Lark Previn, one of the first children actress Mia Farrow adopted, passed away on Christmas Day after a decade-long illness. Previn had two daughters.
The New York Daily News reported that Mia Farrow attended her 35-year-old daughter’s funeral at St. Saviour Roman Catholic Church in Brooklyn Tuesday morning. Previn’s cause of death wasn’t released.
Neighbors reportedly never knew that the reclusive Lark Previn’s mother was a celebrity, nor what was causing her illness. She was reportedly sick, had grown skinny and had lost most of her hair in recent months.
The Vietnamese-born Previn was adopted by Farrow and musician Andre Previn, along with her sister Daisy, 34. Farrow and Previn later adopted Korean-born Soon-Yi, who was later the subject of the tabloids after her affair with Farrow’s boyfriend Woody Allen became public.
The first time Lark Previn made headlines was in 1991 when she and her sister Daisy were arrested for shoplifting $342 worth of lingerie from a mall in Connecticut. The girls were 18 and 17 at the time.
Often the butt of many jokes in the past, Mia Farrow is considered by many to be the “original” Angelina Jolie. A humanitarian and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, Farrow has adopted 14 children over the years, all of whom come from many backgrounds.
She had three children with Previn (twins Matthew and Sascha, and Fletcher), three adopted with Previn (Lark, Daisy and Soon-Yi), one with Woody Allen (Ronan), two adopted with Allen (Moses and Malone), and five more adopted after her relationship with Allen (Isaiah, Tam, Keili-Shea, Thaddeus and Gabriel).
Her Vietnam-born daughter Tam, who was also blind, passed away at 19 in 2000 from heart failure. Her son Moses, also adopted from Vietnam, was born with cerebral palsy.
Farrow recently told The Star.com, “The two Rs I’ve brought my children up with are respect and responsibility. The view I hope I have transmitted to my children is that we are part of a larger family. When one of us is suffering, all of us are suffering.”
Her son with Woody Allen, Ronan, 21, has followed in his mother’s footsteps. He is a UNICEF Spokesperson for Youth and has written about his trips to Darfur the editorial pages of The Wall Street Journal and the International Herald Tribune.
Mike Jaccarino, Mia Farrow Bids Farewell to Late Daughter Lark Previn, New York Daily News
Kerry Burke and Dave Goldiner, Mia Farrow’s Adopted Daughter Lark Dies, New York Daily News
Susan Heller Anderson, Chronicle, The New York Times
Craig and Marc Kielburger, Mia Farrow Stars in Role as Activist, The Star.com
Roger Friedman, Mia and Woody’s Son Becomes a Marriage Counselor, Fox News