Nobel Prize winning physicist Max Born was the grandfather of Singer Olivia Newton-John.
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!
SNL’s Maya Rudolph is the daughter of the late Minnie Riperton.
Great, now I’ll have “Loving You” in my head all day…
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.
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.
The IMDB says that she “Is the grand niece of FDR’s famous Secretary of the Interior, Harold Ickes.”
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.
So she is covered on both psychological and political fronts. 
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…
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.
Beats me. Sorry for the confusion.
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.)
Last but not least: mass murderer Gary Gilmore claimed to be the illegitimate grandson of Harry Houdini.
That should be:
Matthew Perry’s dad was the guy in the Old Spice commercials.
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.
Nope. That’s Tommy Douglas’ claim to fame (i.e. health care). His daughter, Shirley, is Sutherland’s ex-wife and mother of Keifer.
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
The Sean Astin information was from the “Walter Scott’s Personality Parade” column in Parade magazine, 11 Nov. 2001.
Another view: