6 Celebrities Connected to Heart Disease — and How They Keep Their Hearts Healthy

Marin Hinkle, the Emmy Award–nominated actress who played Rose Weissman in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and the long-standing role of Judith Harper-Melnick on the sitcom Two and a Half Men, told Everyday Health that heart disease runs on both sides of her family. Her father, she says, has suffered a stroke, heart attack, and six bypass surgeries. Hinkle herself says she carries a genetic marker that affects her levels of lipoprotein(a), otherwise known as “bad” cholesterol.

While small doses of lipoprotein(a), or Lp(a), in the body is normal, elevated levels increase the risk for heart disease, according to a study published in March 2016 in Clinical Diabetes and Endocrinology. The study also notes that “diet, exercise, and lifestyle modification have no effect on Lp(a),” making it that much more important to get regular checkups.

“My greatest bit of advice to women is that no matter what age or how healthy you are, please go get yourself checked by a doctor and talk to them about your family history,” Hinkle says.

Hinkle’s best self-care tip?

“Try to keep your body in a state of peace and balance,” she says. “I’m someone with anxiety (I’m an actress and a mom), and practicing mindfulness has been a very important regimen to keep myself a bit calmer.”

The Australian model Madeline Stuart began her career when she was 18 years old, gaining international acclaim as the first professional model with Down syndrome. She is a fierce advocate for inclusion and diversity in modeling, and has been featured in Vogue and on catwalks all over the world, including Paris Fashion Week, London Fashion Week, and Runway Dubai.

Stuart was born with a heart defect, and had to have open heart surgery when she was only 8 weeks old, says her mom, Rosanne Stuart (because of Madeline's disability, she isn’t able to communicate complex sentences clearly, so Rosanne speaks on her behalf). Last year, Stuart had to undergo another open heart surgery after doctors discovered her mitral valve was leaking, which put her in stage 4 heart failure.

“Now after two surgeries she’s healthier than ever,” says Rosanne. “She is very conscious of the food she eats, she sees a personal trainer six times a week, and dances back at the dance school she owns in Brisbane called InsideOutside Dance Ensemble for people with disabilities.”

How does Stuart keep her heart healthy? 

“Stay fit, eat healthy, and go get regular checkups,” says Rosanne. “If it wasn’t for Maddy’s last checkup, we wouldn’t even have known she was in stage 4 heart failure.”

A powerhouse onstage, Darlene Love is known as one of the greatest backup singers of all time, and her solo performances earned her a spot in Rolling Stone magazine’s 100 greatest singers of all time. Belting out her own sixties doo-wop, Love — who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011 — also sang backup for big names like Elvis Presley and Luther Vandross.

In 2012, Love was preparing to perform at Tim McLoone's Supper Club in Asbury Park, New Jersey, when she was hit with a horrible headache and stomach pains. Not one to let down her fans, Love went on with the show. The following day — her 70th birthday — Love went to her doctor, who told her she had had a heart attack. That day, Love went into emergency surgery and had two stents put in.

“After I had the heart attack and started reading about it, I went, ‘Oh my God,’” Love says. “It’s something unfortunately black women have a problem with. Even if you’re healthy and feel good, you don’t know what’s going on inside of you.”

The rate of death from heart disease is 20 percent higher in African Americans compared with non-Hispanic white people, and black women are 60 percent more likely to have high blood pressure than white women, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health.

Now, at age 78, Love says she is healthier than ever, kickboxing five times a week and making sure she eats right. Still a force of nature on and off the stage, Love says she wants to share her story to encourage other minority women to take control of their heart health.

“It’s so very important for women to be the caretakers of their own bodies,” Love says.

How does Love keep her heart healthy? 

“Eating was the one thing I was really bad at,” she says. “Chocolate, ham, buttered popcorn … I gave up all the things I shouldn’t have been eating. And it really wasn’t hard because I knew if I wanted to live and continue doing what I’ve done for the past 50 years, I had to stop doing that.”

The actress and singer Ali Stroker is known for being the first woman to perform in a wheelchair on Broadway, last year winning a Tony Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for her role in Oklahoma!

Stroker, who was left paralyzed from the waist down after a car accident when she was 2 years old, hit the runway at the AHA’s Red Dress Collection fashion show to remind women that “we’re our own best advocates” when it comes to taking care of ourselves.

“It’s been hard sometimes for me because I get discouraged about how much I feel like my health takes over my life,” Stroker says. “But I also know I have one chance, one body, and I really try to take care of myself the best I can. I hope it inspires other women to do the same.”

Stroker’s best tip for self-care?

“Try to meditate or stretch — it really helps keep your health and heart happy,” she says. “Take time during the day no matter how busy you are to stop, take a walk, or get outside. We have so many distractions in our lives, and it’s so important to take a moment for yourself.”

At 16 years old, the actress Lyric Ross already has connections with the topic of heart health in both her personal and professional life. Her young character Déjà in This Is Us loses her caretaker to a heart attack. Ross says her grandfather has also suffered several strokes and a heart attack.

“I remember seeing him in the hospital, seeing him fight through everything that he went through,” she says. “It was heartbreaking to me, but also very inspiring.”

Ross recently strutted down the AHA catwalk in honor of her granddad, and to advocate healthy living for young women everywhere.

Ross’s best tip for keeping heart-healthy?

“Don’t be afraid to go see the doctor,” Ross says. “I know you don’t really want to do that, because I don’t want to do that, but just make sure you do — even if you don’t see anything wrong.”

Robin Givens, aka Mayor Sierra McCoy on the CW’s hit TV series Riverdale, is a native New Yorker who says she stays fit by playing tennis with her sons and walking pretty much everywhere. Though she eats well and exercises regularly, Givens says her health is something she doesn’t take for granted — especially after losing her great-aunt to a stroke.

“As a young woman, you don’t realize that could be you,” Givens says. “A lot of heart disease we associate with men, and we don’t think about women and the risk they’re at. Women naturally take care of other people, and we’re kind of last on the totem pole in terms of our own self-care.”

Givens’s best self-care tip?

“I really do believe in eating healthy,” she says. “I’m a big foodie, but everything is in moderation. Cut down on red meat, eat your veggies, and throw your kale in a blender if you have to.”