Nepotism isn't anything new. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re looking at Golden Age Hollywood stars, who you may not realize started on relatives’ big names.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Money isn't all, you know, Jim.
00:02Ha ha ha, not when you've got it."
00:05Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're looking at Golden Age Hollywood stars who you may
00:10not realize started on relatives' big names.
00:13That's not including family connections that are still common knowledge today, so don't
00:17expect to see many juniors.
00:19You think I don't know the difference between a wolf and a man?"
00:24Number 10.
00:25Ginger Rogers
00:26Layla E. Rogers
00:27"...Mother, now listen very, very carefully.
00:31A man is coming here, a major, he's going to ask you a lot of questions about your little
00:35daughter."
00:36"...What little daughter?"
00:37Ginger Rogers was one of the greats during and after Hollywood's vaudevillian era.
00:42Frequent collaborator Fred Astaire helped make her an icon, but her mother helped get
00:46her tap shoes through the door.
00:48After divorcing Ginger's father, Layla E. Rogers led a successful journalism career
00:53before writing and directing in Hollywood.
00:55Even after remarrying and becoming a devoted stage mom, Layla wore many hats in the film
01:00industry.
01:01Lucille Ball even credited her acting school as essential to her own career.
01:05"...Don't say anything here, I'll rinse your bag."
01:07"...Why didn't I wear the room robe?"
01:08"...Oh, did she say that?"
01:09"...Cut it out."
01:10Certainly, Layla's clout as a producer was key to her daughter's success.
01:15Layla Rogers may have only acted in The Major and The Minor alongside her daughter, but
01:20it's clear where Ginger got her versatile talent.
01:23"...I think you underestimate us, Major Kirby.
01:26Perhaps all a woman wants is to be a photograph a soldier tacks above his bunk."
01:30Number 9.
01:31The Barrymore Siblings
01:32Barrymore, Drew, and Lane families.
01:35You sure know that the Barrymore name has been a Hollywood institution since Lionel,
01:39Ethel, and John.
01:41In fact, the dynasty predates the screen.
01:43"...Give me back my friends.
01:44Turn them out.
01:45And if I do, you get the picture."
01:48The siblings were the children of Maurice Barrymore and Georgiana Drew, both renowned
01:53stage actors.
01:54The same goes for Maurice's father, William, and Georgiana's parents, John and Louisa Lane
01:59Drew.
02:00Her lineage on the stage actually goes back to maternal grandparents Frederick Lane and
02:04Eliza Trentner.
02:06Maurice might have obscured his in-laws' even longer legacy had John not made Drew the middle
02:11name of one of his sons.
02:12John Drew then passed it to his daughter as her first name, finally giving both the Barrymores
02:18and the Drews equal recognition in modern Hollywood.
02:21"...And I miss them so much while they're gone that when they come back, I just hold
02:26on to them for five minutes each."
02:288.
02:29Jason Robards
02:30Jason Robards Sr.
02:32Claiming the triple crown of acting, Jason Robards transitioned into a new age of film
02:37and television with great renown.
02:39"...This night has opened mine eyes to a great career in store for me, my boy."
02:47His credit has actually been around since the beginning of old Hollywood.
02:50Jason Robards Sr. was an esteemed Broadway actor who maintained his leading man status
02:55going into silent film.
02:57Tragically, he faded into bit parts with The Rise of the Talkies.
03:00"...There, there, dear.
03:02Don't let it worry you."
03:04This disillusioned the idea of Hollywood for his son, whose namesake carried more weight
03:08for him in the theater.
03:09He dropped the Junior from his stage name after his father's death.
03:12The Junior Robard may be a prime example of an actor rising above nepotism, but he was
03:18openly remorseful about his father's downfall.
03:20"...I can't do the reporting for my reporters, which means I have to trust them.
03:25And I hate trusting anybody."
03:297.
03:30Buster Keaton
03:31Joe and Myra Keaton
03:32Before America fell for the name Keaton, they learned it one town at a time.
03:37Joe and Myra Keaton were a vaudeville couple billed as the Two Keatons in a traveling medicine
03:42show.
03:43Then two became three with the addition of Joe Jr., affectionately nicknamed Buster.
03:48His father taught him everything about the eccentric dance and slapstick that some audiences
03:52mistook for real onstage child abuse.
03:55The already notorious family act would end with Joe's drinking problem driving Myra away
03:59with their son.
04:00"...One of the most important things in big business is promptness.
04:04You must be reliable.
04:07I'll deliver it myself."
04:08Buster Keaton thus achieved independent stardom in silent movies, and is now regarded as one
04:13of the most influential comedic filmmakers of all time.
04:18He probably couldn't have done it without his parents' mentorship and infamy.
04:306.
04:31Tyrone Power
04:32Tyrone Power, the first and second, and Ethel Lavergne.
04:36Versatile matinee idol Tyrone Power's name actually went back three generations.
04:41His acting chops went back four.
04:43"...You must have been raised pretty religious."
04:45"...Yeah, in a county orphanage."
04:46"...Didn't you have any folks?"
04:47"...If I did, they weren't much interested."
04:49Power first entered the industry on the strong reputation of his father, whose middle and
04:53stage name was Tyrone.
04:55He has thus become retroactively recognized as Tyrone Power Sr., though the lineage was
05:00founded on the British stage by his grandfather, William Grattan Tyrone.
05:05His own son, Harold, may have never found such success in acting, but his wife Ethel
05:10Lavergne definitely did.
05:12The man most commonly recognized as Tyrone Power really does have the acting bug throughout
05:16his esteemed family tree, and the tradition kept going with his three children, including
05:21the rather inaccurately billed Tyrone Power Jr.
05:24"...Blue Anne, your eyes are emerald green."
05:315.
05:32John Huston
05:33Walter Huston.
05:34Though John Huston is best recognized as a groundbreaking writer-director, he was also
05:38a prolific character actor.
05:40"...Perhaps they've discovered the more I pound the piano, the less I pound them.
05:44They're probably right."
05:45It's only natural, given his parentage.
05:48Walter Huston was a celebrated leading actor who moved away from Broadway to Hollywood
05:52just in time for the talkies.
05:54He was nominated for two Academy Awards before winning one for The Treasure of the Sierra
05:59Madre, written and directed by his son.
06:04Walter passed away not long after that, having never lost momentum as a stage and film actor.
06:09"...You have too much to live up to.
06:11There'll never be another like me."
06:14Some may argue he has since become a relatively esoteric old Hollywood figure against John
06:19and his daughter Angelica's influence on New Hollywood.
06:22But with his other grandchildren and great-grandson Jack, Walter's on-screen talents carry on.
06:284.
06:29Elizabeth Taylor
06:30Sarah Southern.
06:31Elizabeth Taylor was a singular force of style and talent on the screen.
06:34"...Just as the Mother Nile feeds and replenishes the earth, I am the Nile."
06:43Such was the case for her mother on the stage, but Sarah Southern retired from acting after
06:47marrying Frances Lenn-Taylor.
06:49Despite initial objections to Elizabeth entering the grind of the film industry, Southern wound
06:54up the strictest of stage moms.
06:56Unfortunately, her experience in the field had less impact on her daughter's breakout
07:00than Frances' connections as a Beverly Hills art gallerist.
07:04It was a sadly quintessential story of sacrifice and superficiality behind a woman's rise in
07:09old Hollywood.
07:10"...Boy, you can go on forever and after everything is manageable.
07:14You make all sorts of excuses to yourself to hell with it.
07:17This is life."
07:18Elizabeth Taylor would help change the way starlets of her caliber were respected in
07:22drama, with her mother's often harsh support and influential talent.
07:273.
07:28Charlie Chaplin
07:29Charles and Hannah Chaplin.
07:30The name Charles Chaplin now makes one picture a cinematic pioneer, or at least his lovable
07:35tramp character.
07:36By the late 19th century, the name was big enough in London's music hall scene to make
07:41marquees in America.
07:42"...When you're courting off your sweetheart with an ardour none can shake."
07:48Singer Charles Chaplin Sr. had previously met and performed with his wife Hannah by
07:53her stage name, Lily Harley.
07:55But don't be so quick to write off their son's underdog myth.
07:58After Hannah's career and marriage both imploded, the successful Charles allowed his estranged
08:03family to fall into poverty.
08:05Young Charlie Chaplin's name ultimately held little for his comedic brilliance and experienced
08:10sense of humanist drama.
08:11"...You the people have the power, the power to create machines, the power to create happiness.
08:17You the people have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life
08:21a wonderful adventure."
08:22He made sure his many relatives and descendants could follow his prosperity in the entertainment
08:27industry.
08:282.
08:29Grace Kelly
08:30John, George, and Walter Kelly
08:32Grace Kelly went from Hollywood royalty to Monaco royalty.
08:36But the princess consort didn't have entirely humble beginnings.
08:39Her father, John B. Kelly Sr., claimed fame as the first Olympic rower ever to win three
08:44gold medals before becoming a powerful Philadelphia industrialist.
08:48He also dabbled in politics, serving as National Physical Fitness Director under FDR.
08:54Meanwhile, two of his brothers acted in vaudeville.
08:57George was also a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, while Walter's successful transition into
09:01film was cut short by a fatal car accident in 1939.
09:05"...Glad to be aboard, Captain.
09:06I was with your father in the Philippines.
09:07I'll never forget the night we were going ashore at Louisville."
09:11"...Yes, I remember quite well.
09:12I remember quite well.
09:13He told me about it."
09:14Despite this and many more tragedies, the stage was set for Grace to follow her uncles
09:19into acting.
09:20Granted, the incomparable movie star and monarch really made a name for herself.
09:25"...I'm just a girl from the country.
09:26The theater and the people in it have always been a complete mystery to me."
09:31Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified
09:35about our latest videos.
09:37You have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them.
09:41If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.
09:461.
09:47Mickey Rooney – Joe Yule
09:49Mickey Rooney broke out as one of the definitive names in child acting.
09:54It's easy to assume that the boy was a natural.
09:56"...Oh, I get you, Pop.
09:59I've got to show you just like the rest of the world.
10:01I thought we could help you, but you don't want us on the stage, do you?"
10:04In fact, he was the son of Joe Yule, a sensational vaudevillian and big-screen character actor.
10:10He's probably best known for headlining the Jigs and Maggie film series.
10:15"...Oh, Maggie!"
10:18Still, Joe Jr. had to build his own career after his parents separated.
10:23Nellie Carter herself, a performer, landed her son the lead in the Mickey McGuire series.
10:28Amid a copyright suit with the source material's authors, Joe Jr.'s name was changed to his
10:34characters, then to Mickey Rooney.
10:36Whether Joe Yule can have a direct claim to his son's success, it suggests that many Nepo
10:41babies just have talent in their genes.
10:43"...You did good, didn't you?"
10:46"...You did great.
10:48You did great."
10:50What are some other old Hollywood family connections that may be obscure in today's pop culture?
10:55Take us back in the comments.
10:56"...Change out of $5."
10:57"...$5?
10:58It's the biggest bill I've seen here this afternoon."
11:02Do you agree with our picks?
11:03Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo.
11:05And be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.