General Chat

Has anyone found that they are related to actors, singers or the like and did you like them before you knew you were related?

No singers but OH is related to a famous F1 car driver and he has always loved the sport even before we knew that :-D

My hubby is related to a famous Welsh comedian and we liked him before we knew they were related.

Not related, but my maternal gt grandmother left her husband some time during the 1890s, taking her youngest child, a daughter, with her. After much searching I discovered that she had become Housekeeper for a Theatrical Manager in our home town, Oldham. After he retired, she and her daughter moved with him to Salford, but she then appeared back in Oldham Workhouse Infirmary in the 1921 Census, and died in 1922 with her daughter as informant and my grandfather's address as her residence.

My mother must have known her during those last 2 or 3 years, but she was never mentioned.

My parents always loved going to the theatre, and started taking me when I was about 7 or 8 ......... to see Music Hall productions first, then plays. So there was this unusual connection!

I'm still looking for the daughter to see what happened to her after the 1911 Census, but both mother and daughter had very common names for the area! I'd also like to find out when Annie/Hannah entered the Workhouse.

Yes!!! Not very close though.

Chris Martin, frontman of Coldplay, is my 4th cousin. Before I knew we were related I could take him or leave him. Now I know we are related I can take him or leave him. My view might change if he sends me complimentary concert tickets, but as he lives in Los Angeles and doesn't even know I exist, the chances of that happening are pretty remote!

I only found we were related by complete chance, as I googled my great great uncle William Willett, who was instrumental in the introduction of British Summer Time, and found he was Chris's great great grandfather too.

Yes but not close

One relation had a in law who was married to quite a famous actress in the old music hall days

Been such a long time ago I can’t remember now who it was !

Not an actor or singer,.
It's a bit niche, but I'm related to 'one of the U.K.'s most established and well respected bonsai potters.'.Put that in 'Google' and he comes up!

He sells pots at bonsai shows.
At the Crawley show in April, he'd sold his (many) pots before the show had opened - the bonsai tree exhibitors, and other stallholders bought them all!

Did I like him before I knew we were related?
Well, I've always known we were related - he's my big brother - so there have been times when I didn't like him - like when he used my knitted daschund to practice drop-kicks!

My grand daughter was blown away on her 21st birthday, when I let slip how her great uncle Gordon made a living.

Not a relation as such, but my younger daughters long-term boyfriend, Ben, is a music producer - he was with 'Judge Jules' for 10 years, before Jules went back to being a lawyer.
Ben continues to produce music.
Do I like his music - NO! But Ben's cute, and if he's working from home, he wears headphones :-D

He also has a gorgeous dog.

Yes, I am related to someone on the stage, but he’s long since dead. My 3 x great grandfather was well-known in his day as Clown, not the circus sort but the stock character with Columbine and Harlequin. He also danced, did choreography and straight acting. He died in1845 shortly after coming off stage at a Dublin theatre where he was appearing in The Tempest, amongst other pieces.

He does seem to have passed his theatrical genes down. My late brother was an excellent actor, became a drama teacher and then went into theatre management. My daughter has a degree in music. One granddaughter has a degree in drama and film and is part of a young theatre group in Scotland and another granddaughter is in her final year of a performing arts degree. Sadly, all these genes totally bypassed me.

I am distinctly related to famous brothers who are actors my gg aunt married into their family and I have followed the line down very interesting

A distant relative emmigrated to New Zealand about 1859 and in 1862 married a Maori lady.
One of their children became a well-known singer in New Zealand and later joined a company which came to England, where they gave several concerts, when she performed in her traditional Maori costume. She performed as 'Princess Iwa'.

A few years ago, a mutual relative from New Zealand was visiting London and we had a chance to meet up and chat about our 'celebrity' relative.

Maori families are very interested in their heritage, so it was good to be able to help them go back a few generations pre life in New Zealand.

Not to an Actor, but I have found that I'm related to Jack the Ripper

Be Warned!

:-D :-D

No actors here either, but we do have sportspeople.

My granny was the second cousin to 'Jack' Crayston, the footballer and manager. I only found this latterly from another family member. No other footballers in the family, and I'm not interested either.

OH's mother was the 1st cousin once removed to Eric Kemp Langton, the speedway rider. Again, I found this out latterly from a family member. No other speedway folk in the family, OH is only vaguely interested.

Neither of these men had descendants.

My 4th cousin is a well known English actress and is on a talk show with other presenters. I've never met her, but I've corresponded with her Father for a short while exchanging family history information.

grannyfranny's reply reminded me that I am related to a past Welsh International rugby player.
Not entirely sure which Davies married which other Davies to become his parents, but my aunt knew them personally, whereas our branch in England was rather out of touch.

Just remembered - I am related to an actor - but then, I'm not, I just seem to be.


My gran had 2 children - both out of wedlock. Dad never really knew who his dad was - though he had his suspicions - this has since been verified by DNA. Dad's father was married and had children. He was killed in 1941, when dad was 15.

When he was 18, dad wanted to join the Navy, but granny wanted him to join the Navy as an Officer - and he needed a father's surname on his birth certificate to do this.
She then proceeded to marry a friend of dad's dad, who had recently become a widower. There were conditions - gran got none of his money when he died, and he was to be buried next to his first wife.
Dad was then adopted but his sister wasn't.
On the adoption certificate, gran is living in Cornwall, dad's adoptee father is living in Devon - though they did both move together to the New Forest a couple of years later. Gran moved back down to Cornwall when he died in 1952 (he was 24 years older than my gran)

Dad wasn't too happy about all this. He kept his 'new' surname, but he joined the Fleet Air Arm as a rating.His adoptee father died 5 years before I was born.

Thirty years later, I'm trying to avoid PE, Games and RE at school, and ask if I can volunteer at the establishent up the road, for Special Needs Children.
No-one from the school had done this before, so the head contacted the head of volunteers, who, it seems, upon hearing my surname, was more than happy for me to go up there - this was what the head told me! I thought it a bit weird. but went.

Well - I met the (to me, then) elderly gent, called Jack.
We both had the same (not very common) surname!
After a bit of discussion, we worked out that he was my dad's stepdad's nephew!

He knew of my gran's 'shenanigans', and thought it hilarious - the rest of his family frowned upon it!

He had a grand daughter, who is 6 years younger than me.
She went on to become an actress, and was in 'Eastenders' and 'Family Affairs', amongst other things. She uses her birthname as an actress.

Somewhere in one of my trees is an actor that I did find on Google. My OH is cousin to a cousin of a well known actor.

I often say well known people are part of the family story rather than a member of family itself. So I am connected to a very famous British artist because the wife of a brother of a direct ancestor was connected to that artists family. A much loved author is in the story of a cousins story as one of his direct ancestors worked for the authors cousin ( or was it a brother - can’t remember).