two things that Henry is remembered for today: his six wives, and the English Reformation that made England a Protestant nation.
• Henry Tudor's historical image is lustful, egotistical, deceitful, opinionated, and insecure, and his vast wasteful luxuries and useless wars depleted the English treasury.

Source of information: Wikipedia.org

Download a copy of the Last Will of J. Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913), one of the wealthiest men in the world at the turn of the 20th century.

• John Pierpont Morgan was an American financier, banker and art collector who dominated corporate finance and industrial consolidation during his time. He entered the field of banking at the age of 20.
• Morgan made money on the American Civil War by selling rifles to US forces. During the Panic of 1893, Morgan's syndicate kept the US Treasury afloat with $65 million in gold.
• From 1890 to 1913, 42 major corporations were organized or had their securities underwritten by J. P. Morgan and Company.
• Morgan had a knack for taking over troubled businesses, reorganizing them and returning them to profitability. But he wasn't always successful in his ventures. He was one of the principal owners of the White Star Line, which owned the RMS Titanic. The ship's sinking was a financial disaster for White Star and its owners.

Source: Wikipedia.org

Download this free copy of the last will and testament of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (1929-1994).

• Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis was the wife of the 35th president of the United States, John F. Kennedy, and served as First Lady during his presidency from 1961 until his assassination in 1963.
• The Kennedys had two children, Caroline and John Jr. Like any First Lady, Jacqueline was thrust into the spotlight and while she did not mind giving interviews or being photographed, she preferred to maintain as much privacy as possible for herself and her children.
• She was later married to Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis from 1968 until his death in 1975.
• In later years she had a successful career as a book editor. She is remembered for her contributions to the arts and historic preservation, her unique sense of style and elegance, and her public stoicism in the wake of President Kennedy's assassination.

Biographical material taken from Wikipedia.com.

Read the Last Will and Testament of James Brown (1933-2006), the Godfather of Soul.

• James Joseph Brown was an American singer and entertainer, who started singing in church and talent contests, and dancing for money as a child. From the age of 6, he lived with his aunt, who ran a brothel.
• Brown began his professional career in 1956 and gained fame quickly through a string of smash hits and electrifying live concerts.
• He has been recognized as one of the most influential figures in the 20th century popular music and was often referred to as "the hardest working man in show business".
• Brown's career spanned half a century and influenced the development of many different musical genres.
• Although he contributed much to the music industry, Brown held the record as the artist who charted the most singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart without ever hitting the number one spot.
  
  Source: Wikipedia.org

Download a free copy of the Last Will and Testament of James Gandolfini (1961-2013).

• James Gandolfini was an American actor best known for his role as Tony Soprano in HBO's TV series "The Sopranos" from 1999 until 2007. For this role he won 3 Emmys, 5 SAG awards and one Golden Globe.
• He came from a working class Italian family and grew up in New Jersey, where he became friends with John Travolta. The two later acted together in several films.
• While earning his BA from Rutgers University, he worked as a bouncer and later also earned a living as a bartender and club manager before embarking on his acting career.
• In addition to film and television roles, Gandolfini also worked in the theater.
• Aside from Tony Soprano, his most well-known roles include Albert in Enough Said (for which he won several posthumous awards), the stuntman Bear in Get Shorty, and the voice of Carol, one of the creatures in Where The Wild Things Are.
• In addition to being an actor, Gandolfini was also a producer / executive producer of several HBO projects.
• Gandolfini died of a heart attack at the age of 51.

Biographical information exerpted from Wikipedia.org.

This is a copy of the Last Will and Testament of James Smithson, who founded the Smithsonian Institution (1765-1826).

• James Smithson was a chemist and mineralogist in the late 1700s.
• He made numerous excursions throughout Europe to collect mineral and ore samples.
• He was made a member of the Royal Society of London in 1787 only a year after he graduated from college.
• His concise one-page Will set up a fund which established the Smithsonian Institution.

This is a copy of the Last Will of English novelist Jane Austen (1775-1817).

• The will is handwritten, in Austen's distinctive hand.
• Jane Austen's romantic fiction has been so popular over the years, it has earned her a place as one of the most widely read and beloved writers in English literary history, even among scholars and critics, who admire her realism and biting social commentary.
• Austen's most well known novels include Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, and Emma.
• Her works are concerned with moral issues and highlight the dependence of women on marriage to secure their financial security and their place in society.

Source: Wikipedia.org

Download this free copy of the Last Will and Testament of Janis Joplin (1943-1970).

• Janis Joplin was an American blues rock singer and an enduring icon of the '60's youth movement.
• Her incendiary stage performances, problems with drug and alcohol abuse, and her tumultuous love life formed the basis for the movie The Rose.
• Joplin's musical legacy changed the history of rock & roll.
• Janis Joplin died of a drug overdose in 1970, at the age of 27.

Download a free copy of the Will and Testament of Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964).

• Nehru was the first prime minister of India, and to date is the longest serving, remaining in office from 1947 until his death in 1964.
• A leading figure in the Indian independence movement, Nehru was eventually recognized as the political heir to Mahatma Gandhi. He was elected by the Congress Party to assume office as independent India's first PM, and was re-elected when the Congress Party won India's first general election in 1952. As one of the founders of the Non-aligned Movement, he was also an important figure in the international politics of the post-war era.
• Nehru came from a wealthy family. He became a leader of the left wing of the Indian National Congress when still fairly young, and became president under the mentorship of Gandhi. Nehru was a charismatic and radical leader, advocating complete independence from the British Empire. He was also an advocate for Fabian socialism and the public sector as the means by which long-standing challenges of economic development could be addressed by poorer nations.
• In his lifetime, Jawaharlal Nehru enjoyed an iconic status in India and was widely admired across the world for his idealism and statesmanship. His birthday, 14 November, is celebrated in India as Baal Divas (Children's Day) in recognition of his lifelong passion and work for the welfare, education and development of children and young people. Children across India remember him as Chacha Nehru (Uncle Nehru).
• Nehru remains a popular symbol of the Congress party, and his ideals and policies continue to shape the party's manifesto and core political philosophy. An emotional attachment to his legacy was instrumental in the rise of his daughter Indira to leadership of the Congress party and the national government.

Source: Wikipedia.org

Download a free copy of the Last Will and Testament of financial consultant turned sex offender Jeffrey Epstein (1953-2019).

• After working as a physics and math teacher in Manhattan, Epstein started a career in the banking and financial sector in 1976. He worked at Bear Stearns until 1981 when he was dismissed for a Reg D violation.
• He then proceeded to start his own consulting firm which assisted fraud victims in recovering embezzled funds, although at times he also worked with clients who were embezzlers.
• Throughout the 1980s and 1990s he was involved in various companies, one of which was found to be the largest Ponzi scheme in U.S. history.
• His history of sex offences was first brought to light in 2005. This began a series of criminal and civil cases against Epstein. The civil cases were all settled out of court.
• In 2019 he was arrested on sex trafficking and conspiracy charges. He was denied bail on the basis of being a serious flight risk.
• He died in his jail cell while awaiting trial. The deal was deemed an apparent suicide.
• After his death the outstanding charges against him were dismissed and the ongoing sex trafficking investigations then shifted to his associates, in particular his long-time girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell. Maxwell was convicted on 5 counts in 2021.

Biographical information taken from Wikipedia.org.