For some reason, the careers of parents and relatives of famous people always interests me. Exactly why I find the fact that Abe Vigoda's brother drew for Archie comics insanely interesting is beyond me. It just is. If you find the fact that both of John-Boy Walton's parents were ballet dancers even remotely interesting, the following list of TV celebs and their relations may be worth a read...
Relatives in politics:
Christopher Lloyd (Taxi) - uncle: 32nd mayor of San Francisco.
McLean Stevenson (M*A*S*H*, Hello Larry) - great uncle: Adlai E. Stevenson, the vice-president of Grover Cleveland.
Dan Akroyd (SNL) - father: policy adviser to Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau
Michael Learned (Little House on the Prairie) - father: diplomat*
Relatives in the arts:
Abe Vigoda (Barney Miller, Fish) - brother: illustrator of Archie comics
Melanie Wilson (stewardess neighbor on Perfect Strangers) - father: "Mr. Whipple" the Charmin spokesman
Gavin MacLeod (Love Boat, MTM) - mother: writer for Reader's Digest
Catherine Bach (The Dukes of Hazzard) - mother-in-law: actress Angela Lansbury (Murder She Wrote)
Lynda Carter (Wonder Woman) - father: art dealer
Pat Harrington (Schneider on One Day at a Time) - father; vaudeville performer
Robert Hegyes (Epstein on Welcom Back, Kotter) - cousin: singer Jon Bon Jovi
Billy Crystal (Soap) - father: record company executive
Ruth Buzzi (Laugh In) - father: nationally recognized stone sculptor
Richard Thomas (The Waltons) - father and mother: ballet dancers
Dan Rowan (Laugh In) - father and mother: carnival performers
Religious dads:
Adrian Zmed (TJ Hooker) - Romanian Orthodox Priest
Agnes Moorehead (Bewitched) - Presbyterian minister
David Soul (Starsky & Hutch) - Lutheran minister
John Davidson (Hollywood Squares) - Baptist minister
Lawyer dads:
Carol O'Connor (All in the Family)
Richard Mol (Night Court)
David Doyle (Charlie's Angels)
Larry Hagman (I Dream of Jeannie, Dallas)
John Sylvester White (Mr. Woodman on Welcome Back, Kotter)
Arte Johnson (Laugh In)
Professional musician parents:
Linda Lavin (Alice) - mother: opera singer
George Peppard (The A Team) - mother: opera singer
Olivia d'Abo (The Wonder Years) - father: member of the Manfred Mann band
Eve Plumb (The Brady Bunch) - father: saxophonist
Scientist dads:
Tom Poston (Newhart): dairy chemist
Loni Anderson (WKRP in Cincinnati): environmental chemist
Markie Post (Night Court): nuclear physicist
Medical dads:
Sally Struthers (All in the Family): surgeon
Jaclyn Smith (Charlie's Angels): dentist
Agricultural dads:
Florence Henderson (The Brady Bunch): tobacco sharecropper
Don Knotts (Andy Griffith Show): farmer
Diane Ladd (Alice): poulterer
Parents in Education:
Maureen McCormick (The Brady Bunch) - father: teacher
David Lander (Squiggy on Laverne & Shirley) - mother and father: teachers
Mike Lookinland (The Brady Bunch) - father: vice principal
Bob Barker (Price is Right) - mother: teacher
* Another Waltons castmember has political connections, but not with a relative. Will Geer (Grandpa Walton) was the gay lover of Harry Hay, a well known gay rights advocate.
