# are you related to anyone famous? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 12, 2006, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-related-to-anyone-famous/360358 "2006-06-12T00:42:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![mrald](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@mrald](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrald)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-related-to-anyone-famous/360358/41 "2006-06-12T10:55:20Z")
> [@dnooman](#): > > I’m very sorry. I meant that to be tongue-in-cheek, but forgot the winky smiley. Without the smarmy, sarcastic tone I intended, it does come off as quite mean. No offense intended. Sorry if I offended you. I’l let it slide this time 😉 Ive been up for over 32 hours, I tend to get testy without sleep. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-related-to-anyone-famous/360358/42 "2006-06-12T10:59:29Z")
Not to anybody world-famous, no. But some of my relatives show up in Spanish newspapers somewhat regularly. One of my great-uncles has been dead for more than 10 years but other medical professionals still speak of him to me in awe - even ones who never met him in person. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-related-to-anyone-famous/360358/43 "2006-06-12T11:55:59Z")
NFL quarterback Jeff Hostetler is a very distant cousin of mine. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-related-to-anyone-famous/360358/44 "2006-06-12T12:01:46Z")
> [@mrald](#): > > Jesse James (the outlaw, not the car guy) is my great uncle/cousin or whatever. I forget the connection but it is on my father’s side, and pretty close. woopie Will I be seeing you at the next family reunion? I too, am related to Jesse James on my father’s side. When I was in 3rd grade we had to do our family trees for a project. My classmates didn’t let go of my Jesse James connection for the rest of the school year. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Clam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3bc359/32.png) [@Happy\_Clam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Clam)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-related-to-anyone-famous/360358/45 "2006-06-12T12:06:23Z")
> [@Least Original User Name Ever](#): > > I’m supposedly descended from Alexander Hamilton. > > How’s THAT for famous, baby?!?! Well, according to my mother our family is related to the Windsor dynasty through the Drummonds, a famous family of Scottish bankers. Don’t know if it’s true (which would make me something like a Cousin 24 times removed of the Queen), but I think that might count. Any amateur geneolagists willing to trace the Drummonds? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-related-to-anyone-famous/360358/46 "2006-06-12T12:17:56Z")
Not really famous, but nationally know in some circles…my mother’s cousin is Joe Servello, a fairly prolific [illustrator](http://www.alibris.com/search/books/author/Servello,%20Joe). ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-related-to-anyone-famous/360358/47 "2006-06-12T13:18:50Z")
They made [a movie](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073279/) about a distant relative of mine: [Louis “Lepke” Buchalter.](http://www.gambino.com/bio/lepke.htm) I believe my grandmother’s sister married one of his brothers. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-related-to-anyone-famous/360358/48 "2006-06-12T13:32:50Z")
My great uncle (father’s uncle) owns a large chain of resturants which bear his name. Apparently, one of my great-great grandmothers (might be another great in there) held the Guiness Book of World Records title for having the most grandchildren. Woo Hoo! Two claims to fame! ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-related-to-anyone-famous/360358/49 "2006-06-12T13:35:36Z")
Ahem. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul\_Bostaph](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Bostaph) Also, Samuel Bostaph [http://www.udallas.edu/economics/faculty.cfm](http://www.udallas.edu/economics/faculty.cfm) who was nominated for the Nobel in Economics. Finally, my family was once quite wealthy, owning a steel foundry in Pittsburg, a coal mine, & quite a bit more. Alas, the dough is kaput. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![bic910](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e0b2c6/32.png) [@bic910](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bic910)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-related-to-anyone-famous/360358/50 "2006-06-12T13:53:12Z")
> [@dnooman](#): > > Not that I know of. But, my mom was best friend’s with Bill Murray’s sister and therefore knew him quite well while growing up. Also, my dad’s roommate in prep school was Rick Flair the professional wrestler. Funny, a relative of mine is acquainted with Bill Murray’s sister. The details of how they wound up meeting escape me. She’s a nun, isn’t she? Supposedly, I’m somehow related to one of the cast members of _Howdy Doody_ (Bob Smith, I think… never seen an episode). Finally, I used to work for a relative of Wesley Clarke. So yeah, I pretty much got nuthin’ ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-related-to-anyone-famous/360358/51 "2006-06-12T14:16:32Z")
My son is related to Bart Starr and my grandfather used to deal poker for John Dillinger. Other than that, I got nuthin’. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-related-to-anyone-famous/360358/52 "2006-06-12T14:34:18Z")
Otis Redding was my cousin. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-related-to-anyone-famous/360358/53 "2006-06-12T14:42:44Z")
Alfred Hitchcock was something like my great- great- uncle (well, uncle a couple of times removed both backwards and sideways). ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-related-to-anyone-famous/360358/54 "2006-06-12T14:44:33Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > Finally, my family was once quite wealthy, owning a steel foundry in Pittsburg, a coal mine, & quite a bit more. > Alas, the dough is kaput. ☹ Ain’t it awful? My great grandfather (my father’s maternal grandfather) had a lot of money. He was going to go out to Iowa where he already owned 240 acres and buy up a whole passel more land. He went down to the Binghamton, NY RR station, bought a ticket to Cherokee, IA., sat down on a bench to wait, had a heart attack and died. I’m not sure how the money was dissipated, but it was. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-related-to-anyone-famous/360358/55 "2006-06-12T14:45:15Z")
My maternal great-grandmother was a niece of President William Howard Taft. I’m a direct descendant of Bathsheba Spooner, the last woman to be hanged in Massachusetts. ---
**Author:** ![Grossbottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ba8739/32.png) [@Grossbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grossbottom)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-related-to-anyone-famous/360358/56 "2006-06-12T15:03:09Z")
Tatum O’Neil is some sort of cousin on my mother’s side. I heard she’s making a comeback on TV or something. ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-related-to-anyone-famous/360358/57 "2006-06-12T15:09:31Z")
> [@VunderBob](#): > > NFL quarterback Jeff Hostetler is a very distant cousin of mine. I was wondering about that one. I’m supposedly related to [Frank Gorshin](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0331319/), although I’ve never seen any documention proving it. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-related-to-anyone-famous/360358/58 "2006-06-12T16:11:45Z")
There’s talk that I’m distantly related to the Pope (the last one, not the now one). However since my whole family’s been atheists for generations we’re not particularly impressed with that. One the other side (the distaff side) we (the family, about a hundred years ago, so I wasn’t there) changed our name so as not to be associated with a certain uncle who was an embezzler. I guess that’s a kind of fame. ---
**Author:** ![Ruffian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@Ruffian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruffian)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-related-to-anyone-famous/360358/59 "2006-06-12T16:47:19Z")
Again, no relatives here…but my dentist of 15+ years is the father of **Amanda Bynes** , and I graduated with her brother. It was a trip watching Amanda grow up. They had a wall in the office that had her pics all over it. She liked to get her pic taken with celebrities, so it was covered with images of her standing next to everyone from Phil Hartman to Dustin Hoffman to her costar Frankie Muniz. Then she got the Amanda Show, then the movies, and away she went. And took my awesome dentist with her!! He retired last year so he could travel with her to her various film locations. BOO! And a little interesting comment he told me at the last visit: “_sigh_ Laura, never let your kids get into show business.” ---
**Author:** ![if6was9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47c2d/32.png) [@if6was9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/if6was9)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-related-to-anyone-famous/360358/60 "2006-06-12T17:09:52Z")
My aunt (dad’s sister) was married to Sam Snead’s brother. But technically _I’m_ not related… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-related-to-anyone-famous/360358.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-related-to-anyone-famous/360358.md?page=4)