Celebrity Trivia

<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/joaquin-phoenix-movies-and-films-and-filmography/ranker-film" target="_blank">Joaquin Phoenix</a> is a wildly controversial actor. He&#39;s been simultaneously praised as a master of his craft&mdash;winning both a Grammy and a Golden Globe for his work on Walk the Line&mdash;and slammed for faking a mental illness in a two-year ruse put on for a fake documentary. However,&nbsp;Joaquin&#39;s <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/weird-joaquin-phoenix-facts/anncasano">controversial nature</a>&nbsp;comes as no surprise, considering his shocking family history. From narrowly escaping the Family International Cult (formerly known as the Children of God), to the untimely&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/river-phoenix-sad-life-facts/katia-kleyman">death of River Phoenix</a> outside the Viper Room in 1993, the Phoenix family is plagued with misfortune.

Joaquin is the middle child in a family of five. His mother Arlyn, a Manhattan divorcee, moved to California in 1968 where she met Joaquin&#39;s father, John Lee Bottom, while hitchhiking. After having River, Joaquin&#39;s eldest brother, the Phoenix family <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/celebrities-who-were-raised-in-cults/celebrity-lists" target="_blank">joined the infamous Children of God&nbsp;cult</a>. 

The Phoenix clan&nbsp;escaped the cult and eventually moved to Hollywood, where they&nbsp;launched the careers of all five of their children: Joaquin, Rain, Summer, Liberty, and River, who was the first to find mega-stardom after his role in Stand By Me.

Joaquin&#39;s family may have been destined for Hollywood fame, but trouble, heartbreak, and addiction also run deep&nbsp;in their veins.

14 Heartbreaking Stories From Joaquin Phoenix's Tragic Family

General

Heartbreaking Stories That Prove Joaquin Phoenix Has The Most Tragic Family In Hollywood History

Mariel Loveland

Every elite, out-of-touch, sickeningly rich celebrity was once a tiny helpless baby. It had parents, grandparents, maybe siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, godparents...

Famous Families

Curses

Legends&nbsp;of curses have permeated practically every culture throughout history. For example, many curses from Ancient Egypt threaten tragedy and destruction -&nbsp;and on occasion, these threats seem to have&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/ancient-egyptian-curses-unleashed-by-archaeologists/tamar-altebarmakian" target="_blank">been fulfilled</a>. Within the realms of modern history, many believe curses also affect some of the world&#39;s most prominent families. Judging by these cases, fame&nbsp;and money appear to go hand-in-hand with&nbsp;a high susceptibility to curses.&nbsp;

Certain major families have suffered from countless <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/mysterious-political-deaths/jacob-shelton" target="_blank">mysterious losses</a>, horrifying coincidences, and some of the worst&nbsp;luck ever documented. Is something actually plaguing these families, or are all these instances the result of coincidence? Read through the best-known examples of famous family curses to judge for yourself.

11 Famous Historical Families With Eerie Curses You Can't Deny

Famous Family Curses Throughout History

Chase Christy

Lists about the brilliant and fascinating men who led the American Revolution and created the documents that established these United States of America.

Our Founding Fathers

Politics

Most people know the story of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings. He was a Founding Father, author of the Declaration of Independence, and a slave-owning Southern farmer. She was his property. Their relationship allegedly&nbsp;began in 1787, when Hemings was just 14&nbsp;years old. Over the next three decades, Jefferson had as many as six children with her.There are many <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/founding-fathers-horrifying-facts/isadora-teich" target="_blank">horrifying stories about the Founding Fathers</a>, but perhaps one of the most unscrupulous among them was Jefferson. Jefferson, who did other&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/reasons-thomas-jefferson-was-awful/stephanroget" target="_blank">pretty awful things</a>, also broke his promise to the mother of his children: he swore to free her and their progeny, but it didn't happen until he passed away.&nbsp;Jefferson and Hemings's Black descendants&nbsp;have faced discrimination within the Jefferson family. Jefferson's white descendants showed their prejudice when they stated they didn't believe Jefferson&nbsp;would &quot;rear a race of half breeds.&quot;&nbsp;Even when DNA evidence finally proved Jefferson was the father of Hemings's children, some white descendants continued&nbsp;to deny it.

Meet The Family That Descended From Thomas Jefferson And Sally Hemings - His Slave

Thomas Jefferson & Sally Hemings' Children: Meet His Black Family

Genevieve Carlton

Historical Figures

What do Tilda Swinton, Christopher Plummer, and King Princess have in common? They&#39;re all celebrities with famous ancestors.

All of the celebs on this list aren&#39;t distantly <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/related-historical-figures/daveesons" target="_blank">related to notable historical figures</a> - these individuals can actually claim direct descent from at least one historically significant ancestor. Celebrity ancestors include royals, politicians, and artists -&nbsp;in other words, accomplished people who are known outside&nbsp;the context of their famous descendant.&nbsp;

Whether they appeared on&nbsp;a genealogy show - like PBS&#39;s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/celebrity-finding-your-roots-revelations/carly-silver" target="_blank">Finding Your Roots</a>,&nbsp;African American Lives, or the BBC&#39;s&nbsp;Who Do You Think You Are?&nbsp;- or grew up hearing about their famous ancestors, these actors, musicians, and personalities are appreciative&nbsp;of their storied backgrounds.

11 Celebrities Whose Ancestors Made History

Person

Setareh Janda

Look: Some people have so much money that they just can't possibly live normal lives or even behave like regular human people. These are their stories.

Lifestyles of the Very Wealthy

Explainer

During the Gilded Age, the mass accumulation of money by families like the Vanderbilts changed the economic,&nbsp;social, and physical&nbsp;landscape&nbsp;of the United States. The <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/members-of-the-vanderbilt-family/reference" target="_blank">Vanderbilt family&#39;s</a>&nbsp;wealth grew out of the shipping and railroad industries, both of which were largely monopolized by the the family patriarch, Cornelius &quot;Commodore&quot; Vanderbilt, in the late 19th century. His hard work set the foundation for his sons and&nbsp;grandsons to continue making money, but their&nbsp;descendants became less&nbsp;inclined to earn and more likely to spend.

As it goes in&nbsp;many wealthy families&mdash;<a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/dark-rockefeller-family-facts/harrison-tenpas" target="_blank">such as the Rockefellers</a>,&nbsp;for instance&mdash;the Vanderbilts were prone to excess. <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/over-the-top-homes/erin-cody" target="_blank">The houses</a>, the luxury, and the spectacle that defined&nbsp;the Vanderbilt family eventually brought about their decline from atop the&nbsp;financial and social ladders they once dominated.

How The Vanderbilts Blew Their Fortune And Went From American Royalty To Flat-Out Broke

Melissa Sartore

Who are those people who lived in the White House, making appearances and speeches and promises and mistakes? To understand them, you must get to know the spouses, children, and even siblings of U.S. Presidents, past and present. 

The First Family

The Roosevelts were the ultimate power couple during the first half of the 20th century.&nbsp;Both left important political legacies: Franklin Roosevelt was the president who led the United States through the Great Depression and WWII, and&nbsp;fascinating <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/facts-about-eleanor-roosevelt/nicky-benson" target="_blank">facts about Eleanor Roosevelt</a>&#39;s life include how she organized&nbsp;press conferences&nbsp;at the White House exclusively for women journalists.&nbsp;She&nbsp;was a champion for women&#39;s rights and racial equality, and she was appointed as the first female deputy director of the Office of Civilian Defense. Political&nbsp;achievement and support for each other&#39;s ambitions defined both of their lives, but&nbsp;Franklin and Eleanor&#39;s&nbsp;private lives&nbsp;were far less successful than their public personas.

Their&nbsp;marriage began well, and the admiration they had for one another was undeniable, but infidelities and betrayal forced their relationship to change&nbsp;from romantic adoration to mutual respect for one another&#39;s intellectual and political ambitions. They had romantic relations with other people during the span of their marriage and lived the&nbsp;majority of their personal lives separate&nbsp;from one another, but they remained a unit to solidify their legacies.

What Was Franklin And Eleanor Roosevelt's Relationship Really Like?

13 Fascinating Facts About The Roosevelts' Private Life Together

Entertainment

If you&#39;ve seen - or even heard of - the Christmas classic film Home Alone,&nbsp;you know the name Macaulay Culkin. He was a bratty, spunky 10-year-old when he took over the Hollywood spotlight in the early 1990s. Macaulay isn&#39;t the only famous Culkin kid, either. In fact, the Culkin brothers (Macaulay, Kieran, and Rory) have won the hearts of many fans over the last few decades with their many roles on screen. But, as with most Hollywood famed families, there&#39;s a lot more beneath the surface we didn&#39;t know about these kids while they were reaching stardom.

Check out these facts about <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/macaulay-culkin-dad-relationship/anncasano?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">the Culkin family</a> and siblings and vote up the facts you find most surprising.

Facts About The Culkin Family We Just Learned That Made Us Say 'Really?'

Mallory Weiler

In this wild world where anyone with a smartphone&nbsp;can accrue hundreds of thousands of followers, it&#39;s easier than ever to be born to celebrity parents. This is a list of all 2020 celebrity baby names, ranked from cute and popular to ~unique~ to borderline cruel. The names on this list belong to the newborn babes of every celeb, including A-listers, career <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/reality-shows-you-most-want-to-win/ranker-tv?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">reality show contestants</a>, and even&nbsp;social media influencers. The more the merrier! All these famous people have one wonderful thing in common: brand new kids with names for you to vote up or down, depending on whether or not&nbsp;you like them.

What will be 2020&#39;s most popular baby names? If we look to last year&#39;s batch, we can expect a wide range of names, including the classic, the whimsical, and the downright bonkers. The <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/2019-baby-names/carly-kiel" target="_blank">most popular 2019 baby names</a> of celebs were those Ranker users voted to the top of the list, the supercute favorites: Mila, Olivia, and Harper for girls, and Jacob, Benjamin, and James for boys. On the other end of the spectrum, voters did not like when celebs chose these words as names: Sunday, Rise, Story, Mars, Poet, Navy, Patch, Sunny, Slash, or Phoenix. What do you 2020&#39;s batch of&nbsp;baby name nouns Blossom, Army, Salter, and Magnolia?&nbsp;

The first few months&nbsp;of the year brought 2020 celebrity babies to Cameron Diaz and Benji Madden, Shay Mooney of Dan + Shay, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine star Melissa Fumero.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/celebrity-pregnancies-2019/calistylie" target="_blank">Celebrities expecting babies in 2020</a> include Golden Globe winner Michelle Williams, power couple Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, and international superstar Ricky Martin. What names will they give their kids? Will you like them? Check back to vote each name up or down.

2020 Celebrity Baby Names, Ranked Best to Worst

Given Name

Carly Kiel

Drew Barrymore has appeared in some of the most beloved movies of the 1980s, &lsquo;90s, and 2000s. She&rsquo;s a producer, writer/director, and vintner. With a resume like that, you&rsquo;d think she came from a strict family of disciplinarians. In truth, she grew up without a safety net for much of her life, and nearly succumbed to substance dependency.

Born to actor John Drew Barrymore and his wife, Jaid, Drew&rsquo;s parents put her into the entertainment business early; she was only 11 months old when she scored her first gig. But the dependency issues that were long present in her family, coupled with her hard-partying lifestyle, put her on the fast track for self-destruction. After spending more than a year in an institution, Drew Barrymore <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/celebrities-who-divorced-their-parents/celebrity-lists" target="_blank">emancipated herself from her parents</a> to seek some semblance of normalcy.

How did that legal procedure go down? How does Barrymore feel about her decision to extricate herself from her parents now? She&rsquo;s gone on record about her troubled childhood and the way she got out of her toxic relationship with her parents, and she&#39;s actually very positive about the entire experience.

Why Drew Barrymore Emancipated Herself From Her Hollywood Royalty Parents

Why Did Drew Barrymore Emancipate Herself From Her Parents?

Jacob Shelton

After Home Alone became the highest-grossing comedy of the &#39;90s, its young star was heralded as&nbsp;one of the most popular and financially successful child actors of all time. <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/what-happened-to-macaulay-culkin/zack-howe" target="_blank">Macaulay Culkin</a>&#39;s&nbsp;celebrity status and natural acting chops catapulted his financial portfolio into the <a href="https://www.eonline.com/news/1068042/inside-kieran-and-macaulay-culkin-s-uneasy-relationship-with-fame" target="_blank">$50 million</a>&nbsp;range.&nbsp;However, behind the scenes, his father was trying to manage every aspect of his life.

Kit Culkin acted as his son&rsquo;s manager, and reportedly physically and verbally abused the Home Alone star. He became known as a bully around Hollywood, even attempting to take&nbsp;creative control of his son&rsquo;s films away from studio executives and producers.&nbsp;

At the age of 14, Macaulay decided to give up acting. Allegedly, his <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/whoa-culkin-family-facts/mallory-weiler" target="_blank">turbulent relationship</a> with his father was a prime factor.

The Turbulent Relationship Between Macaulay And His Father, Kit Culkin

Macaulay Culkin & His Dad's Turbulent Relationship, Explained

Ann Casano

Despite all of their riches and fame, celebrities' lives can be devastated by accidents, abuse, death, and other awful surprises.

Celebrity Tragedies

Lists of interesting trivia and fun facts about where famous people were born, how they grew up, and what their lives were like when they were young.

Celebrity Origins

It&#39;s tragic to lose a sibling at any age, but these celebrities who lost siblings young were under 30 when their brothers and sisters passed away. Several actors, musicians, comedians, and artists have siblings who died at a young age. Some celebrity&nbsp;sibling deaths were accidental, and&nbsp;others were more sensational. Whatever the cause, the loss of a loved one is always tragic.&nbsp;

What famous people have lost a sibling young?&nbsp;When Chelsea Handler was 10 years old, her older brother was felled in a tragic hiking accident. In 1992, Queen Latifah&#39;s 23-year-old brother, Lance, was felled in a motorcycle accident. Joseph Gordon-Levitt lost his brother at 29, while Kelsey Grammer&nbsp;lost his sister and two half-brothers at a young age.&nbsp;

To learn more about celebrities who lost siblings at a young age, read this list.&nbsp;

13 Celebrities Who Tragically Lost Their Siblings Young

Celebrities Who Lost Siblings Young | Famous People Whose Brothers and Sisters Died

Celebrity Lists

Father and daughter Jon Voight and Angelina Jolie have had a tumultuous relationship. Jolie&#39;s parents divorced when she was an infant, and although Voight financially supported his ex-wife and two children, Jolie never felt very close to her father. Still, she pursued the life of a professional actor, eventually reaching and even surpassing the fame achieved by her Oscar-winning father.

Having long been one of Hollywood&#39;s most famously contentious <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/father-daughter-hollywood-scandals-or-family-affairs/celebrity-insider" target="_blank">father/daughter relationships</a>, Jolie and Voight have attempted to put their differences aside in recent years, reconciling for the sake of their family.

The Ups And Downs Of Angelina Jolie's Relationship With Her Dad, Jon Voight

Inside Angelina Jolie & Jon Voight’s Relationship As Father & Daughter

Rachel Kollar

Celebrities

Jamie Lee Curtis and her legendary mom, the late Janet Leigh, both made their names in Hollywood with roles as <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/worst-things-on-scream-queens/jacob-shelton" target="_blank">Scream Queens</a>, in 1978&#39;s Halloween and 1960&#39;s&nbsp;Psycho, respectively. Some might assume their common interests in acting, similar career paths, and shared genes would result in a picture-perfect relationship between mother and daughter. Although&nbsp;their relationship wasn&#39;t quite as fraught as the one&nbsp;between Curtis and her father, <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/tony-curtis-movies-and-films-and-filmography/reference" target="_blank">Tony Curtis</a>, it certainly had its less-than-stellar moments.&nbsp;

Through years of turmoil, happiness, and calm, Curtis and her mother shared moments together that shaped both of their lives forever, leaving lasting marks on the people they became personally and professionally.

The Ups And Downs Of Jamie Lee Curtis's Relationship With Her Mother, Janet Leigh

Jamie Lee Curtis & Her Mom's Relationship: All She's Revealed

Jodi Smith

Stars: They're just like us! Havin' babies, pushin' swings, raisin' hellraisers, and givin' advice.

Celebrity Parents

Think you want to have a baby? A toddler? A tween? A teen? An adult child? Think twice.

To Kids or Not to Kids?

These celebrity problem children have taken misbehaving to the next level. The kids of celebrities don't have traditional childhoods. They’re surrounded by power, money, and fame from the time they’re born. Not exactly things to complain about. But the dark side of growing up famous is that there are almost no boundaries. This list of celebrities with problem children proves that money can’t buy everything. Especially good sense. Sometimes troublemaking celebrity kids are exposed to excessive partying, drugs, and alcohol at an early age. Sometimes their famous parents aren't the <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/famous-role-models-we_d-like-to-meet-in-person?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">best role models</a>. Sometimes they’re just rich spoiled brats. From law-breaking politicians’ kids to hard partying children of movie stars, the troubled young stars on this list have one thing in common: they don’t follow the rules. Who are some of the most notorious problem children? George W. Bush's twin daughters, Barbara and Jenna, were charged with underage alcohol offenses in 2001 when they were 20. Luckily, they’ve grown up and come a long way. Barbara works as the President of the non-profit company Global Health Corps and Jenna is a correspondent for NBC.Then there’s Hulk Hogan's son, Nick, who was charged with reckless driving involving serious bodily injury among other things. And the list of other famous people with problem children goes on and on. (Michael Jordan, Bruce Willis, and Jon Bon Jovi, to name a few). Do you think that theses kids acted out because their parents are famous? Share your thoughts in the comments section.

Celebrities With Problem Children

Celebrities with Problem Children | Famous Kids in Trouble

Lists about notable people who were targeted for termination, the ways they were slayed, and their portrayals in the media.

Hits for Hire

Relatives of <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/the-most-influential-people-of-all-time?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">famous historical figures</a> have to deal with profound ancestral pressure and expectations, which is doubly true for those who have descended from famous assassination victims. For instance, the <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/what-us-presidents-descendants-look-like/nicky-benson" target="_blank">children and grandchildren of former presidents</a> have had to sustain a powerful political legacy, while assassinated presidents&#39; descendants&nbsp;must take on an unfinished legacy. The murders of notable historical figures have impacted both&nbsp;the victim&#39;s&nbsp;family members and the world at large, as some expect the surviving relatives&nbsp;to continue their loved one&#39;s&nbsp;story. Many of these individuals&nbsp;understandably shirk the spotlight, but others endeavor to&nbsp;make their own mark in history.

Here Are The Modern Descendants Of History's Most Famous Assassination Victims

Modern Descendants Of History's Most Famous Assassination Victims

Stephan Roget

Lists about the most interesting and entertaining celebrity couples, how they met, why they split, and the fascinating details inside their relationships and marriages.

Celebrity Couples

Once you've found The One, what's next? Matching t-shirts, matching names, and matching tats—in that order.

Relationship Goals

This is a list&nbsp;of the longest Hollywood marriages&nbsp;ranked by their duration in years. Hollywood marriages are known to be notoriously short, but a few couples have remained happy together for decades. Some couples are both successful actors, while other couples have one spouse who is a mega-star and the other is unknown to the public.

Who tops our list of the longest Hollywood marriages? Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara appeared to have been one of the happiest celebrity couples ever. There are other old Hollywood marriages that have lasted, such as the relationships between James Garner and Lois Clarke, and&nbsp;Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward.

Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson are another of the&nbsp;Hollywood&nbsp;couples&nbsp;with&nbsp;long&nbsp;marriages. They tied the knot in&nbsp;1988. They&#39;re often praised as one of the most successful marriages in Hollywood. Hume Cronyn&nbsp;and&nbsp;Jessica Tandy&nbsp;are one of the seriously impressive famous couples who have been married for over 50 years. Lasting relationships like that are exciting to read about, because they clearly worked at being husband and wife. There are other famous elderly or old Hollywood couples below.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Check out these <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/celebrities-who-have-killed-people/celebrity-lists?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword" target="_blank">famous celebrity</a> successes, and our list of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/famous-white-guys-married-to-black-chicks/celeb-stalker" target="_blank">famous interracial couples</a> as well.

The Longest Hollywood Marriages

40+ Longest Hollywood Marriages

Famous Families lists at Ranker - The ultimate source for hundreds of famous families lists and rankings