Before he met Sandra Bullock in 2015, Bryan Randall lived a tumultuous life — as did his 29-year-old daughter Skylar Staten.
Randall and Staten’s mother, Janine Staten, met in rehab in the early 1990s. The two were recovering drug users, and they turned to each other for comfort. An anonymous friend told the New York Post, “Heroin was their drug of choice and I remember meeting them both when Janine was still pregnant. Bryan had just gotten out of rehab at that point and they were both struggling. After Skylar was born, he was never around,” they revealed.
Janine went on to file two child support claims against Randall in 1994 and 2004, and though she was trying to “move forward with her life,” a former roommate said her plans were thwarted when she became romantically involved with another man who had issues with drug abuse.
Another former roommate commented on Skylar’s resilience through the chaos, sharing, “She was a beautiful little girl and very bright. I could see she was sometimes confused about what was going on around her, but she never really threw any tantrums.” They added, “She was a normal, bright kid given the circumstances she was around.”
Janine passed away in January 2007. Skylar, just 13 years old at the time, moved in with her grandmother, who also died shortly after. With the passing of her maternal family, Skylar and Randall were reunited as she moved to Los Angeles to live with him. According to the New York Post, family members said the late photographer altered his lifestyle to put Skylar first and become a constant parental fixture in her world.
Skylar went on to attend high school in L.A., followed by college in Arizona. She’s kept a low profile since her father started dating the Hollywood sweetheart, much like he and Bullock did throughout their private relationship, but she’s said to currently reside in L.A. today.
The Lost City actress gushed about her step-daughter during an appearance on Jada Pinkett Smith’s Red Table Talk in 2021, where she said, “I found the love of my life. We share two beautiful children — three children [including] his older daughter. It’s the best thing ever.”
Randall tragically died on August 5 after battling ALS for three years. Very few people outside of Bullock, Skylar, and their closest loved ones knew of his fatal condition.
Before you go, click here to see all the celebrities we’ve lost this year.
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