We all learn how to do things from our parents, and for famous people, that includes being famous. Here are some celebrities who had famous parents that you might not have known were also in the public eye.
Robert Pine
Chris Pine is currently co-starring in the smash hit Wonder Woman, and he’s best known as Captain Kirk in the latest round of Star Trek movies. He did not star in the flop movie adaptation of the ‘70s series CHiPs…but his father, Robert Pine, co-starred on the show. For six seasons, the veteran actor played Sgt. Joseph Getraer, and then had a recurring role on Magnum, P.I. as Thomas Magnum’s father.
Lee Ferrell, Jr.
Ferrell, Jr.’s junior is comic superstar Will Ferrell. Ferrell has often sung on movies and on Saturday Night Live, but he probably got his chops from his dad, who played saxophone and keyboards for the Righteous Brothers—he was part of the venerable duo’s touring band off and on for more than 20 years.
Sir William McMahon
Julian McMahon has been a presence on television for more than 15 years, co-starring on hits like Charmed and Nip/Tuck. He almost always plays American characters, hiding his natural Australian accent. He’s quite Australian: His father was Sir William McMahon, who served as prime minister of Australia from 1971 to 1972.
Ed Begley, Sr.
Ed Begley, Jr. is probably the more famous Ed Begley, Jr. at this point. But the noted environmentalist and St. Elsewhere star had to add that suffix on to his name when his career was starting out more than three decades ago because his father was one of the most acclaimed and celebrated actors of the mid-20th century. Ed Begley, Sr. worked in every medium, including radio, TV, film, and the stage. He won a Tony Award for Inherit the Wind and an Oscar for Sweet Bird of Youth.
The dads of Girls
The entire main cast of HBO’s now-finished Girls have famous fathers.
Zosia Mamet is the daughter of noted playwright and screenwriter David Mamet (Glengarry Glen Ross). Allison Williams’s dad is former NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams. Jemima Kirke’s father is Bad Company drummer Simon Kirke. Creator and star Lena Dunham is the daughter of major contemporary painter Carroll Dunham.
Ravi Shankar
Elements of traditional Eastern music became more commonplace in pop and rock music in the ‘70s in part thanks to the popularity of master sitar player Ravi Shankar, and particularly because of songs he recorded for ex-Beatle George Harrison’s The Concert for Bangladesh. Shankar is the father of Norah Jones, the soft rock singer and piano player who won all four major categories at the 2003 Grammy Awards (Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best New Artist).