# Woody Harrelson's dad did what!? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 26, 2011, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-harrelsons-dad-did-what/594198 "2011-08-26T17:42:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-harrelsons-dad-did-what/594198/1 "2011-08-26T17:42:07Z")
I suppose my image of Woody Harrelson stems from his days on Cheers, rather than his more recent acting roles as madmen and serial killers. I suppose I had a sort of subconscious image of him as a farm boy, horsing around with cows, cowing around with horses, honourable and upstanding family, like the fictional representatives of American rurals I’ve seen on TV: Clark Kent, Sam Beckett from Quantum Leap, that sort of thing. So, it’s a bit of a surprise that his dad murdered a federal judge. Because he’s a professional hit-man. Who killed people for money. And was paid to kill the judge by a drug-lord. And confessed to shooting John Franklin Kennedy. Retracted that last part, though, but definitely did the rest. It’s just bizarre. It’s like finding out that Jim Morrison’s dad was the admiral in charge of US Naval forces at the Gulf of Tonkin during the eponymous incident… He was? Huh. Okay, then. Teenage rebellion, eh? ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-harrelsons-dad-did-what/594198/2 "2011-08-26T17:47:22Z")
[Handsome, too.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Harrelson) ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-harrelsons-dad-did-what/594198/3 "2011-08-26T17:53:39Z")
> [@blindboyard](#): > > So, it’s a bit of a surprise that his dad murdered a federal judge. Because he’s a professional hit-man. Who killed people for money. And was paid to kill the judge by a drug-lord. And confessed to shooting John Franklin Kennedy. Retracted that last part, though, but definitely did the rest. John Franklin Kennedy? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-harrelsons-dad-did-what/594198/4 "2011-08-26T17:59:49Z")
Charles Harrelson left Woody and his mother when Woody was a small boy and his non-relationship with his father wasn’t anything like the Morrisons. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-harrelsons-dad-did-what/594198/5 "2011-08-26T18:13:29Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > John Franklin Kennedy? 😕 Wasn’t that Charlie Brown’s friend? ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-harrelsons-dad-did-what/594198/6 "2011-08-26T18:14:34Z")
Somewhat ironical that the judge’s last name was Wood. ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f08c70/32.png) [@Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Brother_Walker)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-harrelsons-dad-did-what/594198/7 "2011-08-26T19:03:26Z")
I remember this. Growing up in San Antonio and learning how gov’t works in junior high. The teacher made a big deal out of this, and rightfully so. Judge Wood did a lot for the city. There’s a courthouse named after him there now. ---
**Author:** ![Claire\_Beauchamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@Claire\_Beauchamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claire_Beauchamp)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-harrelsons-dad-did-what/594198/8 "2011-08-26T19:07:14Z")
Yeah, imagine that. Actors’ lives sometimes have no bearing or relationship to the characters they play. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-harrelsons-dad-did-what/594198/9 "2011-08-27T00:24:09Z")
Holy Shit! That’s crazy. You can’t knock a guy for what his parents did, but…damn, that’s nuts! ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-harrelsons-dad-did-what/594198/10 "2011-08-27T00:54:46Z")
> [@blindboyard](#): > > And confessed to shooting John Franklin Kennedy. Actually it was Lee Harold Oswald who killed him. ---
**Author:** ![SecretaryofEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@SecretaryofEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecretaryofEvil)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-harrelsons-dad-did-what/594198/11 "2011-08-27T01:12:42Z")
I heard that it was part of a larger conspiracy that involved Lyndon Bartholomew Johnson. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-harrelsons-dad-did-what/594198/12 "2011-08-27T02:14:56Z")
> [@SecretaryofEvil](#): > > I heard that it was part of a larger conspiracy that involved Lyndon Bartholomew Johnson. [golf clap] ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-harrelsons-dad-did-what/594198/13 "2011-08-27T03:14:06Z")
Next you guys will be saying J. Edward Hoover was behind the Martin Leonard King assassination. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-harrelsons-dad-did-what/594198/14 "2011-08-27T03:17:10Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Next you guys will be saying J. Edward Hoover was behind the Martin Leonard King assassination. No, that was James Alan Ray acting alone, just like Lee Hubert Oswald before him. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-harrelsons-dad-did-what/594198/15 "2011-08-27T03:20:53Z")
Getting back on topic somewhat, a couple of other celebrity parent shockers. Charlize Theron’s mother killed her father. It was during a fight and was ruled to be self-defense. Lindsay Price’s parents were brother and sister. Adoptive brother and sister but still. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-harrelsons-dad-did-what/594198/16 "2011-08-27T03:51:55Z")
> [@SecretaryofEvil](#): > > I heard that it was part of a larger conspiracy that involved Lyndon Bartholomew Johnson. This conspiracy goes all the way back to Frankln Delanor Roosevelt. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-harrelsons-dad-did-what/594198/17 "2011-08-27T04:40:55Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > Somewhat ironical that the judge’s last name was Wood. No, it’s not. It’d be ironic if the judge somehow made assassination legal, and then was assassinated, or something. But back to this conspiracy, I heard it extends all the way to George Humphrey Walker Bush. ---
**Author:** ![wedgehed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8edcca/32.png) [@wedgehed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wedgehed)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-harrelsons-dad-did-what/594198/18 "2011-08-27T06:00:55Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Actually it was Lee Harold Oswald who killed him. From the Texas Schoolbook Suppository. ---
**Author:** ![simple\_homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@simple\_homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simple_homer)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-harrelsons-dad-did-what/594198/19 "2011-08-27T07:09:50Z")
From wikipedia: Charles Voyde Harrelson "was married to … Diane Lou Oswald " and "worked as an encyclopedia salesman ". There’s your connection to Lee Hubert Oswald and the Texas Schoolbook Suppository…:eek: > **[Charles Harrelson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Harrelson)** > > Charles Voyde Harrelson (July 23, 1938 – March 15, 2007) was an American contract killer and organized crime figure who was convicted of assassinating federal judge John H. Wood Jr., the first federal judge to be assassinated in the 20th century. Charles Harrelson was the father of actors Brett and Woody Harrelson. > Charles Harrelson was born on July 23, 1937, in Lovelady, Texas, the son of Alma Lee (née Sparks; 1907–2002) and Voyde Harrelson (1901–1976). > He was married to Nancy Hillman Harrelso... ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-harrelsons-dad-did-what/594198/20 "2011-08-27T07:37:05Z")
> [@wedgehed](#): > > From the Texas Schoolbook Suppository. Yeah, but Charles Harrelson claimed to be on the grassy Noel. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woody-harrelsons-dad-did-what/594198.md?page=2)