Details About Kris Jenner’s Troubled Upbringing, Alcoholic Father & Where Her Hunger For Fame Began
She didn't have it easy.
Instagram / Featureflash Photo Agency / Shutterstock.com We’ve all heard the phrase: “The devil works hard but Kris Jenner works harder,” but what if all her hard work came at the cost of a troubled childhood that she can’t seem to escape from?
Authors of a book called “Dirty Sexy Money: The Unauthorized Biography of Kris Jenner,” obtained exclusively by OK!, have alleged that Jenner's tough upbringing is the origin of her rise to fame and the building of her family’s empire.
Fans of the reality TV show family will know that Jenner's mother, MJ, is a staple in the series and has an extremely close relationship with her daughter, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
But Jenner's father is notably absent from the series and biographers have suggested the momager may have psychological trauma caused by their difficult relationship.
What happened to Kris Jenner’s father?
Jenner's father, Robert Houghton, died in 1975 in a horrific accident but trouble in his relationship with his family began much sooner.
Jenner was born to Bob and Mary Jo Houghton on November 5th, 1955 in San Diego, CA.
Seven years later, Bob and Mary got divorced and Jenner’s home turned into a broken one where authors of the “Unauthorized Biography” claim she fantasized that they would eventually get back together.
“Like many children in that situation, Kris could not shake the idea that she was somehow responsible for her dad leaving,” they wrote.
Kris Jenner's father was allegedly a violent alcoholic.
According to a report from Star Magazine, Bob was also a violent alcoholic who sabotaged his own entrepreneurial endeavors because he couldn’t put down the bottle.
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"He was very entrepreneurial and had all kinds of ideas about ways to make a lot of money,” said former girlfriend Leslie Johnson Leech, “but he rarely acted on them, possibly because of his drinking. But I can definitely see how Kris got her business drive from her dad."
But her trauma didn’t end there as soon after the divorce, doctors believed they had found a tumor in her leg and needed to amputate her at the hip.
Fortunately for Jenner, doctors gave her the all-clear after hours in the operating room, but that kind of trauma is something that sticks to children still in their developmental phases.
“It’s a known fact that childhood trauma can affect brain development and later life behavior and the divorce and cancer scare, coming so soon together, would no doubt have had a profound impact,” wrote co-authors, Cathy Griffin and Dylan Howard.
“Barely a day went by that Kris didn’t feel the sting of Bob’s abandonment. She longed for his attention and love,” they claim.
“There were broken promises of trips to see her and her sister Karen, and a few missed phone calls, and even fewer letters. It hurt her that he missed out on time together over the years. Kris had to fend off feelings that she wasn’t worthy or had done something wrong.”
Then, when Jenner turned 19, she had learned about Bob’s tragic car accident that took his life.
According to his girlfriend Vicky Thomsen, Bob had gotten behind the wheel of his Porsche in Rosarito Beach, Mexico after a night of margaritas and swerved head-on into a vegetable truck.
"The plan was to hit the next big town and get married there in the morning," Vicky tells Star exclusively.
"I was looking at the stars and mentioned to Bob how tired I was. It was 9:20 pm. Then I suddenly heard metal smashing and I woke up crushed under the dashboard."
The steering wheel of his car pierced his body, giving him massive internal injuries which killed him after being pulled from the wreck by nuns from a nearby convent and being taken to the hospital.
Her father was only 42 years old.
Kris Jenner dated much older men after her father left.
Even before her father’s death and well into her adult years, Jenner had always had older boyfriends.
When she was 17, she was in her first serious relationship with professional golfer Cesar Sanudo, who was 12 years older than her.
Rob Kardashian, her first husband and lawyer for O.J. Simpson, was 11 years older than her. They met when she was just 18.
Bruce Jenner was only six years older.
“Those feelings of abandonment as child could quite easily have manifested themselves in a desire to be loved and looked after,” concludes the biography. “All her life Kris has been looking for a father figure.”
Isaac Serna-Diez is a writer who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics. Follow him on Twitter here.