Did having celebrity parents help the celebrity kids on this list become just as famous as their mother and fathers? While most of them would like to think not, the rest of us sure like to tell ourselves the celebrity kids on this list had an advantage when they made it big in showbiz. But whether they had a little help from their parents or not, it’s hard to deny that these celebrity kids are just as famous as the members of their family responsible for their existence:
Sean Astin: Son of Patty Duke – He’s one of the few child actors to move on to a big (er, small?) movie role later in life, as one of the kids from ‘The Goonies’ transformed back to his child size to play a hobbit in the ‘Lord of the Rings’ movies. He’s one of the celebrity kids here with one of the craziest stories about his parents, as it was long thought that his father was John Astin, who played Gomez on ‘The Addams Family’ TV show. However, DNA testing later proved that was not the case. Like her son, Patty Duke was also a child star, winning an Academy Award at age 16 for her role in ‘The Miracle Worker’, but she was best-known for playing a look-alike pair of polar opposites on ‘The Patty Duke Show’. This is definitely one of the most surprising pairs of celebrity parents and celebrity kids; while his mom became a teen queen, he transformed into a hairy-footed hobbit popular with the geeky crowd (let’s just hope his kids don’t follow in those rather large footsteps).
Colin Hanks: Son of Tom Hanks – He’s one of the celebrity kids on this list who can’t hide from his heritage; after all, Colin Hanks definitely has his dad’s lanky look from his younger days. He’s been acting for a few years now, but looks like he really might break out on buddy cop TV series ‘The Good Guys’ as a guy that’s a stickler for sticking to the book. And when it comes to celebrity parents who can help their celebrity kids break into the biz, he can’t do better than Tom Hanks; his dad has starred as a cop multiple times in movies like ‘Dragnet’ and ‘Turner & Hooch’. But Colin Hanks can always return the favor to his father; since these famous family members look so similar, he would be perfect for portraying a younger version of his pop if needed.
Isabella Rossellini: Daughter of Ingrid Bergman and Roberto Rossellini -Isabella Rossellini is a bizarre star most known for her role in the movie ‘Blue Velvet’, however, she’s been getting a lot of attention lately for her hilarious ‘Green Porno’ shorts, which have Rossellini dressing up like various animals and explaining (and demonstrating) the way that they mate. She’s also one of the celebrity kids here that comes from one of the most famous families. Mother Ingrid Bergman is very well-known for her prestigious career, which includes movies like ‘Casablanca’ and ‘Notorious’, while her father is famous for directing movies like ‘Voyage to Italy’ and ‘Open City’. One thing’s for certain: she may have had celebrity parents, but Isabella is one of the celebrity kids on this list who definitely decided to go her own way.
Eva Amurri: Daughter of Susan Sarandon – She’s definitely one of the sexiest celebrity kids on this list, and it’s easy to see which of her parents Eva Amurri gets her looks from. Currently this daughter of ‘Thelma and Louise’ star Susan Sarandon is most well-known for doing something that has won her mother many fans in the past: stripping down for a role. However, her claim to fame was playing a stripper on TV series ‘Californication’, while her mother is no stranger to risqué roles in movies, playing a prostitute in ‘Pretty Baby’ and a groupie in ‘The Banger Sisters’ (where Eva Amurri starred as her daughter). We can only hope an affinity for sexually-charged, strong female roles runs in one of the foxiest famous families on this list.
Liza Minnelli: Daughter of Vincente Minnelli and Judy Garland – One of the most beloved celebrity parents on this list enchanted us by walking down the yellow brick road, wearing those shiny red slippers and singing about rainbows. However, her daughter didn’t opt for cute in her movie career; she traded her slippers in for high heels and thigh-highs in a less family-friendly musical movie, ‘Cabaret’. But Liza’s father preferred to stay behind the camera, directing mother Judy Garland in ‘Meet Me in St. Louis’ (the couple married soon after working together on the film). Even today Liza continues to make up for her mom’s lack of sexy roles, starring in movies like ‘Sex and the City 2’ (and she’s become an iconic symbol for a whole different group of rainbow lovers).
Mariska Hargitay: Daughter of Jayne Mansfield and Mickey Hargitay – This stunning star of ‘Law & Order: Special Victims Unit’ has one of the sexiest celebrity parents on this list, as the curves of her blonde “momshell” competed with those of Marilyn Monroe back in the days when platinum curls were all the rage. While she used her looks to keep the audiences’ attention in movies like ‘The Girl Can’t Help It’ and was probably more popular as a pin-up girl than an actress, Jayne Mansfield’s daughter is another of the celebrity kids that opted to go a different direction, donning pantsuits and playing a detective whose brains are much more valuable than her beauty. But she’s still a real stunner, and I had to mention her dad here, even though you might not recognize his name; he was Mr. Universe, after all.
Jeff Bridges and Beau Bridges: Sons of Lloyd Bridges – These celebrity kids and their celebrity parents (mom Dorothy was also an actress and a writer) are one of the most successful famous families on this list. Father Lloyd made a name for himself in western ‘High Noon’ before become well-known in later years for spoof movies like ‘Airplane!’ and ‘Hot Shots!’. Son Beau is probably most well-known for starring alongside brother Jeff in ‘The Fabulous Baker Boys’, although he has many movie and TV appearances to his name. Jeff Bridges most recently won an Oscar for his role in ‘Crazy Heart’ and is probably best-known as “The Dude” from modern cult classic ‘The Big Lebowski’. However, he’s about to resurrect a very different retro movie role from the 80’s in ‘TRON: Legacy’, and will revisit his dad’s western roots in a ‘True Grit’ remake. (Wonder if these celebrity kids will ever star together again?)
Bryce Dallas Howard: Daughter of Ron Howard – Ron Howard is one of the most successful celebrity kids in the biz, starting out his Hollywood career in the wholesome TV series ‘The Andy Griffith Show’ before growing up and become a teen icon in ‘American Graffiti’ and on the TV series ‘Happy Days’. He’s since become one of Hollywood’s hottest directors, thanks to movies like ‘The Da Vinci Code’ and ‘A Beautiful Mind’, and he’s also responsible for one of the most beautiful celebrity kids on this list. Bryce Dallas Howard’s career really started off when she played M. Night Shyamalan’s muse in multiple movies, later scoring larger mainstream success in ‘Spider-Man 3’ and ‘The Twilight Saga: Eclipse’. She’s one of the celebrity kids here who hasn’t quite achieved the status of their celebrity parents, but at least she’s a whole lot prettier than her father.
Kiefer Sutherland: Son of Donald Sutherland – Kiefer Sutherland actually starred with one of the other celebrity kids on this list, Jeff Bridges, in mystery movie ‘The Vanishing’. And, like the celebrity kid before him, he’s also popular for starring in a vampire flick, portraying a bloodthirsty bad boy in ‘The Lost Boys’. However, his most recent claim to fame is popular TV series ’24’. He and his father make up one of the famous families here both finding plenty of work, although dad Donald’s past movies, including mystery and horror movies of his own like ‘Don’t Look Now’ and ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’, make up some of his biggest claims to fame. Perhaps Kiefer has abused being born to Hollywood royalty in the past, but that hasn’t stopped either member of this famous family from being cast.
Angelina Jolie: Daughter of Jon Voight – With such a volatile relationship, these two probably make more headlines than all of the other celebrity parents and kids on this list combined. Angelina Jolie is currently one of the biggest stars in the world, spicing things up with spy thriller ‘Salt’ while making men melt with her perfect pout. But one perfect half of Hollywood’s hottest couple has definitely displayed some bad girl behavior in the past, and she has chosen a few risqué movie roles, which might be a trait she got from her dad. After all, Jon Voight did star in the first rated X movie to win the Academy Award for best picture, ‘Midnight Cowboy’, a ’69 flick full of nudity and naughtiness in which he played a wannabe “stud”. His daughter may now be a much bigger name than her dad, but she’ll always have him to thank for her pillowy pout.
So from celebrity kids and parents who proudly share their names to those that felt the need to try and become famous without any aid from their movie-ready monikers, us mere mortals can just keep telling ourselves that we, too, could have been just as successful as the celebrity kids on this list if our parents had been in the biz.
SOURCES: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000276/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001157/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004988/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000158/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000618/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000006/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0744023/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0025483/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000215/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0591485/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0591486/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000023/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002127/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0543790/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000313/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000977/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000978/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0397171/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000165/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000662/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000661/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001401/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000685/
