Celebrities with educated, non-stage-parent families

Uma Thurman's father is a well-respected academic expert in religious studies (which is why she has a Hindu name).

Dylan McDermott's adored stepmother is the playwright Eve Ensler, who wrote The Vagina Monologues.

What does make one a “noted attorney” versus just a regular old lawyer?

Who writes the note?

Well, Braff's dad was really well known in NJ. He seemed like a good guy.

Reese Witherspoon and Lisa Kudrow's fathers were/are doctors

Mindy Kaling's mother was a doctor

Amanda Bynes' father is a dentist

[quote]Amanda Bynes' father is a dentist

Was her mother huffing nitrous throughout her pregnancy?

Kudrow's dad is a famous headache specialist. Reese's dad is a doctor and, apparently, a bigamist.

Does coming from money count as educated?

Harry Connick Jr's father was the DA of New Orleans.

Edward Norton's dad was a federal prosecutor.

Jon Lovitz's dad was a doctor.

Mick Jagger's dad is credited with popularizing basketball in England. DL fave Dommie Dunne's father was a famous heart surgeon. Angela Lansbury's grandfather was the head of UK Labor Party!

Jennifer Garner's dad is an engineer and her mom is a teacher. Wholesome as can be and truly nice people.

JGarner's sister is also nice as pecan pie! She lives near Boston.

G's father was a doctor and Moral Rearmament cult member.

Per Wikipedia: Uma Thurman's father, Robert Thurman, is a professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies and an author, who lived as an ordained Buddhist monk for three years

R13 Well, at least my father wasn't a dentist in trash New Jersey.

Ellie Kemper comes from the Missouri Kemper banking family and her father was CEO of Commerce Bank.

I admire Jen

Iggy Pop's father was a schoolteacher. Garth Hudson's (the Band) mother was a teacher. Both James Spader's parents were teachers.

Lucy Liu’s mother was a biochemist and her father was a civil engineer.

Both Jack Black's parents are engineers, or, in his words, rocket scientists.

My daddy founded Arizona.

[R2], the phrase "a noted --- " if used as originally intended meant that the person's professional writings or work were cited in a text. "A noted lawyer" would have contributed language to a case that helped establish precedent at the state or Federal level, and therefore be recorded as part of the legal history of such a case.

Kim Kardashian's father was a lawyer and business man.

Ansel Elgorts’s father, Arthur Elgort, is a fashion photographer who has worked extensively with Vogue for over 30 years and his mother, Grethe Barrett Holby, is an opera director.

R22: seems like "noted" was just used as a synonym of distinguished/notable/prominent.

Natalie Portman's father is a doctor

Elizabeth McGovern's entire family are highly educated -and talented, too.

Gérard C. Louis-Dreyfus, father of Julia, was a Duke and Duke Law grad, billionaire and member of the Louis Dreyfus Group dynasty. Her mother wrote children's books. Beat that, bitches, with your completely un-special, middle-class engineers and schoolteachers.

Laura Prepon's father was an orthopedic surgeon.

[R25] It is now - but that was the original use. It's why Dr. Jones was a noted archaeologist while Miss Scott was a famed singer.

A. Bartlett Giamatti, father of Paul, graduated from Phillips and Yale. He would later be president of Yale and Commissioner of the MLB.

Didn't DL fave George Eads have a district attorney father?

The Wilson brothers' father is a prominent attorney in Austin and their mother is a very welll known fine art photographer.

Stephen Colbert’s father was an immunologist with a distinguished career in medicine and education.

Both of Jordana Brewster's grandfathers were ambassadors. Jordana was a legacy student at Yale.

R28: OP only asked for examples of formally educated, non-showbiz parents of famous people. Not sure why you felt the need to "upstage" everyone with your FABULOUS! glamourous example, like a 9-year-old boasting to his classmates about his mommy and daddy.

[quote] Matt Damon's mother is a well-regarded child development expert.

He seems to be quite stable at least compared to Ben Affleck with whom he was childhood friends. Of course comparing him to Affleck may be construed as damning with faint praise.

[quote] Matt Damon's mother is a well-regarded child development expert.

Was his father a zoologist or a zoophile?

Bebe Neuwirth’s father was a mathematician who taught at Princeton University. Her mother is an painter.

Ted Danson’s father was an anthropology professor at the University of Arizona and he served as the director of the Museum of Northern Arizona. He was heavily involved in Western regional park organizations and with the National Parks Advisory Board.

Conan O’Brian’s father is a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. His mother is a retired attorney.

Kristin Chenoweth's adoptive parents are chemical engineers.

R7

No.

R36 getting bent out of shape over a post on a gay messageboard... beat it, you fucking Garner frau. Back to the Daily Mail comments section where you belong.

Dave Chappelle’s parents were college professors.

believe it or not Judd Nelson’s parents were academics (from Portland ME). He went to St. Paul’s and then Haverford.

R44, you really have no clue how dumb you sound, do you? Bragging about Louis-Dreyfus's family as if it's your own, and then responding with.... a Judy Garland "meme," as if you hadn't embarrassed yourself enough already.

Kate Bush is the daughter of a doctor and a nurse.

I CAN’T BELIEVE no one has mentioned Lens’ parents yet!

R47 It's not a "meme," it's a GIF, you fucking old CUNT.

Ben Barnes' parents are both psychiatrists. His mother is a sex therapist, his father is a Prof. Emeritus of Clinical Psychiatry.

OP-Anne Hathaway's mom was an actress though.

Julianne Moore's father was a military judge, and her mother a social worker.

Both of Jude Law's parents were teachers.

Been Barnes must be well and truly f**d up. Probably can’t even pick a sexuality or a gender.

R52 We've noted that in the Barnes threads many a time -- his completely inscrutable/non-existant sexuality and relationships -- all boils down to being his parents' lab rat.

Chris Cuomo's dad was Governor Mario Cuomo.

Joan Baez's father, Albert V. Baez, was a physicist who made important contributions to the development of microscopes.

Bumping up with a few more entries.

James Taylor's father was a well-known MD who was Dean of the Medical School at UNC Chapel Hill.

Grace Slick's parents were both educated, her father was a wealthy investment banker in SF. Her contemporary, David Crosby, was son of Oscar-winning cinematographer Floyd Crosby, who himself is descended from the Delafields, a family of extremely prominent Ivy-educated doctors in NYC.

Robin Williams also had well off educated parents, who were prominent in the Tiburon-SF area. His maternal great-great grandfather was Mississippi senator and governor Anselm J. McLaurin.

Actress Jordana Brewster's grandfather was President of Yale and former US ambassador to the UK in the 1970s.

Kirsten Dunst's father holds a PhD in business/economics and held high-paying positions in pharma and med device companies on the east coast. It was her mother who pushed her into show biz and moved her out to Hollywood as a child to act. Contrary to lore she didn't go into acting because her family lacked money, Dunst was never the breadwinner in her family as her father was well off.

Conan O'Brien's mother was partner at a law firm and his father was a doc.

Nick Kroll’s father owns Kroll Securities, one of the biggest security firms in the US.

John Mulaney’s parents are both lawyers, and one of them is a professor at the law school at Northwestern.

Jonah Hill’s father is a fairly well known business manager.

Jason Segal’s father is a fairly successful attorney.

Both of David Schwimmer’s parents are lawyers.

Steve Carell's mom was a nurse in my hometown and the head of my town's nursing association.

Olivia Newton-John's maternal grandfather was Nobel Prize-winning particle physicist Max Born. Her father was also a noted academic and teacher in the UK and Australia.

R58. Because his parents were attorneys and law professors they refused to allow him to be in "Home Alone". Smart parents.

Glenn Close's father was a doctor from Greenwich and both her parents were from prominent families. She's a William & Mary grad.

Sigourney Weaver's father Pat was a Dartmouth grad who was President of NBC in the 50s, she herself is a Stanford alum.

Meryl's father was a pharma exec and she famoulsy went to Vassar and Yale Drama.

Reese Witherspoon attended Stanford, her father is an MD who graduated from Tulane, her mother has a PhD and was a nursing professor at Vanderbilt.

R56 So many child actors claim that they only acted because they're "family needed the money." It's annoying.

R62 Glenn's parents were also part of a creepy cult! They were members of the Moral Re-Armament.

A large amount of successful actors now come from wealthy or educated families. In comparison to many stars of the past, who frequently had to claw their way up from gritty and troubled backgrounds. While as a result they are a bit more stable and healthier than their old Hollywood counterparts, they seem to have a certain spark missing. Their backstories just aren't as interesting.

Kiefer Sutherland: maternal grandfather was Tommy Douglas, Canadian politician who was Premier of Saskatchewan and founder of the Canadian New Democratic Party.

Bruce Dern: Penn alum, father a prominent Chicago attorney; paternal grandfather George Dern was governor of Utah and US Secretary of War; maternal great-grandfather founder of Carson, Pirie and Scott stores. His maternal great-uncle was poet Archibald MacLeish.

Finally the late Christopher Reeve: father a Princeton grad with a masters in Russian from Columbia, mother attended Vassar and Barnard; both step-parents were also Ivies. Paternal grandfather, Col. Richard Henry Reeve, was CEO of Prudential Financial; paternal great-grandfather served as 1st National Commander of The American Legion after WWI; maternal great-grandfather Mahlon Pitney was Republican Congressman from NJ in the late 1800s and later sat on SCOTUS from 1911 to 1922.

R66 he couldn’t have been too smart if his dad went to Princeton and he had to go to Cornell.

But he was beautiful, r67, so there's that.

"A large amount of successful actors"

And a large number of acting talent?

Lupita Nyong’o’s father is a former political science professor who turned to politics first serving as senator and currently governor of a region in Kenya. Her mother is the current director of the African Cancer Foundation.

You people aren't even trying. I give you: Christopher Guest, 5th Baron Haden-Guest.

The Right Honorable Lord Haden-Guest is probably best known for performing in This is Spinal Tap and directing Waiting for Guffman, Best In Show, A Mighty Wind, and For Your Consideration.

His father Peter, along with being the 4th Baron Haden-Guest (and holding a seat in the House of Lords) was a British United Nations diplomat.

Fuck you all for forgetting US.

Jason Beghe's, the actor with the raspy voice on Chicago PD, father was a tax attorney in New York City who else appointed to the tax Court in DC. He was a wonderful writer. Jason's uncle was a Sculptor whose work is in the US Capitol. One of his grandfathers was a senator from Illinois and a governor.

Everyone in Wentworth Miller's family attended Ivy league colleges. His Dad and sister Yale, his younger sister Wellesley. His father was a assistant DA in New York and Rhodes Scholar in Oxford. I also read his aunt is a congress woman and his uncles are both judges.

Alexandra Daddario's parents are both major New York lawyers. I think her dad even worked for Michael Bloomberg

Ellie Kemper is another billionaire actress, the Kempers of St Louis have a long history in the city - founded Commerce Bank and have an art museum named after them. Ellie had her debut at the Veiled Prophet Ball.

...and to stay on topic, her dad was CEO of Commerce Bank and the family is legacy at Princeton

[quote]A large amount of successful actors now come from wealthy or educated families.

I’m not so sure about a “large amount”. For every Reese Witherspoon, it seems like there are ten Lindsay Lohans.

Treat Williams's father, Richard, was an executive at Olin Corporation. He bought a baby blanket for me, my mom was pregnant with me when she worked for Olin.

Kylie Minogue - her father is an accountant. He encouraged her to save and invest her money, which is why she's rich as fuck.

Then again, her sister Dannii is broke as fuck, so you can guess who is the smarter of the two.

[quote]Ellie Kemper comes from the Missouri Kemper banking family and her father was CEO of Commerce Bank.

Are you sure that wasn't Elly May Clampett?

Dina Merrill was the only child of Post Cereals heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post and her second husband, Wall Street stockbroker Edward Francis Hutton, founder of E. F. Hutton & Co.

Harry Connick, Jr. is the son of Harry Connick, Sr., the district attorney of New Orleans for 30 years.

Matt Damon's mom is a renowned child development expert.

Mick Jagger's father was a noted physical education expert in the UK, as noted above, which perhaps explains his stamina.

Conan O'Brien's mother was a law firm partner at a prestigious Boston firm. Mindy Kaling's mom was an OB (she died).

Mariah’s dad was an aeronautical engineer.

Kanye's mother, Donda West, was a professor and Chair of the English Department at Chicago State University. During her tenure at CSU, she served as Foreign Expert to the Peoples Republic of China.

Dolph Lundgren's father, Karl-Hugo Johan Lundgren, was an economist.

Laura Prepon's father was an orthopedic surgeon.

R29 How embarrassing it must be for the family that Laura's ego led her to be brainwashed by the Alien Cult.

Prepon is insufferable.

Edward Norton graduated from Yale. His dad was a lawyer and conservation advocate, his mom was an English teacher. His maternal grandfather was James Rouse, who developed urban marketplaces such as South Street Seaport and Faneuil Hall, and planned communities such as Columbia, MD, and Summerlin, NV.

R87 Prepon's father died a long time ago and maybe her family doesn't keep in touch the dad's former colleagues.. So they might be able to avoid the embarrassment of Prepon being in Scientology. But, Prepon has also described her mother as an eccentric type and it's possible the mom finds nothing wrong with her daughter being a weirdo cult.

Wow, she really is a piece of garbage.

Justin Long's father was a professor of medieval philosophy (now emeritus).