Kieran Culkin has successfully stepped out of his iconic child star brother Macaulay Culkin’s shadow with his award-winning turn as Roman Roy in Succession.
Kieran, 41, emotionally thanked his mom Patricia Brentrup, 69, during his acceptance speech at Monday’s Emmys – before taking a swipe at his estranged father Christopher ‘Kit’ Culkin, 79, by branding him ‘some guy’.
The Culkin family has been embroiled in drama ever since Macaulay shot to fame in the 1990s courtesy of his roles in Home Alone and Uncle Buck.
As a teenager aged 16 he would famously battle his now separated parents for control of his $50million fortune amid their child custody battle over him and his six siblings – before retiring from acting. He and his former manager Kit have not spoken since.
In his 2006 memoir Macaulay would accuse his father of physical and emotional abuse, alleging he threatened to hit him if he used cue cards during his 1991 SNL hosting stint aged just 11.
In 2016 a now reclusive Kit said he ‘didn’t consider Macaulay as a son anymore’ while Kieran has not seen his father since 2014.
As the Culkin kids steal the spotlight once more – DailyMail.com looks back at their complicated family history…
The famed Culkin family have a complicated history – with estrangement and abuse claims – Macaulay and Kieran Culkin are pictured with father Christopher Cornelius ‘Kit’ Culkin, a former child star himself and mother Patricia Brentrup in 1990
Kit and Patricia had managed Macaulay’s career which began when he started acting at the age of four.
Kieran and Macaulay – along with their five siblings, grew up in poverty, sharing one room in a tiny apartment in New York City.
His parents struggled to make ends meet – his dad Kit, a washed up Broadway actor, worked as a taxi driver and a sacristan for a Catholic church, while his mom quit her job to take care of their large brood before eventually landing a part-time gig as a telephone operator.
Kieran later told Vanity Fair of their childhood home, ‘It was barely suitable for a couple [let alone a family-of-nine].
‘It was just a hallway, and there were no separating doors, except for the bathroom, which didn’t have a lock.
‘They raised seven kids in that apartment – for years. They just kept bringing babies home to this little space.’
Macaulay started acting when he was only four – after a neighbor suggested that his parents try to turn him into a star – and right away, thanks to his adorable looks and charismatic personality, his star power was undeniable.
Kieran and Macaulay – along with their five siblings, grew up in poverty, sharing one room in a tiny apartment in New York City (pictured 1990)
Macaulay landed his first major role in the 1988 movie Rocket Gibraltar (seen) – at age six – after a neighbor introduced his family to casting director Billy Hopkins
After that, he was cast in the 1989 rom-com See You in the Morning alongside Jeff Bridges and Drew Barrymore, followed by the beloved comedy filmed Uncle Buck (seen) later that year
The youngster became a global star at the age of 10 as Home Alone’s Kevin, the little boy left behind when his family leaves on Christmas vacation he had been acting since the age of four
The movie roles poured in after that, and he went on to star in the coming of age drama My Girl (seen), the psychological thriller The Good Son, and 1994’s Getting Even with Dad
His other early roles included the filmed live performance of The Nutcracker, the comedy movie Richie Rich (seen), and of course, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
The youngster became a global star at the age of 10 as Home Alone’s Kevin, the little boy left behind when his family leaves on Christmas vacation, and he accumulated a fortune estimated at $50 million before he retired at 14.
And while Macaulay’s sudden stardom seemed like it would be a dream come true to most children, he later admitted that he struggled with his newfound fame and began to crumble under the immense pressure that came with it.
To make matters worse, he says his father, who also worked as his manager, began ‘physically and mentally abusing’ him, forcing him to stay up for hours to learn lines even when he was exhausted, and threatening physical violence if he ever messed up on set.
Macaulay has been very open about how he struggled with the immense attention that he received following his sudden stardom.
‘I remember I was doing Home Alone 2 and I was getting changed in my trailer on the street,’ he once recalled to New York mag.
‘Next thing I know, there was a group of upwards of about 200 people shaking my trailer. It scared the s**t out of me.’
‘I was enjoying it at [first]. I was a bit of an attention w***e,’ he also reflected to Esquire. ‘But it started feeling like a chore.’
As soon as Macaulay was skyrocketed into the spotlight, his dad, Kit, quit his job to focus on managing his career full-time.
But the star later revealed that Kit would ‘deny him certain things’ – including a bed, which meant he had to sleep on the couch – and often forced him to stay up all night sometimes to study lines, despite the young actor feeling exhausted.
‘I think it was just a way of him wanting to break my spirit,’ he later told ABC News. ‘He wanted me to know to know that he was in charge and if he didn’t want us to sleep on a bed, we weren’t gonna sleep on a bed.’
He also remembered his dad threatening physical violence if he didn’t perform well during an appearance on the WTF podcast with Marc Maron.
‘[He said], “Do good or I’ll hit you.” He was a bad man,’ Macaulay admitted. ‘He was abusive, physically and mentally – I can show you all my scars if I wanted to.’
He told New York magazine that as he grew more and more tired of acting, he begged his dad to let him take a break, but he wouldn’t let him.
Macaulay said: ‘My father was jealous of me. He was a bad man. He was abusive. Everything he tried to do in life, I excelled at before I was 10 years old.’
To the outside world, Macaulay seemed like a happy-go-lucky kid who was in for the ride of his life, but behind-the-scenes, he recalled feeling desperate for a break.
His dad also kept his earnings a secret from him, while unbeknownst to Macaulay, taking a big chunk of the profits for himself. His parents took around 15per cent of his earnings per film.
To make matters worse, he says his father, who also worked as his manager, began ‘physically and mentally abusing’ him, forcing him to stay up for hours to learn lines even when he was exhausted, and threatening physical violence if he ever messed up on set (pictured 1993)
When Kit and Patricia split in 1995, there followed a bitter legal battle over who would get custody of the kids, including Macaulay and his fortune.
Rumors swirled he had ended up ‘divorcing’ his parents, with Culkin telling Esquire in 2020: ‘We didn’t want to go with my father. It’s always misconstrued, that I “emancipated” myself from my parents. I legally took my parents’ names off of my trust fund and found an executor, someone who would look over my finances, just in case anyone wanted to stick their f***ing pinkie in the pie.
‘But the next thing you know, the story was that I divorced my parents. I just thought I was doing it cleanly—taking my father’s name off, taking my mom’s name off, so my opinion is unbiased. And when I did that, the whole thing kinda ended a lot faster.’
He has also said: ‘Basically, I had millions and millions of dollars in the bank and my mother couldn’t pay the rent because she was spending all of her money on lawyers.
‘We were about to get evicted from our apartment. The only way I could get access to that money was to take my father’s name off it, but I didn’t want to make it messy, so I figured I’d take both their names off.’
After the bitter fight was over Kit, a highly charged character, appeared to accept defeat. While Patricia and his children stayed in New York, he retreated to the West Coast and started over again with partner Jeanette Krylowski, who he had known since the 1970s. She died in 2017.
Kit’s other children are Shane, 48, Kieran, 41, Quinn, 40, Christian, 35 and Rory, 34. A daughter Dakota, 30, tragically died in December 2008 after being struck by a vehicle in Los Angeles.
When Kit and Patricia split in 1995, there followed a bitter legal battle over who would get custody of the kids, including Macaulay and his fortune (pictured 1990)
After the bitter fight was over Kit, a highly charged character, appeared to accept defeat. While Patricia and his children stayed in New York, he retreated to the West Coast and started over again with partner Jeanette Krylowski (pictured 2016)
Macaulay and his dad have been estranged ever since. In 2016, while speaking to DailyMail.com, Kit said he ‘doesn’t consider Macaulay a son anymore.’
But the actor now credits his father with helping him to become a good dad himself.
He told New York Magazine, ‘I knew from a very early age that I better take notes on him. Notes on how not to be, notes on how I don’t want to be when I grow up.’
He also reflected on it to Esquire, explaining, ‘Look, I mean, it sucks. But: It coulda been worse, you know? I wasn’t working in a coal mine. I wasn’t a child soldier. My father was not sexually abusing me.
‘Certain f**ked-up things happened, but f**ked-up things happen to kids all the time and they don’t come out the other end.
‘I’ve got something to show for it, man. I mean, look at me: I got money, I got fame, I got a beautiful girlfriend and a beautiful house and beautiful animals.
‘It took me a long time to get to that place, and I had to have that conversation with myself and go, like, “Honestly, Mack? It’s not so bad.” I want for nothing and need for even less. I’m good, man.’
Backstage at the Emmys Kieran said about his mom: ‘She’s just an absolutely wonderful woman who took on raising seven kids in a studio apartment, by herself.
The actor now credits his father with helping him to become a good dad himself. ‘I knew from a very early age that I better take notes on him. Notes on how not to be, notes on how I don’t want to be when I grow up’ (pictured with Brenda Song and son Dakota last month)
‘There was a guy there — he didn’t do anything’ he added, referring to his estranged father.
Kieran broke down in tears as he lauded mom Patricia during his acceptance speech for Actor In A Drama series at Monday’s Emmys ceremony.
He said: ‘I’ve got to switch to the personal really fast. I have to thank my mom for giving me life, my childhood which was great, so thank you for that.’
His stepfather Mart Cox, told Page Six Tuesday from his Montana Home that Patricia was unable to attend her son Macaulay Culkin’s Hollywood Star of Fame ceremony last month due to ill-health, saying: ‘Patty was invited, and they wanted to fly her out, but she’s been having some hard times with her health.’
Patricia spent a ‘few months before the holidays’ at Kieran’s home in Brooklyn, New York where he lives with wife Jazz Charton, daughter Kinsey Sioux, four, and son Wilder Wolf, two.
Cox, who has been married to Brentrup for 12 years and is dad to two kids said: ‘Kieran was looking after her and she was going to doctors in the city. All the kids have been very helpful, oh for sure. Just from Patty, they have a lot of love in them — she is an incredible woman.
‘We certainly are proud of Kieran and we’re really happy life is just beginning for him. But we have nine kids and we love them all. None ever gets more love than the other. That’s how their mom raised them — although Kieran always thought he was the favorite!’
Cox also revealed he and Patricia have barely watched any episodes of Succession.
Patricia is now in poor health with Kieran, 41, breaking down in tears as he lauded her during his acceptance speech for Actor In A Drama series at Monday’s Emmys ceremony
Culkin is seen as Roman Roy in Succession – which has won him critical acclaim
Backstage, Kieran said about his mom: ‘She’s just an absolutely wonderful woman who took on raising seven kids in a studio apartment, by herself. ‘There was a guy there — he didn’t do anything’ he added, referring to his estranged father Kit Culkin (pictured 1990)
Macaulay has been keeping busy, and also made an appearance in the HBO show, The Righteous Gemstones, last year in 2022.
He also puts his main focus in raising son Dakota, two, as well as a second child – whose birth was confirmed by Kieran in March – with fiancée, Brenda Song.
The couple were first romantically linked in 2017 and a source informed People in January 2022 that the two stars were engaged.
Last month he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.