10 Celebrities You Never Guessed Had Famous Relatives

Beatty became a leading man in Hollywood, starring in films such as Splendor in the Grass, Bonnie and Clyde and Bugsy. He also won an Oscar for best director in the 1981 drama Reds.

“We’re very close,” MacLaine told People in 2024. “We don’t let that be known, but we’re very close.”

Liza Minnelli’s parents are Judy Garland and Vincente Minnelli.

Singer-songwriter-actress Liza Minnelli, 79, grew up in the entertainment business alongside her mother, legendary actress Judy Garland, and father, director Vincente Minnelli. Garland was Dorothy in the 1939 groundbreaking film The Wizard of Oz. During a 2024 chat with Interview, Liza said the most “glamorous” part of her childhood was her father, while the most challenging part was her mother.

“I bounced back and forth because they were divorced, but I loved them both so much,” Liza explained. “My mother was fascinating because she knew so many fascinating people who would come over. And my father used to let me go to the set and watch him direct. I’d go to the dance room where they choreographed stuff and learn it. I’d watch people like Cyd Charisse and Gene Kelly.”

Phylicia Rashad and Debbie Allen are siblings.

Sisters Phylicia Rashad, 77, and Debbie Allen, 75, are luminaries in TV, film and dance.

While Rashad garnered notoriety through her role on The Cosby Show, Allen became known as a director and choreographer. The sisters have worked together on The Cosby Show and Grey’s Anatomy.

In an interview with The Breakfast Club earlier this year, Rashad spoke about her younger sister and when her passion for the arts began to blossom.

“Debbie was 9 years old, and she said to my mother, ‘I need dance classes, and you’re not doing a thing about it,’” she shared. “[It was] legal segregation at that time. My mother took the railing off the side of the stairs, going upstairs. She took the handle rail, and had it attached to a wall in what was supposed to be the dining room. And she hired this teacher from the New York City Ballet, a Caucasian man, to come and teach Debbie in the house. Her ballet classes were there. This is how we grew.”

Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg and Melissa McCarthy are cousins.

Hollywood actresses Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg, 52, and Melissa McCarthy, 54, are first cousins who grew up in the entertainment industry together. Jenny is credited with helping Melissa nab her first television role in her comedy sketch show, The Jenny McCarthy Show, in 1997.

Jenny, who’s a judge on Fox’s The Masked Singer, came out in defense of her Emmy Award–winning cousin in 2014 when rumors swirled that she was critical of Melissa’s weight.

“There is a crazy story going around that I once told my cousin, Melissa, that she would have to lose weight in order to get into show business. Nothing could be further from the truth,” Jenny told People at the time. “When she was starting out, I was fortunate enough to be in a position to get her a job on a show I was doing, to learn the ropes and get some experience on a TV set in front of the camera and behind the scenes.

“She has accomplished everything she has accomplished through hard work and her extraordinary talent, and I’ve only ever encouraged and supported and wished her the very best.”

Kiefer Sutherland’s father is Donald Sutherland.

Actor Kiefer Sutherland 58, is a television hero, having starred in the long-running Fox show 24 as Jack Bauer. Kiefer’s father is the late actor Donald Sutherland, whose roles in M*A*S*H and The Hunger Games made him a household name across generations. Both men appeared on-screen together in the 2015 Western Forsaken. Donald passed away in 2024 at the age of 88.

Kiefer called his father “one of the most important actors in the history of film” in a tribute on X (formerly known as Twitter).

“Never daunted by a role, good, bad or ugly. He loved what he did and did what he loved, and one can never ask for more than that.”

Dionne Warwick and Whitney Houston are cousins.

Grammy Award–winning singer Dionne Warwick, 84, and late R&B vocalist Whitney Houston are first cousins.

Houston is known for hits like “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” “I Will Always Love You” and “Heartbreak Hotel.” The six-time Grammy Award winner died in 2012 due to an accidental drowning.

In 2022, the “Walk On By” artist shared her feelings about her cousin’s biopic, I Wanna Dance With Somebody. “This film is about her legacy. It’s not a piece of trash,” Warwick told AARP. “That would have been my concern. I have not seen it, but from what I understand ... it’s a positive look at Whitney and it capitalizes on her voice and her talent.”

Mariska Hargitay’s mother is Jayne Mansfield.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star Mariska Hargitay, 61, is the daughter of Jayne Mansfield. Mansfield was an actor, model, and popular sex symbol in the 1950s and 1960s. She died in a car crash in 1967 after her car slid under a semitruck. Hargitay, who was only 3 at the time, and her two older brothers were in the back seat, and they survived with minor injuries. Because of this tragedy, all semitrucks have a “Mansfield bar” to protect them from accidents.

Hargitay will release an HBO documentary titled My Mom, Jayne on June 27. The documentary chronicles her quest to learn more about her late mother.

“There was just so much that I didn’t know about her,” she told Stephen Colbert. “So much that I assumed, and when you grow up and your mother is a Hollywood icon and you know, a sex symbol, bombshell, and it’s just a lot.”