The 25 Most Talented Children From Famous Families

Just like eye color and male pattern baldness, talent can be inherited. Or maybe it’s just a learned behavior. Whichever the case, for as long as there have been royal families, there have been able-bodied offspring following in the famous footsteps of their parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and siblings.

Here are the 25 most talented children from famous families. With not a single Kardashian to be found.

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Written by Jennifer Wood

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Career: Actor
Famous Family: Lady Margot Lavinia Cholmondeley (mother); director John Huston (grandfather); actress Anjelica Huston (aunt); actor Danny Huston (uncle)

Like the Coppolas, talent in the Huston family is a multigenerational affair. And like the Coppolas, they're the only other family with three generations of Oscar winners. So it's impossible to declare a winner in the "who's the most talented" game.

But relative newcomer Jack, the 30-year-actor born to British royalty on one side and Hollywood royalty on the other, is certainly proving that there's no shortage of continuing talent in this family.

Born in London, Huston is best-known to American audiences as Richard Harrow, the loyal hit man and former sniper with half a face who meted out all sorts of destruction in the season finale of Boardwalk Empire. Which means we'll be seeing plenty more of him when the show returns this fall. Jack also recently announced that he and his girlfriend, Victoria's Secret model Shannan Click, are expecting their first child together. Bring on the next generation!

Career: Entrepreneur
Famous Family: Fashion designer Ralph Lauren (father)

Dylan Lauren has done for candy stores what her dad, Ralph, did for khakis: classed 'em up. In 2001 she opened the world's largest candy store, Dylan's Candy Bar, in New York City. Since then, the self-described "Candy Queen" has expanded the chain—which boasts more than 7,000 kinds of candy from around the world—to include outposts in The Hampton, Houston and Miami Beach.

Career: Actor
Famous Family: Actor Tom Hanks (father); actress Rita Wilson (step-mother)

He can be funny (see Orange County), sad (see Mad Men), and downright scary (see Dexter). Much like his dad, it's hard to not like Colin Hanks. And it's hard not to draw comparisons when it comes to their looks, mannerisms, and acting style.

While father and son have been known to work together on occasion (Colin appeared in the HBO mini-series Band of Brothers, which Tom produced), Hanks the younger has really seemed to blaze his own career path, easily alternating between television and film with equal aplomb and affability.

Career: Mogul-Designer-Heiress-Reality TV Star
Famous Family: Business mogul Donald Trump (father); socialite Ivana Trump (mother)

Ivanka Trump has got brains, beauty and (fortunately) great hair. The daughter of The Donald has got her dad's tenacity and her mom's sense of style. In addition to her role as an executive vice president of The Trump Organization and a judge on her dad's reality show The Apprentice, the Ivy League grad is a model, writer (her book, The Trump Card: Playing to Win in Work and Life, was published in 2009) and clothing designer.

Career: Fashion Designer
Famous Family: Musician-activist Paul McCartney (father); photographer-activist Linda McCartney (mother)

She may not have inherited her dad's musical talent, but Stella McCartney sure has carried on her parents' love of animals. The lifelong vegetarian is a bit of an anomaly in the fashion world, refusing to use any leather or fur in her designs. McCartney has been known to wear her animal activism on her sleeve, literally; a line of athletic wear she created for Adidas stated "suitable for sporty vegetarians" on the arm.

Career: Actor-Model-Musician
Famous Family: Musician Lenny Kravitz (father); actress Lisa Bonet (mother)

Zoë Kravitz has long been an overachiever. Like her mom, Kravitz developed a love affair with acting at an early age, landing roles in No Reservations with Catherine Zeta-Jones and The Brave One, opposite Jodie Foster, before she had even graduated from high school.

She's modeled for major fashion magazines like Elle and starred in campaigns for top designers Alexander Wang and Vera Wang. But music is in her blood, too; she has appeared in music videos for Jay-Z and will.i.am, and is the lead singer for Elevator Fight, a band she formed in 2009. Though she notes that acting is her main focus, it's always good to have something to fall back on.

Later this year she'll join another famous familial duo—Will and Jaden Smith—to start in M. Night Shyamalan's After Earth.

Career: Actor-Trainwreck
Famous Family: Actor Martin Sheen (father); actor Emilio Estevez (brother)

We know that Charlie Sheen is an actor. But we're not going to say that he's a great actor. Yet he's managed to stay in the public eye for 30 years now, first as a bright-eyed up-and-comer in movies like Red Dawn and Wall Street, then as a target for the tabloids when his penchant for sex, drugs, and more drugs became public knowledge. (Sheen himself has never held back on divulging his vices.)

Despite it all, in 2010 Sheen was the highest paid actor on television, earning $1.8 million per episode for Two and a Half Men. When he disparaged the show and was subsequently canned, Sheen sued the producers for $100 million, then embarked on a public downward spiral which included a nationwide speaking tour, "My Violent Torpedo of Truth/Defeat is Not An Option." Tickets sold out in 18 minutes, setting a new Ticketmaster record.

Martin Sheen is the actor in the family; Charlie's talent is in self-promotion and a seemingly bulletproof resilience.

Career: Boxer
Famous Family: Boxer Muhammad Ali (father)

One of the more interesting career choices for a young woman looking to follow in her father's footsteps has to be professional boxer. But that's exactly what Laila "She Bee Stingin" Ali did when she took a page out of her father's professional handbook.

Ali was 21 years old when she took on her first professional opponent. And while female professional boxing was not a sport heavily covered in the media, Ali's last name went a long way toward changing that. (In 2001, she squared off against Joe Frazier's daughter, Jackie.)

All told, Ali participated in 24 fights and remains undefeated. These days, she's keeping her fists to herself and has become a small-screen staple, competing on Dancing with the Stars and serving as a television host.

Career: Musician-Actor
Famous Family: Musician Ravi Shankar (father)

Few musicians in recent history have launched their careers as successfully as Norah Jones. Her 2002 solo debut, Come Away With Me, showcased Jones' unique sound, a sort of jazz/pop/soul fusion. The album went on to sell more than 26 million copies and earn the then-23-year-old five Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year and Best New Artist. Though her subsequent albums have never reached the mainstream popularity of her debut, Jones has successfully found her way into other creative endeavors, including a starring role in Wong Kar-Wai's My Blueberry Nights, opposite Jude Law and Natalie Portman.

Career: Actor-Writer-Musician
Famous Family: Music mogul Quincy Jones (father); actress Peggy Lipton (mother)

Rashida Jones has a lot going on. Not only has the Harvard grad forged an impressive path as an actress, where she's proven to be the dependable best friend/girlfriend in many a project, but she shrugged off that very notion with Celeste & Jesse Forever, the indie hit she co-wrote and starred. It was was recently nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay. Jones, who has described herself as a "straight-up nerd," is also the creator of the comic book series Frenemy of the State, about a socialite working for the CIA.

Career: Actor-Writer
Famous Family: Writer Nicholas Kazan (father); producer Robin Swicord (mother); director Elia Kazan (grandfather)

Zoe Kazan is yet another prime example of how creativity makes its way from one generation to the next. The 29-year-old has already amassed an array of accolades as an actress, both in films and on the stage. In addition to roles in The Savages, Revolutionary Road, Me and Orson Welles, and happythankyoumoreplease, Kazan has been a Broadway fixture for the past five years, most recently appearing with Kristin Scott Thomas and Peter Sarsgaard in The Seagull.

Last year, she and boyfriend Paul Dano collaborated on Ruby Sparks, which Kazan wrote and starred in.

Career: Actor-Writer-Producer-Director
Famous Family: Painter Carroll Dunham (father); photographer Laurie Simmons (mother)

Love her or hate her, there's no denying the polarizing force that is Lena Dunham, creator and star of Girls. As if a hit show that seems to have all the world talking (and was just renewed for a third season) weren't enough, the 26-year-old two-time Golden Globe winner recently inked a $3.5 million deal (yes, you read that right) with Random House to publish Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She's Learned, a book of essays.

Career: Actor-Producer-Day Trader
Famous Family: Actor James Brolin (father); wildlife activist Jane Cameron Agee (mother); actor-director-musician Barbra Streisand (step-mother)

After reminding every kid of his or her annoying older brother as the annoying older brother in The Goonies, Josh Brolin dropped off the big-screen radar. He was acting steadily, but he had other things on his plate, like a successful career as a day trader. Then, in 2007, he returned, stealing scenes in seemingly every anticipated movie that came out that year, including Grindhouse, No Country for Old Men, In the Valley of Elah, and American Gangster.

In 2008 he transformed himself into former President George W. Bush for Oliver Stone's W. That same year, he was nominated for his first Oscar that same year for Gus Van Sant's Milk. Brolin has started making his mark behind the camera as well, executive producing and performing in The People Speak, a documentary inspired by historian Howard Zinn's book, A People's History of the United States.

Career: NFL Quarterback
Famous Family: NFL quarterback Archie Manning (father); NY Giants quarterback Eli Manning (brother)

In a family full of NFL quarterbacks, we can only imagine the competition that comes out when a friendly game breaks out at Manning family reunions. So let's, for the sake of argument, put aside the Denver Bronco's eight division championships, two AFC championships, and one Super Bowl ring. Let's also ignore the many accolades Peyton has received from major media outlets, like Sports Illustrated naming him Player of the Decade. Where Peyton rises above his DNA-sharing siblings is in personality alone. He's one of the few athletes to host Saturday Night Live and actually be funny. Cut that meat!

Career: Actor-Producer-Musician
Famous Family: Cinematographer Caleb Deschanel (father); actress Mary Jo Deschanel (mother); actress Emily Deschanel (sister)

Since making her debut in Lawrence Kasdan’s Mumford in 1999, Zooey Deschanel has perfected the role of sardonic best friend/sidekick in big-budget features and indies alike, plus television shows like New Girl.

But she’s been living somewhat of a double life, with a busy music career happening on the sidelines: first as part of a jazz cabaret act, If All the Stars Were Pretty Babies, in which she sang and played keyboards, banjo, and ukulele. She’s also one half of She & Him, the popular indie folk duo she formed with M. Ward.

Career: Actor-Activists
Famous Family: Director Stephen Gyllenhaal (father); writer-producer Naomi Foner (mother)

With all due respect to their individual talents, it's tough to decide which of the younger Gyllenhaal generation we like better—Jake with understated acting style or feisty Maggie, who broke through in a big way as the star of 2002's S&M-themed Secretary. And since they're both the children of writer/director Stephen Gyllenhaal and writer/producer Naomi Foner, we'll let them share a spot on this list. As siblings, they must be used to it.

Career: Actor-"Lifestyle Expert"-Cookbook Author
Famous Family: Producer-director Bruce Paltrow (father); actress Blythe Danner (mother); writer-director Jake Paltrow (brother)

Good looks and loving parents weren't enough for Gwyneth Paltrow. She had to be talented, too. The It Girl of the '90s—who dated a veritable who's who of A-list leading men, including Brad Pitt and Ben Affleck—won her first (and so far only) Oscar at the tender age of 27. Shortly thereafter, she tapped the brakes on her career a bit when she married Coldplay frontman Chris Martin and had two of her own offspring (including daughter Apple, who seems to have kicked off the "my baby's name is stranger than yours" celebrity wars).

Today, she runs the lifestyle website goop.com, dabbles in food and clothing design, and has the good sense to choose her projects wisely, unlike so many other actors who win their Oscars young... and end up starring in movies like Chill Factor shortly thereafter. You hear that Cuba Gooding Jr.? You screwed up.

Career: Actor
Famous Family: NY Giants VP Timothy Mara (father); NY Giants founder Tim Mara (great grandfather); Pittsburgh Steelers founder Art Rooney Sr. (great grandfather); actress Kate Mara (sister)

While actress Kate Mara was quietly building a nice little career for herself in film (Brokeback Mountain) and television (Entourage), little sister Rooney seemed to swoop in and steal the spotlight. After starring in the remake of A Nightmare Before Elm Street, Rooney landed a small but pivotal role in David Fincher's Oscar-nominated The Social Network. The notorious perfectionist must have liked what he saw, because he cast her as the star of his 2011 adaptation of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, beating out plenty of other veteran actresses vying for the part. The film earned her both Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress—all at the age of 26.

With upcoming roles in Steven Soderbergh's Side Effects, Terrence Malick's new project, and Spike Jonze's Her, this NFL princess could not be hotter.

Career: MLB All-Star
Famous Family: MLB outfielder Ken Griffey Sr. (father)

Being the kid in Little League whose dad is a major leaguer probably isn't the easiest gig. But Junior lived up to his father's talents on the field—and then some. The 13-time All-Star played in the bigs for more than 20 years, and is still one of the most legendary home run hitters in the history of the game (with a total of 630).

Last month, the Seattle Mariners—for whom he played for 11 years and is still a consultant—announced that he's being inducted into the team's Hall of Fame.

Career: Actor-Writer-Producer-Director
Famous Family: Actor-comedian Jerry Stiller (father); actress-comedienne Anne Meara (mother)

After 20 years, Ben Stiller's shtick sometimes gets old. But there's no denying the serious comedic chops he inherited from his actor/comedian parents. And truth be told, Ben never planned to make a living as an actor; he set his sights on the director's chair fairly early on. Certainly he's spent his fair share of time there, first on television with The Ben Stiller Show then on the big screen with Reality Bites, The Cable Guy, Zoolander, Tropic Thunder, and this year's The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.

He's also worked his magic behind the scenes as a producer with his company, Red Hour Films. But Stiller's legacy will ultimately be the work he's done in front of the camera, particularly as the unofficial leader of the "Frat Pack" with movies like Starsky & Hutch and Dodgeball.

Career: Actor-Musician
Famous Family: Actor Lloyd Bridges (father); writer-actress Dorothy Bridges (mother); actor Beau Bridges (brother)

A staple of screens both big and small since first appearing on television with his dad and brother on Sea Hunt, Jeff Bridges is unstoppable; there isn't a genre or character type the man hasn't mastered.

From a teenager in love in The Last Picture Show (for which he earned his first of six Oscar nominations) to The Dude in The Big Lebowski to cranky, one-eyed Rooster Cogburn in True Grit, what can't he do?

A lifelong music lover (Bridges played piano as a child and has been known to kick back with his guitar on set), after winning an Oscar for playing a washed-up musician in 2009's Crazy Heart, Bridges signed a deal with a major record label and worked with T-Bone Burnett to release his second album, simply titled Jeff Bridges, in 2011.

Career: Actor-Fitness Guru-Activist
Famous Family: Actor Henry Fonda (father); socialite Frances Ford Seymour Brokaw (mother); actor Peter Fonda (brother); actress Bridget Fonda (niece)

Before there was Angelina Jolie there was Jane Fonda, another talented actress from a well-known family who wasn't afraid to share her political beliefs, even when they pissed off a lot of people. A staple of The New Hollywood, the era of filmmaking during the 1970s when the directors (not the studio heads) held the power, Fonda personified "the independent woman," both on-screen and off.

In 1982, she foresaw the fitness craze that still abounds when she released the first of nearly two dozen exercise videos, Jane Fonda's Workout, which went on to sell more than 17 million copies.

Oddly, it was the terrible Jennifer Lopez vehicle Monster-in-Law which lured Fonda out of a 15-year acting retirement in 2005. She's popped up in a few projects since (including a recurring role on Aaron Sorkin's The Newsroom), has recently released a couple of new exercise DVDs and, in 2011, published her second autobiography. With as many lives as Fonda has had, two memoirs hardly seems enough.

Career: Writer-Producer-Director
Famous Family: Director Francis Ford Coppola (father); writer-director Roman Coppola (brother); actor Nicolas Cage (cousin)

If we included every talented Coppola family member on this list, there wouldn't be room for other families. (Apologies to The Cage.) But even in a family of creative overachievers, Sofia stands out. But let's be clear about what Sofia's talents are: writing and directing? Absolutely. Acting? Nah. (See The Godfather Part III—just kidding, don't watch it, please.)

Kathryn Bigelow may get the bigger headlines when it comes to female filmmakers, Sofia's done just as well by her gender; in 2003, she won a Best Original Screenplay Oscar for Lost in Translation, earning her family the distinction of boasting three generations of Oscar winners (her grandfather, composer Carmine Coppola, won a Best Original Score Oscar for The Godfather Part II while papa Francis Ford has won five).

Career: Actor-Writer-Producer-Director-Activist
Famous Family: Actor Jon Voight (father); actress-producer Marcheline Bertrand (mother)

She's got one Oscar, three Golden Globes, and six kids with Brad Pitt. With or without Oscar-winning actor Jon Voight as her dad, Angelina Jolie seemed destined to become the world's most famous woman. Like her father, Angelina has ventured behind the camera, writing, directing, and producing 2011's controversial In the Land of Blood and Honey, set during the Bosnian War.

She's also garnered a reputation as one of the world's most generous celebrities, donating half of her earnings to a variety of charitable organizations—many of which bear her name—and her frequent work with refugees has led to her appointments as a Special Envoy and Goodwill Ambassador. Yet for all her good deeds, we'll somehow never be able to erase the image of her wearing a vial of ex-husband's Billy Bob Thornton's blood around her neck.

Career: Actor-Writer-Producer-Director-Activist
Famous Family: TV personality Nick Clooney (father); singer Rosemary Clooney (aunt); actor Jose Ferrer (uncle)

Something tells us that even if he hadn't been born with showbiz in his blood, George Clooney would've still found a way to become Hollywood's most likeable A-Lister. Still, it was Clooney's cousin, actor Miguel Ferrer (son of yet another actor, Jose Ferrer) who helped George land his first feature part, in 1982's And They're Off. So maybe there is something to this "it's all about who you know" theory after all.

But Clooney has risen above the ranks of mere actor to write, produce, and direct some of the most compelling films in recent history, many of them politically-charged. Later this month, the eight-time Oscar nominee will bite his nails alongside Ben Affleck and Grant Heslov as they wait and see whether their latest effort, Argo, will take home the golden guy for Best Picture.