I did NOT know Jeanette MacDonald's sister was Grandmama on The Addams Family

Before she was the grandmother, she was in a lot of MGM movies, billed as Marie Blake. A regular in the Dr. Kildare movies w/Lew Ayres & Lionel Barrymore. She was in an Andy Hardy movie I saw recently (the one with Judy Garland and Lana Turner. Love Finds Andy Hardy. Mrs. Hardy is away and they hire a cook.)

There was a time when I was surprised to learn Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine were sisters. My dad told me.

There are lots of show biz people who are related, with different names, or just look so different that without all the various gossip magazines, I wouldn't have connected.

Shirley McLaine - Warren Beatty

Eric Roberts- Julia Roberts

Alan Alda - Robert Alda, Antony Alda

Blythe Danner- GOOP

I used to see Bing Russell in a lot of westerns, didn't know he was Kurt Russell's dad.

James Arness & Peter Graves

The actress who played James Cagney's sister in Yankee Doodle Dandy was his real sister, Jeanne who was twenty years younger. She co-starred in several other movies with him and also had her own tv show later in life. She died in 1984, aged 65, two years before James death. They were close most of their lives but sadly they were estranged for several years before her death.

Joanne Dru (movie star) and Peter Marshall (comedian and Hollywood Squares host)--sister and brother.

Tom Noonan was Peter Marshall's comedy partner, for a long time. He was the half-brother of John Ireland. Ireland married Marshall's sister, Joanne Dru.

Peter Marshall's real name was Pierre LaCock.

r8 I thought you were making that up, but it's true! Had he just lived in a different time, he could have had a career in porn!

Joanne Dru's name was Joan LaCock.

Nina Foch's real name was Nina Fock.

Marshall's son was a MLB player named Pete LaCock.

LaCock???

Beat the cock, Pete

Joanne Dru’s nickname was “Uncut.”

Not blood related, but Stanley Tucci is married to Emily Blunt's older sister, Felicity Blunt

R7- I thought Marshall’s sister was Penny Marshall.

Speaking of Penny Marshall, I didn't know she and producer Garry Marshall (Happy Days) were brother and sister, back then, found out at some point back in the day. Not a big deal, but they were both famous at the time and I didn't make the connection.

Grace Foster, that harlot up in Apt 2-A on "I Love Lucy" was played by Gloria Blondell, Joan's sister. I didn't know this until recently. Gloria was once married to Cubby Broccoli, producer of many of the James Bond films.

I remember being surprised when I learned that Dana Andrews and Steve Forrest were brothers. They seemed to have come from two different eras, one classic Hollywood, the other more contemporary. Turns out there's a 16 year age difference between the two.

Blossom Rock is a terrific name.

It surprised me that Uncle Fester was once married to Betty Grable. And that he was a child star.

R20 I always wondered if Steve consulted with his brother before his turn in “Mommie Dearest” (Joan and Dana costarred in 1947)

R22 he even had a law named after him. What don’t you know?

Plot twist! Jackie Coogan’s second wife was named…Flower!

OP- Grandmama was rather attractive in the 1930's.

R21, Yes. Blossom is a lovely name.

As a kid, I saw all these old movies and trailers on TV, and the stars got that huge, screen-filling billing, like they used to get. I thought they were all big stars for all time. It still surprises me stars like Joanne Dru were only big for a short time (5 to 10 years).

r19 Gloria Blondell played a neighbor on the TV series "The Life of Riley," one Honeybee Gillis.

I have a book entitled "Debrett Goes to Hollywood," authored by Charles Kidd. Some gossip but mostly very detailed accounts of how almost everybody in Hollywood was related to everybody else in Hollywood. Lots and lots of family trees for the genealogically-inclined. 📚

I think it was on the DL where I learned that Mabel Albertson, who played Darrin Stephens' mother on "Bewitched" was the older sister of Oscar, Emmy, and Tony-winning actor, Jack Albertson. But what I didn't know was that Mabel was once Cloris Leachman's mother-in-law, via Cloris' long marriage to Mabel's son, George Englund.

I also didn't know that Jack Albertson was Wes Studi's father-in-law, via Wes's marriage to Jack's only daughter, Maura Dhu.

Recently found out that John Megna (Dill from To Kill a Mockingbird) was the half-brother of Connie Stevens! I also didn't know until recently that he died from AIDS

R28 like Howard Keel, his A list career only lasted about 5 years, but he was in a bunch of classics in that time

Mommie Dearest director Frank Perry is Katy Perry's uncle!

R31 wait til you learn he was a beloved high school teacher in the Valley. Or that he was a Cornell grad. Or on Star Trek.

😵‍💫

R33 he was Eleanor Perry’s husband!

FIFY

Bill Quinn (Mr Van Ranseleer, Archie Bunker’s Place) was the father-in-law of Bob Newhart

Vinton Hayworth (General Schaeffer, I Dream of Genie) was the maternal uncle of Rita Hayworth and his wife was the aunt of Ginger Rogers

Vinton Hayworth (General Schaeffer, I Dream of Genie) was the uncle of Ginger Rogers and his wife was the aunt of Rita Hayworth. FIFY.

No R37. Rita Hayworth’s mother was Volga Hayworth, Vinton’s sister.

Vinton is Ginger Roger’s uncle through marriage.

This is very confusing.

r36 was originally correct.

I didn't know General Schaeffer was Hayworth's blood uncle, and Rogers's uncle by marriage. You learn something new everday here at DL.

If he was an uncle to x, his wife was an aunt to x. And vice versa.

The end.

Cloris' sister, Claiborne Cary...

Frank Albertsons is Mabel’s brother not Jack. George England was a hottie. I think he had lots of affairs—Joan Collins did her best to keep him. Cloris had her hands full with him….

R31 freaked me out when I first heard it.

Cloris was a handful herself.

Jack and Mabel were siblings, Rose.

R43 From Wikipedia:

Mabel Ida Albertson was born on July 24, 1901, in Haverhill, Massachusetts, to Flora (Craft) and Leopold Albertson, who were Russian-born Jewish immigrants. Her younger brother was actor Jack Albertson, who played Grandpa Joe in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.

Frank, take me home. I'm getting a sick headache.

George Englund was indeed hot.

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