From JFK Jr. to Kyle Kennedy: Inside the Kennedy family's tragic 'curse'
From JFK Jr. to Kyle Kennedy: Inside the Kennedy family's tragic 'curse'
Kelly Lawler, USA TODAYTue, October 20, 2026 at 8:45 PM UTC
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The Kennedy family has suffered another tragedy with the death of Kyle Kennedy, the granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy, at age 42, who had lived with paralysis following a spinal cord injury.
Kennedy died Sept. 21, but her death was only recently reported. The news comes amid renewed fascination with the storied political dynasty, fueled in part by the recent hit FX and Hulu drama "Love Story," which revisited one of the family's most devastating losses: the deaths of John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy in a 1999 plane crash.
And as anyone who was alive to witness the tragedy and its aftermath in real life, husband and wife died on July 16, 1999, in the crash of a small plane piloted by Kennedy Jr. Bessette's sister Lauren also was killed.
The FX and Hulu drama follows the relationship of Kennedy Jr. (Paul Anthony Kelly) and Bessette Kennedy (Sarah Pidgeon), from their early romance in 1990s Manhattan to their glamorous wedding and tumultuous marriage.
That heartbreaking event was the focus of the March 26 finale of the Ryan Murphy-produced drama, which has caused controversy and criticism as well as big ratings and buzz. And while it is the primary tragedy from the storied Kennedy family − an American political dynasty including the 35th president, John F. Kennedy, his brother and politician Robert F. Kennedy, and current Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. − it is far from the only devastation the family has experienced over the decades.
In fact, there has been so much tragedy and trauma associated with the family, it's often said there is a "Kennedy Curse." The late Sen. Ted Kennedy actually put a name to it in 1969 after he was involved in a horrible incident himself, wondering whether "some awful curse did actually hang over all the Kennedys."
Though not everyone believes in a supernatural concept like curses, the Kennedy family has experienced decades of tragedy, from the deaths of JFK Jr. and Bessette Kennedy to more recent losses.
Here is a look back at the death and devastation that has haunted the family for more than 80 years.
1944: Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. dies in World War II plane crash
The eldest son of Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. and Rose Kennedy, and the brother of JFK and RFK, was killed in a plane crash while fighting in World War II. He was 29 years old.
1948: Kathleen Kennedy dies in plane crash
Joseph and Rose's daughter Kathleen died four years after her brother Joseph in a plane crash on the way to a vacation in the south of France. She was 28.
1956 and 1963: John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy lose two infant children
John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jackie Kennedy, lost two children in infancy: Arabella, who was stillborn in 1956, and Patrick, who died in 1963 two days after he was born.
1963: President John F. Kennedy assassinated
While riding in a presidential motorcade alongside Jackie in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald. He was 46.
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1968: Robert F. Kennedy assassinated
While running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1968, John F. Kennedy's brother Sen. Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in Los Angeles at age 42. He had just given a victory speech after winning the California primary.
1969: Ted Kennedy involved in fatal Chappaquiddick crash
On July 18, 1969 Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy, brother of John and Robert, drove his car off a bridge in Chappaquiddick Island in Edgartown, Massachusetts. His passenger, 28-year-old Mary Kopechne, was killed. Kennedy did not report the accident immediately, and he later pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and received a two-month suspended sentence. The incident effectively ended his ambitions to run for president, although he would keep his Senate seat until his death in 2009.
1984: David Kennedy dies of a drug overdose
David Kennedy, the son of Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy, died on April 25, 1984, from a drug overdose in Palm Beach, Florida, during a visit to his grandmother Rose Kennedy. He was 28.
1997: Michael Kennedy dies in a skiing accident
Michael Kennedy, also a son of Robert and Ethel, was killed in a skiing accident in Aspen, Colorado, on New Year's Eve in 1997. He was 39.
1999: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy die in plane crash
John F. Kennedy Jr., son of President Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy, died on July 16, 1999, in a plane crash, along with his wife, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and sister-in-law Lauren Bessette. Kennedy was piloting the small aircraft when it plunged into the Atlantic Ocean off Martha's Vineyard. He was 38, Bessette Kennedy was 33, and Lauren was 34.
2012: Mary Richardson Kennedy dies by suicide
On May 16, 2012, Mary Richardson Kennedy, who was married to but legally separated from Robert F. Kennedy Jr., died by suicide in Bedford, New York. She was 52 and in the middle of a divorce and custody battle with RFK Jr. at the time of her death.
2019: Saoirse Kennedy Hill dies of a drug overdose
Saoirse Kennedy Hill, granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy and daughter of Courtney Kennedy Hill, was found dead in her family's Massachusetts home on Aug. 1, 2019, at age 22. Her death was ruled an accidental overdose.
2020: Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean and son die in drowning accident
Maeve Kennedy McKean, a granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy and daughter of Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, died in April 2020 along with her 8-year-old son, Gideon. The two disappeared while on a short canoe trip in the Chesapeake Bay. Their bodies were found later in the week. She was 40.
2025: Tatiana Schlossberg dies of cancer
Tatiana Schlossberg, granddaughter of President John F. Kennedy and daughter of Caroline Kennedy, died at age 35 in late 2025 after a short battle with cancer. She disclosed her illness shortly before her death in an essay in the New Yorker, describing being diagnosed with terminal cancer right after giving birth to her second child in 2024.
2026: Kyle Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy's granddaughter, dies at 42
Kyle Kennedy, the granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy, died Sept. 21 at her home in Westwood, Massachusetts, according to her obituary.
The daughter of Michael Kennedy, who died in a skiing accident in 1997, suffered a severe spinal cord injury in 2020 that left her with long-term paralysis. She later became an advocate for people with disabilities. Her cause of death remains pending.
Kennedy is survived by her two sons, Conor and Declan.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: From JFK Jr. to Kyle Kennedy: Inside the Kennedy family's tragic 'curse'
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