# Mother and daughter cast in similar roles (or father / son) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 6, 2016, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-and-daughter-cast-in-similar-roles-or-father-son/751315 "2016-04-06T01:38:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-and-daughter-cast-in-similar-roles-or-father-son/751315/1 "2016-04-06T01:38:41Z")
Some of you older fogies may remember the lissome Whitney Blake, who played a sitcom wife on TV’s “Hazel,” for four seasons. She transitioned into producing and directing, and was one of the creators of “One Day At A Time.” But I what found interesting is that her daughter was Meredith Baxter, an actress who is known for playing a sitcom wife on TV’s “Family Ties.” (Also interesting is that Whitney played “Mrs. Baxter,” and in real life married a man named Baxter, which explains Meredith’s surname…but I digress). There are plenty of children of actors that are also actors, of course, but are there other examples of matching sitcom roles across generations? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-and-daughter-cast-in-similar-roles-or-father-son/751315/2 "2016-04-06T01:54:47Z")
Not in a sitcom, but Geraldine Chaplin played Charlie Chaplin’s mother in **Chaplin** – in other words, her own grandmother. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-and-daughter-cast-in-similar-roles-or-father-son/751315/3 "2016-04-06T03:27:36Z")
Sean Connery played Robin Hood, but you don’t _care,_ because we all know that the first line in his obituary will mention him playing Ian Fleming’s James Bond. Anyhow, his son Jason Connery, who _also_ played Robin Hood, played – Ian Fleming. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-and-daughter-cast-in-similar-roles-or-father-son/751315/4 "2016-04-06T11:13:49Z")
Not sitcom, but Jim Hutton was Ellery Queen and his son Tim Hutton was Archie Goodwin in the _Nero Wolfe_ mysteries. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-and-daughter-cast-in-similar-roles-or-father-son/751315/5 "2016-04-06T11:50:16Z")
Jason Bonham played drums for Led Zeppelin’s reunion show at the O2 Arena in London, sitting in for his dad John Bonham. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-and-daughter-cast-in-similar-roles-or-father-son/751315/6 "2016-04-06T11:52:12Z")
I saw an interview in which Ice Cube mentioned that his son played a young Ice Cube in Straight Out of Compton. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-and-daughter-cast-in-similar-roles-or-father-son/751315/7 "2016-04-06T11:59:19Z")
Mario van Peebles played his father Melvin van Peebles in **Baadasssss!** , the story of how the elder van Peebles made the movie “Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song.” In the latter movie, Mario had a small role, playing the young version of the character played by his father. ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e47774/32.png) [@quiltguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-and-daughter-cast-in-similar-roles-or-father-son/751315/8 "2016-04-06T12:08:20Z")
Didn’t Charlton Heston’s infant son play Moses as the baby in the bulrushes, while dad was biding his time waiting to part the Red Sea? ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-and-daughter-cast-in-similar-roles-or-father-son/751315/9 "2016-04-06T12:52:35Z")
> [@Miss\_Mapp](#): > > Not sitcom, but Jim Hutton was Ellery Queen and his son Tim Hutton was Archie Goodwin in the _Nero Wolfe_ mysteries. And in an episode of “Leverage” with a costume party where everyone dressed as famous fictional detectives, Tim Hutton’s character dressed as Ellery Queen. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-and-daughter-cast-in-similar-roles-or-father-son/751315/10 "2016-04-06T13:12:09Z")
Peggy Lipton played a police detective on _The Mod Squad_ and her daughter, Rashida Jones, plays a police detective on _Angie Tribeca_ (very different characters but they’re both police detectives so there’s that). Interestingly, just now looking at her credits, I see that Peggy Lipton played a character Nurse Winters on an episode of _The Alfred Hitchcock Hour_. Rashida Jones played a nurse on _Parks and Recreation_. Tom Hanks and his son Colin Hanks both served in World War II. (_Saving Private Ryan_/_Band of Brothers_) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-and-daughter-cast-in-similar-roles-or-father-son/751315/11 "2016-04-06T13:17:22Z")
Martin Sheen in _Apocalypse Now_ and Charlie in _Platoon_. What makes the comparison stronger, even though the roles aren’t exactly the same, is that they were both narrators of their films. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-and-daughter-cast-in-similar-roles-or-father-son/751315/12 "2016-04-06T13:24:03Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Martin Sheen in _Apocalypse Now_ and Charlie in _Platoon_. What makes the comparison stronger, even though the roles aren’t exactly the same, is that they were both narrators of their films. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTopAYE3IFw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTopAYE3IFw) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-and-daughter-cast-in-similar-roles-or-father-son/751315/13 "2016-04-06T14:00:09Z")
lon Chaney didn’t want his son Creighton becoming an actor, but he did, after his father’s death, and was billed as “Lon Chaney, Jr.” Like his father, he made films for Universal Studios. Also like his father, although he performed in both “straight” movies (most notably as Lenny in Steinbeck’s _Of Mice and Men_) and horror films, he’s better known for his genre roles. But Father and Son never played precisely the same role. Senior was The Phantom of the Opera and (although it’s not really horror ) THe Hunchback of Notre Dame, while Junior was famously The Wolfman, but also played the Frankenstein Monster and the Mummy. (both in sequels to the original pix). The only time they played similar roles was when Senior played a vampire in _London After Midnight_ His son didn’t star in the remake\*, but did play a vampire in _Son of Dracula_. \*The remake, _Mark of the Vampire_, was directed by the same director, Tod Browning, and starred Bela Lugosi, who had been directed by Browning in _Dracula_. Just to bind this all together, Lugosi also played the Frankenstein Monster. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-and-daughter-cast-in-similar-roles-or-father-son/751315/14 "2016-04-06T14:17:56Z")
Harrison Ford and River Phoenix played father and son in _The Mosquito Coast_ (1986). A few years later, Phoenix played young Indiana Jones in _The Last Crusade._ Henry and Jane Fonda both appeared in _On Golden Pond_ as father and daughter. Jane had actually purchased the play’s film rights because she felt the conflict between the film’s two characters very closely mirrored the emotional estrangement between herself and her father in real life. In later years, Jane said that the experience of acting together did indeed help repair their strained relationship. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-and-daughter-cast-in-similar-roles-or-father-son/751315/15 "2016-04-06T14:43:44Z")
Rosemary Harris and her daughter Jennifer Ehle played older and younger versions of the same character in _The Chamomile Lawn_. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-and-daughter-cast-in-similar-roles-or-father-son/751315/16 "2016-04-06T15:30:51Z")
Ryan O’Neal and daughter Tatum played maybe-father-and-daughter in the very, very good _Paper Moon_: [200 Dollars - Paper Moon (1/8) Movie CLIP (1973) HD - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBA_fhQoArA) ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-and-daughter-cast-in-similar-roles-or-father-son/751315/17 "2016-04-06T17:52:18Z")
Mamie Gummer played her mother (Meryl Streep) as a late teen in “[Evening](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0765447/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_28).” The resemblance was so close, I was positive they’d done some CGI trick to make Streep look decades younger. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-and-daughter-cast-in-similar-roles-or-father-son/751315/18 "2016-04-06T18:56:56Z")
Janet Leigh played the famous shower scene victim of a psychotic killer in Psycho. Years later her daugther Jamie Lee Curtis was pursued by a psychotic killer in Halloween. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-and-daughter-cast-in-similar-roles-or-father-son/751315/19 "2016-04-06T21:31:29Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Martin Sheen in _Apocalypse Now_ and Charlie in _Platoon_. What makes the comparison stronger, even though the roles aren’t exactly the same, is that they were both narrators of their films. Even closer, Emilio Estevez played a young Jed Bartlett in an episode of [The West Wing](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0745720/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast). ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-and-daughter-cast-in-similar-roles-or-father-son/751315/20 "2016-04-06T22:14:08Z")
Dwayne Johnson played his dad (a pro wrestler in the 70s) on an episode of _that 70s Show._ his dad was in the same ep as his manager. Not similar roles but Keifer Sutherland got the role in _Dark City_ because they sent the script to the wrong Sutherland. He contacted the studio about the mistake and they were pretty much “Huh. Are _you_ interested in playing it?” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-and-daughter-cast-in-similar-roles-or-father-son/751315.md?page=2)