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Actor Becomes Death Doula After Friend's Passing
16 Apr
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.
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.
Other notable figures are also engaging with death doula work. Nicole Kidman began training after her mother's death in 2024, seeking impartial solace for the dying. Actors Riley Keough and director Chloé Zhao are also pursuing this path, driven by personal fears and a desire to live more fully.
Keenan-Bolger emphasizes that doulas offer support without imposing their own wishes, focusing solely on the dying person's needs. She also stresses the importance of self-care for doulas to manage the emotional weight of their work. Her end-of-life doula efforts were even recognized with her 2025 Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award, aiming to demystify death and encourage open conversations, particularly among younger generations.
