Siblings who independently became famous for different things

[Commander Keen]

Just thought these were kind of interesting. Basically I'm excluding siblings who became famous together, like the Wright brothers, or siblings who became famous for the same general thing, even if they did it independently (both actors, or both writers, or something like that).

Edwin Booth was a famous actor, his brother John is famous for assassinating Lincoln.

Robert Patrick was T-1000 in Terminator 2, his brother Richard is the singer of the band Filter (they did "Hey Man, Nice Shot" and "Take a Picture").

Steven Stayner was famous in the 70s for being kidnapped for 7 years, his brother Cary more recently became notable for being a serial killer (that one's kind of messed up, huh?)

What others?

[Sternvogel]

When I was growing up in suburban Cleveland, the Browns had a cornerback named Ben Davis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Davis_(American_football)). A couple of years into his career, controversy started to swirl around his sister Angela (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Davis).

[troubledwater]

I was recently surprised to learn that actress Tracy Pollan (wife of Michael J. Fox) is the sister of author Michael Pollan.

[Nicest of the Damned]

Actors Sean and the late Chris Penn have a brother Michael who is a musician.

[Claire Beauchamp]

Edwin Booth was a famous actor, his brother John is famous for assassinating Lincoln.

That's a bit of a cheat. John and Edwin were part of a well-known acting family. JW was a matinee idol of his day. He's only more famous now as an assassin.

[SciFiSam]

Richard (Dickie) Attenborough, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Attenborough), actor/director famous for the Great Escape and Jurassic Park (actor) and Gandhi (director), and David Attenborough (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Attenborough), famous for the 'Life' series of documentaries and tons of other well-known documentaries and books.

[kunilou]

Actually, John Wilkes Booth was a pretty well-known actor in his own time, who also happened to be an assasin. Edwin and J.W. Booth's father was an actor, as was their brother.

Joan Collins is an actress, Jackie is a novelist, although it can be argued having a sister who was a celebrity gave Jackie a big headstart to her own celebrity.

Donna DeVarona is an Olympic gold medal swimmer. Her sister, Joana Kerns, is an actress best known for the sitcom Growing Pains.

Irene Curie Joliot won a Nobel Prize for Chemistry. Her younger sister, Eve, was an author, journalist and humantiarian.

Of course, you have families like the Rockefellers (Nelson and Winthrop went into politics, John went into banking and David was a venture capitalist who helped found Eastern Airlines) and the Danforths (John was a Senator, William was a university chancelor), but their backgrounds are so tangled that it's hard to argue it wasn't "the same general thing."

[ZipperJJ]

I was looking at the Wikipedia entry on famous twins, and thought list of twins famous for different things (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_twins#Twins_with_differing_claims_to_fame) was interesting. Also the list of famous people with a non-famous twin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_twins#Famous_people_with_a_twin).

[Lamar Mundane]

Kurt Vonnegut's brother Bernard was a famous meteorologist who discovered the process of cloud seeding with silver iodide.

[The Second Stone]

Tony Hillerman was an award winning famous mystery novelist. His brother John Hillerman (actor) was even more famously secretly Robin Masters. ASAIK John is still alive.

[dangermom]

The Mitford sisters are a pretty mind-blowing example. They seem to have been in everything in the 20th century.

Nancy became a famous novelist; her books are still popular.

Pamela was the most retiring, but still managed to marry and divorce a rich and famous scientist.

Diana had a huge society wedding, then left her husband for Sir Oswald Mosley (founder of the British Union of Fascists). Spent much of WWII in jail with her husband, was friendly with Hitler, never renounced fascism.

Unity was good buddies with Hitler.

Jessica moved to the US, became a well-known advocate for Communism, and wrote a lot of books, including the famous American Way of Death.

Deborah married the younger son of a peer, and WWII turned him into the Duke of Devonshire. Together they turned Chatsworth into one of the best-known stately homes in England. She's still there.

[thirdwarning]

Tony Hillerman was an award winning famous mystery novelist. His brother John Hillerman (actor) was even more famously secretly Robin Masters. ASAIK John is still alive.

Unless you're funnin' here, you might want to check this one.

[Sampiro]

William Tecumseh Sherman's brother John was a career politician who served in both Houses of Congress before his older brother 'Cump' was famous for his march. After both were famous he served as Sec'y of the Treasury and later of State, neither of which likely had anything to do with his brother's fame. (Though they were full brothers they grew up in separate houses after their father died and barely knew each other until they were adults.)

[Darryl Lict]

Rahm Emanuel was a U.S. congressman until he took the job of Chief of Staff for President Obama. His brother Ari is a big time Hollywood talent agent and was the model for Ari Gold of Entourage. Hell, the other brother Ezekiel, the slacker of the group, has an MD from Harvard Medical School and a PhD in Political Philosophy from Harvard University. Ezekiel is Director of the Clinical Bioethics Department at the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

[Sampiro]

Another from the 19th century: Reverend Henry Ward Beecher was perhaps the most famous U.S. clergyman of his day (and certainly was caught up in the most widely publicized extramarital scandal due to pissing off two famous sisters [Victoria Woodhull and Tennessee Claflin]). His sister Harriet Beecher Stowe was among if not the most successful novelist of that century up until her time.

[Erdosain]

The first pair I thought of was notorious Boston gangster (and current FBI Most Wanted) Whitey Bulger (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitey_Bulger) and his brother, William Bulger (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Bulger), former President of the Massachusetts State Senate and former president of the University of Massachusetts.

Apparently, William hasn't been very helpful to the FBI in finding his brother.

[Indistinguishable]

Sacha Baron Cohen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacha_Baron_Cohen) is known for his comedy work as Ali G/Borat/Bruno, while his brother Simon Baron-Cohen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Baron-Cohen) is known for his autism research and theories.

Ludwig Wittgenstein (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Wittgenstein) was a towering figure in 20th century philosophy, while his brother Paul Wittgenstein (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Wittgenstein) acquired fame of his own as a one-handed concert pianist.

However, in both these cases, I suppose you'd have to admit that one of the two is vastly more famous than the other.

[AppallingGael]

The James boys.

[Diogenes the Cynic]

David and Amy Sedaris.

[Primaflora]

Simon Baron Cohen is Sacha's uncle, not his brother.

[Indistinguishable]

Simon Baron Cohen is Sacha's uncle, not his brother.
Actually, we're both wrong. They're cousins.

[Quartz]

The Duke of Wellington's brother ruled India for the British for a time.

[Sampiro]

The James boys.

I agree: William (the psychology pioneer) and Henry (the novelist).

[Zoe]

Bob Einstein has a brother named Albert. Yes, Albert Einstein. But you know them better as Super Dave Osborne and Albert Brooks.

[Xema]

Of course, you have families like the Rockefellers (Nelson and Winthrop went into politics, John went into banking and David was a venture capitalist who helped found Eastern Airlines)
Googling suggests it was Laurance who was involved in the founding of Eastern (David was 19 at the time).

[An Arky]

Doug Fieger (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_Fieger) is the lead singer for the Knack, his brother Geoffrey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Fieger)is a lawyer famous for defending Jack Kevorkian.

[whitetho]

In 2005 long-time CBS TV reporter Bob Schieffer became the anchor for nightly news report, and his brother Tom was appointed US ambassador to Japan.

[twickster]

I was recently surprised to learn that actress Tracy Pollan (wife of Michael J. Fox) is the sister of author Michael Pollan.

No shit -- he's one of my favorite writers!

[twickster]

I was looking at the Wikipedia entry on famous twins, and thought list of twins famous for different things (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_twins#Twins_with_differing_claims_to_fame) was interesting. ...

Well, interesting in that only two of the pairs listed are actually in different fields. ;)

[Khadaji]

Ashley Judd has a famous singing sister - and mother.

[The Stafford Cripps]

Although I could have guessed they were both members of the famous extended family, until Clement Freud's recent death, I didn't know that he was Lucien's brother.

[Ferret Herder]

Poe (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe_(singer)), aka Annie Decatur Danielewski, is a singer (probably best known for the song "Angry Johnny" off her 1995 debut album). She created a "companion" CD when her brother, Mark Z. Danielewski (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Z._Danielewski) wrote the arguably cult classic novel House of Leaves (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Leaves).

[Le Ministre de l'au-delà]

Leslie Nielsen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leslie_Nielsen) is the well known actor. His older brother, Erik Nielsen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_Nielsen), is a Canadian politician; the peak of his career was the period when he was the Deputy Prime Minister of Canada.

Raymond Massey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Massey), the actor, had a more famous older brother Vincent Massey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_Massey), who was the first Canadian-born Governor-General of Canada.

[Baker]

Cleveland Amory was a journalist, best-selling author, and famous animal activist.

His brother, Robert Amory Jr., was a law professor at Harvard and Deputy Director of Intelligence of the CIA.

[Annie-Xmas]

Andrew Lloyd Webber is a famous composer.
His brother Julian is a not-so-famous cellist. Damn good too.

[Peter Morris]

Lawrence Durrell (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Durrell), novelist and Gerald Durrell (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Durrell), zoologist.

[Savannah]

Shirley MacLaine and Warren Beatty?

[Annie-Xmas]

Nancy Spungen was known as the girlfriend and murder victim of punk rocker Sid Vicious.

Her sister Susan is the founding editor of Martha Stewart's Living magazine.

It don't get much different than that!

[Little Nemo]

Former porno actress Christy Canyon and writer/editor Carla Sinclair are sisters.

[Peter Morris]

The remarkable family Stein: there's Ep, and Gertrude and Ein, Ep's sculptures are junk, Gert's poems are bunk, and nobody understands Ein.

[Claire Beauchamp]

David and Amy Sedaris.

While David doesn't act much, they are both writers. In fact, they wrote a play together.

Shirley MacLaine and Warren Beatty?

They're both actors, and half-siblings at that.

[Annie-Xmas]

Bill Clinton was famous for being President. His half-brother Roger was famous for being an actor and cokehead.

Come to think of it, a lot of Presidents have had brothers famous for various types of assholery.

[FlyingRamenMonster]

How about Steven (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Stayner) and Cary (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cary_Stayner) Stayner? One became famous for being abducted, the other for being a serial killer.

[Annie-Xmas]

Mentioned in the OP. While true crime writer Ann Rule tends to shy away from famous cases, she's mentioned that she would like to write a biography of the two.

The right author would turn it into a fascinating read.

[FlyingRamenMonster]

Whoops. Reading comprehension -1.

[mikeargo]

Paul O'Neill was a pretty damn good baseball player for the Yankees and Reds. His sister Molly is the food columnist for the New York Times Sunday Magazine.

[Sampiro]

They're both actors, and half-siblings at that.

No, they're full. They both changed their name though; Warren changed Beaty to Beatty and Shirley changed their mother's maiden name from McLean to MacLaine.

[Sampiro]

Kurt Vonnegut's brother Bernard was a famous meteorologist who discovered the process of cloud seeding with silver iodide.

Their sister and brother-in-law also had a distinction: they invented those balloons that come in toothpaste like tubes that used to be sold in gumball machines (possibly still are), though they sold the patent for next to nothing. Their brother-in-law was working on a variation of the invention to earn some money when he was killed in a car accident the same week his wife/Kurt & Bernard's sister died of cancer.

[appleciders]

I was looking at the Wikipedia entry on famous twins, and thought list of twins famous for different things (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_twins#Twins_with_differing_claims_to_fame) was interesting.

Most of those pairs are famous for the exact same thing. It even lists the Bush sisters and a Vaudeville twin act.

[The Second Stone]

Unless you're funnin' here, you might want to check this one.

My mistake about the Hillerman boys. Turns out they are unrelated. I had heard differently.

[Freddy the Pig]

Tom Skilling is the chief meterologist for WGN TV and radio and the Chicago Tribune, and from all that I've heard, an upstanding citizen and generally nice guy. His brother Jeffrey Skilling was one of the lead villains in the Enron fiasco and is serving a 24-year sentence in the federal slammer.

[WarmNPrickly]

Cousins, but Ira Glass and Phil Glass are famous for different things.

[Peter Morris]

Come to think of it, a lot of Presidents have had brothers famous for various types of assholery.

But would they be famous assholes without their brother being famous already?

[Claire Beauchamp]

But would they be famous assholes without their brother being famous already?

No.

[Sampiro]

My mistake about the Hillerman boys. Turns out they are unrelated. I had heard differently.

I think they're cousins- not sure if it's first or not. They look a lot alike (John (http://www.zap2it.com/media/photo/2009-04/45992855.jpg)... Tony (http://www.nmmagazine.com/imgs/january09/TonyHillerman.jpg)).


While not super famous, Ruth Stapleton was well known in Christian evangelical circles based in North Carolina long before her brother Jimmy Carter became famous outside of Georgia. (She wasn't just a hands in the air holiness housewife either but a fairly well educated and published author before he entered national politics.)

[Diogenes the Cynic]

While David doesn't act much, they are both writers. In fact, they wrote a play together.
They've written several plays together, but playwriting is not what either is really famous for. David is famous for being an essayist/humorist, and Amy is famous primarily as a comedic actress. The playwriting is a sideline for both of them.

[Sampiro]

Don Novello, a writer and comedian best known for playing Father Guido Sarducci, has a brother named Joe who's a very respected psychologist; he's not that well known outside of academia, but he's written many articles and books. (Novello's his wife (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonia_Novello)was Surgeon General under Bush 1 and Clinton.)

Likewise, Carroll O'Connor's brothers were very successful physicians. One was a psychiatrist who's well known in the field of sleep disorders, the other was one of the most sought after heart surgeon in the country. O'Connor (who unlike Archie was well educated, well traveled, and from a well to do family long before becoming famous) said in one interview that when he was the most famous actor on TV he was still considered the family underachiever.

[Auntbeast]

Likewise, Carroll O'Connor's brothers were very successful physicians. One was a psychiatrist who's well known in the field of sleep disorders, the other was one of the most sought after heart surgeon in the country. O'Connor (who unlike Archie was well educated, well traveled, and from a well to do family long before becoming famous) said in one interview that when he was the most famous actor on TV he was still considered the family underachiever.


Yeah! But what do *they* have in the Smithsonian? All he had to do was plop his butt in a chair and that chair is probably more famous than they are. Not to mention, Archie Bunker is as much a part of America as baseball and apple pie. Funny to think someone who will have such a long legacy is the slacker, eh?

I'm completely gobsmacked by the Michael/Tracy Pollan thing. I had no idea, and I've read almost all of his books.

[ouryL]

Don Novello, a writer and comedian best known for playing Father Guido Sarducci, has a brother named Joe who's a very respected psychologist; he's not that well known outside of academia, but he's written many articles and books. (Novello's his wife (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonia_Novello)was Surgeon General under Bush 1 and Clinton.)


His brother Joe Novello is a Psychologist in Washington, DC, who is married to the former Surgeon General Dr. Antonia Novello.

[Annie-Xmas]

Viginia Wolfe had a sister Vanessa Bell who has a painter with one helluva sex life. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanessa_Bell)
Woody Allen has nothing on David Garnett. The things some people will do to be the basis of an ALW musical.

[MadTheSwine]

Actor/Musician Jennifer Lopez has a sister, Lynda, who is an an Emmy Award-winning journalist.

[Barrels]

Mary Alice from "Ace of Cakes" has a brother who is the lead singer of Clutch.

[Icarus]

Geoffrey Colvin - Sr. Editor Fortune Magazine

Shawn Colvin - Musician

[Contrapuntal]

Never mind.

[Contrapuntal]

His brother Joe Novello is a Psychologist in Washington, DC, who is married to the former Surgeon General Dr. Antonia Novello.Isn't that pretty much what Sampiro said in the part you quoted?

[Earl Snake-Hips Tucker]

Former football coach Jack Patera is the older brother of former pro 'rassler Ken Patera.

[thirdwarning]

I was kinda hoping it was true, that's why I checked. It would have been pretty cool.

[Annie-Xmas]

A bump because nobody mentioned Marlon Brando's children.

Cheyenne was known for being abused when pregnant, causing her to miscarry and later for commiting suicide. Christian is known for killing the abusive boyfriend and doing jailtime.

Their half-brother Miko is known for being Michael Jackson's bodyguard and being the first to reach him when Jackson's hair caught fire.

[RunSilent]

Dwight Eisenhower was president of the U.S. and his brother Milton was president of Kansas State, then Penn State, then Johns Hopkins University.

[jayjay]

Lawrence Durrell (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Durrell), novelist and Gerald Durrell (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Durrell), zoologist.

Actually, outside of zoo circles, Gerald is probably more famous for his books about the Jersey Zoological Park and his childhood than he is for actually BEING a zoologist.

[kunilou]

Dwight Eisenhower was president of the U.S. and his brother Milton was president of Kansas State, then Penn State, then Johns Hopkins University.

Just to square the circle, Dwight Eisenhower was president of Columbia University for a couple of years.

[Shirley Ujest]

Doug Fieger (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_Fieger) is the lead singer for the Knack, his brother Geoffrey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Fieger)is a lawyer famous for defending Jack Kevorkian.

GAH!

I came in here to mention this!


CURSE YOU! AN ARKY!!!!111!!!





My Sharona!

[Annie-Xmas]

Eunice Kennedy Shiver should be best known for the amazing feat of founding the Special Olympics.

Her siblings (especially the male ones) are known for a bunch of other things, both good and bad.

[Diogenes the Cynic]

Michelle Obama's brother, Craig Robinson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Robinson_(basketball_coach)), is the head basketball coach at Oregon State University.

[villa]

Andrew and Julian LLoyd-Webber are in different enough fields I think to count. Though they are arguably both famous for being unbelievably fugly.

[mswas]

Rahm, Ari and Zeke Emmanuel.

Rahm is the President's Chief of Staff and has been famous as a politician for over a decade.

Ari is the single most famous Hollywood agent working today.

Zeke is a famous oncologist.

http://www.washingtonian.com/articles/people/7712.html

Rahm, Zeke, and Ari Emanuel have become very successful in different fields—politics, medicine, and Hollywood. But it’s hard not to notice the similarities among the brothers. They’re all intense, pugnacious, and in perpetual motion.
By Susan Baer Published Thursday, May 01, 2008
From the May 2008 issue of Washingtonian

The joke among the Emanuel brothers is that Zeke, the eldest, is bringing the family down.

That would be Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, 50, chair of the department of bioethics at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center. Zeke is an oncologist with a master’s from Oxford, an MD from Harvard, a PhD in political philosophy from Harvard, and a 27-page CV that includes fellowships, professorships, books, and numerous awards and honors.

“Ari and I tell Zeke: ‘You haven’t done squat for the family,’ ” says Rahm, the middle brother.

That’s because Zeke hasn’t had a TV character based on him, as have Rahm Emanuel, the Illinois congressman and former Bill Clinton adviser who was said to be part inspiration for White House aide Josh Lyman on The West Wing, and Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel, the model for lovably trash-talking agent Ari Gold on HBO’s Entourage.

But part of being one of the hyperkinetic Emanuel brothers is being relentlessly competitive. So Zeke points out that the charge against him is not entirely true. The eldest brother notes that he was a participant in a British reality TV show during his Oxford days. “They loved to hate me there because I was the American on the team, the loud American.”