OT: - Who is/was your most famous/successful blood relative? | Page 3 | The Boneyard

OT: Who is/was your most famous/successful blood relative?

Joined
Sep 16, 2011
Messages
48,007
Reaction Score
161,466
Nobody famous but a great uncle ran the Teamsters in Jersey City at the same time "Tony Pro" Provenzano ran the Teamsters in Union City, NJ. He wasn't organized crime or anything but as we all know most of that stuff was run by organized crime back then. He was once caught in a picture on the front page of the NY Post in the owner's box at Yankee Stadium canoodling with a dancer who wasn't his wife.
 

HuskyHawk

The triumphant return of the Blues Brothers.
Joined
Sep 12, 2011
Messages
31,858
Reaction Score
81,473
Hmm. I suppose my sister is most famous (not most successful). She's been in USA Today, NBC News and other publications for her research.

My wife's family goes back to the Prescotts (Mayflower, Sam Prescott midnight ride of Paul Revere), I'm not sure exactly which ones. She's so thoroughly Irish otherwise that it's like a badge of shame.
 

temery

What?
Joined
Aug 14, 2011
Messages
20,261
Reaction Score
37,091
Hmm. I suppose my sister is most famous (not most successful). She's been in USA Today, NBC News and other publications for her research.

My wife's family goes back to the Prescotts (Mayflower, Sam Prescott midnight ride of Paul Revere), I'm not sure exactly which ones. She's so thoroughly Irish otherwise that it's like a badge of shame.

I have a dozen dna matches traced back to a guy who came over on the Mayflower, or the Nina, or one of those boats from some Thanksgiving movie.

Nearest I can figure he said screw it, and took the first boat back. His brothers stayed.
 

Mazhude

"Bark, Bark!"
Joined
Oct 26, 2012
Messages
774
Reaction Score
3,323
I worked in the White House... and went to high school with Earl Kelley.. Other than that, the first Commandant of the Coast Guard adopted my gggrandmother.
 
Joined
Aug 26, 2011
Messages
795
Reaction Score
5,107
Hughie Jennings, who is in the baseball hall of fame. Manager for Detroit when Ty Cobb was playing. Holds the career record for being hit by pitches (including one that left him unconscious for 3 days). Guy has a pretty entertaining wikipedia page.
 

temery

What?
Joined
Aug 14, 2011
Messages
20,261
Reaction Score
37,091
I worked in the White House... and went to high school with Earl Kelley.. Other than that, the first Commandant of the Coast Guard adopted my gggrandmother.

I worked for Jim Calhoun's college bb coach. He was manager of a tennis club at the time. No idea how he got either job.
 

JakeTheDog

Makin’ bacon pancakes
Joined
Apr 19, 2014
Messages
639
Reaction Score
4,409
Great-Uncle is a voice over actor. Older folks may have heard his work for "Frontline" series on PBS, younger generations would know him as the voice in the Dos Equis "most interesting man in the world" commercials (not the actor, but the voice). You can almost always find his work on random documentaries on history/discovery/natgeo channels.

I was just looking at this dude's Wikipedia page the other day lol. I randomly watched some 'Modern Marvels' on YouTube and he was the narrator.
 

RichZ

Fort the ead!
Joined
Aug 26, 2011
Messages
5,203
Reaction Score
22,130
My daughter is into tracing the family tree, and semi-verified the old family tale passed down for generations that I have an ancestor on my father's mother's side who was a baron, but abdicated his title and gave up the property that went along with it, to run off with some nope from Bulgaria, and after she died (very soon after they were wed) he became a hermit. By semi-verified, I mean he was a baron and he did become a hermit after losing all his property -- most likely gambling. The whole Bulgarian peasant woman part of the story appears to be a fabrication.
 
Joined
Dec 25, 2017
Messages
91
Reaction Score
336
Baseball player Jack Barry. Shortstop on Connie Mack’s famed 100,000 infied . Played from 1909 to 1918. Athletics and Red Sox. player manager his last year. Played with Babe Ruth who lived at his house for a few months. Also coached at Holy Cross and is in the college baseball hall of fame. Met him when is was 10. Remember him rolling up his pant leg and showing me a scar that he got compliments of Ty Cobb and his sharpened spikes. I was honored to represent the family and receive his plaque when he was inducted into the Meriden hall of fame.
 
Joined
Jul 1, 2016
Messages
3,830
Reaction Score
19,329
I'm distantly related to Evel Knievel. Also related to Archibald Willard, the painter of The Spirit of 76 which is moderately famous
spirit of 76.jpg
 

diggerfoot

Humanity Hiker
Joined
Oct 1, 2011
Messages
1,527
Reaction Score
8,542
My oldest brother, Leon "Pete" Sinclair, now passed away, was a famous mountain climber during his time. He had a first ascent up McKinley (Denali), invited on the first American Everest Expedition in 1963 (though declined), head mountain ranger in the Grand Tetons for ten years, written up in Sports Illustrated for one mountain rescue he led (Title: "The night of the one-eyed devils"), awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for another rescue he led. A documentary was made of the latter, called "The Grand Rescue." I believe it currently is on IMDBtv.
 

temery

What?
Joined
Aug 14, 2011
Messages
20,261
Reaction Score
37,091
My oldest brother, Leon "Pete" Sinclair, now passed away, was a famous mountain climber during his time. He had a first ascent up McKinley (Denali), invited on the first American Everest Expedition in 1963 (though declined), head mountain ranger in the Grand Tetons for ten years, written up in Sports Illustrated for one mountain rescue he led (Title: "The night of the one-eyed devils"), awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for another rescue he led. A documentary was made of the latter, called "The Grand Rescue." I believe it currently is on IMDBtv.

Haven"t you walked around the world, or something like that?
 

Online statistics

Members online
89
Guests online
2,174
Total visitors
2,263

Forum statistics

Threads
155,752
Messages
4,030,452
Members
9,864
Latest member
leepaul


Top Bottom