# 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:** 5
### Author:  [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2021, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebs-with-relatives-in-a-different-line-of-work-but-also-well-known/955319/81 "2021-12-03T12:33:06Z")
The only Kemper I know is Edmund.
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### Author:  [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2021, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebs-with-relatives-in-a-different-line-of-work-but-also-well-known/955319/82 "2021-12-03T13:37:47Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#):
>
> Similarly, Ralph Lauren’s daughter Dylan has a [chain of candy stores](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dylan%27s_Candy_Bar). Honestly, in both cases, having a wealthy father must have helped.
I’m sure Stella’s dad’s money and the family name helped her get her foot in the door, but I imagine she must also have talent in that area to succeed. Not that I know anything about fashion design-- I only wear clothes in order to not be cold and / or arrested in public.
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### Author:  [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2021, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebs-with-relatives-in-a-different-line-of-work-but-also-well-known/955319/83 "2021-12-03T13:51:08Z")
> [@gkster](#):
>
> [Daniel Day-Lewis’s] wife, Rebecca Miller, is a novelist and film-maker, and a daughter of playwright Arthur Miller, by his 3rd wife, Inge Morath.
So when he starred in The Crucible everybody just had to put up with it because he was the boss’s son-in-law.
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### Author:  [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2021, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebs-with-relatives-in-a-different-line-of-work-but-also-well-known/955319/85 "2021-12-03T14:19:36Z")
Lalla Ward, the actress who played the second Romana on Doctor Who was married to Richard Dawkins the biologist for a quarter of a century or so.
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### Author:  [@its\_the\_daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/its_the_daddy)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2021, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebs-with-relatives-in-a-different-line-of-work-but-also-well-known/955319/86 "2021-12-03T16:33:58Z")
…and Noosha Fox (singer with '70’s UK top-10 band Fox) is the mother of ‘Bad Science’ etc) Ben Goldacre MBE.
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### Author:  [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2021, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebs-with-relatives-in-a-different-line-of-work-but-also-well-known/955319/87 "2021-12-03T17:13:05Z")
Justin Fargas, a former seven-season NFL running back was the son of Antonio ‘Huggy Bear’ Fargas.
Jonathan Frakes’ father James R. Frankes was a literature professor at Lehigh University–and according to one person I knew who was from that area had absolutely no interest in talking to anyone about “Star Trek” or his well-known son.
Max Spilsbury was a college football coach in Arizona. His son, noted actor Klinton Spilsbury, made a unforgettable cinematic debut as “The Lone Ranger” (1981).
Here’s a fake one:
In an interview with Larry King years ago, Vanna White claimed that her mother had told her that Vic Morrow was Vanna’s uncle. (Not true.)
And one that 's probably not true:
Bill Maher claimed that he and Stubby Kaye were second cousins. I tried to verify that, but couldn’t. If they’re related, I think it’s more distant.
This was in a conversation with Barney Frank, who mentioned that he was related to Shemp Howard by marriage (Frank’s dad and Shemp’s wife were cousins). Maher countered that Stubby Kaye was his second cousin. When Frank acted surprised, Maher said something like “Do you think I’d make up that I was related to Stubby Kaye?”
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### Author:  [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2021, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebs-with-relatives-in-a-different-line-of-work-but-also-well-known/955319/88 "2021-12-03T17:25:06Z")
Speaking of fake connections: In an early 1990s interview, an actress (Cher, I think) said that her mother was _like_ Glinda the Good Witch - but I overheard someone talking about that interview who had missed the point, and thought that Billie Burke was actually Cher’s mother.
Wow. I actually found the interview (it was apparently from 2000) [https://www.cherworld.com/cher-interviews/tv-guide-2000/](https://www.cherworld.com/cher-interviews/tv-guide-2000/) - the quote is more misleading than I thought (though still in context just a comparison)
> No, my own mom is like my own child! She pretends to be helpless, but she’s not really. If I get in a crunch, if I get into deep trouble, I call her. Otherwise, she’s really flighty. She’s Billie Burke
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### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2021, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebs-with-relatives-in-a-different-line-of-work-but-also-well-known/955319/89 "2021-12-03T17:34:38Z")
> [@Toxylon](#):
>
> The only Kemper I know is Edmund.
Ellie’s family is quite wealthy, and mostly involved in banking and philanthropy. They are probably best-known in the lower Midwest (Missouri and Kansas), where there are, in fact, a number of buildings and such named after family members, such as the [Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kemper_Museum_of_Contemporary_Art), and the [Kemper Arena](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hy-Vee_Arena).
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### Author:  [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2021, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebs-with-relatives-in-a-different-line-of-work-but-also-well-known/955319/90 "2021-12-03T19:02:39Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#):
>
> Jonathan Frakes’ father James R. Frankes was a literature professor at Lehigh University–and according to one person I knew who was from that area had absolutely no interest in talking to anyone about “Star Trek” or his well-known son.
Hmm… a lot like Will Riker and his dad.
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### Author:  [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2021, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebs-with-relatives-in-a-different-line-of-work-but-also-well-known/955319/91 "2021-12-03T19:30:12Z")
> [@smithterry813](#):
>
> Sofia Coppola. It was a real surprise for me. Nicolas Cage and the director of Lost in Translation are cousins. Wow
The Coppola family is pretty broad. Sofia Coppola is the daughter of Francis Ford Coppola (you know him). Her aunt (Francis’s sister) is Talia Shire who was Adrian in the _Rocky_ series (among many other roles, including _The Godfather_ series.). Talia’s son (Sofia’s cousin, Francis’ nephew) is Jason Schwartzman who is in many Wes Anderson movies including _Rushmore_ with Bill Murray (who was also in _Lost in Translation_). Talia Shire’s first husband, David Shire (not Jason’s dad), was a film and TV composer who has a lot of credits including _The Conversation_, _Saturday Night Fever_ and _All The President’s Men_.
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2021, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebs-with-relatives-in-a-different-line-of-work-but-also-well-known/955319/92 "2021-12-03T19:31:54Z")
Actually, it sounds like most of that family is basically in the same line of work.
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### Author:  [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2021, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebs-with-relatives-in-a-different-line-of-work-but-also-well-known/955319/93 "2021-12-03T19:33:20Z")
You’re right they are. I just find it interesting that they’re so intertwined, so it was more a reply to smithterry than an entry to the thread topic.
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### Author:  [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2021, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebs-with-relatives-in-a-different-line-of-work-but-also-well-known/955319/94 "2021-12-03T20:02:18Z")
Don’t forget [August Coppola](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_Coppola), Cage’s father and his whole line including Cage’s brothers. Also in the business, but this time more on the academic side. Met him a couple of times - seemed pleasant enough.
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### Author:  [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2021, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebs-with-relatives-in-a-different-line-of-work-but-also-well-known/955319/95 "2021-12-03T20:10:44Z")
David and Leo Damrosch, two prominent lit scholars at Harvard, are nephews of conductor Walter Damrosch.
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### Author:  [@brachyrhynchos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brachyrhynchos)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2021, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebs-with-relatives-in-a-different-line-of-work-but-also-well-known/955319/96 "2021-12-03T20:13:24Z")
He came to give a talk here at Rutgers. Took me by surprise when someone mentioned his more famous, younger brother. Then it was , “Okay…I see a family resemblance.” (Larry & Tom Hanks, to clarify)
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### Author:  [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2021, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebs-with-relatives-in-a-different-line-of-work-but-also-well-known/955319/97 "2021-12-03T20:17:01Z")
Author Gore Vidal was the grandson of Thomas Gore, one of the first two senators from Oklahoma.
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2021, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebs-with-relatives-in-a-different-line-of-work-but-also-well-known/955319/98 "2021-12-03T20:21:53Z")
Gore Vidal was also related to Jackie Kennedy, by the second marriage of his mother and the second marriage of her mother to the same guy.
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### Author:  [@mozchron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mozchron)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2021, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebs-with-relatives-in-a-different-line-of-work-but-also-well-known/955319/99 "2021-12-03T20:26:29Z")
I’ve run into him once or twice at meetings but we run in different topic areas so I don’t really know him.
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### Author:  [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2021, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebs-with-relatives-in-a-different-line-of-work-but-also-well-known/955319/100 "2021-12-03T20:36:15Z")
> [@hogarth](#):
>
> Actor/writer David Hornsby (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Mythic Quest) and musician Bruce Hornsby are cousins.
It’s murky but both may have a common ancestor with Baseball Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby. There is a name which appears in the family trees of Bruce and Rogers but it’s unclear if that name is actually the same person.
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### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2021, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebs-with-relatives-in-a-different-line-of-work-but-also-well-known/955319/101 "2021-12-03T20:53:44Z")
Jimmy Carter (philanthropist and former U.S. President) and Berry Gordy (founder of Motown Records) are second half-cousins, through the family of Carter’s mother, Lillian Gordy Carter: Jimmy’s great-grandfather, James Gordy, was a plantation owner and slave owner, and fathered sons both with his wife (that son was Jimmy’s grandfather) and with one of his female slaves (that son was Berry Gordy’s grandfather).
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