LIFESTYLE / Trends

Celebrities from famous families
(MSNBC)
Updated: 2006-04-12 14:09

Michael Douglas: With so many big names pricing cradles and buying baby duds at Petit Tresor, you'd think Hollywood's other net export was toddlers. Many celebrity kids grow up in their parents' shadows, but Michael Douglas more than made good on his silver-screen roots. Maybe it's because he only saw dad Kirk a few times a year (Kirk divorced Diana Douglas when Michael was six) and Dad tried to keep Michael from getting into the biz. Did that make him work extra hard to establish himself? Whatever the reason, Douglas lit up the small screen ("The Streets of San Francisco") before turning his talents to the marquee. His career speaks for itself, including a mile-long list of memorable roles ("Wall Street," "American President") and two Oscars to his name. With his track record, it doesn't matter who your parents are.


Angelina Jolie: Don't forget -- the forthcoming Pitt-Jolie baby will in fact be a third-generation celebrity baby. Though Angelina remains estranged from dad Jon Voight, she wasn't spared a Hollywood upbringing by mom Marcheline Bertrand (with Jacqueline Bisset and Maximilian Schell as godparents), complete with teen modeling career, before breaking out in 1995's "Hackers." There's no doubt Jolie's a strange bird ¨C don¡¯t forget the vials of blood and brother-kissing -- but she sure inherited some serious acting chops (remember Daddy's Oscar nod for "Midnight Cowboy"). For all her oddball ways, she seems to be a loving mother and is a serious advocate for good causes. In short, the very definition of a great movie star.


Jamie Lee Curtis: Celebrity genetics to the Nth degree. Janet Leigh ("Psycho") and Tony Curtis ("Some Like It Hot") made for a curious parental pairing, but Jamie quickly rose to fame from her shrieky "Halloween" antics with some roles we'll never forget, including her heart-of-gold hooker in "Trading Places" (and no, not just because of the topless scene) and her titular thief in "A Fish Called Wanda." Not every actress could effortlessly follow a "Halloween" sequel with "Freaky Friday." Curtis planned to curtail her acting career in middle age, but with so much talent, here's hoping she¡¯ll be on screen for decades to come. Speaking of which, when is hubby Christopher Guest ("Best in Show") gonna cast her in one of his films?


Liv Tyler: When the daughter of Aerosmith's Steven Tyler jumped from modeling to movies, it would've been easy enough to peg her as yet another Big-Lipped Pretty Girl. But her roles were tender and thoughtful, and by the time she showed up in Bernardo Bertolucci's "Stealing Beauty," her subtle abilities shone through. With a rock-star dad and a former Playmate mom, Liv's boistrous childhood could easily have put her on a destructive path. Instead she's the striking image of normal. We just wish for another "Lord of the Rings" sequel so she'd get another chance to look all elven and angelic.



Kiefer Sutherland: Remember when Kiefer showed up in 1986's "Stand by Me"? It seemed like he was just another actor's kid, doomed to be typecast as a bad boy. Not to say "24's" Jack Bauer is a saint but ... boy, were we wrong. Donald Sutherland's son is as talented as his proud dad, and what¡¯s better than tuning in each week for a chance to watch him save the world (again)? It hasn't been a totally smooth road ¨C he struggled with cocaine in the '90s, and fiancee Julia Roberts skipped town in 1991 with Kiefer¡¯s "Lost Boys" co-star Jason Patric. But he's avoided any Charlie Sheen-scale misfortunes, and become one of Hollywood's most versatile actors.