Amber Heards Texas childhood – pageants, hunting and pals tragic death at 16

Amber Heard is one of the most talked-about names in showbiz right now, as she continues to wage war against ex-husband Johnny Depp.

Their battle has been so huge and all-consuming that you’d be forgiven for forgetting that anything came before their ill-fated marriage.

But at 36, plenty of things have already happened in the life of Amber Heard – including a childhood filled with things out of the ordinary ranging from bold acts of defiance to harrowing loss.

She was born and raised outside of Austin, Texas to parents Patricia Paige and David Clinton Heard.

At the age of 17, she moved to LA to follow her dream of acting off the back of her teenage years filled with books. But before this, some remarkable things happened in her life.

Read on for everything you need to know about the childhood of Amber Heard.

Horses and philosophers

As a teenager in Austin, Heard became fascinated with a number of philosophers and authors, including George Orwell, saysWonderland.

Although now she's more likely to be spotted on the cover of glossy magazines, Amber Heard is the daughter of a man who broke in horses when he wasn't working in construction, taking little Amber out into the wild in youth.

“I was his hunting and fishing buddy,” she toldGlamour Magazine.

Did Amber Heard compete in beauty pageants?

  • Amber Heard thinks she was labelled liar because Johnny Depp is 'bigger star'

As a child, Amber Heard would compete in beauty pageants in an effort to raise money for her family.

According to Glamour magazine, they didn’t have a load of cash and she would go around looking to raise for her promotional materials.

Now though, she doesn’t agree with the pageants she used to take part in. Speaking to Glamour, she said: “Pageants are weird” and “and I can’t support the objectification.”

Is Amber Heard religious?

Growing up in Texas, Amber Heard was exposed to the religious beliefs of rural America.

But she says she quickly became bored of “God-fearin’ Texas” and instead became what she described as an “obstinate, bisexual, vegan atheist. I guess you could say I had my own things to rebel against”.

By the time she fully left religion behind it was because of an event of terrible personal loss.

Amber Heard's best friend's death

Speaking toUSA Todaywhen she was just 21, Amber Heard said: "My very best friend died in a car accident when I was 16 years old."

She said it had taught her important lessons: "That was the hardest blow emotionally that I have ever had to endure. Suddenly, you realise tomorrow might not come. Now I live by the motto, 'Today is what I have.'"

It is understood that it was this moment of loss that made her begin to identify as an atheist despite being brought up in a Catholic environment.

A year after her death she dropped out of Catholic school and made her way to LA.

Source: Read Full Article