Favourite Father & Son Actors

Hmm, many good actors, both fathers and sons (even if I have difficulty to qualify Jaden Smith as an "actor": he may be prolific, but mainly in video clips, not in films...).

Even if there are many good pairings here, I go for Gérard and Guillaume Depardieu: The first an extreme natural talent, the second maybe even a greater actor than his dad, but unfortunately he died too soon...

Strange poll for me ... since not many of these pairings are "important" in the history of film, other than just another anecdote or marker in the actor's history.

Of all of them, the only two that make sense for me, and are REAL, in the sense that both folks really put out and were very special, although there is one more that we often leave behind.

Bridges and Fonda.

The Bridges have done a massive amount of work, and one can not even tell if the dad is as good as one of the sons that has done so much memorable material during his time with us.

The Fonda's deserve a very powerful mention, since dad is one of the best known American directors, at a time (today) when people don't give a darn about directors and still go for the top ten films most of which have no artistic merits at all! His name will be etched forever in that history, something that most of these top ten films will long have been forgotten. Peter, of course, made a name for himself in some really far out and different, and INDEPENDENT films at a time when the studios were losing favor and were attempting to take over the television industry instead, which allowed many new writers, directors and films to be made in America, like it can not be done today because the media machine is owned by the studios that make you believe their films are the IT for you! And the Fonda's have carried on with a grand daughter that also has made a name for herself in film. Jane is still around, although I think she is just playing the grand dame a bit too much these days. 

One last mention ... the Carradines. And one helped create a TV series that was really special, and it was a shame that he did not live out some more to be able to work in more films ... he was a very good actor, although I get the feeling that drugs were eating him up seriously.

Hi,

I think you misinterpret the comment. I have been watching and reviewing film for 50+ years and there are so many parent and child combinations all over the world in so many countries, it's literally impossible to list them, and figure out which is better or worse, or whatever.

The issue here, FOR ME, is that it's like a popularity poll, and not something associated with the actual work that the folks did, and as such, a lot of its value is gone, for my tastes. There are some interesting takes on parents wanting their child to "succeed" just as there are some takes where the child did not appear to be comfortable but when along with it anyway.

Personally, I prefer they won't be there, but that is not something that I should decide. I'm not the parent. But then, I could also be having an issue with the opposite feeling. We had a very famous dad in the family in the world of literature, and what did it get 9 children? NOTHING. Mom made sure that none of them could possibly succeed as long as she did not get what she wanted! But by the time she wanted a sibling to keep the legacy going, it was too late! Way too late! And she kept that anger to her last day (well hidden by then!).