What is an end-of-life doula and what do they do?

End-of-life doulas provide nonmedical, holistic support to individuals as their lives approach their end, working alongside medical staff, friends, and family.

Why did Celia Keenan-Bolger become a death doula?

Celia Keenan-Bolger trained as a death doula to support her best friend, Gavin Creel, during his battle with cancer and was inspired by her own mother's passing and her birth doula experience.

Are other celebrities training to be death doulas?

Yes, celebrities like Nicole Kidman, Riley Keough, and Chloé Zhao are also training to be death doulas, driven by personal experiences and a desire to provide comfort.

Home / Lifestyle / Actor Becomes Death Doula After Friend's Passing

Actor Becomes Death Doula After Friend's Passing

16 Apr

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Summary

Actor trained as a death doula to support a friend.
Death doulas offer nonmedical, holistic end-of-life support.
Celebrities are increasingly embracing death doula training.

Actor Becomes Death Doula After Friend's Passing

Tony Award-winning actor Celia Keenan-Bolger stepped into the role of an end-of-life doula for her best friend, Gavin Creel, after he was diagnosed with a rare cancer. Creel, a celebrated Broadway performer, died at 48 in October 2024, two months after his diagnosis. Keenan-Bolger, who had trained with INELDA in 2022, provided holistic, nonmedical support, drawing on their 25-year friendship.

Her decision to become a death doula was influenced by personal experiences, including regretting not having been able to fully express her feelings to her own mother before she passed in 2001. Inspired by her own positive experience with a birth doula in 2015, Keenan-Bolger saw a parallel between supporting life at its beginning and its end, noting the disparity in available resources.