Welcome to Curmudgeon Corner, a guest column where SarahGVincentViews.com invites a friend to share their thoughts about various topics. Today, our guest and friend is Bob Tremblay, who often goes to screenings and movies with me! Going to movies with Bob makes them even more fun!
Disclaimer: Any views, thoughts and opinions expressed in this column are that of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies or positions of SarahGVincentViews.com.
The recent death of Diane Ladd got me thinking about famous mother-father-daughter acting families.
Imagine the dinnertime conversations.
“So, what did you do today, darling?”
“Not much. Got cast in a blockbuster.”
“And you, sweetheart?”
“Signed a million-dollar contract with Universal. Pass the potatoes, please.”
“Heck, I only had lunch with Steven Spielberg.”
Anyway, to qualify for inclusion in my first trivia category, all three family members have had to be nominated for an Oscar, an Emmy Award or a Golden Globe.
Eighty-nine-year-old Ladd, who died on Nov. 3, 2025, was actor Bruce Dern’s former wife and actor Laura Dern’s mother. During her career, Ladd was nominated for three Academy Awards, three Emmy Awards and four Golden Globes.
Eighty-nine-year-old Bruce Dern has been nominated for two Academy Awards, one Emmy Award and three Golden Globes.
Fifty-eight-year-old Laura Dern, has been nominated for three Academy Awards (winning the Oscar for best supporting actress for “Marriage Story”), nine Emmy Awards (winning best supporting actress for “Big Little Lies”), and eight Golden Globes (winning best actress for “Afterburn” and “Enlightened” and supporting actress for “Marriage Story,” “Big Little Lies” and “Recount”).
Ladd and Laura Dern also own the distinction of being the only mother and daughter to be nominated for Academy Awards in the same film. Dern was nominated for best actress, and Ladd was nominated for best supporting actress in “Rambling Rose.”
In case you’re curious, the only father and daughter to receive Academy Award nominations for the same film were Henry Fonda and Jane Fonda for “On Golden Pond.” He won the Oscar for best actor, and she was nominated for best supporting actress. Jane Fonda’s mother, forty-two-year-old Frances Ford Seymour, who died in 1950, was not an actress.
Up next, we have Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh and Jamie Lee Curtis. The eighty-five-year-old Tony Curtis, who died in 2010, was nominated for one Academy Award, one Emmy Award and two Golden Globes. Sharing the award with Rock Hudson, he also won two Golden Globe Henrietta Awards for World Film Favorite in 1958 and in 1961.
Seventy-seven-year-old Janet Leigh, who died in 2004, was nominated for one Academy Award and one Golden Globe (cue screeching violin music, winning best supporting actress for “Psycho”).
Sixty-six-year-old Jamie Lee Curtis has been nominated for one Academy Award (winning the Oscar for best supporting actress for “Everything Everywhere All At Once“), three Emmy Awards (winning outstanding guest actress for the “Fishes” episode in “The Bear”) and eight Golden Globes (winning best actress for “Anything But Love” and “True Lies”). For the uninitiated, thanks to her multiple appearances in horror films, most notably the “Halloween” franchise, has been crowned the “scream queen.”
Moving on to Eddie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher. Eighty-two-year-old Eddie Fisher, who died in 2010, was nominated for two Emmy Awards and one Golden Globe (winning in the television achievement category for “Coke Time”).
Eighty-four-year-old Reynolds, who died in 2016, was nominated for one Academy Award, one Daytime Emmy Award, one Primetime Emmy Award and five Golden Globes. Her first Golden Globe nomination was in 1951, and her last was in 1997.
Sixty-year-old Carrie Fisher, who died in 2016, was nominated for three Emmy Awards. She’s best known for playing Princess Leia in the “Star Wars” films.
In the close, but no cigar category, there are multiple runner ups. Eddie Fisher was also married to Connie Stevens. Their daughter, Joely Fisher, 58, was nominated for a Golden Globe, but Stevens, 87, hasn’t qualified yet.
That close-but-no-cigar tagline also applies to Jon Voigt, Marcheline Bertrand and Angelina Jolie as well as Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson and their daughters, Lynn and Vanessa Redgrave. Voigt, 86, and Jolie, 50, received multiple honors in the aforementioned categories, but Bertrand, who died in 2007 at 56, did not. While Michael Redgrave, who died in 1985 at 77, received only one Academy Award nomination, his daughter, Lynn, who died in 2010 at 67, and Vanessa, 88, amassed numerous honors in the key categories. Kempson, who died in 2003 at 92, did not. Her granddaughter, Joely Richardson, 60, however, has, earning two Golden Globe nominations so far.
We’re also not including acting trios involving stepfathers and stepmothers such as Kurt Russell, Goldie Hawn and Kate Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and Kate Burton.
The Howard clan of Ron, Cheryl and Bryce Dallas almost qualifies as well. Ron Howard, 71, has received most of his nominations as a director while his daughter, Bryce Dallas Howard, 44, has been nominated for one Golden Globe. Her mother, Cheryl Alley Howard, 71, doesn’t have a major award nomination yet.
The Smith family, however, makes the grade thanks to Will, Jada and Willow.
Will Smith, 57, has been nominated for four Academy Awards (winning the Oscar for best actor for “King Richard“), one Emmy Award and seven Golden Globes (winning best actor for “King Richard”).
Jada Pinkett Smith, 54, has been nominated for five Daytime Emmy Awards (winning in the outstanding informative talk show category for “Red Table, an honor shared with several others).
Willow Smith, 25, has been nominated for two Daytime Emmy Awards.
Last but certainly not least, we have Lenny Kravitz, Lisa Bonet and Zoe Kravitz.
Lenny Kravitz, 61, has been nominated for one Golden Globe. His former wife, Lisa Bonet, 57, has been nominated for one Emmy Award. Their daughter, Zoe Kravitz, 36, has been nominated for one Emmy Award.
Did I leave any family out? If I did, I apologize in advance.
