Bizarre Celebrity Relatives

[LolaCocaCola]

There sure are some wacky unexpected celebrity relatives out there, for example did you know that Nicholas Cage is Francis Ford Coppola's nephew?

A wacky one I just found out is that actress Sherilyn Fenn (Twin Peaks) is singer Suzi Quatro's niece!

Any others out there that you know of???

[KneadToKnow]

Bonnie Bedelia is Macaulay Culkin's (as well as the other little Culkins') aunt.

Mariska Hargitay of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (though she will always be Cynthia from ER to me) is Jayne Mansfield's daughter, and was one of the people in the car when her mother died.

[Laughing Lagomorph]

Take a look at Nicolas Cage's IMDB entry, he has a zillion show business connections: He is also a nephew of Talia Shire (Adrian from the Rocky movies) and is married to Michael Jackson's ex, Lisa Marie Presley, so he is Elvis' son in law! He also used to be married to one of the Arquettes.

Mariska Hargitay and I share the same birthday, although different years (not that far off, though).

[LolaCocaCola]

Originally posted by Laughing Lagomorph
Mariska Hargitay and I share the same birthday, although different years (not that far off, though).

Wow! I just found out I share Sherilyn Fenn's birthday!

[Laughing Lagomorph]

Originally posted by LolaCocaCola


Wow! I just found out I share Sherilyn Fenn's birthday!

Weird! What are the odds?

[Minor Irritant]

The one I could never wrap my mind around is the fact that Albert Brooks is Super Dave Osbourne's brother.

And Talia Shire's the mother of the kid (Jason Schwartzman, I think) from Rushmore, too.

Rae Dawn Chong, from Commando is the daughter of professional pothead Tommy Chong.

[KneadToKnow]

Just so we don't all start tripping over ourselves with Talia Shire references, let me post this link:
http://us.imdb.com/Bio?Shire,+Talia

[japatlgt]

Anne Murray (obscure Canadian singer) is sister to Gordon Lightfoot (ditto). Mary Martin (the original Peter Pan) is Mother to J.R. (Larry Hagman) of "Dallas" fame. James Arness (Matt Dillon/Gunsmoke) is brother to Peter Graves (Mission Impossible TV series, etc.). David Letterman has a Mom from Indianapolis!

[Slainte]

Warren Beatty is the brother of Shirley MacLaine.

[Sternvogel]

Originally posted by japatlgt
Anne Murray (obscure Canadian singer) is sister to Gordon Lightfoot (ditto).

Um, where did you hear this? Murray is from Nova Scotia and grew up with five brothers, none named Gordon:

http://www.annemurray.com/pages/story.htm

Lightfoot is an Ontario native. A Google search turned up no references to siblings, so I'm speculating that the performer of such classics as "Carefree Highway" and "Sundown" is an only child.

Obscurity is obviously in the eye of the beholder, but both Lightfoot and Murray have been inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame and Canadian Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame. Gordon and Anne were also both fixtures on USA charts in the 1970's.

[Zoe]

Kurt Vonnegut used to be Geraldo Rivera's father-in-law.

Sissy Spacek is either the niece or the cousin of Rip Torn.

Rip Torn was married to Geraldine Page.

Ethel Merman was married to Ernest Borgnine.

Clark Gable and Loretta Young had a daughter together.

[Ranchoth]

Norah Jones is Ravi Shankar's daughter.

Nana Visitor and Alexander Siddig (Formerly Siddig el Fidel) from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine had a child together.

[Guinastasia]

Originally posted by japatlgt
Anne Murray (obscure Canadian singer) is sister to Gordon Lightfoot (ditto).

Oh yuck! I hate Anne Murray! I think Gordon should shove her down on the Fitz!

[TeaElle]

Jenny McCarthy is married to John Asher, who is the son of Joyce Bulifant, a regular on "Match Game" (and mother of the sick girl in "Airplane") and William Asher who was the creator of "Bewitched" and was married (before Bulifant) to Elizabeth Montgomery.

Jenna "Dharma" Elfman's husband Bodhi is the nephew of musical genius Danny Elfman.

[Lamia]

Richard Wagner was Franz Liszt's son-in-law.

[masonite]

You mean Franz Liszt, the well-known Hollywood composer???


George Clooney's aunt was Rosemary Clooney.

[ninevah]

And Cyd Charisse is also Nana Visitor's aunt.

[Earl Snake-Hips Tucker]

Anne Ramsey's father-in-law, Lt. Commander Logan Ramsey, was stationed in Hawaii on December 7, 1941. He was one of the first ones to radio in about incoming aircraft. (She was married to his son, actor Logan Ramsey, a character actor specializing in redneckish roles.)

Wally George was mentioned in a recent thread in MPSIMS or IMHO. He is the bio-dad of Rebecca DeMornay.

[SadTomato]

Jeanette MacDonald, MGM singing star from the '40s, was the sister of Blossom Rock, "Grandmama" on The Addams Family.

[Brynda]

William Mapother is Tom Cruise's cousin. William is not that well known, although he did a great job as the evil husband in In The Bedroom. Tom puts him in a lot of his films, so no matter what you think of him, he is good to his cousin.

[bibliophage]

Nobel Prize winning physicist Max Born was the grandfather of Singer Olivia Newton-John.

[Krokodil]

Alexander Siddig has more famous relatives than wife Nana Visitor: His uncle on his mother's side is Malcolm McDowell, and on his father's side, an uncle who was Sudan's Prime Minister. If he and Talia Shire mated, we'd all be cousins!

[scott evil]

SNL's Maya Rudolph is the daughter of the late Minnie Riperton.

Great, now I'll have "Loving You" in my head all day...

[Brynda]

Mariette Hartley (was on the original Star Trek, famous for the commercials with James Garner) is the granddaughter of James Watson, a famous behaviorist psychologist.

[Mith]

anyone want to take Wilson Phillips?

MAthew Pierre's (Chandler from Friends) dad was the tall, dark handsome brute from the Irish Spring commercials

Donald Southerland's father started the national health care in canada. Also, Donald is Keifer's dad.

[Exapno Mapcase]

Originally posted by Brynda
Mariette Hartley (was on the original Star Trek, famous for the commercials with James Garner) is the granddaughter of James Watson, a famous behaviorist psychologist.

The IMDB says that she "Is the grand niece of FDR's famous Secretary of the Interior, Harold Ickes."

[Skid Row]

John Stamos' older brother sang "Lovin' You" at South Park Elementary. South Park was recorded by Maya Rudolph's late mother, Minnie Ripperton.

...wait for the high note.

[Brynda]

Originally posted by Exapno Mapcase
The IMDB says that she "Is the grand niece of FDR's famous Secretary of the Interior, Harold Ickes."

So she is covered on both psychological and political fronts.

[Sampiro]

Woody Allen is Mia Farrow's ex husband (well, in a common law sort of way) and currently her son-in-law as well as Andre Previn's.

James Best (character actor best known as Roscoe P. Coltrane from DUKES OF HAZZARD) is first cousin to the Everly Brothers.

Krystal Gayle is Loretta Lynn's baby sister and thus aunt to "the Lynns".

Mickey Gilley, Jimmy Swaggart, and Jerry Lee Lewis are first cousins.

Goldie Hawn is a direct descendant of Edward Rutledge (youngest signer of the Declaration of Independence, perhaps best remembered by history for singing MOLASSES TO RUM TO SLAVES in 1776).

Dominick Dunne is the brother of John Gregory Dunne and the brother-in-law of Joan Didion. (The brothers haven't spoken in many years.)

Lynne Redgrave is the mother of Natasha Richardson, mother-in-law of Liam Neeson, and sister of Lynn and Corin Redgrave. (Natasha's father, Tony, and grandfather, Michael Redgrave, were both gay, incidentally.)

Kathryne Brown, the attractive African American actress who plays Zola Knox on JUDGING AMY, is the daughter of series star Tyne Daly, who is the ex-wife of Georg Stanford Brown (ROOTS) and current steady of Clarence Clemons as well as the brother of Tim Daly. (A commonly repeated connection is that Tyne Daly is the granndaughter of Chief Justice Earl Warren, but it's not true.)

Actors Matt Salinger and Stephen Mailer are the sons of J.D. and Norman, respectively.

Gore Vidal was the grandson of Senator Thomas Pryor Gore (D-OK, he was blind due to two separate childhood accidents), shared a stepfather with Jackie Kennedy & Lee Radziwill, and is the son of the founder of several airlines and inspiration for a character in Knowles' A SEPARATE PEACE.

Arthur Miller, in addition to having been Mr. Marilyn Monroe, is by a daughter from a subsequent wife the father-in-law of Daniel Day Lewis.

Sean Astin is the son of Patty Duke and may be the son of Desi Arnaz, Jr., as well, though he was raised by John Astin and regards him as his true father. His brother Mackenzie was a child star on Facts of Life who still turns up in occasional film roles.

Miguel Ferrer (son of Rosemary Clooney and Jose Ferrer) is the first cousin of George Clooney. Ferrer's brother Gabriel is married to Debbie Boone, daughter of Pat and granddaughter of Red Foley. Before he married Rosemary Clooney, Jose was married to legendary acting teacher Uta Hagen, with whom he had a daughter. That daughter is no relation to George Clooney; to the best of my knowledge I am no relation to George Clooney either, which means that I could belong to Uta Hagen...

[Sampiro]

The above should have read "VANESSA Redgrave is the mother of Natasha Richardson".

Lynn Redgrave's marriage broke up when she learned her grandson was actually her husband's son.

[japatlgt]

Originally posted by Sternvogel
Um, where did you hear this? Murray is from Nova Scotia and grew up with five brothers, none named Gordon:

Beats me. Sorry for the confusion.

[Sampiro]

Charles Kimbrough, best known as Jim Dial from MURPHY BROWN, is married to Beth Howland, best known as Vera from ALICE. She was formerly married to Michael J. Pollard (who was a deadbeat dad to their daughter) and his aunt co-authored OUR HEARTS WERE YOUNG AND GAY with Cornelia Otis Skinner.

Jefferson Davis's first wife, Knox, was the daughter of Zachary Taylor. She died soon after the wedding. When he remarried to Varina Howell, he took her on their honeymoon to see his first wife's grave.

Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, president of Mexico and conqueror of the Alamo, was a first cousin by marriage to Jim Bowie.

Eleanor of Aquitaine was the only woman in history to be queen of both France and England, was the mother of two kings of England, and was the grandmother of eight monarchs.
Emma of Normandy was the only woman to have been the wife of two kings of England (Ethelrede and Cnut) and bore a son by each who became king. (Her son Edward "the Confessor" was an albino who died a virgin, much to the aggravation of his wife.)

[Sampiro]

Last but not least: mass murderer Gary Gilmore claimed to be the illegitimate grandson of Harry Houdini.

[Scarlett67]

Originally posted by Mith
MAthew Pierre's (Chandler from Friends) dad was the tall, dark handsome brute from the Irish Spring commercials

That should be:

[b]Matthew Perry[b]'s dad was the guy in the Old Spice commercials.

[Governor Quinn]

Bing Crosby's brother, Bob, was a big-band leader in the 1930's and 1940's.

Bing's former partner in the Paul Whiteman orchestra, Harry Barris (also the composer of "I Surrender Dear"), is the uncle of TV producer/host/author/prankster Charles Hirsch "Chuck" Barris, according to the IMDB.

[Globe-trotter]

Originally posted by Mith
Donald Southerland's father started the national health care in canada. Also, Donald is Keifer's dad. [/b]

Nope. That's Tommy Douglas' claim to fame (i.e. health care). His daughter, Shirley, is Sutherland's ex-wife and mother of Keifer.

[Walloon]

Originally posted by Sampiro
Sean Astin is the son of Patty Duke and may be the son of Desi Arnaz, Jr., as well, though he was raised by John Astin and regards him as his true father.

Sean Astin had parentage tests done, and it turns out he is the son of Michael Tell, to whom his mother was married for only about a month in 1970. Sean was adopted by Patty's third husband, John Astin, when Sean was 3.

[Bricker]

Originally posted by Walloon
Sean Astin had parentage tests done, and it turns out he is the son of Michael Tell, to whom his mother was married for only about a month in 1970. Sean was adopted by Patty's third husband, John Astin, when Sean was 3.

Do have a cite for this? Duke's autobiography claims she never consummated her marriage to Tell.

- Rick

[Exapno Mapcase]

Originally posted by Brickner
Do have a cite for this? Duke's autobiography claims she never consummated her marriage to Tell.

From Yahoo! Movies

in 1994, Astin underwent DNA testing that revealed rock promoter Michael Tell to be his biological father (Patty Duke and Tell had been briefly married before her engagement to John Astin). Though the actor is friendly with Tell, he still considers those who raised him to be his parents.

Cool! A virigin birth!

[Walloon]

The Sean Astin information was from the "Walter Scott's Personality Parade" column in Parade magazine, 11 Nov. 2001.

Another view:

At age 25, Sean discovered that John was not his biological father. In her 1987 autobiography, Call Me Anna, Duke explains that in 1970 she'd had a fling with Desi Arnaz Jr., then 17, followed by a brief affair with John. Soon after, the 23-year-old impulsively wed rock promoter Michael Tell, now 56. The Tell marriage lasted 13 days; by then, Duke was pregnant. (She married John in 1972.) DNA tests — conducted after Astin had a chance 1994 encounter with Tell's niece, who suggested that he get tested — proved Tell to be his father. Now, though he considers John his dad, he is friendly with all three men — including Arnaz Jr., whom he met through John in 1995. To this day Duke maintains that Tell — with whom she says she was never intimate — is not Astin's biological father. "I don't buy that test," she says.

[Earl Snake-Hips Tucker]

Brian Keith's step-mother was (briefly) aviation pioneer Peg Entwistle.

[Harvey The Heavy]

I guess it's common knowlege by now that Liv Tyler's dad is Steven Tyler of Aerosmith.

And whose mother was it that invented Wite-Out? I've heard this about Tom Hanks, Michael Nesmith and a few other celebraties.

[Mr Jim]

Originally posted by Harvey The Heavy


And whose mother was it that invented Wite-Out? I've heard this about Tom Hanks, Michael Nesmith and a few other celebraties.

Michael Nesmith

[LifeOnWry]

Interesting side note about Liv Tyler: she was raised as Liv Rundgren, and thought that Todd Rundgren was her father. I have heard that she noticed the physical resemblence to Steven and questioned her mother, but that sounds too Hollyweird to be true. Then again, it might be.

One celebrity past-marriage that surprised me: Faye Dunaway and Peter Wolf (of the J. Geils Band.)

[LolaCocaCola]

Originally posted by LifeOnWry
One celebrity past-marriage that surprised me: Faye Dunaway and Peter Wolf (of the J. Geils Band.)

Well, now, that's wacky!

[SadTomato]

Originally posted by Mjollnir
Brian Keith's step-mother was (briefly) aviation pioneer Peg Entwistle.

"aviation pioneer"--I get it.

BTW, speaking of Peg, many years ago I climbed to the top of the "D" on the Hollywood sign. I don't think you can get away with crap like that anymore.

[Robot Arm]

Sigourney Weaver was the niece of the late Doodles Weaver, vocalist with Spike Jones and his City Slickers.

[dwyr]

Alma Gluck, famous operatic singer of the early 20th century, is Stephanie Zimbalist's grandmother and of course Efrem Zimbalist Jr.'s mother.

[vivalostwages]

Sissy Spacek's husband, Jack Fisk, has a sister named Mary who was David Lynch's second wife. Spacek reportedly helped Lynch finance Eraserhead, and years later he cast her in The Straight Story.

[Krokodil]

Lyle Lovett's uncle is Calvin Klein. I can't find out anywhere if he's that Calvin Klein, though.