The 5: Hollywood Father and Sons You Might Not Know

This Week: A Bonus Edition of the 5 Especially for Fathers Day

In Hollywood there are many dynasties.  Sometimes there are multiple generations of great actors in the family, and it’s not at all unusual to have famous siblings or famous cousins in the biz.  Many of them you know about but here’s a few great Hollywood Fathers and Sons you might not know about.

  • Osgood and Anthony Perkins.  If you’ve ever seen the original Scarface, the slithery man with a wire mustache and long nose is theater actor Osgood Perkins. Although he died by 1937, he was a living legend in the theater and icon of up and coming actors. He was also the father of teen idol turned godfather of the slasher film, Anthony Perkins. It’s no surprise that when first promoting Anthony Perkins as a leading man, they delighted in commenting on his lineage and casting him as the son of respected actors (Gary Cooper in Friendly Persuasion and Karl Malden in Fear Strikes Out). Perkins claimed years later, when coming out as bi-sexual, he barely knew or even liked his father, but did study his scripts as a child. Anthony Perkins, who died of AIDS in 1992, is the father of another actor named Oz Perkins (Legally Blonde and Star Trek) and singer/songwriter Elvis Perkins.  Click here for a youtube video or scroll down.
  • Bruce and Bruno Kirby.  Bruce Kirby was best know for his television appearances, especially playing police lieutenant in Columbo and a bashful cop in Car 54, Where Are You?. He also had guest appearances in nearly every other show ever made. His son gravitated towards films (When Harry Met Sally, Modern Romance, City Slickers, Donnie Brasco). But the two collaborated on three of his best know roles. They auditioned for the Godfather Two together (both being Italian-Americans), costarred in the original This is Spinal Tap short film with Rob Reiner about his limo driver character, and Bruce Kirby suggested the improv line “Reader’s Digest is considering publishing one of my jokes.” Bruno Kirby, a favorite on talk shows before dying in 2006 (Bruce Kirby is still alive) used to delight in telling stories of going to midnight movies with his theater/waiter father in Hell’s Kitchen as a child.  Click here for a youtube video or scroll down to watch.
  • Richard and Jared Harris.  After his recent appearances on Mad Men and as a supervillian in Fringe and Sherlock Holmes 2, it should be no surprise the English actor Jared Harris is the son of Irish actor/bad boy Richard Harris. The two never work together and Jared Harris rarely even mentions his famous father in interviews. In fact, Jared was primarily raised by his step-father, fellow actor Rex Harrison. But both Harris men share a preference for playing up the weird.  Click here for a youtube video or scroll down to watch.
  • George and Campbell Scott.  The C. in George C. Scott is Campbell, the name he gave his youngest son with actress Colleen Dewhurst (a woman he married twice). George was considered one of the greatest of his generation and is notorious for rejecting his Academy Award for Patton (feeling it was wrong to compete with fellow actors). Campbell Scott claimed he left “Hollywood” after his experiences with the movies Dying Young and Singles, appearing in indie movies like The Spanish Prisoner and Roger Dodger, but recently returned to Hollywood as Andrew Garfield’s father in the upcoming Amazing Spiderman. Both men won the New York Film Critics Award, the award George C. Scott called “the only film award worth having,” George as an actor for Patton and Campbell for directing Big Night (with high school friend Stanley Tucci.)  Click here for a youtube video or scroll down to watch.
  • Jim and Timothy Hutton.  The youngest actor to win an Academy Award ended his Oscar speech with a tribute to his late father, actor Jim Hutton. Jim Hutton was a comic actor in films such as Where the Boys Are, Walk Don’t Run and Period of Adjustment,but also costarred with John Wayne in two films and made an impression in the Sam Peckenpah film Major Dundee. Timothy’s first feature film was as the grieving son in Ordinary People and he continued to make dramatic films, before transitioning to television in Nero Wolfe, Kidnapped, and Leverage. His father made the same small screen move in the 70s in the series Ellery Queen, and his signature cap is often worn by Timothy in Leverage in tribute to his father.  Click here for a youtube video or scroll down to watch.

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(6 minutes in, his father is mentioned)

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