How These Stars Feel About Being Grandparents
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Everyone who’s been there has said that having grandkids is better than having kids — grandparents get to have all the fun and spoil the little ones with sweets and toys without any of the consequences. What’s not to like, right?
These famous abuelas, papaws, nonnas, and dadis seem to share that sentiment. Though most Hollywood grandparents are anything but your average ol’ gran and gramps, considering they’ve sold out rock concerts, won Oscars, and/or dominated TV, they all share one major thing in common: That grandparenthood has been their favorite and most rewarding gig yet.
Check out the celebrities who relish in their roles as grandma and grandpa — even if they go by nontraditional monikers instead of the G-word — plus, the gushy things they’ve said about their kids’ kids.
A version of this article was originally published in September 2018.
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Katie Couric
Katie Couric announced she is a grandma — who will be called “Gogo” until further notice! — in March 2024. The former Today co-anchor announced in an intimate post on Katie Couric Media that her daughter Ellie and son-in-law Mark welcomed a baby boy. She shared the poignant meaning behind her grandson’s name, and how she felt after just one day of grandmotherhood.
“I am so excited to watch Baby Jay go through all the stages — smiling, crawling, walking, talking — and to see the world unfold through the eyes of a child,” she said. “I’m going to try to enjoy every moment. It’s so true what they say: The days are long, but the years are short. As a grandparent, I’m hoping the years will be long! The ‘grand’ in front of ‘mother’ makes me keenly aware that time is precious. I can’t wait to take him to the beach, the library, get an ice cream cone, bring him to his first Broadway show. I’m going to spoil this kid rotten and not worry about it. We are going to have to make a lot of trips to the West Coast — but thank goodness for FaceTime.”
Kirstie Alley
The late Kirstie Alley said that being a grandma to her three grandkids was one of her favorite things ever. “This is one of the best things that’s ever happened in my life, to be a grandmother,” she told Today co-hosts Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford. “I hear grandparents say it but I’m like, ‘OK.’ It’s sort of like if you hear people talking about their kids and then you have one, and you’re worse than they were about your kid. So that’s how I am.”
She told People in 2017, “My son and his girlfriend came to work for me for three months, so I had my grandson with me for three months and it was nothing short of stupendous and exhilarating. When I got up in the morning, as soon as that baby was up, I was holding that baby, traipsing around with him and showing him all the Christmas lights and singing to him.”
And ahead of her third grandkid’s birth, Alley tweeted, “My beautiful daughter is soon to have a baby boy. This will make my 3rd grand child ..:) I’m blessed w 2 awesome children and now a 3rd grand baby.. AND a baby squirrel to boot…:) I’m a lucky sob.”
Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg has six grandkids: Zion, Elleven, Skylar, Cordoba, Chateau, and a late grandson, Kai. Shortly after his first grandchild was born in 2015, the iconic rapper told Today, “I’m going to be a gullible, get-away-with-everything kind of grandpa,” continuing, “It’s just a spark of joy just to look in his eyes and to be able to hold him. I thank my oldest son for making me a grandfather.”
Michael Douglas & Catherine Zeta-Jones
After she and Michael Douglas became grandparents in 2017, Catherine Zeta-Jones shared that their granddaughter calls her “Zee-Zee” and Douglas “Bubba” during an appearance on Live with Kelly and Ryan. The actress said, “It’s just a joy, as any new baby is.”
Gayle King
Gayle King talked about becoming a first-time grandparent in 2021 on the We Are Family podcast, sharing, “I’m so nuts about this child. I’m certainly not the first person to have a grandchild — I realize that, but what I like is seeing [my daughter] Kirby become a mother herself. She’s so good at it. She and her husband, Virgil, are such great partners.”
Sally Field
We would have never guessed that Sally Field is a gamer grandma, but alas. The grandmother of five — Isabel, Sophie, Ogden, Noah, and Colin — told Parade in 2018, “My oldest grandson and I are obsessed with playing [The Legend of] Zelda. He’ll spend the weekend, and we do nothing but play Zelda.” Zelda isn’t the only legend in Sally’s house!
Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brosnan is a proud grandpa to three grandkids. During a 2017 Live with Kelly and Ryan appearance, the actor said, “It’s just a joy to be a grandparent. There’s just something intoxicating about it, and beautiful.”
Flavor Flav
“Grandaddy” is a title Flavor Flav carries with pride. In 2011, the Public Enemy rapper told Yahoo, “I’m proud of it. A lot of guys didn’t live to see this, but I did. I think I’m the flyest grandpa a kid could have!”
Sting
When Hello! asked Sting what he’s like as a grandad to his seven grandkids, he said, “Probably better than I was a dad,” continuing, “It’s a wonderful feeling. … I’ve really enjoyed watching our children being parents and, if I’m asked for advice, I will give it.”
Marie Osmond
Marie Osmond is a doting grandma to eight grandkids. In 2016, she told Closer, “Out of all the awards and accolades that I have been blessed with throughout my life, nothing comes close in comparison with the blessings I receive from being a mother to my eight children and grandma of three. I’ve gotten to experience things with them that I never did.”
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper may be known as the Godfather of Shock Rock, but to his four grandkids, he’s just “Pop-Pop.” The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer told Fox of being a grandparent, “We call them up and say, ‘Why don’t you guys go out to dinner tonight? We’ll take the kids.’ You know, that’s the nice thing about being grandparents is it’s like a privilege to watch them.”
Steven Tyler
The Aerosmith frontman is a doting dad to daughters Mia and Liv and a proud “Papa” to their kiddos, Axton, Lula, Sailor, and Milo — and he appreciates that they’re still too young to know their grandpa is famous.
“I’m Papa Stevie,” the singer told People of what his grandchildren call him. “The really young ones, like Mia’s son Ax, don’t know me yet. When they get a little older and know me, see me on TV, I think things will change.”
Tina Knowles Lawson
Mama Knowles has said being a grandmother is the “second best job in the world” behind being a mother — when your daughters are Beyoncé and Solange, we can’t blame her — but even the woman who birthed Queen Bey is like all other everyday grandmamas.
“That’s the fun part,” she told People of spoiling Solange’s son Daniel and Beyoncé’s kids, Blue Ivy, Rumi, and Sir. “I buy them drum sets and noisy toys. I encourage them to ask for everything, so I’m getting my kids back.”
Goldie Hawn
Goldie Hawn is a grandma to seven kiddos, and she seems like one of the coolest ones around. And not just because she considered going by “Glam-ma,” as she wrote in her memoir, A Lotus Grows in the Mud. “Being a grandmother is amazing, I love it,” she told Now to Love. “It brings incredible joy. Family is so important.”
'A Lotus Grows in the Mud' by Goldie Hawn
Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks, who shares three granddaughters with his longtime wife, Rita Wilson, knows that the best part of being a grandparent is having all the fun with none of the sleepless nights.
“I get to do the thing of come in and have a great time for a few hours or maybe overnight on occasion, but hey, this is like… Parenthood fantasy camp,” Hanks, whose grandkids call him “Pappou,” told Entertainment Tonight. “You have all the fun without any of the long nights.”
Jane Fonda
The veteran actor has perfected the role of grandma on-screen — but it’s her favorite role to play in real life, too.
“When my daughter first became pregnant, my friends in Atlanta asked what I wanted my grandchild to call me. I said ‘Grandma” of course,’ and they were shocked,” Fonda told NJ.com of the title. “Their kids called them Dolly, Nanny, anything else. But I like `Grandma.’ I like being a grandparent.”
Whoopi Goldberg
What’s even wilder than being a grandparent at 47? In the case of Whoopi Goldberg, that would be becoming a great-grandparent at age 58!
The View co-host earned that special title when her granddaughter, Amarah, had a baby girl named Charli Rose in 2014. “I was a grandmother kinda young and now I’m a great-grandmother. I had just gotten into the groove and then this girl came and said she and her man were having a baby and I wanted to ring her neck,” Goldberg said on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
She continued, “But then my daughter’s like, ‘Ugh, I’m gonna be a grandmother!’ So I let her go through all of that and I whispered in her ear, ‘I got no sympathy for you. You made me a grandmother when I was 33.”
Susan Sarandon
Susan Sarandon’s daughter, Eva Amurri Martino, once revealed that her mother prefers her grandkids, Marlowe and Major, to call her by a nontraditional moniker for grandmother. “‘Honey’ is her grandma name,” Amurri Martino told Today. We wonder if Kris Jenner took inspiration from Sarandon’s sweet, nontraditional grandma nickname.
Kris Jenner
Kris Jenner isn’t your typical grandma. The mogul momager has 12 grandchildren, and because nothing is typical in Jenner’s world, the name she goes by as a grandparent is also pretty creative.
“At first I was Grandma, and all of a sudden I didn’t like the way that sounded; my mom had a friend called ‘Lovey’ and I thought that was the cutest name,” she revealed to Life & Style in 2013.
Jim Carrey
One of the youngest grandparents on this list is Jim Carrey, who became a grandpa at age 47 when his daughter Jane welcomed son Jackson in 2010. “I love being granddaddy, granddaddy Jim,” the actor told Access Hollywood. “I just get a lot of joy from that little boy.”
Blythe Danner
Blythe Danner passed more than just good looks on to her grandchildren, Apple and Moses Martin — they inherited their grandmother’s artistic talents too.
“Well, they’re already singing and dancing and performing, and they’re wonderful,” Danner gushed to InStyle about daughter Gwyneth Paltrow’s son and daughter. “They’re just brilliant.”
Jessica Lange
How many kids can say their grandma wrote a book just for them? Yup, Jessica Lange penned It’s About a Little Bird, a children’s storybook about two little girls who visit their grandmother’s farm, for her real-life granddaughters, Ilse and Adah.
'It's About a Little Bird' by Jessica Lange
Ozzy Osbourne
This rock legend is a softie when it comes to his grandkids, Jack Osbourne’s daughters Pearl, Andy, and Minnie. Ozzy Osbourne announced that his final tour (after 50 years in the music biz) was because he and wife Sharon wanted to be around to spend more time with the children.
“I’ve never seen my kids grow up. I’ve never been around. And now I have grandchildren, and I want to spend some time with them,” he told Entertainment Tonight. “I feel like a mouse on a wheel, going around in circles.”
