Sibling Revelry

"To the outside world we all grow old. But not to brothers and sisters. We know each other as we always were. We know each other's hearts. We share private family jokes. We remember family feuds and secrets, family griefs and joys. We live outside the touch of time."
- Clara Ortega


Not long ago, we took a look at identical twins and doppelgängers as fictional characters in motion pictures. On this outing in the Moviehouse, we want to spend time with some real-life siblings who pursued acting as a career, which is nothing new, of course.

British actor George Sanders, known for his impeccably suave presence and sonorous, refined line readings, assumed the role of Simon Templar, a debonair, modern Robin Hood known as The Saint, in a series of B-movies. He starred in five such pictures before taking on the role of "The Falcon," a freelance troubleshooter blatantly created in imitation of The Saint. Four films into the Falcon franchise, Sanders grew bored with the cycle of B-movies and had his character killed off, to be replaced by his real-life, look-alike older brother, actor Tom Conway (born Thomas Sanders).

Brothers George Sanders and Tom Conway share the screen in
1942's "The Falcon's Brother." Conway's several appearances as
The Falcon proved more profitable at the box office than George's.

Actually, George Sanders seemingly had a habit of growing bored with situations, as he was ultimately driven to suicide, April 25, 1972, because, stating as much in a famed note, he was "bored."

The fodder for one of Hollywood's most enduring and infamous sibling rivalries was fueled by decades of acrimony shared by sisters Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine. In Oscar lore, they are the only siblings to have each won a Best Lead acting Academy Award. Both were nominated for Best Actress in 1942. Joan Fontaine won for her performance in Alfred Hitchcock's "Suspicion" over Olivia de Havilland's in "Hold Back the Dawn," resulting in what some perceived as a snubbing in Olivia's failure to publicly congratulate her kid sister.

Joan Fontaine piques Cary Grant's passion in "Suspicion."

Also-ran sibling Olivia de Havilland in her Oscar-nominated role
opposite Romanian gigolo Charles Boyer in "Hold Back the Dawn"

Joan was born Joan de Havilland, but her mother, Lilian Augusta Fontaine, refused to allow her to use the name de Havilland. It was always Joan's conviction that Olivia was her mother's favorite. "My sister was born a lion and I a tiger," Joan told an interviewer, "and in the laws of the jungle, they were never friends."

Every picture tells a story...Joan Fontaine (right)
poses with big sister Olivia de Havilland.

The sisters stopped talking to each other altogether after their mother's funeral in 1975, an event of which Olivia neglected to inform Joan, who was out of the country. In a 1978 interview, Joan Fontaine said, "I married first, won the Oscar before Olivia did, and if I die first, she'll undoubtedly be livid because I beat her to it!" Fontaine indeed passed away December 15, 2013, at the age of 96, while Olivia de Havilland, who won two Academy Awards and was nominated 78 years ago for her role in "Gone with the Wind," will mark her 102nd birthday July 1.

Lawrence Tierney and Scott Brady were rough-hewn brothers, sharing the Tierney birth name of their Irish-American police chief father, who translated their toss-and-tumble upbringing into knockabout roles as tough guys in movies and television. Lawrence Tierney starred in the title role in the 1945 film noir "Dillinger." He portrayed Jesse James three times, beginning with 1946's "Badman's Territory," while kid brother Scott Brady played Confederate guerrilla Bloody Bill Anderson in 1950's "Kansas Raiders," outlaw sibling Bob Dalton in 1952's "Montana Belle," and the title role in 1954's "The Law vs. Billy the Kid."

Within seven years, from 1944 to 1951, Lawrence Tierney was arrested over a dozen occasions for drunkenness and brawling. Pictured above in one of his off-screen appearances, Tierney, an admitted alcoholic, once said he "threw away about seven careers through drink." In January of 1973, the 53-year-old actor was stabbed in a Manhattan bar fight. Two years later, he was questioned by the NYPD in connection with the apparent suicide of a 24-year-old woman who jumped from a high-rise apartment, telling police, "I had just gotten there, and she just went out the window."

Younger brother Scott Brady, born Gerard Tierney, was arrested for narcotics possession in 1957. From 1959 to 1961, Brady was uniquely cast as a private detective of the Old West in the series "Shotgun Slade."

Yankee sergeant Scott Brady confronts former Confederate cowboy
Clint Eastwood in director Jodie Copeland's sole theatrical film,
1958's "Ambush at Cimarron Pass," described by Clint as
 "probably the lousiest western ever made." 

In 1963, Scott Brady was barred from participating in wagering on harness racing because of his association with known bookmakers. By 1981, Brady had been stricken with pulmonary fibrosis and required the use of an oxygen tank. His last role, before his death at the age of 60 in 1985 was as Sheriff Frank in 1984's "Gremlins" (pictured below).

Lawrence Tierney outlived his younger brother by at least 18 years. Toward the end of his career, he delivered a tempestuous performance, both onscreen and off,  as crusty crime boss Joe Cabot in Quentin Tarantino's 1992 heist-gone-awry thriller "Reservoir Dogs" (pictured below).

Unbeknownst to the average moviegoer, Hollywood tough guy Robert Mitchum had a younger brother, John Mitchum, who made the transition from unbilled extras to numerous, memorable character roles. John had supporting roles in half a dozen of pictures featuring Robert, including a turn as Elmer the bartender in 1967's "El Dorado" (pictured below).

In the 1989 TV movie "Jake Spanner, Private Eye," John played Robert Mitchum's crime-solving brother in a cast that included Robert's son, James Mitchum. Known as a poet, singer, and guitarist, John composed the patriotic, flag-waving talk-song "America, Why I Love Her," which was famously recorded by John Wayne in 1972.

After appearing with Clint Eastwood in a 1963 episode of the western series "Rawhide" and in the 1969 western musical "Paint Your Wagon," starring Clint and Lee Marvin, John Mitchum appeared in the first three "Dirty Harry" pictures as Eastwood's portly cohort, Detective Frank ("Too Much Linguini") DiGiorgio (pictured below). Clint must have enjoyed working with Mitchum, casting him in "High Plains Drifter" and "The Outlaw Josey Wales."

Hollywood is, of course, rife with biographies of high-profile siblings. After high school, Shirley MacLean Beaty headed to New York City, where she auditioned for a part as a chorus girl in Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1953 backstage musical "Me and Juliet." When the producer kept mispronouncing her name, she changed it to Shirley MacLaine. Three years her junior, little brother Henry Warren Beaty was billed as Warren Beaty in early TV appearances in the late 1950s until he was credited as Warren Beatty for his role as rich snob Milton Armitage in the sitcom "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis" in 1960.

Annette Bening, husband Warren Beatty, and Warren's sister,
Shirley MacLaine, share a laugh at the American Film Institute
Life Achievement Award tribute to Beatty in June of 2008.

Informative and intriguing so far, but our interest lies in those instances when the siblings performed together. For example, take the Booths of Bel Air, Maryland.

The Booths were a prominent theatrical family from Maryland in the 19th century. The patriarch, Junius Brutus Booth, was an acclaimed British Shakespearean actor who immigrated to the United States with his mistress in 1821. In August of 1855, 17-year-old John Wilkes Booth made his stage debut in Shakespeare's "Richard III." Nine years later, John performed with his brothers Edwin and Junius Booth Jr. in Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar."

(Left to right) John Wilkes Booth plays Mark Antony,
with Edwin Booth as Brutus, and Junius Booth Jr. as
Cassius in an 1864 staging of "Julius Caesar."

John Wilkes Booth had portrayed Brutus in an earlier presentations of "Julius Caesar" and declared that, of all Shakespeare's characters, his favorite was the man who slew a despot. After shooting President Lincoln at Ford's Theatre on April 14, 1865, Booth jumped to the stage and quoted Brutus: "Sic semper tyrannis!" That is Latin for "Thus always to tyrants." Edwin later disowned his brother, forbidding mention of John's name in his house.

Herbert Arthur Chamberlayne Blythe was a British actor who assumed the name Maurice Barrymore to spare his father the shame of having a son in such an amoral, scandalous profession as the theater. After moving to the U.S. at the end of 1874, Maurice met and married American actress Georgiana Emma Drew. They had three children, Ethel, Lionel, and John Barrymore, all three of whom would come to be regarded as "The Royal Family" of acting, first on the stage and then migrating to the screen.

The only film Ethel, Lionel, and John Barrymore appeared in together was 1932's "Rasputin and the Empress," loosely inspired by the relationship between Tsarina Alexandra and Grigori Rasputin, a self-proclaimed holy man and mystical healer who held sway over the Romanov family on the eve of the Russian Revolution. Lionel portrayed Rasputin, Ethel was Alexandra, and Lionel played Prince Paul Chegodieff, a fictional nobleman based on Prince Felix Felixovich Yusupov, who was one of Rasputin's assassins.

John Barrymore (right) was the grandfather of Drew Barrymore.

The movie's inaccurate implication that the prince's fiancée was molested by Rasputin brought about a significant lawsuit against MGM by the real prince and princess that resulted in over $377,000 in settlements (in excess of $6.5 million in today's economy) and, lastingly, originated the oft-used onscreen disclaimer that "any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental."

Possibly because of their origins in vaudeville theaters, motion picture comedy teams of the 1930s and '40s were frequently siblings, such as the Marx Brothers, the Ritz Brothers, and The Three Stooges.

The Marx Brothers are shown at the height of their popularity:
(left to right) Chico, Groucho, Harpo, and Zeppo. Zeppo left the
act after their last film at Paramount, 1933's "Duck Soup." He
and brother Gummo Marx created one of the most successful
talent agencies in Hollywood with Jack Benny as an early client.

Along with Larry Fine, brothers (left to right) Jerome
(Curly), Samuel (Shemp), and Moses (Moe) Horwitz,
or Howard, were the foundation of The Three Stooges.

The only time siblings Jane Fonda and kid brother Peter Fonda shared the screen was in the kinky 1968 attempt to eroticize a handful of eerie Edgar Allan Poe tales by artsy European directors, including Federico Fellini. Paris-born director Roger Vadim, who was married to Jane Fonda at the time, paraded her around a French chateau in anachronistic peekaboo costumes (one reviewer described the wardrobe as "super-heroine outfits in the 18th century") as a licentious countess who tries to tame a wild horse that may be the spirit of a deceased cousin (Peter Fonda) she lusted after but spurned her wicked advances.

(Top) Peter Fonda delivers a typically stony performance as the
stoic Baron Wilhelm Berlifitzing, while (bottom) the half-naked
Jane Fonda as Countess Frederique de Metzengerstein oversees
orgies at her seaside castle in "Spirits of the Dead." 

In 1986, Beau Bridges directed and starred in "The Thanksgiving Promise," a heartwarming Disney television movie featuring Beau's real-life teenage son Jordan Bridges, who promises to care for an injured Canada goose with the understanding that the bird will be fattened up and served as a holiday dinner for the neighborhood. The cast included Beau's father, actor Lloyd Bridges, his mother, Dorothy Bridges, and, in a small but important role, his brother, Jeff Bridges.

The Bridges brothers, Beau and Jeff, had a more celebrated teaming in 1989's "The Fabulous Baker Boys," portraying struggling jazz lounge pianists in Seattle who revitalize their career when they hire an up-and-coming female singer (Michelle Pfeiffer), whose presence eventually causes the brothers to re-examine their personal and professional lives.

Besides winning a Golden Globe, Michelle Pfeiffer garnered many
critics' awards and was nominated for the Best Actress Oscar.

Starting off with a look at more contemporary siblings, in 1997, brothers Ben and Casey Afleck, along with Cole Hauser, played the drinking buddies of M.I.T. janitor and nighttime math whiz Matt Damon in "Good Will Hunting," the Oscar-winning screenplay of which was written by Matt and Ben. Earlier that year, Casey had a supporting role in Kevin Smith's quirky romantic comedy "Chasing Amy," which starred brother Ben Afleck as a comic book artist who falls in love with a lesbian comic artist, portrayed by Joey Lauren Adams, who repeated the role in Smith's "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back." In 2007, Ben Afleck made his directing debut in the mystery thriller "Gone Baby Gone," with Casey Afleck and Michelle Monaghan as Boston private investigators searching for an abducted girl.

Cole Hauser, Casey Afleck, Matt Damon, and Ben Afleck portray
pals in "Good Will Hunting."

As an actor, James Franco has a broad range from flippant abandon in films like "Pineapple Express" and "Your Highness" to the complex existentialism of "127 Hours" and "As I Lay Dying." But there are a number of other avenues of creativity he has traveled, including works as an author, poet, painter, and mixed-media artist. Dubbed an "extreme scholar," he holds a number of degrees and has himself instructed film classes at several colleges and schools.

As a director, Franco has crafted unique, very personal explorations, often casting himself alongside younger brother Dave Franco. "The Broken Tower" (2001) was James' thesis for his MFA in filmmaking from New York University, which he wrote, produced, directed, edited, and starred in as Hart Crane, a modernist poet whose mounting depression, heavy drinking, and conflicted emotions over his homosexuality resulted in his pitching himself overboard from a New York-bound steamship in the Gulf of Mexico in 1932 at the age of 32. Dave Franco played the tragic Hart as a younger man.

"The Disaster Artist" (2017) was based on a non-fiction book that related the making of a 2003 picture titled "The Room," which has been widely reviled as one of the worst movies ever made (one film professor called it "the 'Citizen Kane' of bad movies"). James Franco played the real-life writer-producer-director-star of the infamous production, and Dave Franco was cast as "The Room's" costar and co-author of the memoir on which "The Disaster Artist" is based, Tommy Wiseau.

Dave and James Franco share a scene in "The Disaster Artist."

Dave Franco portrays actor Montgomery Clift in the upcoming "Zeroville," directed by James Franco. Based on a loopy novel by Steve Erickson, the story is a surrealistic take on Hollywood's transition in the early 1970s, featuring James as a movie-loving seminarian fresh off the bus. The supporting cast includes Seth Rogen, Megan Fox, Will Ferrell, Danny McBride, and Horatio Sanz as Francis Ford Coppola.

Middle brother Tom Franco had a small role in 2011's "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," starring James Franco, and appeared in 2012's "Spring Breakers," an odd mashup of party-girl antics and criminal violence, with James Franco as a rapper and drug dealer. Tom Franco also popped up with brothers James and Dave in "The Disaster Artist."

Cleaned up for the camera, brothers Dave, James, and Tom Franco
pose for the paparazzi.

As teenagers, Maggie Gyllenhaal and brother Jake Gyllenhaal had small roles in the second motion picture for both, 1993's "A Dangerous Woman," directed by their father, Stephen Gyllenhaal. The romantic drama starred Debra Winger, Barbara Hershey, and Gabriel Byrne. In 1998, Stephen Gyllenhaal co-wrote (with Elia Kazan's son Nicholas Kazan) and directed "Homegrown," an offbeat comedy thriller featuring Billy Bob Thornton, Hank Azaria, Ryan Phillippe, and Kelly Lynch as inept marijuana dealers who attempt to carry on after the death of their boss (John Lithgow) and contend with an array of shady characters, played by the likes of Jamie Lee Curtis, Ted Danson, Judge Reinhold, and Jon Bon Jovi. The director's children, Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal, appeared in the supporting cast.

Jake and Maggie portrayed siblings in 2001's "Donnie Darko," a singular science fiction film about a troubled teenager (Jake) and his relationship with a being in a large rabbit costume who shares doomsday-related visions. The equally unique cast included "The Hunger Games'" Jena Malone, "Dances with Wolves'" Mary McDonnell, "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid's" Katharine Ross, Drew Barrymore, Patrick Swayze, Noah Wyle, and Seth Rogen. The film was a box-office disappointment but became a surprising success in home video and developed a devoted cult following.

In 2005, the Gyllenhaal sibs, Jake and Maggie,
attended the Academy Awards.

Sisters Kate Mara and Rooney Mara come from legendary sports lineage. they are great-granddaughters of both New York Giants founder Tim Mara and Pittsburgh Steelers founder Art Rooney Sr. Kate recently portrayed Mary Jo Kopechne in "Chappaquiddick," while Rooney is best known for her Oscar-nominated role in "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo." Rooney Mara made her screen debut in a bit part as a girl in a classroom in the direct-to-video 2005 slasher pic "Urban Legends: Bloody Mary," which starred big sister Kate Mara.

Kate Mara (left) stars in "Urban Legends: Bloody Mary," while
Rooney Mara (right) has a small role in the picture directed by
Mary Lambert, best known for 1989's "Pet Sematary."

There was a time when Eric Roberts was the powerhouse of the Roberts siblings, with memorable performances in films like "King of the Gypsies," "Raggedy Man," "Star 80," "The Pope of Greenwich Village," and "Runaway Train," before his career was overshadowed by his younger sister, Julia Roberts, and he started popping up in Syfy channel fodder like "Cyclops," as an evil Roman emperor, and "Sharktopus," as a mad scientist.

In one of her earliest movie roles, Julia Roberts portrayed Eric Roberts' screen sister in 1989's "Blood Red," the story of a Sicilian family of wine cultivators in 1890s California battling a land-hungry railroad baron, played by Dennis Hopper. The family patriarch was portrayed by Giancarlo Giannini, probably most recognizable to American filmgoers as the ill-fated Inspector Pazzi, disemboweled by Dr. Lecter in "Hannibal," in a supporting cast that included Burt Young, Susan Anspach, Michael Madsen, and Aldo Ray.

Eric Roberts and Julia Roberts in "Blood Red" in
1989: After their parents divorced in 1972, Eric
stayed with his father, estranged from his sisters.

There is a middle sister, Lisa Roberts Gillan, who appeared in a number of pictures starring Julia Roberts, among them "I Love Trouble," "Something to Talk About," "Runaway Bride," "Mona Lisa Smile," "Duplicity," "Eat Pray Love," "Valentine's Day," and "Mother's Day." In the 2012 twist on Snow White, "Mirror Mirror," Lisa played Julia's reflection in the magic mirror. Lisa and Julia worked together as executive producers on a number of "American Girl" TV movies.

Emma Roberts (left), daughter of Eric Roberts, poses with aunts
Julia Roberts and Lisa Roberts Gillan at the premiere of the 2012
comedy "Jesus Henry Christ," co-produced by Julia and Lisa.

Everybody familiar with movies of the past two decades is familiar with the work of brothers Owen and Luke Wilson, particularly in pictures directed by esoteric film stylist Wes Anderson. The siblings were cast in Anderson's "Bottle Rocket" and "The Royal Tenenbaums," while Owen co-wrote "Rushmore" (which featured Luke) with Anderson. In 2004, Owen and Luke played the Wright Brothers (pictured below) in a zany reworking of Jules Verne's "Around the World in 80 Days," starring and executive produced by Jackie Chan, Owen's costar in "Shanghai Noon" and "Shanghai Knights."

Did you know there's a third Wilson? Eldest brother Andrew Wilson appeared with Owen and Luke in "Bottle Rocket" and "The Royal Tenenbaums." Along with Luke, he had supporting roles in "Charlie's Angels," "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle," and "Idiocracy." With Owen, he appeared in "Zoolander," "The Big Bounce," "How Do You Know,""Hall Pass," and "The Big Year." In 2005, Andrew and Luke Wilson directed "The Wendell Baker Story," a goodhearted shaggy-dog romantic comedy featuring Luke (who also wrote the script) and Owen, along with a game supporting cast of Eva Mendes, Harry Dean Stanton, Kris Kristofferson, Seymour Cassel, Eddie Griffin, and Will Ferrell. In response to an interviewer who once told Andrew Wilson, "I didn't know you existed," he said, "Perhaps you missed my turn as a gay cop in 'The Big Bounce.'"

Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, and Andrew Wilson
pose on the set of "The Wendell Baker Story."

Turning our attention to some of cinema's more extraordinary sibling revelries, 1980's "The Long Riders," an evocative paean to the failed 1876 robbery of a Northfield, Minnesota bank by the Jesse James-Cole Younger Gang, stands apart as one of filmdom's grandest amassing of real-life Hollywood siblings portraying real-life outlaw brothers. Directed by Walter Hill, known for such westerns as "Wild Bill" and "Geronimo: An American Legend," as well as the western miniseries "Broken Trail," "The Long Riders" was co-written by actors James and Stacy Keach, who, besides portraying Jesse and Frank James (pictured below), served as executive producers on the picture.

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Acting siblings Randy and Dennis Quaid portrayed Clell and Ed Miller (pictured below). While there is no doubt that Clell Miller, who rode with Bloody Bill Anderson's guerrillas in the Civil War, was killed by the townspeople of Northfield, rumors conflicted about Ed Miller either being killed by Jesse James in 1881 for loose lips or surviving into old age in Kentucky after his demise was faked by the James Gang.

Nicholas Guest and Christopher Guest played brothers Robert and Charley Ford. Jesse James was living under the alias of Thomas Howard, when, in the spring of 1882, according to the popular bluegrass folk song, Bob Ford, "that dirty little coward...shot Mr. Howard" and "laid poor Jesse in his grave."

Robert Ford (Nicholas Guest) was murdered for no apparent reason
by Edward Capehart O'Kelley in the silver mining camp of Creede,
Colorado in 1892. Charley Ford, racked with guilt over the shooting
of Jesse James while suffering from terminal tuberculosis and a
debilitating morphine addiction, had committed suicide in 1884.

In his 1995 autobiography, Endless Highway, David Carradine waxed nostalgically about "hanging out with the brothers" and drinking moonshine on-location for "The Long Riders," referring to half-brothers Keith and Robert Carradine (pictured below).

(Left to right) Robert Carradine portrays Bob Younger, David
Carradine Cole Younger, and Keith Carradine Jim Younger.

Bruce Carradine is another half-brother of David Carradine, sharing the same mother, Ardanelle McCool Cosner, but different fathers. Bruce appeared on a couple of episodes of David Carradine's 1975 series "Kung Fu," as well as acting in the 1982 monster flick "Q: The Winged Serpent," starring David Carradine, and "Americana," an early '80s portrait of an idealistic drifter, produced, edited, and directed by star David Carradine, with Barbara Hershey and John Blyth Barrymore III (Drew Barrymore's half-brother).

More Carradines than you can shake a stick at: Helping papa
John Carradine celebrate his 68th birthday are (left to right) Robert,
Chris (who did not pursue acting), Keith, Bruce, David, David's
lover Barbara Hershey, and David and Barbara's son, Free, who
at age nine changed his name to Tom.

There is yet one more Carradine sibling, of a sort, as patriarch John Carradine's second wife, Sonia Sorel, the mother of Keith and Robert Carradine, later married visionary Beat Generation painter Michael Bowen and had a son, actor Michael Bowen, making him the maternal half-brother of Keith and Robert. Bowen played an LAPD detective alongside Michael Keaton's federal ATF agent in Quentin Tarantino's 1997 crackerjack crime thriller "Jackie Brown" (pictured below).

Tarantino utilized Bowen again in "Kill Bill," which featured David Carradine, and in "Django Unchained," with Robert Carradine. Bowen, who appeared on episodes of David Carradine's syndicated series "Kung Fu: The Legend Continues" in the mid-1990s, also had memorable recurring roles on "Lost" and "Breaking Bad."

Bill Murray and his brothers worked as caddies in their boyhood.
Pictured here are siblings Joel, Brian, Ed, John, Bill, and Andy...
and somewhere there are three more, including a sister who is just
that - a sister - a Dominican nun who travels in a one-woman show
portraying Saint Catherine of Siena.

Let's get this one over quickly, because there are a number of Murray brothers to mention here. Bill comes from a family of nine siblings, three of whom are also actors. Brian Doyle-Murray has appeared in six films with younger brother Bill, most memorably as Lou Loomis, the caddies' boss in "Caddyshack" (which he scripted with director Harold Ramis and Doug Kenney), and as Bill's father in a flashback in "Scrooged."

Ty Webb (Chevy Chase), Al Czervik (Rodney Dangerfield),
Dr. Beeper (Dan Resin), Judge Smails (Ted Knight), and
Lou (Brian Doyle-Murray) have a dispute in "Caddyshack."

John Murray, whose film career virtually started with a shameless imitation of older brother Bill in a 1985 comedy titled "Moving Violations," could be seen as a face-in-the-crowd as one of the nameless caddies in "Caddyshack." He played Bill's onscreen brother in 1988's "Scrooged." Joel Murray, who had a recurring role on "Mad Men" as copywriter Freddy Rumsen and appeared in "One Crazy Summer" as well as the Bobcat Goldthwait-directed dark comedies "Shakes the Clown" and "God Bless America," had a brief cameo in "Scrooged" (pictured below).

A Christmas party scene from "Scrooged" includes Wendie Malick
(best known as soap opera star Victoria Chase on "Hot in Cleveland"),
John Murray, Mitch Glazer (who co-wrote the script with Michael
O'Donoghue), Lauri Kempson, Susan Isaacs, and Joel Murray.

And lest we forget, in 2002, Brian Doyle-Murray, Bill Murray, John Murray, and Joel Murray cut up across various links in the five-episode Comedy Central mockumentary "The Sweet Spot" (pictured below).

Brother Ed Murray popped up in an episode as a referee.

Spearheaded by sibling Andy Murray, a chef, the Murray brothers have opened "Caddyshack"-themed eateries in St. Augustine, Florida, and Chicago.

Another expansive array of acting brothers were the Bottoms boys. Eldest brother Timothy Bottoms got his breakthrough role in his second film, director Peter Bogdanovich's 1971 coming-of-age drama "The Last Picture Show," with Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd, Ben Johnson, Ellen Burstyn, Eileen Brennan, and Randy Quaid. Sam Bottoms, four years Timothy's junior, appeared in the film as Timothy's screen brother.

Timothy's star rose quickly, and in 1973, he enjoyed his most popular role in "The Paper Chase" (pictured above), about first-year law student James Hart's confrontations with a brilliant but hard-nosed Harvard professor, Kingsfield (played by John Houseman in an Oscar-winning performance), while dating his daughter (Lindsay Wagner). Interestingly, as he matured into middle age, Timothy portrayed President George W. Bush three different times.

Joseph Bottoms, less than three years younger than Timothy, won the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year for his role in 1974's "The Dove," based on real-life Robin Lee Graham, who spent five years single-handedly sailing around the world, starting at age 16. The picture was produced by Gregory Peck.

As Jewish partisans in "Holocaust," Joseph Bottoms and Tovah
Feldshuh fend for themselves in the streets of Ukraine.

Joseph Bottoms' most memorable role was in the acclaimed 1978 miniseries "Holocaust" as Rudi Weiss, a German Jew who joins Jewish partisans in World War II. The production won several Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Limited Series and Outstanding Directing (Marvin J. Chomsky). Meryl Streep, Michael Moriarty, and Blanche Baker garnered acting Emmy Awards. 

In quick succession, from 1976 to 1980, Sam Bottoms made an indelible impression in three motion pictures. In the neo-western classic "The Outlaw Josey Wales," Sam played Jamie, the amiable but ill-fated sidekick of Clint Eastwood's fugitive guerrilla (pictured above). In 1980, Bottoms reteamed with Eastwood, playing a draft-dodging trick rope artist in "Bronco Billy." The previous year, Sam portrayed Lance Johnson, the acid-dropping, surfing gunner's mate in Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now."

Sam Bottoms puts on his war face in "Apocalypse Now." Sadly,
Sam succumbed to an aggressive cancerous brain tumor, age 53.

Youngest brother Ben Bottoms (pictured below) is better known as a visual artist responsible for murals and Zen gardens than as an actor. Among his sparse screen appearances was a role in 1979's "More American Graffiti." In 1998, Ben, Joseph, and Sam Bottoms appeared in the TV movie "Joseph's Gift," an updating of the Biblical tale of Jacob's favored son in the Book of Genesis.

In 1981, Timothy Bottoms and Sam Bottoms were featured in a three-part miniseries based on John Steinbeck's East of Eden, with Jane Seymour, Karen Allen, Warren Oates, and Lloyd Bridges. In 1987, all four Bottoms siblings - Timothy, Joseph, Sam, and Ben - starred in a made-for-television crime drama filmed in Hawaii titled "Island Sons" (pictured below).

In mentioning "Apocalypse Now" above, we were reminded of the sibling sons of that movie's star, Martin Sheen, namely Emilio Estevez and Charlie Sheen. But there's nothing new we can tell you about them, so instead let's go back to Martin Sheen for a look at his brother, Joe Estevez.

First off, after having difficulty when applying for a job or an apartment because of the ethnicity of his family name, Martin, who was born Ramón Estévez, adopted his stage name from a combination of a CBS casting director named Robert Martin and televangelist Bishop Fulton J. Sheen. In an interview on "Inside the Actors Studio," he maintained his name was still Estévez. "It's on my driver's license and passport...In fact, one of my big regrets is that I didn't keep my name as it was given to me. I knew it bothered my dad." (Born Carlos Estévez, Martin's son adopted the name Charlie Sheen after being expelled from school and deciding to pursue acting; Emilio Estévez, who kept his given name, said he didn't want to "ride into the business as 'Martin Sheen's son'" and anyway, liked the assonance of the double "E" initials.)

Joseph Estévez, a little more than five years younger than Martin, was one of ten children (nine brothers, one sister). After serving in the U.S. Navy, Joe launched an acting career in the early 1970s, starting out portraying Martin Sheen's kid brother in a pair of '74 made-for-television movies, "The Story of Pretty Boy Floyd" and "The California Kid."

Martin Sheen, as Charles Arthur
"Pretty Boy Floyd," poses beside
brother Ramon Estévez, as E.W.
Floyd, in the 1974 TV movie.

Because of his striking physical resemblance to big brother Martin, Joe was brought into the filming of 1979's "Apocalypse Now" for long-shot photography when Martin suffered a heart attack in production. More significantly, director Francis Ford Coppola utilized Joe Estévez to record most, if not all, of Capt. Benjamin Willard's voice-over narration. Estévez, who had been struggling with chronic alcoholism, considered it a cathartic epiphany in his recovery when Coppola railed into him for forgetting simplistic lines during the recording sessions, and claimed not to have taken a drink since.

Behold the piercing glaze of Martin Sheen and Joe Estévez.

In an interview, Joe Estévez once expressed a sincere desire to make movies that make a difference. Considering the caliber of most of his nearly 250 big screen-direct-to-video-TV performances, starting off with his star-making 1990 role as the ethereal "Soultaker," perhaps he was not always on-target with his wish, but one can't fault the actor for his endurance and enthusiasm.

We're admitting in the Moviehouse that one of our favorite Joe Estévez's recent performances was as a crazed cabin-fevered coot in the 2013 gore-fest "Axe Giant: The Wrath of Paul Bunyan" (pictured below), which re-imagined the beloved lumberjack folk hero as an oversized, bloodthirsty mutant who throws "Grizzly Adams" star Dan Haggerty under a lumberyard circular saw for shooting and butchering Babe the Blue Ox.

It should be noted that Emilio Estévez and Charlie Sheen have a brother named Ramón Estevez and a sister, Renée Estevez. As an actor, Ramón, who occasionally used the last name Sheen, appeared in various projects featuring his brothers and father. As a producer, on behalf of his father, Ramón runs Estevez Sheen Productions and was an executive producer on his brother Charlie's sitcom "Anger Management." Sis Renée was a writer on "Anger Management." Along with cameos in her brothers' and father's works, she was a regular on the series "West Wing" as an office assistant to President Bartlet, played by Martin Sheen.

Proud pop Martin Sheen poses with his scions: Emilio Estévez,
Ramón Estevez, Charlie Sheen, and Renée Estevez.

Across the Atlantic, London-born sisters Vanessa Redgrave and Lynn Redgrave were part of an acting dynasty that can be traced back to their grandfather, George Ellsworthy Redgrave, known professionally on the stage and in early silent films as Roy Redgrave. His son, Michael Redgrave, who never knew his father, was a member of the post-World War I pantheon of British lions of the theater that included Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud, and Ralph Richardson.

In 1991, Vanessa Redgrave and Lynn Redgrave costarred as Blanche and Baby Jane Hudson, sisters-from-hell in "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?", a TV remake of filmmaker Robert Aldrich's classic 1962 modern gothic horror show which paired Joan Crawford with Bette Davis. William Aldrich, son of the original director, was the remake's executive producer.

Vanessa Redgrave and Lynn Redgrave portray the sadomasochistic
Hudson sisters, originally played by Joan Crawford and Bette Davis.

In 2005, Vanessa and Lynn Redgrave appeared in "The White Countess," one of those classy, cultivated projects produced by Ismail Merchant and directed by James Ivory (think "A Room with a View," "Howards End," "The Remains of the Day"), starring Vanessa's daughter Natasha Richardson and Ralph Fiennes.

A glimpse at the Redgrave dynasty: George "Roy" Redgrave,
Michael Redgrave, Vanessa Redgrave, Natasha Richardson

In March of 2009, Natasha Richardson died at the age of 45 from an epidural hematoma after hitting her head during a beginner's skiing lesson at a Quebec resort. On May 2, 2010, Lynn Redgrave, aged 67, succumbed to breast cancer.

It should be mentioned that Vanessa and Lynn had a brother, Corin Redgrave, who was also an actor. He appeared with Lynn in 1966's "The Deadly Affair," starring James Mason and Maximilian Schell, and with Vanessa in 1968's "The Charge of the Light Brigade," with John Gielgud and David Hemmings. Corin's daughter, actress Jemma Redgrave, played a daughter of her aunt Vanessa's character in "Howards End."

Jemma Redgrave is pictured with aunts Lynn and Vanessa Redgrave.

Natasha Richardson's sister, Joely Richardson, who portrayed Julia McNamara on the six-season FX series "Nip/Tuck," appeared with her mother in a number of productions, including 2004's "The Fever" as a younger version of Vanessa's character. The psychological drama, based on an experimental play by Wallace Shawn, was scripted and directed by Carlo Gabriel Nero, Vanessa's son with actor Franco Nero.

Natasha Richardson posed with Redgrave matriarch Rachel
Kempson (who passed away in 2003 at 92), Vanessa Redgrave,
Joely Richardson, and Joely's daughter, Daisy Bevan.

Catherine Deneuve is a French actress and international movie star, long adored as one of the world's most beautiful women. She starred in two charming musicals, "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" and "The Young Girls of Rochefort," both directed in the mid-1960s by Jacques Demy, as well as appearing in films directed by, among many others, Claude Chabrol, Roman Polanski, Luis Buñuel, François Truffaut, and Robert Aldrich.

How approprié: Paris born sœurs Catherine Deneuve and
Françoise Dorléac sport fetching berets at a bistro.

Deneuve had an older sister, Françoise Dorléac, who leapt to international stardom with the female lead in 1964's "That Man from Rio," a French-Italian production that spoofed the 007 spy genre, featuring Jean-Paul Belmondo. In 1965, she landed the juicy role of Bortei, the wife of the title character in the lavish Hollywood-backed epic "Genghis Khan," featuring Omar Sharif, Stephen Boyd, James Mason, Eli Wallach, Telly Savalas, and Woody Strode. She played David Niven's love interest in another take-off of secret agent movies, 1966's "Where the Spies Are." Her last screen role was in yet another James Bond-inspired espionage outing, 1967's "Billion Dollar Brain," with Michael Caine and Karl Malden, directed by Ken Russell.

Dorléac appeared in a number of productions with her sister, Catherine, most notably 1967's "The Young Girls of Rochefort" (pictured above), an airy, affectionate French tribute to Hollywood musicals, starring Gene Kelly.

Just when her career was opening to roles in worldwide cinema, Françoise Dorléac (pictured above, with Gene Kelly) died, June 26, 1967, when she lost control of a rented Renault and smashed into a signpost around six miles from Nice on her way to the airport. The auto flipped over and caught on fire. She was 25.

One of the most unique uses of a sibling was the casting of Linda Hamilton's identical twin sister, Leslie Hamilton Gearren, when two Sarah Connors characters were in the same shot in "Terminator 2: Judgment Day," specifically when the T-1000 is impersonating her (pictured below), saving a bundle on digital and CGI special effects.

Linda Hamilton and Leslie Hamilton Gearren...
or is it Leslie Hamilton Gearren and Linda Hamilton? 

Director James Cameron used the same trick again in "Terminator 2" when he cast Don Stanton as Lewis the security guard and his identical twin brother, Dan Stanton, as Lewis/T-1000 (pictured below).

Actually, Dan and Don Stanton have created their own little cottage industry doubling up onscreen, including "Good Morning, Vietnam"...

..."Gremlins 2: The New Batch"...

...and "Looney Tunes: Back in Action"...

...not to mention "Eerie, Indiana," "Mom and Dad Save the World," and "Kill Your Darlings."

Oh, we're sorry Ron and Clint Howard - seen here with pop Rance Howard - but we've run out of room. Clint has appeared in over 15 motion pictures directed by his brother. Suffice it to say that if Ron Howard is behind the camera, Clint Howard is going to be in front of it, including the upcoming "Solo: A Star Wars Story," directed by Ron.