The first child of two Oscar-winning parents to win an Academy Award
Nepotism has always run rampant in Hollywood, but it becomes difficult to decry any family for gaining an unfair advantage when multiple Oscar winners begin to emerge, transforming the clan in question into a dynasty. The more time wears on, the more it’s been happening, but there’s only one family that holds a unique place in Academy Awards history.
In terms of blood relations, the Newmans have notched a remarkable 12 wins from a combined 76 nominations, with 45-time nominee Alfred’s sons David and Thomas enjoying their own recognition, while his brother Lionel and nephew Randy are both Oscar winners, making them the industry’s most notable collection of familial composers.
The Coppolas are inevitably a regular fixture of awards season, with the various members of the sprawling family having 11 of the coveted statues to their name, while the Houstons, Horners, and Fondas have four apiece. It’s difficult to cry foul and accuse any of them of benefitting from nepotism when they’ve literally proven themselves in terms of accolades, even if it’s a lot easier to get a foot in the door being directly related to somebody who can easily hold it open.
Still, they’ve got nothing on the parents who individually won Oscars before having a child that would go on to win one of their own. The legendary Judy Garland was bestowed with an honorary trophy in the short-lived ‘Academy Juvenile Award’ category that’s been defunct since 1960, with the actor and singer being celebrated for her work in Victor Fleming’s The Wizard of Oz and Busby Berkeley’s Babes in Arms.
She was still a teenager at the time, but the stage to blaze a new trail for the Oscars was set when she married her second husband, Vincent Minnelli, in 1945. They were only married for six years, and he didn’t collect his own gong until he was named ‘Best Director’ for helming nine-time winner Gigi in 1958, but the child they had together would ultimately follow in their footsteps.
Based entirely on her parentage, it was inevitable that Liza Minnelli would carve out a career in entertainment, but her first Oscar nomination for ‘Best Actress’ in The Sterile Cuckoo saw her walk away empty-handed. She wouldn’t be denied a second time in the same category, though, with Cabaret securing her not just one of the most prestigious prizes in the business but a bespoke slice of history.
The second her name was read out on stage, Minnelli became the first Oscar winner to have two Oscar-winning parents, and despite so many multi-generational tendrils continuing to sprout in the subsequent decades, it’s a rare feat that’s still yet to be replicated by anybody else.
The Garland/Minnelli family may only have one each, which is nowhere near to being the most heavily-decorated unit of related Oscar winners of all time, but nobody has come along in the last half a century to steal away their crowns as the only ones to have trophies for both parents and a child.
