On August 5, an obituary shook Hollywood.
Oscar-winning actress Sandra Bullock's boyfriend of 8 years, photographer Brian Landau, died of ALS at the age of 57.
Brian's family said in their obituary:
After three years of battling ALS, Brian walked through his life peacefully.
He decided to treat his illness in silence and did not intend to make it public, and we respected his request.
We are incredibly grateful to the doctors who worked tirelessly to help us fight ALS, and to the wonderful nurses who sacrificed their time with their families to care for Brian and be our roommates. ”
Frostbite is a neurodegenerative disease in which patients gradually deteriorate from the initial muscle atrophy and weakness to paralysis, unable to swallow or even breathe, and the body seems to be frozen.
Throughout the course of the disease, their consciousness is clear, and they still retain memory, intelligence, and perception.
But their ability to exercise is gradually lost, which means that the patient will watch his whole body gradually become paralyzed, but there is nothing they can do.
Because of these pathologies, ALS is also known as "a terminal disease more cruel than cancer."
(Source: Clinical Advisor)
According to reports, Brian was diagnosed with frostbite three years ago, and his condition deteriorated rapidly, and his last public appearance was in May 2020.
Sandra's romance with Brian began in 2015.
At that time, she asked Brian to take a birthday photo of her adopted eldest son, and the two met and officially began dating a few months later.
Soon they went to the wedding of Sandra's friend Jennifer Aniston and made their relationship public.
However, although the relationship has been public, the two have kept a low profile for the past eight years, except for occasional photos of paparazzi traveling together, and have kept a distance from the media.
After two years of dating, in 2017, the two held an oath-taking ceremony, but did not officially become legally titular husband and wife.
During this time, Sandra adopted a second child, a daughter.
Therefore, Brian can also be regarded as the first fatherly relative in Sandra's two children.
In 2021, Sandra made a rare mention of Brian when she appeared on an interview show, saying:
"I found the love of my life, we have three lovely children (note: Sandra has two adopted babies, Brian and his late ex-wife have a daughter), which is the best thing in the world."
Now people look back at the timeline and find that when Sandra was interviewed, Brian had actually been diagnosed with frostbite, which may be why she mentioned the other party in the first place.
In the interview, she also explained why there was no formal marriage registration procedure:
"I'm not trying for people to do what I do, but for me, I don't need a piece of paper to make me a dedicated partner and mother.
I don't need a piece of paper to urge me to persevere with my partner during the toughest times of my life, or a piece of paper to remind me to go through the storm with a good man. ”
It turns out that she has indeed been by her lover's side, regardless of illness or death.
More than 30 years of fame, Sandra has always been a powerful actor in Hollywood.
But her love path is indeed not smooth.
From 1994 with the male god Keanu Reeves "Speed of Life and Death"
By 2000, the popular "Agent Beauty"
and 2004's "Crash"
"Fake Marriage" in 2009
"Blind Spot" that won her the Oscar for Best Actress
And later "Gravity"
"Hiding the Sky: Beauty Count"
"Blindfold You"
Sandra has repeatedly topped Hollywood's list of the highest-paid actresses and Time magazine's list of the world's 100 most influential people.
Whether in the camera, in interviews, or in real life friendly interactions with passers-by or fans, Sandra is also a top star with almost "zero bad reviews" in Hollywood.
After so many years of fame, she has donated to major charitable organizations in the United States many times, each time in the amount of millions of dollars.
She is also very baggage-free, and in 2010, because of her role in "All About Steve", she gladly went to the Golden Raspberry Award for the Worst Actress Award.
As a result, the day after winning the award, she won the Oscar for Best Actress for her role as her mother in "Blind Spot", which was very dramatic.
Although her business ability and behavior are well recognized, Sandra's love path is lucky and unlucky, she has dated many top handsome guys, and she is also the dream lover of many people, but in her only marriage, she has suffered very cruel and public injuries.
When filming "Speed of Life and Death", she and Keanu Reeves had a crush on each other on the set, and the chemical reaction exploded, but they still didn't break the layer of window paper.
Later, when the two participated in the show, they mentioned this incident, which made many netizens full of expired sugar, and they all felt sorry for the two of them.
Sandra later got engaged to actress Tate Donovan and dated rugby player Troy Aikman after breaking up.
After that, she dated the well-known male god Matthew McConaughey.
He also had a relationship with the high commander, who was 16 years younger than him, and publicly dated for a year from 2002 to 2003
In 2005, Sandra took her godson to visit a motorcycle shop when she met the owner, Jesse James.
He is engaged in the automobile and motorcycle business and has also filmed his own car shows.
After the two met, Jesse launched a fierce pursuit, sending love letter emails every day and chasing for a long time.
The two eventually held a grand wedding, inviting 270 friends and family to attend.
From 2005 to 2010, the couple often attended events together, looked good, and applied for adoption together.
However, after March 2010, shortly after Sandra won the Oscar for Best Actress, a number of women jointly exposed the scandal of Jesse and their cheating.
A devastated Sandra had to cancel a film promotion campaign in Europe, and Jesse later issued a statement publicly apologizing to his wife.
A month after the apology, Jesse was admitted to the treatment center for "sex addiction."
A few weeks later, Sandra appealed for divorce.
But what makes everyone feel even more sad for her is that Sandra and Jesse have successfully obtained approval to adopt a child, and she is immersed in the joy of becoming a mother.
With her ex-husband's trick, she was forced to become a single mother.
She started her life again with her son and did not have any emotional news for the first few years.
Until 2014, she and 17-year-old Peach President Chris Evans broke the news of dating.
The two were photographed eating several times, but in the end, it didn't work out.
The two are also quite frank, Momo always admitted that Sandra is his goddess since childhood, and has posted her posters at home, and Sandra also jokes that they have been married and divorced, and are now good friends.
After this relationship, Brian appeared.
In 2015, he was hired by Sandra to take birthday photos for her oldest son, so they met, and then began a stable relationship for eight years.
Brian used to be a model and was very tall and handsome.
Shortly after the two were together, Sandra's second child, who had previously applied for adoption, also returned home.
Coupled with Brian's daughter, who was in college when she was born in 1994, this reorganized family of five lived a low-key and happy life.
(Brian's daughter, Skylar, who was orphaned with the death of her parents)
Sandra said that Brian is a good role model for children, emotionally stable, very well-rounded in looking at things and dealing with things, and very comfortable in communication when the two have arguments.
However, in 2020, Brian was diagnosed with frostbite, and Sandra took on the responsibility of caring for her lover while raising and caring for several children alone.
It's hard to imagine that Sandra has gone through so many twists and turns in her life before, finally finding the love of her life, and now she has to witness his feelings when he dies of a terminal illness.
After the news of Brian's early death came out, many netizens were very sorry and left messages to mourn and comfort Sandra.
"It's so rare that they love each other so much. She lost her partner, her children lost their father, and it was heartbreaking for everyone. ”
Some netizens said that they finally understood why the number and exposure of Sandra's works have decreased significantly in the past few years, because caring for patients with frostbite is a exhausting chore.
"If you're caring for a terminally ill loved one, plus your own anger, grief, and sadness from time to time, you know how heartbreaking and laborious it can be.
You have to pretend to be okay in front of unsuspecting people, such as your children and parents.
Condolences to their families and friends. ”
"If you've actually seen people with frostbite, you can see why they can't have too many visitors, because everything is extremely anxious for everyone in the know.
Ordinary people get sick, and it is a triple torture economically, physically and psychologically.
When many people are diagnosed, they actually have mobility problems, because the diagnosis process is quite troublesome.
It's a really terrible disease."
"The cruelest disease! The dying months are undignified for the patient, and the caregivers are angelic beings.
Hopefully, a cure will come out soon. ”
There are also many netizens who are embarrassed by Sandra's bumpy love path, and bluntly said, "God can't let this woman rest for a while?" ”
"The lady is sad.
I love Sandra so much, she is so unlucky, but when she finds the love of her life and loses him, it is a devastating blow for her and her children.
Condolences to Brian's family and friends. ”
"It's really tragic, he was so handsome when he was alive, and he felt sad that he finally found the love of his life, Sandra."
"Why do good people always encounter bad things?"
Sandra has not made any statements at the moment, but her sister Jessini honored Brian on social media:
"Brian has definitely found the best spot in paradise to fish for salmon and has caught fish in rushing rivers.
Frostbite is a cruel terminal illness, but I feel a little relieved that he was at home with the best care from my sister and the nurses she arranged. Rest in peace, Brian.
Please donate to the ALS Association and Massachusetts General Hospital instead of sending flowers. ”
Brian, RIP.
I also hope that his relatives and friends and Sandra will mourn and get out of the pain as soon as possible.