Horror icons often develop something of a cult following, remaining in the public consciousness for decades even after they retire. It might come as no surprise that some horror icons have had children who went on to be famous in their own right. The term “nepo baby” is thrown around Hollywood a lot these days, referring to the famous children of famous parents.
A fair number of horror movie legends have had children who then followed their parents into Hollywood or the arts. It’s also worth noting how many of those celebrity children went on to take up the horror mantle. For more than a few Hollywood dynasties, horror is a family business.
Here are 10 household names who were conceived by horror movie icons.
10
Maya Hawke
Daughter of Actor Ethan Hawke
Maya Hawk is one of two children shared by actors Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman. Born in 1998, Maya got her start as a model and made her acting debut as Jo March in the 2017 miniseries Little Women. In 2019, she had a small role in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, but she became a household name thanks to her role on Stranger Things. She joined the cast during Season Three as Robin Buckley, who worked at an ice cream shop with fellow fan-favorite character, Steve Harrington (Joe Keery).
Maya’s mother has starred in a number of Quentin Tarantino films, including Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill. Her father, however, is the one best known for horror roles. Ethan Hawke has appeared in a number of prominent horror films, the most iconic of which are Sinister in 2012 and The Purge in 2013. Sinister is often considered by horror fans to be one of the most chilling movies of all time, while The Purge has gone on to produce a flourishing horror franchise.
9
Lily-Rose Depp
Daughter of Actor Johnny Depp
Born in 1999, Lily-Rose Depp’s parents are actor Johnny Depp and singer-model Vanessa Paradis. Lily-Rose began acting in 2014 with a small part in the Kevin Smith horror movie, Tusk. Since then, she has starred in over a dozen films. Most recently, she played Ellen Hutter in Robert Eggers hit 2024 remake of Nosferatu.
While contemporary audiences might know Johnny Depp best from his role as Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean films, he has spent years collaborating with legendary director Tim Burton. Depp has starred in Burton’s adaptations of Sweeney Todd, Alice in Wonderland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and horror classic Sleepy Hollow, as well as Burton originals like Edward Scissorhands and Corpse Bride. Depp made his screen debut in Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street, where he played Nancy’s boyfriend, Glen.
8
Cody Carpenter
Son of Director John Carpenter
Cody Carpenter comes from a family of musicians. Born in 1984 to director John Carpenter and actress Adrienne Barbeau, Cody is an accomplished pianist and composer. He’s worked with his father on scores for a number of films and has produced his own work in the progressive rock and jazz spheres. His albums include Cody Carpenter’s Interdependence from 2018, Force of Nature from 2019, and Control from 2020.
John Carpenter is best known as the director of horror classics like Halloween, The Fog, and The Thing, but he also has a musical background. He is the son of music professor Howard Ralph Carpenter and this had a huge impact on John, who composed most of the scores for his own films. John has collaborated with his son Cody on eight soundtracks and has produced 17 of his own for film and television.
7
Ronan Farrow
Son of Actor Mia Farrow
Born in 1987, Ronan Farrow is the son of actor Mia Farrow. Ronan is a prominent figure in contemporary culture, but not as a performer. Ronan attended Yale Law School and served as an advisor to the Obama Administration. He’s since made a name for himself as a journalist. In 2017, he was one of the investigating reporters for The New Yorker who helped to expose sexual abuse allegations against producer Harvey Weinstein. Ronan is the author of Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators, a non-fiction book published by Little, Brown and Company in 2019.
Mia Farrow began her acting career in 1959. One of her most famous performances is the role of Rosemary Woodhouse in the 1968 horror classic Rosemary’s Baby. This was only her fourth film role and her seventh onscreen appearance. Nonetheless, Rosemary remains one of Farrow’s most memorable characters and has secured her place in horror movie history.
6
Fiore and Asia Argento
Daughters of Director Dario Argento
Fiore Argento was born in 1970 to director Dario Argento and his wife, Marisa Casale. Asia Argento was born five years later to the director and his partner, actor, and screenwriter Daria Nicolodi. Fiore started acting in 1985 with a role in her father’s film, Phenomena. She continued acting, often working with family, and later became a costume designer. Asia Argento is an actor, writer, and director. Her first acting credit was in the 1985 miniseries Sogni e bisogni. Since then, she has starred in dozens of films and served as writer/director for a variety of projects. This includes DeGeneration in 1995, for which Fiore worked as a costume designer.
Horror director Dario Argento is one of the most prominent names in Italian giallo. He wrote and directed many horror movies still taught at universities today, including The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, The Cat o’ Nine Tails, Four Flies on Grey Velvet, Phenomena, Suspiria, Inferno, and The Mother of Tears. He is also said to have consulted on the script for George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead in 1978.
5
Osgood Perkins
Son of Actor Anthony Perkins
Oz Perkins is the eldest son of actors Anthony Perkins and Berry Berenson. Born in 1974, he started acting in 1983 when he played a younger version of his father’s character, Norman Bates, in Psycho II. While he’s acted in movies such as Legally Blonde, Star Trek, and Nope, Oz is best known for his work as a director. He made his directorial debut with The Blackcoat’s Daughter in 2015 and his most popular work to date is the 2024 horror film Longlegs starring Maika Monroe and Nicolas Cage. He has also directed I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House, Gretel & Hansel, and The Monkey.
Anthony Perkins’s most famous role is undoubtedly that of Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 classic Psycho. His performance in this film made the actor an icon, though it is far from his only acting credit. Anthony Perkins scored his first onscreen role in 1953 and continued to work in television and film until his death in 1992. Other notable films include Friendly Persuasion, Goodbye Again, and Murder on the Orient Express.
4
Rumer Willis
Daughter of Actor Bruce Willis
Rumer Willis is the eldest daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore. Born in 1988, she made her first acting appearance in the 1995 classic Now and Then. She has been in a number of movies since then, most notably the television series 90210 and Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood. Her horror credits include From Within, Sorority Row, and The Ganzfeld Haunting.
Bruce Willis has had a substantial career spanning multiple genres. He’s starred in plenty of action films, including Die Hard, Sin City, Pulp Fiction, and The Fifth Element. With such a large filmography, it’s easy to forget that Willis starred in one of the most famous horror movies of the 1990s: The Sixth Sense. Willis plays child psychologist Malcolm Crowe opposite Haley Joel Osment in this M. Night Shyamalan audience favorite.
3
Jamie Lee Curtis
Daughter of Actor Janet Leigh
Born in 1958 to actors Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis, Jamie Lee Curtis has been acting for almost 50 years. She’s appeared in all kinds of genres, but first made a name for herself in 1978 when she played Laurie Strode in John Carpenter’s Halloween. The momentum scored her roles in a number of subsequent horror projects, including The Fog, Prom Night, and Terror Train. She has reprised her role as Laurie Strode in six Halloween sequels, the most recent of which came out in 2022.
Jamie Lee Curtis and Janet Leigh are the quintessential example of mother-daughter scream queen royalty. Janet Leigh gave an unforgettable performance as Marion Crane in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. The role solidified her place as an early scream queen. In 1980, she starred alongside her daughter in John Carpenter’s horror classic, The Fog.
2
V. B. Price
Son of Actor Vincent Price
Born in 1940, Vincent Barrett Price is the only son of horror icon Vincent Price and Broadway star Edith Barrett. Unlike others on this list who followed their famous parents into acting, V.B. Price moved from Los Angeles to New Mexico in the 1950s and became a journalist and poet. His first poem was published in 1962, and he went on to publish over 20 books throughout his career, including a poetry collection called Orpheus the Healer and the non-fiction book The Orphaned Land: New Mexico’s Environment Since the Manhattan Project.
Vincent Price is one of the biggest names in horror history. His start in Hollywood began during the 1930s and he really hit his stride in the 1950s and 1960s, starring in famous horror projects like House of Wax, The Fly, House on Haunted Hill, House of Usher, and The Pit and the Pendulum. Though he passed away in 1993, Vincent Price remains a beloved figure in the horror community to this day.
1
Lon Chaney Jr.
Son of Actor Lon Chaney
Lon Chaney Jr. was the only son of actor/makeup artist Lon Chaney and singer Frances Cleveland Creighton. He was born in 1906 and got into acting in the 1930s after his father’s death. Today, Lon Chaney Jr. starred in quite a few westerns but is most known for playing the title character in Universal’s 1941 classic The Wolf Man. Other Universal Pictures horror movie credits include The Wolf Man sequels, as well as The Ghost of Frankenstein, The Mummy’s Tomb, and Son of Dracula.
Lon Chaney began his acting career in 1913, but didn’t rise to fame until audiences recognized his acting and skills as a makeup artist in The Miracle Man in 1919. His ability to do his own makeup made Chaney popular in adventure films, but he really found his place in the 1920s. His work in the title role of The Phantom of the Opera in 1925 remains iconic to this day.
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