You can feel a bit of her peculiar personal magnetism in roles as varied as Morticia Addams and the agonized mother and con artist Huston played in "The Grifters, " a part she took on at the end of her famous 16-year romance with Jack Nicholson.

WSJ: Anjelica Huston

Her mother, a strong, loving woman, readily took on the challenge of raising Loker and her sisters.

CNN: A beauty beyond skin deep

His mother took the photo in August after casts set on Malik's legs to strengthen them had been taken off.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Another mother, Claire Blackwell, said when she took her children to the farm on 9 September she had no idea there was anything wrong.

BBC: Farm defends response to E.coli

He is a child of the tsunami -- carried on the killer waves that spared him and his mother but took so many others.

CNN: Tsunami survivor: Baby brought me luck

My father traveled extensively as a jewelry salesman in the Midwest, and my mother was a real estate agent who took on other work as money needs arose.

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The Newtown shooter, a 20-year-old man living with his mother, took her legally owned guns and killed her before going to the school to open fire on students and teachers.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Sound plan, except that the student's mother took ill and, eager to be by her side, the student cremated Li's body on day six, leaving the returning spirit no place to perch.

WSJ: Paths Easy and Daunting | Ming Masterpieces | Artful Recluse | Lacma | Asia Society | By Lee Lawrence

On that fateful day, among the panic-stricken mob at the Havana airport, his mother took off her jewelry and handed it to Jorge's tearful grandmother to prevent security guards from confiscating it.

FORBES: Latino Connection

But it wasn't until the 2010 installment of the Games in Vancouver that Williams, who was born and raised by his West Indian mother in Canada, was spurred on to transform his pipe dream into a reality, as another pair of underdogs took on the establishment.

CNN: Cool Runnings: A skiing sequel for Jamaica's 'Dream Chaser?'