Sean Astin Grew Up With Four Father Figures – But Then He Used DNA To Uncover The Truth
Stranger Things and Lord of the Rings actor Sean Astin is good at playing father figures on screen. But in an ironic twist, the movie star didn’t know for many years who his own biological dad was. In fact, his father could have been any one of a number of different men, which sounds like a scenario ripped straight from the movie Mamma Mia! But, eventually, Sean got to the bottom of the mystery – with a little help from a DNA test.
Famous Mom
Of course, there’s no such uncertainty over Sean’s mom. And you may recognize her name, too. She was Oscar-winning actress Patty Duke, and she lived a fascinating and sometimes tragic life prior to her passing in 2016. She also wasn’t shy of dating several men at once.
Meet The Men
Yes, Patty had reportedly been in three relationships when she became pregnant with Sean. And according to the actress, any one of those men could have been her son’s father. The guys in question were Desi Arnaz Jr. – the son of Lucille Ball – a man named Michael Tell whom Patty had impulsively married for 13 days and John Astin of The Addams Family fame. You shouldn’t necessarily read anything into John’s last name, either.
Before DNA Technology
So, why didn’t the relevant parties just conduct DNA tests to begin with? Well, when Sean was born in 1971, that technology was a long time from becoming commonplace. That meant the family couldn’t have simply had DNA analysis done – if, indeed, Patty was even willing to let that happen. And to complicate matters further, there was a fourth guy involved as well. In 1986 Patty married a military man called Michael Pearce, who became Sean’s stepfather.
Kept In The Dark
The media was obviously pretty interested in such a story. A beautiful actress having a child without knowing who the father was? It was practically tailor-made for tabloid headlines. The mystery of Sean’s parentage was kept from the boy himself, though. In 2001 John told People magazine, “[Sean] basically grew up without any real knowledge of all that stuff.”
