Relatives in Show Business/ Talent or "Connections"

Jeez...my cousin played the slutty Stephanie on 'Degrassi Junior High'...her parents are journalists. She doesn't act much these days, she's pursuing a singing career, and sings with the Jeff Healy Band, jazzy stuff, I think.

Liza Minelli, I just never understood the attraction, so I going for nepotism on this one.

Maurice Blythe took the stage name Maurice Barrymore. He married Georgie Drew, and they had three children who made names for themselves on stage and on the silver screen: Lionel Barrymore, Ethel Barrymore and John Barrymore. John Barrymore married Delores Costello, and had a son, John Drew Barrymore, whose daughter is Drew Barrymore. That's the fourth generation of that family in acting.

Drew Barrymore undoubtedly benefited from knowing people in the movie business, but she has still had to work hard and make her own way. She had a reputation as a "wild child" and a drug and alcohol abuser, and many doors were closed in her face, and her calls were for many years not returned. Given that her grandfather, John Barrymore, was notorious for his drinking, and his drunken antics with his friends, W. C. Fields, Wallace Berry and Douglas Fairbanks, it seems that there has been a double standard applied in the case of Drew. I'm not saying she's a great actress, but she is competent--she learns her lines, hits her marks and delivers the goods--and she's had to prove herself. It seems to have been in the blood of the Blythe/Barrymore clan.

Nicolas Cage's uncle is Francis Ford Coppola. Uncle Francis cast him in Rumble Fish (1983), The Cotton Club (1984), and Peggy Sue Got Married (1986). I think we have Uncle Francis to blame.

(I know, I know, he won an Oscar...but I can barely stand to watch him on the screen.)

I thought Red Rock West was a hoot, though . . . otherwise, i'd agree that Cage is ho-hum . . .

I used to like to look at him until he had a nose job and started waxing his eyebrows!

Did anyone see the recent Michael Douglas/Kirk Douglas film called It Runs in the Family? I didn't, but I am curious. The cast also features Michael's 25 year old son Cameron as well as Michael's mother Diana Douglas (who has been divorced from Kirk for 52 years!)

Anyway, I've always thought that Hollywood connections probably helped Michael get started, though he is as famous as his dad ever was (and IMO, a better actor.)

Setanta- Drew Barrymore is really a case in point. I think that if it were not for her family connections, she probably would have gone nowhere..........especially when you consider her drugging and drinking problems. As you say, she is "competent", but there are zillions of competent actresses who are starving.

Liza Minelli seems to have followed in her mother's footsteps. She has real talent, but her emotional problems have cut short what might have been a long, brilliant career.

Michael Douglas probably benefited from Kirk Douglas' name, but i'd say he's proven himself in the motion picture industry.

And let us not forget Ramon Estevez, born of a Spanish father and an Irish mother in Dayton, Ohio--and otherwise known as Martin Sheen. His sons Emilio Estevez and Carlos Estevez (known as Charlie Sheen) have both made their way in the business. They can both act, and even if Charlie is a "bad boy," he can still do the work as required, when he's clean and sober.

Great thread Phoenix . . .

Interesting topic, Phoenix.
Kate Hudson. Very cute, has a smile just like her mom but, I mean, really...
Tori Spelling. The poster child for Hollywood nepotism.
Martin Sheens' boys. Dime a dozen acting.
Geez. The more you think about it, the more names pop up. Bridgit Fonda, (some would name her daddy and her aunt as well).
Natalie Cole (especially in the beginning of her recording career before she actually learned how to sing)
Melanie Griffith. Cotton candy.

Ceili, I must disagree about Liza. I think she was able to hold her own. She could really belt out a show tune, was a pretty good actress ( Oscar-nominated for The Sterile Cuckoo) and a fine dancer.

I agree about Michael Douglas. I think that he has equalled or surpassed his father.

I am very impressed with Mariska Hargitay. (Law & Order SVU). For those who are too young to remember, she is the daughter of Jayne Mansfield, who played ditzy blonde parts, and Mickey Hargitay, a body builder. I think that she is developing into a very fine actress.

eoe- Kate Hudson. To whom is she related?

Goldie Hawn is her mom.

I can't imagine Goldie having a grown up daughter. I remember her from
"Laugh-In". I don't know what she is taking, but I want some. She hasn't aged a bit!

Mariska is Jayne Mansfields daughter? Wow! I had no idea, but I do like her in SVU - one the reasons I watch that show.

Phoenix, have you seen "The Banger Sisters?" Our Goldie is giving old father time a good fight but, he is winning. Just like with the rest of us. She makes jokes about the work she's had done tho' which, to me, is the best way to go. Don't try and hide it or pretend that you haven't had anything done when it's so obvious that you have. Michael Jackson could take a few notes on that. And speaking of Michael, would baby sis Janet have such a huge career if she wasn't a Jackson? I doubt it.

Heeven- You would never guess. Her persona is so different from her mom's!

I think that actors who follow parents into the business is an awfully benign form of nepotism. I rather equate with the situation in which a man or woman starts a business, brings in son or daughter, and retires, leaving the business to the child. It's not as though this is either rocket science, brain surgery or an other form of application of crucial skills, and it's not a public trust. If Drew Barrymore, Emilio Estevez and Charlie Sheen aren't the best actors, the box office will assure that the sum total of their careers are realistic in terms of the roles they get. Yeah, they probably got some access due to name recognition, but so what? John Ritter went into acting, despite what was in my opinion a total lack of talent, and i doubt that having an erstwhile CW star as a father helped much. Given that there is so much work for actors and actresses, much more than could be accomplished by the children of "stars," i don't think anyone could reasonably make a case that "deserving" talent gets unfairly excluded. And cases like Michael Douglas suggest that the child often displays talent of their own. Neither Janet Leigh nor Tony Curtis were the greatest of screen stars, and neither is Jamie Leigh Curtis. To me, that business is so volatile, and the opportunity for studio work, indy films, and literally thousands of television programs suggests that studios go begging for enough truly talented people. In fact, looking at movies and television suggests to me that there are far fewer truly talented actors, and fewer still geniuses, than there are roles available. And the actors themselves don't necessarily have the ability to gauge what will work or won't. W. C. Fields turned down the role of the wizard in The Wizard of Oz because he thought the movie would fail-given the outrage expresses against Baum for his book a generation earlier, is was probably a decision based on the balance of wisdom-but it was wildly wrong. Conversely, his portrayal of Micawber in David Copperfield (1934? 1935?) was a tour de force of his acting genius, and big critical and box-office success-but it's unknown today.

Fascinating topic, Phoenix, but i would demur from any serious condemnation of those who take advantage of name recognition. John Caradine was a fine character actor. David Caradine's career after Kung Fu (what career?) shows that these things have a tendancy to level themselves out.

Lloyd Bridges was simply a ruggedly handsome man in his youth, and in good physical condition when Seahunt was casting. But both Jeff and Beau have established themselves as competent actors. Sure, daddy can help, but how does that differ from so many other relatively unimportant careers?

Jessica Capshaw is on The Practice. (Daughter of Kate Capshaw, stepdaughter of you-know-who) She has an uphill battle to prove that she was hired for her talent and not because someone wanted to get in good with Spielberg.