# Famous 'illegitimate' children list **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 23, 2002, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-illegitimate-children-list/125195 "2002-08-23T07:45:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-illegitimate-children-list/125195/1 "2002-08-23T07:45:01Z")
I use ‘illegitimate’ for the lack of a better word…its certainly better than the b-word. Anyway I just wanted to compile a list…for personal reasons. I suppose if we count children of celebrities in the last ten years it would be too long! Lets limit it to people who became famous in their own right, or just maybe children of famous people who had a baby out of wedlock when it was still very scandalous (like Ingrid Bergman). The ones I can think of are… William the Conqueror Oprah Winfrey Fidel Castro Sophia Loren and as far as ‘illegitimate’ parents… Thomas Jefferson (Sally Hemmings is a whole other issue I suppose), Grover Cleveland, and Warren Harding…of course some dispute those. I think every president has been accused of that at one time or another. Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Also while adopted children are often assumed to be born out of wedlock, I don’t think they were usually described as ‘illegitimate’ as children: but of course have their own unique issues to deal with in many cases - if they learn of their background. And to make the thread more germaine to the ‘Cafe Society’…fictional characters or literary works are ok too if significant to the topic. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-illegitimate-children-list/125195/2 "2002-08-23T14:53:41Z")
Alexander Hamilton ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-illegitimate-children-list/125195/3 "2002-08-23T15:28:28Z")
Henry Morton Stanley, African explorer Willy Brandt, German politician Jack Nicholson ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-illegitimate-children-list/125195/4 "2002-08-23T15:45:33Z")
IIRC, David Bowie was born out of wedlock, but his biological parents did marry not long afterwards. Although probably not illegitimate, rock singer Eddie Vedder had came from particularly bizarre and Gothic beginnings. His parents divorced while he was a baby, and his mother quickly remarried an old high school sweetheart. The truth of young Eddie’s paternity was not revealed to him until his late teens, after his biological father died and his mother and stepfather divorced. ---
**Author:** ![Intaglio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/71e660/32.png) [@Intaglio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intaglio)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2002, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-illegitimate-children-list/125195/5 "2002-08-24T01:50:05Z")
Eric Clapton - as far as I know he never knew his father. For years his mother told him, she was his sister, and his grandmother was his mother. The truth came out eventually, but Clapton was a young man by then. How’s that for twisted. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2002, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-illegitimate-children-list/125195/6 "2002-08-24T02:20:44Z")
I remember reading something about Clapton’s father, who was eventually revealed to have been living in Canada. He died before Clapton knew who he was though. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2002, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-illegitimate-children-list/125195/7 "2002-08-24T18:59:45Z")
Sarah Bernhardt, IIRC ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2002, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-illegitimate-children-list/125195/8 "2002-08-24T19:10:16Z")
Desiderius Erasmus was an illegitimate child. Lady Mary Wroth, a semi-famous seventeenth century poet, had a notorious affair with her cousin which resulted in the birth of two illegitimate children; Aemilia Lanyer, another semi-famous woman poet, _probably_ had an illegitimate son (she married before he was born, but her husband seems not to have been the father). Ben Jonson may have had several illegitimate kids, but there were so many Johnsons in 17th-century London that it’s hard to be sure. The nice thing about being a grad student is you get to know a lot of gossip about dead people. ---
**Author:** ![Fish42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4da419/32.png) [@Fish42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish42)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2002, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-illegitimate-children-list/125195/9 "2002-08-24T20:24:29Z")
Ones not yet mentioned: John James Audabon Giovanni Boccacio Giovanni Casanova Paul Cezanne Pope Clement VII Macauley Culkin Bobby Darin Frederick Douglass Alexander Dumas fils George Foreman Jean Genet James Kier Hardie Billie Holliday Bo Jackson Jesse Jackson T.E. Lawrence Jack London Anna Magnani Tobey Maguirre Rod McKuen Maria Montessori Shaquille O’Neal Evita Peron Fransisco Pizzaro August Strindberg Richard Wagner Booker T Washington Reggie White ---
**Author:** ![Blackhawkeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c4cdca/32.png) [@Blackhawkeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackhawkeye)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2002, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-illegitimate-children-list/125195/10 "2002-08-24T20:52:02Z")
you sure about Shaq? There are a lot of news stories about his father. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2002, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-illegitimate-children-list/125195/11 "2002-08-24T21:23:47Z")
Shaq speaks highly of his stepfather and in fact calls him his father. Shaq was born out of wedlock. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2002, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-illegitimate-children-list/125195/12 "2002-08-24T21:38:34Z")
The Bastard in Bastard out of Carolina. Most likely. Pearl in The Scarlet Letter. And there have got to be others, but that’s all I can think of as far as fictional characters go. ---
**Author:** ![Katisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bcef8e/32.png) [@Katisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katisha)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2002, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-illegitimate-children-list/125195/13 "2002-08-24T21:46:29Z")
Fictional characters? How about Mordred? Or Edmund (in _King Lear_)? Both rather nasty individuals, but hey, you didn’t say “positive role models”… 😉 BTW, semi-famous seventeenth-century poet Willam Davenant claimed to be Shakespeare’s illegitimate son, though that one is dubious at best. ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2002, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-illegitimate-children-list/125195/14 "2002-08-24T22:12:23Z")
Dave Thomas, founder of _Wendy’s_ ---
**Author:** ![japatlgt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df705f/32.png) [@japatlgt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/japatlgt)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2002, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-illegitimate-children-list/125195/15 "2002-08-24T23:39:29Z")
I know I’ve heard the story about Clapton and his Sister/Mom is true about Bobby Darin. Could that be incorrect? Also, I’ve met Oprah’s Dad. His name is Winfrey and they know each other! ---
**Author:** ![Intaglio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/71e660/32.png) [@Intaglio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intaglio)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2002, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-illegitimate-children-list/125195/16 "2002-08-25T00:20:57Z")
Yes, it is true about Bobby Darin, it made him kill himself. ---
**Author:** ![sugaree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@sugaree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugaree)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2002, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-illegitimate-children-list/125195/17 "2002-08-25T00:58:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Intaglio \* > \*\*Yes, it is true about Bobby Darin, it made him kill himself. \*\* You’re half right- that is his family history, but he didn’t kill himself. Complications during heart surgury. Certainly, though, the shock of the discovery can aggrevate a heart condition. Jack Nicholson also was grown before he discovered that his ‘sister’ Lorraine was his mother. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2002, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-illegitimate-children-list/125195/18 "2002-08-25T19:48:30Z")
Alec Guiness ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2002, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-illegitimate-children-list/125195/19 "2002-08-25T21:36:11Z")
John Paul Jones ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2002, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-illegitimate-children-list/125195/20 "2002-08-25T21:42:23Z")
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