Genes or Nepotism - Famous Relatives Quiz

Answer: Olivia Newton-John

Max Born, Olivia Newton-John's grandfather, was a German physicist and mathematician, who was instrumental in the development of quantum mechanics for which he received the Nobel Prize in 1954. He immigrated to England at the time of the rise of Hitler to power and avoided the future Holocaust.

His daughter Irene married Brinley Newton-John, who worked on the Enigma project at Bletchley Park during World War II. The Newton-John family immigrated to Australia when Olivia was six years old. Newton-John has had a long career as a solo singing artist and later appeared in films, such as "Grease" and "Xanadu".

Answer: Grace Kelly

Jack Kelly, the father of Grace Kelly, was an accomplished American rower. He had his application to row in the Henley Regatta rejected, supposedly because he was a bricklayer and not a gentleman. He exacted a measure of revenge by winning gold medals in the 1920 Olympic games in single scull and double scull rowing events. He repeated his victory in the double scull in the 1924 Olympics.

His daughter Grace had a distinguished acting career before retiring at age 26 to marry Prince Ranier of Monaco. Her films included "High Noon", "To Catch a Thief", "Dial M for Murder", "Rear Window", and "High Society".

Answer: Larry Hagman

Mary Martin had a long and successful career on Broadway, starring as Nellie Forbush in "South Pacific" and as Maria von Trapp in "The Sound of Music". However she is best remembered for her role as Peter Pan.

She married her high school sweetheart, Ben Hagman; and actor Larry Hagman was their son. Hagman was raised primarily by his grandmother, due to the demands of Mary Martin's career. He would later star in "I Dream of Jeannie" and "Dallas", where he played the conniving J. R. Ewing.

Answer: Kate Hudson

Goldie Hawn was a breakout star of the American television show "Laugh-In", where she played the dumb blonde role in comedy sketches. In 1976 she married musician Bill Hudson and had two children. Her daughter Kate Hudson has starred in "How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days", "Raising Helen", and "Bride Wars".

Answer: Tim McGraw

Edwin (Tug) McGraw was a standout relief pitcher for the New York and Philadelphia baseball teams. He was noted for coining the rallying cry "You Gotta Believe" for the Mets' team and for getting the final out in the 1980 World Series championship for Philadelphia.

He had a brief affair with a high school student early in his career, which resulted in the birth of country singer Tim McGraw. He refused to acknowledge his son until Tim was 17, but the two later developed a close relationship.

Tim McGraw has had a very successful career as a singer, winning 3 Grammy awards, numerous CMA awards and at least 10 top albums and 25 top country songs.

Answer: Dakota Johnson

Tippi Hedren was a former model who appeared in several films including "Birds" and "Marnie". She is also a noted activist for proper treatment of animals. Her daughter is the film star Melanie Griffith.

Don Johnson starred as Sonny Crockett in the popular television series "Miami Vice". He was married to Melanie Griffith twice, for a short time in in 1976 and again for 1989-1976. Their daughter Dakota Johnson has starred in the "50 Shades of Gray" movies and "How to be Single".

Answer: Jamie Lee Curtis

Janet Leigh is most famous for her role as Marion Crane in "Psycho". She also starred in such films as "Bye Bye Birdie", "The Manchurian Candidate", and two horror films with her daughter Jamie Lee Curtis.

Tony Curtis acted in over 100 films, most notably "Some Like it Hot" and "The Great Race". He was married to Janet Leigh between 1951 and 1962, having two children in what was the golden marriage in Hollywood at that time.

Jamie Lee Curtis initially starred as "the scream queen" of horror films. But she later was praised as a serious actor for roles in "Trading Places", "True Lies", amd "Forever Young".

Answer: Sigourney Weaver

Sylvester (Pat) Weaver was head of NBC, creating shows such as "Today", the "Tonight Show", and "Wide Wide World". He introduced the concept of advertisers buying blocks of time for shows rather than having them sponsor entire shows.

His daughter Susan Alexandra (Sigourney) Weaver is noted for her recurring role as Ellen Ripley in the "Alien" films and Dana Barrett in the "Ghostbusters" series. She has also starred in "Gorillas in the Mist", "The Year of Living Dangerously" and "Avatar".

Answer: Carly Simon

Richard Simon was the head of Simon and Schuster publishing house from its founding until his retirement in 1957. He was a talented piano player (his brother was a rehearsal pianist for George Gerschwin) and was a piano salesman when he met Max Schuster. He joined Schuster at the publisher Boni and Liveright, eventually leaving to form their own firm that started with the first book of crossword puzzles.

Later he would marry Andrea Heinemann and have four children. His daughter Carly was a noted singer, haning 13 Top 40 singles, 4 gold singles, and two Grammy awards. Her most famous songs were "You're So Vain", "Nobody Does It Better", and "Anticipation".

Answer: Liza Minnelli

Judy Garland attained stardom at a young age, playing "Dorothy Gale in "The Wizard of Oz". While still young, she would star in "The Easter Parade", "Meet Me in St Louis", and "Summer Stock". Later in her career she received critical acclaim for roles in "Judgment at Nurenburg" and "A Star is Born".

She worked often with director Vincent Minnelli early in her career and married him in 1945. Minnelli would become famous for directing "An American in Paris", "Brigadoon", "Gigi", "Kismet", and "Lust for Life".

Their daughter Liza Minnelli is a pop singer and a Broadway performer. Her most notable successes have been the film adaptation of "Cabaret" and "The Sterile Cuckoo".

Answer: Angelina Jolie

John Voight has won one Academy Award and four Golden Globes during his acting career. His is most well known for his film "Midnight Cowboy", but he also had major successes with "Deliverance", "Coming Home", and "The Champ". He married actress Marcheline Bertrand in 1971, and their daughter Angelina Jolie was born in 1975.

Angelina Jolie rocketed to stardom playing Lara Croft in "Lara Croft: Tomb Raiders". She continued with "Mr. and Mrs. Smith", "Changeling", and "Maleficent". In addition she has been praised for humanitarian efforts for conservation, women's rights, and education.

Answer: David Cassidy

Shirley Jones was an actress and singer who had major roles in "Oklahoma", "Carousel", "Elmer Gantry", and "The Music Man". She was married to actor Jack Cassidy, a successful Broadway and television actor. He helped set up their son, David Cassidy, in his acting career.

David Cassidy had his first major success playing Keith Partridge in the show "The Partridge Family". The show proved extremely popular with Cassidy becoming a teen idol as the lead singer. Early success took a toll on Cassidy as he struggled with the mass hysteria that followed him. His later career included playing roles on Broadway and Las Vegas and more serious songs.

Answer: Gwyneth Paltrow

Gwyneth Paltrow won an Academy Award for "Shakespeare in Love" and has starred in "Emma", "The Royal Tenenbaums", "Seven", and "The Talented Mr. Ripley".

Her mother , Blythe Danner, was a successful actress in films and television form the late 1960s. Some of her noted roles were "Meet the Parents" and its sequels, "The Prince of Tides", and "The Great Santini".

Bruce Paltrow, Gwyneth's father, was an American film and television director-producer. He was most noted for producing the television shows "White Shadow" and St. Elsewhere".

Answer: Ben Stiller

Anne Meara and Jerry Stiller were probably the top American comedy couple in the late 1960s and the best American married couple comedy team since Burns and Allen. They broke up their act in 1970, because Meara thought it was affecting their marriage. She continued acting and writing comedy. He also continued acting, most notably in "Seinfeld" and "The King of Queens".

Their son, Ben Stiller, starred in "There's Something About Mary", "Meet the Parents", and "Meet the Fockers". He has also directed a number of films.

Answer: Sean Astin

Patty Duke won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at age playing the role of Helen Keller in "The Miracle Worker". She later played cousins Cathy and Patty Lane in "The Patty Duke Show" with very differing personalities, which mirrored Duke's own bipolar personality. Later she starred in "Valley of the Dolls" and turned her talents to lead the Screen Actors' Guild for three years. Unfortunately her early career is a case study of abuse and manipulation by unscrupulous adults.

Her son Sean Astin is most famous for his role as Sam in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy and for playing the underdog hero in "Rudy".