Jack Nicholson and Tim McGraw have a family secret in common
Rory Feek’s daughter, Hopie Feek, recently announced on social media she found out he was not her biological father.
After taking a DNA test through 23andMe, Hopie found out she and the 59-year-old musician were not biologically related, adding she discovered who her biological father was, referring to him as “B.C.”
Rory raised Hopie, and her sister Heidi, as a single parent, after his marriage to their mother came to an end.
From left: Rory Feek, Jack Nicholson and Tim McGraw are a few celebrities who found out that one or more of their birth parents weren’t the ones raising them. (Getty Images)
During a new interview with People magazine, Hopie expressed her dismay over the personal details that Rory recounted in his blog post, including their conversation, which she had thought was “private and sincere,” and objected to the way in which he portrayed their mother.
“My relationship with my dad is broken. Not because of this new revelation, but because he refuses to go to family therapy,” Hopie told the outlet.
It seems Hopie and Rory’s story is not unique in Hollywood, as many of the industry’s biggest names have also opened up in the past about unearthing their family histories.
Tim McGraw and Jack Nicholson were both shocked to find out the people they viewed as their biological parents were not, in fact, who they thought they were.
Here are some celebrities who have spoken out about how they found out about their biological relatives.
Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson found out when he was 37 that the woman he thought was his mother was really his grandmother, and the woman he believed to be his sister, June, was actually his biological mother. (Virginia Sherwood/NBC via Getty Images)
Jack Nicholson found out the woman he grew up thinking was his mother, Ethal May, was actually his grandmother, and that his sister, June, was actually his mother in 1974, when he was 37 years old.
According to Patrick McGilligan’s biography on the actor, titled “Jack’s Life,” Nicholson first learned of his true parentage when he received a call from a journalist at Time magazine working on a profile of him. After hanging up with Time, the “Chinatown” actor called his brother-in-law Shorty, really his uncle, for confirmation.
“Shorty, this is the most f—ed thing I’ve ever heard,” he said, according to the biography. “A guy calls me on the phone, and says that my father is still alive, and that Ethel May wasn’t really my mother, that June was my mother.”
After denying it at first, Shorty handed the phone to Nicholson’s sister Lorraine, really his aunt, who confirmed the news for him.
Nicholson’s mother, June, got pregnant in 1936, and gave birth to him at the age of 18 in 1937. (Joel Ryan – PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images)
While the identity of his mother was now known, little remained known about Nicholson’s biological father, including his name, a detail which was unknown to even Lorraine. The actor told Rolling Stone in 1986, “Both grandmother and mother were deceased before this particular group of facts came to my attention,” so he wasn’t able to ask them.
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According to the McGilligan biography, June became pregnant in 1936 and gave birth at the age of 18 to Nicholson in 1937. A pact was then made between Ethel May, June and Lorraine to never reveal that June was the baby’s actual mother. Nicholson told Rolling Stone he “was very impressed by their ability to keep the secret.”
Tim McGraw
Tim McGraw found out who his birth father was after finding his birth certificate. (Paula Lobo ABC via Getty Images)
Country music superstar Tim McGraw learned who his biological father was when he was 11 years old.
During a 2002 interview on “Larry King Live,” McGraw shared that he was raised by his stepfather, Horace Smith, who he believed was his biological dad until finding out otherwise at the age of 11. He shared he even went by the name Tim Smith.
“My mother used to keep Christmas presents in her closet. I was going through the closet looking for Christmas presents,” McGraw said on the show. “I ran across my birth certificate. That’s how I found out.”
He found out his birth father was the professional baseball player Tug McGraw, someone who the singer was a fan of.
Tim McGraw first met his biological father, Tug McGraw, when he was 11 years old. Here they are photographed together in 1994. (Thomas S. England/Getty Images)
The “Humble and Kind” singer went on to say that his mom then reached out to Tug and said Tim wanted to meet him. He then went to one of his games in Houston and watched Tug pitch.
“It was awkward. I was 11 years old. I was a kid. I think it was more traumatic for everybody around me than it was for me. I think it probably became a little more traumatic for me as I got a little older,” McGraw explained. “Actually, at 11, I saw him twice, and then I didn’t see him again until I was 18. I didn’t talk to him maybe but once.”
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While the two didn’t immediately click, McGraw said they grew closer as time went on, and they remained close until the former baseball player’s death in 2004.
Liv Tyler
Liv Tyler found out her father was Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler when she was young. (Valerie Macon / AFP)
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Liv Tyler grew up believing her stepfather, musician Todd Rundgren, was her birth father before finding out she was the daughter of Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler.
During an appearance on “The Jonathan Ross Show” in November 2015, Liv recounted the “emotional story” of learning who her father was, saying “my mother was very young when she had me and there was a little bit of confusion about where I came from.”
“I did find out that [Steven] was my dad, but I kind of figured it out, because he looked exactly like me, and I have a sister named Mia who’s a year younger than me and I saw her standing on the side of the stage at a concert, and literally it was like looking at my twin,” she explained. “She looked exactly like me, and I looked at my mom and she had tears in her eyes and I kind of put it all together.”
The “Captain America: Brave New World” star has since grown close to her birth father, but told Jonathan Ross about Rundgren, “I still consider him my father,” and addied that “he’s been such a beautiful, wonderful influence in my life.”
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Kerry Washington
Kerry Washington’s parents told her they used a sperm donor to conceive before her appearance on the PBS show, “Finding Your Roots.” (Gilbert Flores/GG2025/Penske Media via Getty Images)
Kerry Washington found out the truth about her family history after she told her parents she would be appearing on the PBS series “Finding Your Roots,” which helps celebrities learn about their ancestral history through their DNA.
Her parents then made the decision to tell the “Scandal” actress that after struggling with fertility issues when trying to have a baby, they chose to use a sperm donor to conceive a child.
The discovery led Washington to write her memoir, “Thicker Than Water,” telling People that it was her way to help in the journey “to understand my life up until now,” and that she has what she considered “the missing puzzle piece” of her life.
“I really started to have so much more love and compassion and understanding for my parents,” she said. “Taking this deep dive into our family history made me put myself in their shoes and think about the things that they’ve had to navigate and what they’ve been through and what they’ve sacrificed. And it really made me feel closer to them.”
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