# Did any enormously talented person have an equally enormously talented child? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 25, 2012, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-enormously-talented-person-have-an-equally-enormously-talented-child/626244 "2012-06-25T14:45:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Damfino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2012, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-enormously-talented-person-have-an-equally-enormously-talented-child/626244/121 "2012-06-28T22:54:41Z")
Captain Robert Falcon Scott, Antarctic explorer, second to reach the South Pole. Died tragically on the return journey. His son [Sir Peter Scott,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Scott) ornithologist and conservationist. Louis Leakey and his son Richard Leakey, both prominent palaeoanthropologists. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2012, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-enormously-talented-person-have-an-equally-enormously-talented-child/626244/122 "2012-06-28T23:06:35Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Emphasis mine: OK. Never mind then. I was confused. ---
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2012, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-enormously-talented-person-have-an-equally-enormously-talented-child/626244/123 "2012-06-28T23:39:11Z")
She died too soon and was the wrong gender to make the contributions to mathematics that her father did to literature, but Ada Lovelace and Lord Byron would probably fit here otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2012, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-enormously-talented-person-have-an-equally-enormously-talented-child/626244/124 "2012-06-29T00:00:13Z")
I thought of another candidate: John B. Sebastian (Lovin’ Spoonful, etc.). Among his other talents, JB Sebastian is a harmonica virtuoso. _[- YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crReU_NNVNw)_ His father, John Sebastian, was a classical harmonica virtuoso. \*- John Sebastian Plays Bach, LP,Columbia Special Products P 14210 - John Sebastian Plays Villa Lobos/Tcherepnin Concertos for Harmonica, LP, Heliodor - Profile, LP, Decca DL 710025 (1950s) various light classical pieces with piano accompaniment - Harmonica Classics by John Sebastian, 78 album, RCA Victor Musical Smart Set With Russ Case Orchestra\* ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2012, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-enormously-talented-person-have-an-equally-enormously-talented-child/626244/125 "2012-06-29T00:22:48Z")
John Sebastian Sr & JR: Neat family resemblance Senior: \*[http://www.google.com/imgres?q=john+sebastian+harmonica&hl=en&newwindow=1&safe=off&tbm=isch&tbnid=FglHT0C5i6GbXM:&imgrefurl=http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/music-ads-1940s/7&docid=gcFrU0TPxElrFM&imgurl=http://file.vintageadbrowser.com/l-ico9yhpkvt8qcn.jpg&w=660&h=924&ei=8\_LsT8SMKoe6rQGys7GADg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=615&vpy=117&dur=5721&hovh=266&hovw=190&tx=99&ty=127&sig=101875493425199486898&page=1&tbnh=142&tbnw=128&start=0&ndsp=17&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:0,i:84&biw=1024&bih=675](http://www.google.com/imgres?q=john+sebastian+harmonica&hl=en&newwindow=1&safe=off&tbm=isch&tbnid=FglHT0C5i6GbXM:&imgrefurl=http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/music-ads-1940s/7&docid=gcFrU0TPxElrFM&imgurl=http://file.vintageadbrowser.com/l-ico9yhpkvt8qcn.jpg&w=660&h=924&ei=8_LsT8SMKoe6rQGys7GADg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=615&vpy=117&dur=5721&hovh=266&hovw=190&tx=99&ty=127&sig=101875493425199486898&page=1&tbnh=142&tbnw=128&start=0&ndsp=17&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:0,i:84&biw=1024&bih=675) \* Junior: _[http://www.johnbsebastian.com/bio.html](http://www.johnbsebastian.com/bio.html)_ ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2012, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-enormously-talented-person-have-an-equally-enormously-talented-child/626244/126 "2012-06-29T00:36:44Z")
The Bach’s don’t count. 😉 I nominate Martin Luther and Martin Luther King Jr. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2012, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-enormously-talented-person-have-an-equally-enormously-talented-child/626244/127 "2012-06-29T02:32:55Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > The Bach’s don’t count. 😉 Ha! I knew it would get your attention. Believe it or not, our recent micro-debate isn’t what made me think of the two JS’s. Pure coincidence. Of course, realizing it might make your nostrils flare for just a moment there…put an irritating smirk on my face. By the way- what’s your favorite CPE Bach composition for solo keyboard? ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2012, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-enormously-talented-person-have-an-equally-enormously-talented-child/626244/128 "2012-06-29T05:36:19Z")
Phillida Law is a wonderful character actress who’s played skillions of quirky or charming rolls beautifully. Her daughters are Emma Thompson and Sophie Thompson. Emma-- well, we all know Emma. Sophie is marvelous too, particularly as a comic actress (she and her mom played the sweet, funny Miss and Mrs. Bates in the Paltrow _Emma_). Rosemary Harris is an extremely gifted stage and film actress who’s been nominated for an Oscar and a BAFTA, and has won an Emmy, Tony, Obie, and Golden Globe Award, as well as five Drama Desk Awards. Her daughter is Jennifer Ehle–not yet as lauded, but the adoring following of the 1995 _Pride and Prejudice_, in which she was a luminous, intelligent, funny and touching Eliza Bennet, will probably agree she’s no slouch either. Oh, and I should mention Harris’s husband/Ehle’s dad is John Ehle, a highly-esteemed Southern writer who according to Wikipedia is a member of the NC Hall of Fame, with a Thomas Wolfe Prize, the Lillian Smith Book Award, the John Tyler Caldwell Award for the Humanities, and the Mayflower Award. Robert Earl Jones was part of the Harlem Renaissance and worked consistently and with critical acclaim in the theater, films (particularly _The Sting_ as Luther Coleman) and TV. His son is James Earl Jones, 'nuff said. ---
**Author:** ![phxjcc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phxjcc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phxjcc)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2012, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-enormously-talented-person-have-an-equally-enormously-talented-child/626244/129 "2012-06-29T23:10:00Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Since we seem to be focusing on “famous parents whose offsprings got lucky” what about Ryan & Tatum O’Neil? John, MacKenzie & Bijou Phillips? Patty Duke & Sean Austin, Duke, John Austin & MacKenzie Astin? ok, per your criteria here are additions to that list. Scott Caan Ben Stiller Sigourney Weaver Mia Farrow the Deschanel’s Kate Hudson Nick Cage (yes, _that_ Uncle counts) Melanie Griffith Jeff and Beau Bridges Allison Eastwood Katherine Houghton (yes, _that_ Aunt counts) the Kardashian’s \ Angelica Huston Bonnie Rait Laura Dern Rumer Willis Tori Spelling Geraldine Chaplin Christian Slater the Gyllenhaal’s Keira Knightly the Fonda’s Vincent Cassel Tim Robbins Daniel Day-Lewis Isabella Rossellini Minka Kelly Rob Reiner Sean Penn Helen Hunt Mariska Hargitay George Clooney Alan Alda Pauly Shore I am getting bored with this now… good bye. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2012, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-enormously-talented-person-have-an-equally-enormously-talented-child/626244/130 "2012-06-30T00:39:09Z")
Natasha Richardson had some pretty acclaimed parents, Tony Richardson and Vanessa Redgrave. Since she played Mary Shelley once, she seems appropriate to include. Minnie Riperton==\>Maya Rudolph Eric Roberts==\>Emma Roberts. I think they’re both enormously talented. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2012, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-enormously-talented-person-have-an-equally-enormously-talented-child/626244/131 "2012-06-30T00:49:33Z")
> [@phxjcc](#): > > ok, per your criteria here are additions to that list. Lucky, as opposed to “enormously talented”… I’d add: Frank Zappa’s kids Gary Lewis (son of Jerry) Joachim Cooder ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2012, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-enormously-talented-person-have-an-equally-enormously-talented-child/626244/132 "2012-06-30T02:38:35Z")
A study of military history will also reveal various famed military officers who had some danged noteworthy offspring. Teddy Roosevelt’s eldest son, Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., fought in both World Wars and received the Medal of Honor for his actions leading troops ashore at Utah Beach as a Brigadier General (he died a month later of a heart attack, in his late 50’s) Commodore Stephen Decatur, Jr, famed for his actions during the Quasi-War, the Barbary Wars, and the War of 1812, was the son of Commodore Stephen Decatur, Sr, a naval officer during the American Revolution. That said, the senior Decatur isn’t all that famous. Major General Robert Olds served as a fighter pilot in World War I, and would later be one of the men responsible for developing the American daylight precision bombing strategy that would be used in World War II. He also had a major role in establishing Air Corps Ferrying Command, which would be responsible for delivering newly built planes to the front lines all over the world in WWII. His son, considerably more well-known today, was Brigadier General Robin Olds, a triple-ace who fought in WWII and the Vietnam War. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2012, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-enormously-talented-person-have-an-equally-enormously-talented-child/626244/133 "2012-06-30T02:40:42Z")
To add on to the list, there is Benjamin O. Davis, Sr, first African American general officer in the Army, and his son, Benjamin O. Davis, Jr, first African American general officer in the Air Force. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2012, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-enormously-talented-person-have-an-equally-enormously-talented-child/626244/134 "2012-06-30T02:47:46Z")
Another example from the military is Arthur MacArthur, Jr., lieutenant general in the US Army and winner of the Medal of Honor and his son, Douglas MacArthur, a five-star general and also winner of the Medal of Honor. ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2012, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-enormously-talented-person-have-an-equally-enormously-talented-child/626244/135 "2012-06-30T02:52:04Z")
> [@johnspartan](#): > > Nitpicking, but the specific question — an equally talented offspring… how would you gauge that two people are equally talented? pointing out that the question in the OP is pretty much unanswerable is not really a ‘nitpick’, IMHO 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rhaegar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/51bf81/32.png) [@Rhaegar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhaegar)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2012, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-enormously-talented-person-have-an-equally-enormously-talented-child/626244/136 "2012-06-30T03:50:59Z")
Father and son Medal of Honor winners - Arthur MacArthur and Douglas MacArthur, Theodore Roosevelt SR and Jr. In sports Ken Griffey SR and jr, Dale Earnhardt and son, Joe Jellybean Bryant and Kobe, Doc Rivers and Austin, and dare I say Bill Walton and Luke? OK so maybe Luke isn’t really all that successful, but he made it to the NBA, and he can sort of do a victory dance. ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2012, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-enormously-talented-person-have-an-equally-enormously-talented-child/626244/137 "2012-06-30T12:03:28Z")
Francis Ford Coppola had an Academy Award-winning writer and nominated director. Not the same / as good as he but still a very good achievement for an American female director. ---
**Author:** ![oreally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7ab992/32.png) [@oreally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oreally)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2012, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-enormously-talented-person-have-an-equally-enormously-talented-child/626244/138 "2012-06-30T14:27:32Z")
? I guess you hate Nicholas Cage. Anyway - Surprised no one said John/Julian Lennon. Jr isn’t on par with his dad but he IMO is very talented and did some very good stuff. > [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > As Kinky Friedman puts it “No matter how good Hank Williams Jr. is, someone has to come up to him after every concert and say ‘You’re not as good as your daddy was.’” No clue who Kinky Friedman is, but obviously he/she is tone deaf. Jr is an alcoholic moron with about as much musical talent as Tiny Tim. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2012, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-enormously-talented-person-have-an-equally-enormously-talented-child/626244/139 "2012-06-30T15:22:23Z")
> [@oreally](#): > > ? I guess you hate Nicholas Cage. 😕 You know that Cage is Coppola’s _nephew_, not son, right? ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2012, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-enormously-talented-person-have-an-equally-enormously-talented-child/626244/140 "2012-06-30T15:32:29Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > 😕 > > You know that Cage is Coppola’s _nephew_, not son, right? I like lots of Cage’s stuff, but wouldn’t put him in the A-league with De Niro and Hanks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-enormously-talented-person-have-an-equally-enormously-talented-child/626244.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-enormously-talented-person-have-an-equally-enormously-talented-child/626244.md?page=8)