Hollywood heartthrob Cole Hauser captured the hearts of fans across America with his charismatic role as the rugged Rip Wheeler in Yellowstone.
But many of his admirers probably don't know that Cole's real-life roots go back to one of Hollywood's most famous families.
In a showbiz climate rife with talk of “nepo babies,” Cole himself has not highlighted the fact that he is an entertainment legacy.
On his father's side alone, he can claim descent from a screenwriter who wrote an Oscar-winning film for Disney.
However, Cole has roots in one of Hollywood's founding families on his mother's side and has a globally known last name.
So which family is this?
Hollywood heartthrob Cole Hauser captured the hearts of fans across America with his charismatic role as the rugged Rip Wheeler in Yellowstone
But many of his admirers probably don't know that Cole's real-life roots go back to one of Hollywood's most famous families
One of Cole's maternal great-grandfathers is none other than Harry Warner, one of the Warner Brothers who founded the studio of the same name.
Harry, a Polish Jew born in what was then the Russian Empire in the late 19th century, came to Baltimore with his family as a child.
He and his younger brothers Albert, Sam and Jack Warner eventually went west and founded the film house in 1923 that still bears their name today.
Harry's daughter Betty married a working screenwriter and producer named Milton Sperling and had a daughter named Cass Warner – who became Cole's mother.
As Harry's son-in-law, Milton returned to Warner Bros., where he had worked as a personal secretary years before in the early days of his career.
While working as a writer and producer at Warner Bros., Milton worked with entertainment industry luminaries such as Metropolis director Fritz Lang.
He received an Oscar nomination for his work on the screenplay for Otto Preminger's 1955 film “The Court-Martial Of Billy Mitchell”.
Cole Hauser's paternal grandfather was Dwight Hauser, a screenwriter who worked on the 1958 Oscar-winning Disney short documentary Ama Girls, about pearl sailors off the Japanese coast.
Dwight's son – and Cole's father – is actor Wings Hauser, whose credits include an acclaimed supporting role in Norman Mailer's 1987 film Tough Guys Don't Dance.
About a year ago, an uproar broke out on social media over “nepo babies” who allegedly made careers in show business because of family connections.
Critics pointed to a huge flood of rising stars with famous parents, from Johnny Depp's daughter Lily-Rose Depp to Andie MacDowell's daughter Margaret Qualley.
Maude Apatow, whose father is Judd Apatow, and Maya Hawke, whose parents are Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, have also achieved great fame in recent years.
One of Cole's maternal great-grandfathers is none other than Harry Warner, one of the Warner Brothers who founded the studio of the same name
(from left) Harry and his younger brothers Jack, Sam and Albert Warner eventually moved west and founded the film house in 1923 that still bears their name today
Cole's maternal grandfather, Milton Sterling, received an Oscar nomination for his work on the screenplay for Otto Preminger's 1955 film The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (pictured).
Cole's father is actor Wings Hauser, whose credits include a supporting role in Norman Mailer's 1987 film Tough Guys Don't Dance, which starred Ryan O'Neal and Isabella Rossellini
Also in discussion are Madonna's daughter Lourdes Leon, Heidi Klum's daughter Leni Klum and Elvis Presley's granddaughter Riley Keough.
Online chatter surrounding “Nepo babies” peaked in December 2022 after New York Magazine published a viral cover story about the phenomenon.
Dakota Johnson, whose parents are Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith and whose grandmother is Hitchcock blonde Tippi Hedren, was one of the faces on the cover.
Then Jamie Lee Curtis, the daughter of Psycho actress Janet Leigh and Some Like It Hot dreamboat Tony Curtis, joined the debate. Calling herself the “OG Nepo Baby,” she complained, “The current discussion about Nepo babies only serves to belittle, denigrate and hurt.”