# Celebs with relatives in a different line of work but also well known
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebs-with-relatives-in-a-different-line-of-work-but-also-well-known/955319
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [December 1, 2021, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebs-with-relatives-in-a-different-line-of-work-but-also-well-known/955319 "2021-12-01T21:19:24Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2021, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebs-with-relatives-in-a-different-line-of-work-but-also-well-known/955319/41 "2021-12-02T01:21:06Z")
Steve Jobs’ younger sister, Mona Simpson, is a [terrific writer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mona_Simpson), though interestingly he was put up for adoption and they didn’t meet until she was 25.
[ ](https://www.dirt.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/steve_jobs_mona_simpson.jpg)
On a side note, while the marriage of different careerists is less unusual, I have to mention that for a while she was married to Richard Appel, who wrote for The Simpsons, including the first appearance of Homer’s mom, whose name was…Mona.
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### Author:  [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2021, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebs-with-relatives-in-a-different-line-of-work-but-also-well-known/955319/42 "2021-12-02T01:26:26Z")
Lauren Bacall and Shimon Peres were apparently cousins (though possibly not very close cousins; accounts of this differ).
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### Author:  [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2021, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebs-with-relatives-in-a-different-line-of-work-but-also-well-known/955319/43 "2021-12-02T02:11:25Z")
Academy Award winner Olympia Dukakis was the cousin of successful governor and less-than-successful Presidential candidate Michael Dukakis.
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### Author:  [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2021, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebs-with-relatives-in-a-different-line-of-work-but-also-well-known/955319/44 "2021-12-02T02:15:04Z")
Scott Rudin, the producer (Addams Family movies among others), has a brother Bruce Rudin who is a pretty well known spinal surgeon in Delaware.
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### Author:  [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2021, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebs-with-relatives-in-a-different-line-of-work-but-also-well-known/955319/45 "2021-12-02T02:25:11Z")
Singer/actress Olivia Newton-John’s maternal grandfather was Nobel Prize-winning physicist Max Born
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### Author:  [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2021, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebs-with-relatives-in-a-different-line-of-work-but-also-well-known/955319/46 "2021-12-02T02:27:15Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#):
>
> Author Kurt Vonnegut’s brother Bernard was a renown weather scientist who discovered that silver iodide could be used to seed clouds and produce rain if conditions were right
Kurt’s daughter Edith Vonnegut was married to Geraldo Rivera for 4 years in the early 70s.
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### Author:  [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2021, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebs-with-relatives-in-a-different-line-of-work-but-also-well-known/955319/47 "2021-12-02T02:28:59Z")
Actress [Tracy Pollan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tracy_Pollan), wife of Michael J. Fox, is of course rather less well-known than her famous husband. But she is arguably also less well-known than her journalist/best-selling author brother [Michael Pollan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Pollan), author of The Botany of Desire and The Omnivore’s Dilemma.
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### Author:  [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2021, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebs-with-relatives-in-a-different-line-of-work-but-also-well-known/955319/48 "2021-12-02T02:34:39Z")
Not a blood relationship, but I was surprised to read recently that Gloria Steinem is Christian Bale’s stepmother. She was married to his father for the last 3 years of his life. She is also a distant cousin of Tig Notaro.
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### Author:  [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2021, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebs-with-relatives-in-a-different-line-of-work-but-also-well-known/955319/49 "2021-12-02T02:57:11Z")
Mandy Patinkin has several cousins who are, if not famous, at least distinguished. From Wikipedia:
> Patinkin’s cousins include [Mark Patinkin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Patinkin), an author and nationally [syndicated columnist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Print_syndication) for _[The Providence Journal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Providence_Journal)_ ; [Sheldon Patinkin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheldon_Patinkin) of [Columbia College Chicago](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_College_Chicago)’s Theater Department, a founder of [The Second City](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Second_City);[[9]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandy_Patinkin#cite_note-9) Bonnie Miller Rubin, a _[Chicago Tribune](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Tribune)_ reporter; Laura Patinkin, a New York-based actress; and Louis Rosen, a New York-based composer.
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2021, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebs-with-relatives-in-a-different-line-of-work-but-also-well-known/955319/50 "2021-12-02T04:07:06Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#):
>
> _Doonesbury_ cartoonist Garry Trudeau is the great-grandson of physician [Edward Livingston Trudeau](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Livingston_Trudeau), who was a public health pioneer, particularly in the treatment of tuberculosis; Garry’s grandfather and father were both also physicians, who carried on Edward’s medical research work at what is now the [Trudeau Institute](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trudeau_Institute) in upstate New York.
> [@Lancia](#):
>
> Cartoonist **Garry Trudeau** ( _Doonesbury_ ) is married to TV news anchor **Jane Pauley**.
And their son Ross Trudeau is a crossword puzzle constructor whose puzzles have been published in the New York Times and other major markets.
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### Author:  [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2021, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebs-with-relatives-in-a-different-line-of-work-but-also-well-known/955319/51 "2021-12-02T05:27:44Z")
Actress Gwyneth Paltrow was the daughter of Hollywood writer and director Bruce Paltrow and is also the cousin of former U. S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head in 2011.
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### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2021, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebs-with-relatives-in-a-different-line-of-work-but-also-well-known/955319/52 "2021-12-02T05:34:30Z")
Early rock and roll star Jerry Lee Lewis has two famous cousins: Mickey Gilley (also a musician, so he doesn’t fit the OP) and Jimmy Swaggert (a televangelist, so he _does_ fit the OP).
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### Author:  [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2021, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebs-with-relatives-in-a-different-line-of-work-but-also-well-known/955319/53 "2021-12-02T05:44:47Z")
Max Brooks, the author most famous for World War Z, is the son of Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft.
Anderson Cooper is the son of Gloria Vanderbilt.
Director Duncan Jones is the son of David Bowie and was known as “Zowie Bowie” as a child.
Jonathan Cain, keyboard player for Journey, is the husband of Paula White, televangelist and “spiritual advisor” to Donald Trump.
Michael Nesmith of the Monkees is the son of Bette Nesmith Graham, who invented Liquid Paper.
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### Author:  [@f.coli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/f.coli)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2021, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebs-with-relatives-in-a-different-line-of-work-but-also-well-known/955319/54 "2021-12-02T10:02:35Z")
Richard Attenborough, actor (The Great Escape, Jurassic Park) and director (A Bridge Too Far, Ghandi) was the brother of renowned natural historian David Attenborough.
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### Author:  [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2021, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebs-with-relatives-in-a-different-line-of-work-but-also-well-known/955319/55 "2021-12-02T10:18:14Z")
And the Attenborough brothers have both received knighthoods for their service to their particular trades. High performing siblings indeed.
The Freuds have multiple successful people. You have Sigmund Freud with 3 well known grandsons – Lucien (painter), Clement (TV broadcaster and British Politician), David (Politician).
Then you have a number of great grandchildren - Emma Freud (TV broadcaster), Esther (author) and Bella (fashion designer).
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### Author:  [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2021, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebs-with-relatives-in-a-different-line-of-work-but-also-well-known/955319/56 "2021-12-02T10:52:32Z")
Helena Bonham Carter is the great granddaughter of [HH Asquith](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._H._Asquith), who was Prime Minister of the UK 1908-1916.
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### Author:  [@mozchron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mozchron)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2021, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebs-with-relatives-in-a-different-line-of-work-but-also-well-known/955319/57 "2021-12-02T11:37:16Z")
Tom Hanks’ brother Larry is a well-respected Professor of Entomology at the University of Illinois.
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### Author:  [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2021, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebs-with-relatives-in-a-different-line-of-work-but-also-well-known/955319/58 "2021-12-02T11:48:34Z")
I always felt a bit sorry for their other brother, who was a car company executive. In most families, he’d probably be the successful one…
Anyone brought up Ada Lovelace and Lord Byron yet?
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### Author:  [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2021, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebs-with-relatives-in-a-different-line-of-work-but-also-well-known/955319/59 "2021-12-02T12:17:28Z")
I suppose they both count as actors but **Sigourney Weaver** ’s uncle was Spike Jones’ verbal contortionist **[Doodles Weaver](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doodles_Weaver)**.
Droll and extremely tall British television personality **Richard Osman** is brother to the also-quite-tall bass player of the band Suede, **Mat Osman**.
Comedian **Tim Vine** is the brother of journalist **Jeremy Vine**. They also have a sister Sonya, who is an artist (although I don’t know how famous she is in her own right).
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### Author:  [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2021, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebs-with-relatives-in-a-different-line-of-work-but-also-well-known/955319/60 "2021-12-02T16:09:35Z")
Rob Schneider’s daughter is Grammy nominated singer Ellie King.
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