Say hi to Joe Cabot for me

Chris Penn reminds me of a bit in a stand up special Robin Williams did for HBO a few years ago. Williams surmised that Jesus Christ had siblings, one of them was named Jerry. Jerry was kind of a regular guy, carpenter if I recall correctly, who would be at the bar when someone would ask him about his family.

“Ya, I’m Jerry Christ, big friggin’ deal.” In William’s best Brooklyn accent. Jerry would downplay his family and seem someone resentful of his more famous brother. Chris Penn is kinda like that. A character actor, someone you see around, and if you’re not a big movie buff like myself and some of my friends you might think “man, where have I seen him before?” You probably last saw him in “Starsky and Hutch” as the cop who kept getting on Ben Stiller’s nerves. He was never really a leading man, but he was always the kind of guy who was the cop or the crook and played both well enough.

Personally, I think the large problem with his success, or lack of it, can be due to his show business family, namely his brother Sean. Don’t get me wrong, I think Sean’s a good actor and all, but his off-screen antics are typical show business ignorant-elitist. If you asked were walking through and airport and saw either brother, you could ask Sean for an autograph, but you might end up with a broken nose. I get the feeling if you asked the same from Chris, you would get that autograph, and maybe an offer to go grab a beer or two while you both waited for your plane.

I kind of wonder what it must be like to be the less famous sibling in a famous family. I’m not alking about the Ashlee Simpson’s here, but more like the Haylie Duff’s, the Joan Cusack’s, the Eric Roberts’, a non-Donny or Marie Osmond, and of course, the Frank Stallone’s. Some take it in stride, others (see Ashlee) are more parasitic. What is it like on holidays? Is there a moment when Dad gets drunk and yells out “why can’t you be more like your brother?!?” When grandma is introducing the grandkids at the old folk’s home, does she say things like “This is little Julia, she won an Oscar! And that’s Eric. We saw him on Hollywood Squares last week.” If you make a reservation at a restaurant under the name, say… ‘Baldwin,’ does the staff change your table when they find out you were the fat one and not Alec? Does Brian Doyle Murray pump his own gas? Does Casey Affleck hang out with Clint Howard?

A lot of celebrity family members seem annoying, but I never got that vibe from Chris. Not that I met him or anything, but he just seemed like a decent guy, working enough, but not an over the top freak like some people’s relatives.