# Hollywood Nepotism -- Let's Make a List **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 27, 2000, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywood-nepotism-lets-make-a-list/15359 "2000-03-27T20:21:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2000, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywood-nepotism-lets-make-a-list/15359/81 "2000-03-28T16:14:00Z")
Leo Penn(director)/Eileen Ryan(actress) —\> Sean Penn —\> Michael Penn —\> Christopher Penn ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2000, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywood-nepotism-lets-make-a-list/15359/82 "2000-03-29T06:16:00Z")
Naomi/Wynona Judd —\> Ashley Judd ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2000, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywood-nepotism-lets-make-a-list/15359/83 "2000-03-28T21:11:00Z")
Ellen DeGeneres —\> Vance DeGeneres (writer/correspondent on The Daily Show) Tommy Chong —\> Rae Dawn Chong Margeaux Hemingway —\> Mariel Hemingway Randy Quaid —\> Dennis Quaid John Phillips —\> MacKenzie Phillips Ryan O’Neal —\> Tatum O’Neal Helen Hunt – (Father and Uncle are directors) Robert Downey —\> Robert Downey, Jr. ---
**Author:** ![psycat90](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@psycat90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psycat90)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2000, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywood-nepotism-lets-make-a-list/15359/84 "2000-03-28T21:17:00Z")
Oh, I see how it is spoke, you can break the rules, huh? Hmmmmph. 😉 * * * I am not deliciously saucy. ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2000, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywood-nepotism-lets-make-a-list/15359/85 "2000-03-28T21:22:00Z")
Ralph Fiennes and Joseph Fiennes (already listed) =\> Sophie Fiennes ---
**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:** [March 28, 2000, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywood-nepotism-lets-make-a-list/15359/86 "2000-03-28T21:23:00Z")
Oscar Beregi Sr (Great character actor in Europe) and Oscar Beregi Jr (Great “menacing European-bad-guy-at-large” in US and TZ veteran). ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2000, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywood-nepotism-lets-make-a-list/15359/87 "2000-03-28T21:25:00Z")
Surprised nobody has mentioned this one: Francis Coppola =\> Talia Shire ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2000, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywood-nepotism-lets-make-a-list/15359/88 "2000-03-28T21:43:00Z")
psycat: I make 'em, I can break 'em. 🆒 (I had thought of a whole bunch, and was gonna insert 'em one at a time, but it was looking like the thread was dying, so I just went ahead and listed 'em all.) ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2000, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywood-nepotism-lets-make-a-list/15359/89 "2000-03-28T21:47:00Z")
How about the sister acts? Rosie and Jenny Dolly! Rosetta and Vivian Duncan! Daisy and Violet Hilton! May and Flo Irwin! The incomparable Cherry Sisters! ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2000, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywood-nepotism-lets-make-a-list/15359/90 "2000-03-28T21:55:00Z")
Zsa Zsa Gabor —\> Eva Gabor ---
**Author:** ![Shadowfox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Shadowfox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shadowfox)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2000, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywood-nepotism-lets-make-a-list/15359/91 "2000-03-29T02:01:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Bruce and Laura Dern, and Mom I think is Blythe Danner? Actually, Blythe Danner is the mother of Gwyneth Paltrow. Laura Dern’s mother is Diane Ladd. * * * Shadowfox “The dead have risen, and they’re voting Republican!” - Bart Simpson ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2000, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywood-nepotism-lets-make-a-list/15359/92 "2000-03-29T04:40:00Z")
Hey, check this out: Tennessee Williams(cousin) --\> Diane Ladd(actress) --\> Laura Dern ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2000, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywood-nepotism-lets-make-a-list/15359/93 "2000-03-29T04:44:00Z")
Frank Zappa --\> Moon Unit Zappa --\> Dweezil Zappa * * * –In France I’m considered a genius. ---
**Author:** ![brdrcolle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ebca7d/32.png) [@brdrcolle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brdrcolle)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2000, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywood-nepotism-lets-make-a-list/15359/94 "2000-03-29T04:57:00Z")
James Arness =\> Peter Graves Those Thom kids (2 of them on soap Y&R, the other was on _The Nanny_ Gary Busey =\> Jake Busey Henry Fonda =\> Jane Fonda =\> Peter Fonda =\> Bridget Fonda Interesting topic, but did you notice how many _seond_ generation persons listed have received major awards, or at least nominations (Myra Sorvino, Angelina Jolie, Helen Hunt, Jane Fonda, Peter Fonda)? * * * “My, my. Such a lot of guns around here and so few brains.” ~Humphrey Bogart ---
**Author:** ![crackwise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/22d042/32.png) [@crackwise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crackwise)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2000, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywood-nepotism-lets-make-a-list/15359/95 "2000-03-29T04:59:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Bruce and Laura Dern, and Mom I think is Blythe Danner? Laura Dern’s mother is Diane Ladd. ---
**Author:** ![crackwise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/22d042/32.png) [@crackwise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crackwise)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2000, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywood-nepotism-lets-make-a-list/15359/96 "2000-03-29T05:03:00Z")
oops. missed the end of the 2nd page. repeat. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2000, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywood-nepotism-lets-make-a-list/15359/97 "2000-03-29T05:03:00Z")
There have been a lot of posts here pointing out Hollywood folks who are related to each other, but not all of these relationships are nepotistic. (Is that a word??) What is nepotism? According to my Webster’s, nepotism is “favoritism shown to relatives, esp. in appointment to desirable positions.” Therefore, one relative would have to be in a position to exercise influence in getting the other a job–or at least an audition. The case of Aaron Spelling and Tori Spelling is an obvious example of nepotism. She got the job on 90210 because he was her dad. Francis Ford Coppola and Nicolas Cage are an example of a far more subtle kind of nepotism. I don’t know of any example of Coppola directly getting Cage a job. And I believe that Cage became a big star on his own merits–he is a good actor, after all. Cage’s real last name is actually Coppola, and he changed it in order to distance himself from Coppola. But, we would be foolish to believe that Cage was not helped by his relationship to Coppola. If nothing else, I am sure the casting agents were happy to let him audition. Did Coppola necessarily encourage this? Who knows? But you can bet that the casting agents would not risk pissing Coppola off by not even seeing his nephew. An equally good actor might not have even been able to get his foot in the door. Now, I don’t know enough about the workings of Hollywood to know which relationships were NOT nepotistic, but I suspect some of them were not. An example: IIRC, Zsa Zsa and Eva (and let’s not forget Magda) Gabor were pushed into the biz by their mother. So did Zsa Zsa get Eva a job or did they both get jobs because of their mother? And because this post is way too serious for this thread, I offer this nepotistic relationship: The Donald —\> Ivana It is not Hollywood, but the Trumps are always good for a laugh. ---
**Author:** ![crackwise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/22d042/32.png) [@crackwise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crackwise)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2000, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywood-nepotism-lets-make-a-list/15359/98 "2000-03-29T05:18:00Z")
Timothy Leary —\> Goddaughter : Winona Ryder * * * ~handcrafted signatures since 1975~ ---
**Author:** ![Anti\_Pro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Anti\_Pro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anti_Pro)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2000, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywood-nepotism-lets-make-a-list/15359/99 "2000-03-29T05:41:00Z")
Maureen Sullavan --\> Mia Farrow * * * “Um, according to who? Nothing more than a high brow troll, though occasionally the bi polar personality swung in a constructive direction on innocuous topics.” Omniscient ---
**Author:** ![evilbeth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/evilbeth/32/2268_2.png) [@evilbeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilbeth)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2000, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywood-nepotism-lets-make-a-list/15359/100 "2000-03-29T05:46:00Z")
In keeping with Green Bean’s clarification about nepotism, we can add Martin Sheen and Charlie Sheen. Charlie has said that he took his dad’s stage name (instead of his real last name like Emilio and Renee) so he could get his foot in the door. * * * I always try to do things in chronological order. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywood-nepotism-lets-make-a-list/15359.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywood-nepotism-lets-make-a-list/15359.md?page=6)