Growing up with a famous last name usually comes with an unspoken expectation. Fans assume the kids will eventually show up in a movie credit, a record label press release, or a red carpet lineup of their own. Yet plenty of children born into Hollywood or music royalty have quietly walked away from the spotlight and built lives that look a lot more like everyone else’s.
Some became firefighters, chefs, dance instructors, or social workers instead of actors and musicians. Their parents’ fame never disappeared, but it also never dictated the career path their children chose. Here are seven examples of famous parents whose sons and daughters picked something far removed from the family business.
1. Bruce Springsteen and Sam Springsteen, firefighter
Bruce Springsteen has spent decades singing about working class life in New Jersey, so there’s a certain symmetry in his youngest son actually living it. Sam Springsteen graduated from the Monmouth County Fire Academy in 2014 and worked as a volunteer firefighter at three different stations. The training was not glamorous, and Sam himself admitted as much when reporters asked him about it.
Sam Springsteen was officially sworn into the Jersey City Fire Department at City Hall, joining 14 others in his class after taking a civil service exam in 2017. His parents, Bruce and Patti Scialfa, showed up to watch, and Bruce kept things simple when asked how he felt about it. Sam is the youngest of Bruce Springsteen’s three children with wife Patti Scialfa, none of whom have followed them into show business. His siblings landed in different lanes too, with Evan working as a music programmer and Jessica competing as a professional equestrian.
2. Harrison Ford and Ben Ford, chef and restaurateur
Harrison Ford built a career out of playing Han Solo and Indiana Jones, but his oldest son found his calling far from any film set. Ben Ford is a celebrity chef, restaurateur and the oldest son of actor Harrison Ford, born to Ford’s first wife, illustrator Mary Marquardt. He trained seriously for the role, attending culinary school before working his way through respected kitchens.
Ben’s career transition ultimately proved to be a success, as he now runs his own restaurant, Ford’s Filling Station, and published a cookbook called Taming the Feast in 2014. He has since become a fixture on food television, appearing on shows built around serious cooking rather than his father’s action franchises. Interestingly, he is not the only Ford sibling who skipped Hollywood. Willard Ford has led cycling tours to Mexico and beyond, giving Harrison Ford yet another child working comfortably outside the entertainment industry.
3. Kurt Russell and Boston Russell, a life away from Hollywood
Kurt Russell’s blended family with Goldie Hawn reads like a small acting dynasty, with Kate Hudson, Oliver Hudson, and Wyatt Russell all working in film and television. His oldest son took a different route entirely. Kurt’s son with his ex-wife Season Hubley is a lot more private than his famous siblings, choosing to eschew show business for occasional work behind the scenes.
Boston Russell has opted for a life out of the spotlight, the only child in the blended family not to embark on a career in show business. He still shows up for family milestones, including occasional appearances at red carpets alongside his family, and he attended Goldie Hawn’s Hollywood Walk of Fame star ceremony in 2017. Beyond those rare public moments, though, he has kept his working life almost entirely private, which in its own way is its own kind of normal.
4. Jamie Lee Curtis and Annie Guest, dance instructor
Jamie Lee Curtis comes from acting royalty herself, the daughter of Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis, and she married director and actor Christopher Guest. Given that pedigree, it might seem inevitable that her daughter would end up on a set somewhere. Instead, Jamie Lee Curtis’ daughter Annie Guest chose not to become an actor like her parents, and is instead an accomplished dancer and instructor at a dance studio in Los Angeles.
Annie Guest is not a public figure and rarely appears outside occasional industry events with her parents, particularly award ceremonies. Curtis acknowledged her family’s support during her Best Supporting Actress win at the 2023 Oscars, but Annie’s day to day work happens far from any awards stage. Both of her parents are heavily involved in film, and her grandparents were actors too, yet she decided not to pursue the family profession. Teaching dance classes in a studio is about as removed from red carpets as a career can get.
5. Joe Biden and Ashley Biden, social worker
Ashley Biden grew up watching her father move through decades of public office, from the Senate to the vice presidency to the presidency. Rather than pursuing politics or media herself, she trained as a social worker and spent years working directly with vulnerable families in Delaware, including a stint leading the state’s child welfare agency. It’s a field built on long hours and modest pay, a sharp contrast to the visibility that surrounded her family.
She later founded a clothing line meant to fund programs supporting families in need, blending her social work background with a small business rather than trading on her father’s name for a media career. Her path has stayed largely outside the partisan spotlight that follows the rest of the Biden family. It’s a career built on casework and community programs, not campaign trails or cable news panels.
6. Robert De Niro and Raphael De Niro, real estate broker
Robert De Niro has built one of the most respected acting careers in American film, but his son found his footing in an entirely different industry. Raphael De Niro became a working real estate broker in New York City, handling high end residential sales in a market that has nothing to do with scripts or soundstages. He built his reputation the way most successful brokers do, through years of closed deals rather than family connections alone.
His profile grew partly through television appearances tied to the New York real estate world, but the actual job is straightforward sales and client work. Negotiating co op board approvals and closing costs is a far cry from award season. It’s a career that rewards persistence and market knowledge more than name recognition, even if the name occasionally opens a door.
7. Paul McCartney and Mary McCartney, photographer and food writer
Paul McCartney’s children have mostly built creative careers of their own, but none of them followed him directly into music in the way fans might expect. His daughter Mary McCartney turned toward photography and food writing instead, publishing cookbooks centered on vegetarian cooking and shooting portraits for magazines and album covers alike. It’s a creative life, but one built around a camera and a kitchen rather than a guitar.
She has spent years documenting her family from behind the lens rather than performing in front of an audience, which has let her stay connected to the arts without stepping into her father’s exact spotlight. Her cookbooks reflect a personal interest in plant based cooking that traces back to her mother Linda McCartney’s own vegetarian advocacy. It’s a quieter kind of public life, built on craft rather than performance.
Across these seven families, the pattern holds up. Fame did not automatically produce more fame in the next generation, and in several cases it seems to have pushed sons and daughters toward the opposite kind of work entirely. Firehouses, kitchens, dance studios, and casework offices turned out to be just as appealing as any stage.
