Actors who made it on their own

Swank is a good example. I'll add Amanda Seyfried.

Jena Malone—came from poor white trash roots in Reno. Mom was peripatetic and they lived in motels and out of a car. She earned it.

Meryl Streep

Robert DeNiro

Jack Nicholson

Jack was the son of a showgirl, June Frances Nicholson (stage name June Nilson; 1918–1963)

Streep is a Vassar gal with an Ivy League graduate degree and her father was a pharmaceutical executive. No industry connections, but she certainly doesn’t qualify as a rags-to-riches story.

I think a lot of comedians fit into this category due to the nature of standup comedy. For example, Eddie Murphy.

Betty Davis

Joan Crawford

Marilyn Monroe

Barbara Stanwyck

Jena Malone was a great suggestion. I'll add David Spade.

Charlize Theron Leonardo DiCaprio

Wasn’t Jennifer Lawrence a poor prostitute from Kentucky?

Joan Crawford is probably the patron saint of all those who followed. Ginger Rogers had guts, and nothing was going to stand in Barbara Stanwyck's way. A lot of those "sister acts" from the Silent Era were matriarchal in nature because the deadbeat fathers split: the Talmadges, Gishes, Pickfords, Viola Dana/Shirley Mason/Something Flugarth.

Some of the late night hosts like Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel.

Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver (as much as I hate him), John Boyega, Jessica Chastain.

Jim Carrey lived in a van as a teenager after his parents lost their home.

Do cases like Lindsay Lohan count? Like if they come from middle class backgrounds but have a parent that pushed them relentlessly into showbiz?

The discussion is incorrectly framed as rags to riches rather than who is NOT related to an industry player.

That boot strapping bullshit is as lame as nepo babies born on third base.

People are embittered and feel cheated out of opportunities that are reserved for those who possess connections.

You won't like these answers. Charlize Theron, JLo, yes. JLo, Halle Berry, yes, limited talent, beautiful face no industry connections.

R8, that is one of things I admire about SNL. While the show has hired nepo babies like Maya Rudolph they have also hired many without industry connections like Bill Hader.

R15, I think so.

Evan Peters

Johnny Depp

Kate Winslet

Lady Gaga

Charlize was one of Charlie Sheen’s “girls” so does she still count as self-made?

R16, those with extensive wealth often rub shoulders with those who have Hollywood connections.

R16 OP used both “no industry connections” and “rags to riches”, so either or both would apply. There are certainly more successful actors in the business who didn’t have industry connections but came from plush backgrounds than there are ones who came from poverty (which by default almost guarantees they had no industry connections).

Cary Grant

Jennifer Lawrence worked her way up the pole.

I don't care for most of Amy Adams performances and find her overrated but she did make it without connections.

I don't think either Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise had any connections, though I could be wrong.

Chloe Sevigny kind of wandered into acting with no connections, cutting her teeth on gritty and weird indie movies. Granted, she was raised in WASPY Darien, CT, but she claims her family was considered poor there (which isn’t frankly saying much).

We have to keep in mind that some celebs hide their connections because they don't want the nepo label.

R16, and R22, I don't want people to get wrapped up in the 'rags-to-riches' framing. I think a person from a normal, middle-class background is worth discussing, and wouldn't want people limiting the conversation because I employed an unnecessary cliche.

Theresa Russell

A handful came out of the Chicago theater scene (Steppenwolf) where they were the founding members: Gary Cole, Gary Sinise, William Petersen, Laurie Metcalf, etc.

If you have to go all the way back to Joan Crawford that should tell you most people who work in the entertainment industry are insiders.

Its a closed off profession.

Most industries reserve opportunities for one of their own.

It is not right and explains why most of our world is chaotic and unsatisfying.

Madonna? Not related to industry insiders.

Its hard to accept but it is the truth. Rags to riches is a lame plot device.

Why go there???

We were supposed to be talking about performers who are not personally related to industry players.

Whitney Houston, great talent and beauty as she was in her prime, was the cousin of Dionne Warwick.

Most of these people are relations of industry players and deny the fact they are gifted with opportunities others do not get.

Aubrey Plaza.

R10 she didn't become a prostitute until she met Harvey.

What r21 said.

Vin Diesel was a bouncer in NYC, built a persona and schmoozed his way into an agent introduction

DL fave Sarah Jessica Parker. Family was very supportive of her career from when she was young.

Will Smith

Cherry Jones. Her mother was a schoolteacher and her father was a florist. She's from the boonies of Western Tennessee.

Halle Berry

Tom Cruise

Sarah Jessica Parker

R39 I think her ex Sarah Paulson came from a random background as well.

Agnes Morehead. Was a school teacher in rural Wisconsin. Got her first role in Citizen Kane and never stopped working after that.

Kelly Ripa and hubby Mark Consuelos.

Cher was abandoned by her father and spent time in an orphanage when her mother couldn't afford to keep her.

She's done pretty well for herself.

R44, but her mother was in showbiz. So that is Hollywood connections, right?

[quote] Whitney Houston, great talent and beauty as she was in her prime, was the cousin of Dionne Warwick.

Whitney Houston's mom was Cissy Houston, who sang with Elvis Presley.

Backup singer. Not the same pull as Dionne Warwick.

I know we love to hate her, but: Amber Heard.

R48 Interestingly enough that's what her and Johnny depp have in common.

Barry Keoghan.

His mom was a junkie who died of an overdose when he was 12, and he spent his childhood getting shuffled from one foster home to another till he was taken in by his grandmother and aunt.

This is annoying.

quote]Lady Gaga

Hers isn't exactly a rags-to-riches story, but I don't think she had any showbiz connections when starting out.

Melissa Beth Miller.

Idaho Aryan Sydney Sweeney (another love-to-hate-her on DL). The tits definitely helped.

Without connections, do they have to do (or have done to them) unsavory things?

But the ones who didn’t have family connections often either slept their way up and/or attached themselves to a famous person really fast. When you eliminate both of those things you’re really left with almost no one.

Richard Gere

Patrick Swayze

Sandra Bullock

Matthew McConaughey

Chris Evans

R56, well, they still made it on their own. Some with Hollywood connections still ended up doing the same thing.

R56, at least those who worked their way up the ladder one blow job at a time did it the honest way: they were trading only on what they were born with.

R56, I think attaching themselves to other famous people is somewhat unavoidable. It's just so common among actors. Even Hilary Swank did it by marrying Chad Lowe.

Steve Buscemi is a good example of an actor who made it on his own. He was a firefighter before becoming an actor, and even returned to volunteer on 9/11. (And I think we can safely say that he didn't fuck his way to a career, either).

I find Hilary Swank rather mysterious. She certainly is low key, hasn’t revealed much.

Steve Buscemi wasn't bad looking in his youth.

Elvis Presley

R60, I agree but also have to say that Steve Buscemi was my type back in the day (Parting Glances).

I was going to say Adam Driver. He went into the Marines before he got into Julliard.

Lots of British actors had no real connections- Ralph Fiennes, Tobias Menzies, Olivia Colman.

The Phoenix/Bottom family

Fucking people for an opportunity is work.

People don't give something for nothing.

They want one of their own in those spots.

[quote]Barry Keoghan. His mom was a junkie who died of an overdose when he was 12, and he spent his childhood getting shuffled from one foster home to another till he was taken in by his grandmother and aunt.

Samantha Morton is another foster kid.

[quote] Ralph Fiennes

Um...

Muriel, delete this thread. I'm triggered.

Julia Roberts. Her parents were so poor that they couldn't afford medical expenses when Julia was born. MLK.jr helped them.

And no, her brother Eric didn't help her shit. Don't even start that. Her's is the true rags to riches story.

Julianne Moore, seriously.

When SJP was in Annie on Broadway she supported her parents and siblings who were all struggling in the business. She tells a sweet story of how her stepdad took her to see Annie (standing room) and told her she would never play Annie because she wasn't right for it. Well, she proved him wrong.

Wouldn’t Eric Roberts count as having made it without connections?

Jennifer Lopez definitely had no connections at all, and not much support either. Her mother kicked her out of the house at 18 because she wanted to drop out of college to pursue a career in showbusiness.

It's actually crazy how few actors truly made it on their own, as in their parents weren't famous or didn't provide a huge amount of financial support or crucial connections/networking.

^Yes, Eric Roberts made it without connections. Eric did help Julia out. When he was a young actor he bought a house in Connecticut and moved his two sisterinto the house to get them away from a dysfunctional scene at home and so they could finish high school in Connecticut.

R59 exactly. I don't really understand the scorn for people who slept their way up. There really wasn't much of an alternative for those without connections.

Lana Clarkson

Bonny Lee Bakley

Minnie Driver

Eva Longoria is from a very working class background with a disabled sister. There was terrible episode of Oprah where Eva surprised her parents with a big, brand new house and they weren't allowed to bring any of their old (basic/tacky) decor with them. It seemed so sad and disrespectful, like she was trying to rewrite her past. The parents were solid, simple people and were unable to work out how to use the dishwasher.

R78 her mother was an English model

Damn straight r59!

Kirsten Dunst

Tori aside, the cast of 90210. And then a lot of the child actors like Jodie Foster, Brooke Shields, and some of the others mentioned.

Brad Pitt

If we're extending out to Brits, James McAvoy. Raised by his grandparents in the slums of Glasgow, at age 16 caught the eye of a director visiting his school and made his first film, worked his way through drama school, graduated, and hasn't stopped working since.

No actors made it without connections, casting couch, or kissing ass with someone famous. Those are your three routes, and they can overlap. Nobody is so special that they become A-listers out of sheer charisma.

Lea Michele. Her father owned a deli in the Bronx and her mother was a nurse.

Jonathon Groff.

Matt Bomer.

Bernadette Peters.

Eugene Levy

Oscar winners Anne Bancroft, Patty Duke, Shirley Maclaine, Shirley Booth, Frank Sinatra, Eva Mare Saint, Ernest Borgnine, Lee Marvin, Rod Steiger, Robert Redford, Clint Eastwood, Kevin Costner, Jamie Fox, Mel Brooks, Sylvester Stallone, John Wayne, Jon Voight, Faye Dunaway, Estelle Parsons, George Kennedy, Olympia Dukakis, William Hurt, Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, Melissa Leo, Anne Hathaway, Heath Ledger, Marisa Tomei, Viola Davis, Sandra Bullock, Matt Damon, Julianne Moore, J.K. Simmons, Will Smith, Lupita Nyong'o . . .

I'd leave out any stars who became famous before the 1960s. The Hollywood studio system was different. They did take talented unknowns, though a lot of them had to fuck every executive in the building to get a contract.

Madonna

Renee Zellweger

Madonna fucked every DJ in NYC to get her music career going.

Or did we agree that "casting couch" is making it on your own?

Michelle Pfeiffer

Michael Keaton

Tracey Ullman

I think casting couch is a different breed (lol).

R91, she fucked the right people. However, he father was sending her money. Her story is a work of fiction. She’s been telling it so long she believes it.

R87 r88 Those are all great examples!

Hollywood nepotism has made the casting couch seem like "earning things through one's own hard work."

So, to sum up, if one defines "making it on your own" as becoming a star without 1) family connections 2) family money 3) attaching yourself leech-like to a famous person 4) casting couch, then yeah: nobody makes it on their own.

Reese Witherspoon, although like Streep she had family money. No Hollywood connections, though.

Emma Stone

R94 a dad sending his kid money is not the same as a dad who introduced his kid to Ryan Murphy probably when she was a baby.

Anne He he

So far, only Steve Buscemi seems like he made it without nepotism and without the casting couch.

Portia de Rossi née Amanda Rogers

Leah Remini? She grew up poor with a single mother, although I guess Scientology gave her connections.

Eva Longoria is shitty actress who probably made connections with the casting couch.

Two-time Oscar, three-time Emmy, five-time Golden Globe, three-time Dorian, Screen Actors Guild, and Tony award winner Jessica Lange.

[quote]Leah Remini? She grew up poor with a single mother, although I guess Scientology gave her connections.

I think she was somehow helped by Scientology. There are some people who believe that acting teacher and director Milton Katselas roped some actors into Scientology with the promise that COS would help their careers.

Jessie was a call girl and fucked Dino De Laurentiis to get the part in King Kong.

You’re not at all more likely to get a role if your family has some money. They either have connections or they don’t.

If anything, the ones who come from nothing on a way are at an advantage because they have nothing to lose and will do ANYTHING. Leaving a comfy middle/upper middle class cocoon to try your hand at showbusiness is more of a risk - when you have no industry connections that is.

Margaret Cho

R27, I know Chloe third-hand, which is to say not at all. But I know those who knew her. "Rags" were definitely not part of the equation. She rebelled from Darien more against the racial and cultural homogeneity of the place. She had the safety net to take the risk.

Chloe was a scenester chick before she was an actor. She was friend with the staff at Sassy magazine. I remember her being featured in one of their reader produced issues a few years before Kids.

R89 here's some Oscar winners/nominees who made it on their own post 1960s

Don Cheadle, Johnny Depp, Annette Benning, Laura Linney, Kevin Spacey, Ed Harris, Nicole Kidman, Diane Lane, Christopher Walken, Kathy Bates, Robin Williams, Robert Duvall, Burt Reynolds, Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, Whoopi Goldberg, Tom Hanks, Edward Norton, Nick Nolte, James Coburn, William Hurt, Harrison Ford, Renee Zellweger, Jennifer Connelly, Forest Whitaker, Alan Arkin, Mark Wahlberg, Bill Murray, Alec Baldwin, Glenn close, Sam Elliott, Sam Rockwell, Regina King, Amy Adams, Tommy Lee Jones, Hal Holbrook, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ruby Dee, F. Murray Abraham, John Malkovich, James Woods, Willem Dafoe, Kathleen Turner, Woody Harrelson, John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Susan Sarandon, Christopher Walken . . .

R109 that's utter nonsense. Having family money provides a safety net to try your hand at something like acting or singing without worrying about basic needs like food and shelter. The majority of people who want to be stars don't make it, regardless of how much they want it and how hard they work.

The rags to riches idea is mostly bullshit because people from poorer backgrounds have even more to lose, which is the little support and stability they had. Take someone like J-Lo - had the fame thing not worked out, she had burned bridges with her family and lost out on the opportunity to go to college while living at home rent free. She has admitted she considered stripping and she has also admitted to having a sexual relationship with an older man because she was homeless as a teenager and had nowhere to go. This is the kind of sordid shit that usually happens to poor/working class women who try to make it in the industry. She was lucky to make it without having to suffer too much (as far as we know). Most aren't so lucky.

[quote]I don't care for most of Amy Adams performances and find her overrated but she did make it without connections.

R25 I find that hard to believe.

Most of the acclaimed actors/actresses from the 60s/70s/80s were not, actually. Look at any AA award nominee list from that time and it will be majority non nepo people. That really started to change in the 90s.

Okay, he's still trying, but his current awards nominations aren't chopped liver, and soon he will be nominated for an Oscar: Austin Butler. Zero family connections.

Renee Zellweger

NPH grew up in New Mexico; I don’t think his parents had any Hollywood connections. He was a precocious kid who wanted to be in show business from a young age and made it.

[quote] Reese Witherspoon, although like Streep she had family money. No Hollywood connections, though.

Streep worked really hard. She did 2 movies and Shakespeare in the Park all at the same time in the 70s. She was also educated and trained.

[quote] Look at any AA award nominee

Huh? Are you Robert Downey Jr?

Michelle Pfeiffer came from a working class family. No connections to Hollywood. She even opened a phone book, found a casting agency and asked what she was supposed to do. She didn’t know anything.

Was Winona Ryder connected?

I respect people who really did do it the hard way. That’s not to say that no nepo baby is good or didn’t work hard. Anjelica Houston’s family connections actually worked against her. She had to prove herself. The thing that different now is that this current crop has no talent whatsoever and shouldn’t even be in the business. They’re akin to TikTok stars. I mean, they even tried to make Rumor Willis into a mode! Lourdes Leon is one of the ugliest creatures on the planet and can’t even walk without looking like a trucker. Zoe Kravitz is another awful one whose face is completely the result of plastic surgery. We’re living in an age of the Kardashians.

[quote]No actors made it without connections, casting couch, or kissing ass with someone famous. Those are your three routes, and they can overlap.

The exception could be actors who became stars in the legitimate theatre before moving to film, especially those from England and Australia where the theatre is not controlled by producers.

Most of them until a few years ago. There’s five non-nepotism kids for every single one.

Winona wasn’t connected even though people will try to tell you Timothy Leary is some big “in” to the business. Her parents were artsy hippies who lived on communes. People think knowing a famous person is literal nepotism. Gaby Hoffman was the daughter of a Warhol superstar but lived below the poverty line for a great portion of her upbringing.

And no, family money is not nepotism. DL political enemy Susan Sarandon came from a well off Catholic family but had to work odd jobs for years on top of off-Broadway theatre and soaps before she got plum movie roles.

She made big it long after her relative contemporary Al Pacino, who grew extremely poor in The Bronx and was a homeless hustler at point.

It has nothing to do with money, or didn’t for a long time.

Erich von Stroheim owns this thread.

Moorehead made her stage debut in 1929 and had a career as a radio actress through the 30s, before making "Citizen Kane."

Actors who couldn't make it blame nepotism for their own failure. It's not that Jamie Leigh took your job, it's that you're not as talented as she was and you didn't have that killer body nor did you put in the work to get that killer body. They also bitch about other actors fucking their way to the top (and in some cases to the middle). If they could have done it, they would have done it but they're not attractive enough to pull that game off.

Jealous bitches are gonna bitch

I mentioned this as one point in the last thread, but there seems to be a large contingent of Australian actors who didn’t have any nepotism connections for getting into the business. From the old standards Kidman, Watts, Blanchett, Bana, Ledger to a younger generation such as the Hemsworths, Elordi, Robbie, Thwaites and I’m sure many others. One of the weirder things is many of them did a stint on the soap opera Home & Away, that seems more important for them then nepotism.

[quote] Jack was the son of a showgirl, June Frances Nicholson (stage name June Nilson; 1918–1963)

What does this have to do with anything r4? Also didn’t Jack’s mom had him when she was a teenager and he was raised thinking his mom was his sister?

[quote]One of the weirder things is many of them did a stint on the soap opera Home & Away, that seems more important for them then nepotism.

Only because the two big evening soaps, Home and Away and Neighbours, are the best way for a pretty young thing to get exposure if they DON'T have the prestige drama school and the theatre career behind them. A lot of the "actors" in them are pretty hopeless, but if they do have talent they get lots of experience with a very quick filming process, and they can then capitalize on their exposure. All of those you mention except Blanchett have that kind of background, and you can add Russell Crowe.

The ones who had all the training and were theatre stars in Oz before they went to the US are Judy Davis, Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, Geoffrey Rush, Richard Roxburgh, Hugh Jackman and Essie Davis. Anna Torv and Sarah Snook had the training and did some theatre here, but went to Hollywood so early they weren't yet "stars". Toni Colette went to NIDA (not sure she graduated) and did a bit of theatre, but even in Australia her breakout role was Muriel's Wedding. You can usually pick the drama school grads because they all have really good voices. Of all of these, the only one I know of with any family connections is Torv, whose aunt was the mother of Murdoch's most famous children. Whether that helped her in Hollywood IDK, but in any case she really was outstanding even when still at NIDA.

Baz and Catherine didn't have any family connections either that I know of, except that Baz's mother taught ballroom dancing, which inspired his first play (workshopped while he was at NIDA) which became his first film, Strictly Ballroom. He and CM were directing and designing for the Australian Opera before they made any Hollywood movies.

I'd query Kidman. Her parents weren't connected, but her foot in the US door was marriage to Tom Cruise. Contrary to the stories you read, she never did any significant theatre in Australia before she went to Hollywood (terrible voice), but she was certainly known through (serious) mini-series and movies. I don't think she ever did soaps.

Russell Crowe’s Wikipedia page says his parents were film set caterers so that’s the industry tie in that makes him a Nepo baby.

Shelley Duvall & Shelley Winters

Ralph Fiennes was a hotel cleaner before he became an actor.

[quote]I'd query Kidman. Her parents weren't connected, but her foot in the US door was marriage to Tom Cruise. Contrary to the stories you read, she never did any significant theatre in Australia before she went to Hollywood (terrible voice), but she was certainly known through (serious) mini-series and movies. I don't think she ever did soap

IIRC, Kidman has dual American and Australian citizenship because she was born in Hawaii.

R129 is Jamie Leigh.

Annette Benning Tony Shalhoub Katherine Zeta Jones Sean Bean Robert DeNiro Jack Lemmon Jean Harlow Liam Neeson Llucille Ball

Lucille ^

Leonard Nimoy

Zachary Quinto

Billy Crystal

Lana Turner

[quote] Russell Crowe’s Wikipedia page says his parents were film set caterers so that’s the industry tie in that makes him a Nepo baby.

But they weren’t rich and their only connection was in Australian films. He could have continued in Oz but people in Hollywood were impressed with his talent and wanted him in their film project like Sharon Stone.

Matt Dillon was discovered cutting class at his middle school.

"In 1978, Jane Bernstein and a friend were helping director Jonathan Kaplan cast the teen drama Over the Edge when they found Dillon cutting class at Hommocks Middle School in Larchmont."

R142 here. However, his brother, Kevin, is most certainly nepo because of Matt.

Colin Farrell, though Kevin Spacey was kind enough to gave him a leg up.

Jodie Comer

Linda Manz

Divine

Mink Stole

Marie Dressler

Mae West

I read that Matt Dillion line as him “cutting grass at his middle school,” which just seemed so sad, like he was so poor he has janitorial and landscaping chores to be allowed to attend, like that little girl in A Little Princess

Here’s the theme song of the thread. Just remember what Coco had to do to get fame without nepotistic connections, she had to show off her flat pancake titties while being filmed. What horror stories do these gals and guys have on their way to becoming someone?

r148 I think that's a part of why so many actors have substance abuse issues. I can easily believe the majority who had to do it on their own were sexually exploited.

Is it exploitation if you enter into it willingly and are adult age? You could always tell the person to fuck off and go find something else to do with your life.

[quote] Zachary Quinto

No. He comes from a very well-respected political family in Pittsburgh. He grew up upper middle class.

It looks like the best way to become an actor with no money/connections is to start as a child, but that does leave you open to sexual exploitation if your guardians aren't very watchful.

Or exploitation by your guardian.

r150 yes. For women especially, lots of fields are full of sexism and harassment. You should not have to settle for a low paid career you don't want because you can't advance in yours because the men in charge expect sexual favors if you want to get anywhere. I can't believe this needs to be spelled out.

If one were discussing law, medicine, or a 100 other careers I would agree with you, R154, but the entertainment industry is so known for sexual exploitation that in previous centuries "actress" was synonymous with "hooker." It even has its very own phrase for it, casting couch, which other industries do not. My point is that the world isn't in need of any more actors, has too many right now, and if you want to avoid having a sleazy producer put his hand on your knee, it's probably best to pursue a different profession.

As Mario Puzo said, "There is no such think as sexual harassment in the movie industry. You offer your ass for sale just by going in."

r155 the point is that a woman should be able to pursue the career she wants without being sexually assaulted, whatever that happens to be. There may not be a casting couch in other careers, but there still is sexism, harassment and inequality. It's unacceptable that women have to choose 'safe' (read: badly paid) careers in female dominated fields if they don't want to deal with this shit. The answer isn't to tell women not to aim for Hollywood, it's to stamp out all the harassment in the industry, one step at a time.

Okay, R156. You call us when that happens.

A lean torso in this town is a dime a dozen.

This thread demonstrates how meritocracy is basically a myth. The vast, vast majority of actors had some kind of an 'in' thanks to family connections, whether direct Hollywood connections or not. Depressing.

As I said on the other thread, Hollywood actually used to be a force for social mobility. a promoter of the "American Dream", an industry that made dirt-poor foster children like Marilyn Monroe and Barbra Stanwyck into wealthy movie stars! It wasn't part of their mission statement or anything, the studio suits didn't deliberately set out to increase social mobility, but they did have a massive network of talent scouts who'd find photogenic and talented young actors, and give them a shot at stardom regardless of their background.

So for most of the 20th century, Hollywood publicity was full of very real rags-to-riches stories and fed the dream of a meritocratic society, or at least a meritocratic industry, but that's all gone now. They've frozen out all the young actors who might have been the next Clark Gable or Cary Grant.

[quote]Winona wasn’t connected even though people will try to tell you Timothy Leary is some big “in” to the business.

Well, it's certainly interesting that at least two children of people who worked with Leary ended up making it big in Hollywood.

From the wikipedia page of George DiCaprio:

[quote]George Paul DiCaprio (born October 2, 1943) is an American writer, editor, publisher, distributor, and former performance artist, known for his work in the realm of underground comix. DiCaprio has collaborated with Timothy Leary and Laurie Anderson. He is the father of actor Leonardo DiCaprio.

While you can hardly call Leonardo a nepo baby because of these connections, I've long wondered if they did help his career in a way, if only indirectly. Tbh I hadn't heard of Laurie Anderson before, but according to wikipedia she is an avant-garde artist, composer, musician, and film director(!). She was also married to Lou Reed. And that's the thing; the worlds of film, music, art, publishing, and even science aren't stricly separated. If your father is a publisher of underground comics, he's likely to mingle with artists, and those artists are likely to mingle with other creatives. While Leo didn't have any relatives in the film industry that I know of, it's possible that one of the casting agents he came across was a fan of a friend of a friend … of his father's, and/or that he (maybe even unwittingly) impressed someone by mentioning people his father had worked with. In any case, growing up surrounded by all kinds of intellectuals and creatives would have equipped him with a certain vocabulary and demeanor. This is something that is brought up a lot in discussions about the lack of working class kids in academia: you need the right habitus to be accepted in these circles. The same is true for the arts.

Leo likes to talk about how his mother was struggling to make ends meet during his childhood and what shitty, gritty parts of LA he grew up in, making it sound like he was an underprivileged working class kid … but that's only part of the truth. Don't get me wrong though, I'm not saying he shouldn't be where he is. Firstly, even if he might have had certain advantages over a classic working class kid or even middle class kid from Flyoverstan, I'm sure he still had to work much harder for his success than the Maya Hawkes of this world. Secondly, he had the talent, the looks, the charisma.

I vaguely, very vaguely recall reading a story about how some famous or semi-famous friend of Leo's parents gifted a newborn Leo a pair of tiny boxing gloves. I can't find anything about it now though.

Anyone else remember it? Maybe it's just one of those false memories ...

"While you can hardly call Leonardo a nepo baby because of these connections, I've long wondered if they did help his career in a way, if only indirectly."

Leo would definitely have had some advantages over Winona Ryder, even if they both grew up poor, in that he grew up in LA with a family involved in arts circles, while Winona grew up dirt poor in a jerkwater part of northern California. Leo's family might have possibly had contacts in LA creative circles, and they could have given him house room in the LA Basin if he'd ever had rough periods, so he did have some small advantages over someone with no familial safety net, like Winona Ryder.

R163, yeah, but I also think Leo probably would've had certain advantages over a kid from the LA area whose family was wealthy enough to provide a safety net, but didn't have any contacts in creative circles (say, someone whose parents had well-paying but "boring" jobs like teacher, software developer etc.). That kid would've had more financial support, so could've tried longer to succeed, could've afforded acting lessons and so on, but I think Leo would've had a *somewhat* easier time actually getting his foot in the door thanks to having the right "vibe", being able to name drop interesting people, and the possibility that people he met knew and appreciated his father's work (according to the website below, George DiCaprio "was one of the leading figures in the West Coast underground comix scene of the 1970s and early 1980s.").

That doesn't qualify as nepotism, but it's still a form of privilege imo.

Clint Walker was just floating around with his young wife doing odd jobs when he became a doorman at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas. I thought I read some movie star saw him and offered him a job in Hollywood, but Wikipedia just says he was a client of Henry Willson. The question is, did he ever provide any services to get himself ahead in his career? I kind of doubt it.

Leo lived with his mom tho. His parents divorced right after he was born. I highly doubt he benefitted from his father working in comic books.

R166, yeah, and his father lived next door throughout much of Leo's childhood. If you read/watch interviews with him, especially from his early days, it's clear that he was always very close to both parents. IIRC, his father would also take little Leo to performances sometimes.

Sharon Stone came from shit stick Pennsylvania with no connections.

Gwyneth Paltrow said she was "self-made"--------such delusions.

Gerard Depardieu

R169=Blythe on her third bottle of wine

Yes, people often overlook the benefit of proximity in these conversations. Growing up in LA or even another major city like NYC provides enormous advantages over kids who grow up in a small town in the middle of nowhere. Even the poorest kid in the projects of Harlem or the Bronx can hop on a train and work as an extra in a movie or get a receptionist job at a studio. Being able to live at home while trying to make it is also an enormous advantage.

Thanks for the post JLo R172 !

Janet Jackson owns this thread. She 10 trillion percent made it on her own.

Also, Alex Baldwin. So what if he loves to sport shoot white girls in cold blood and gets away with it.

While not exactly *rags*-to-riches, Marg Helgenberger came from a fairly modest background with zero show-biz connections.

Raised in Nebraska, her father was an inspector at a meat-packing plant & her mother was a nurse. Her first summer job was as a "deboner" at said meat-packing plant (and you thought your first job sucked). She originally planned to become a nurse, like her mom, but got into drama after transferring to Northwestern from some state college in Nebraska. While at Northwestern, a casting scout for Ryan's Hope saw her in a production of The Taming of the Shrew (as Kate), and six months later she was cast as Ryan's Hope.