10 Stories of Children Showing Compassion and Kindness Adults Have Forgotten


At the salon, I could tell a mother and daughter had come in together before they reached the chair: same walk, same purse grip, same “not too short.” One pair asked for the same red, and the mother’s appointment card from 1994 proved it. These 10 star moms and daughters were photographed at the same age, from Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli at 17 to Ingrid Bergman and Isabella Rossellini at 39.
Judy Garland was 17 in this 1939 MGM publicity photo, the year ‘The Wizard of Oz’ came out. Her daughter, Liza Minnelli, born in 1946, was 17 when Look magazine photographed her in March 1963, during her first off-Broadway show, ‘Best Foot Forward.’
In March 2026, Minnelli, who turned 80 that month, published her memoir, ‘Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!’
Isabella Rossellini, the daughter of Ingrid Bergman, shared this photo of her mother and herself side by side on Instagram on Oct. 22, 2026.
“Many told us we look alike. Mamma and I didn’t feel it so much, although once I stopped a taxi in NY and the driver said, ‘Oh I thought I would give Ingrid Bergman a ride’. At that time I was not even a model nobody knew me. ❤️”
Liv Ullmann was 45 when she was photographed in the Dutch city of Middelburg in June 1984. Her daughter, Linn, born in 1966 to Ullmann and director Ingmar Bergman, was 45 in this November 2011 portrait.
Linn grew up between two famous filmmakers but chose another path: she became a journalist and then a novelist in Norway.
Goldie Hawn was 43 at the Academy Awards on March 29, 1989. Her daughter Kate Hudson was 43 at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2022.
In January 2026, Hudson earned her second Oscar nomination, for ‘Song Sung Blue,’ and People noted that mother and daughter now have two nominations each. Hawn posted: “Once upon time, I had a little girl named Kate! And look at her now!”
Lucille Ball was 35 when she and her husband, Desi Arnaz, were photographed cooking at home in January 1947. Their daughter, Lucie Arnaz, born in 1951, was 36 at a party at Spago in Los Angeles in April 1988.
Lucie later played her mother’s TV daughter on ‘Here’s Lucy’ from 1968 to 1974, and in one 1973 episode the two wore matching pickle costumes.
Jane Birkin was 38 at the American film festival in Deauville, France, in September 1985. Her daughter Charlotte Gainsbourg, whose father was French singer Serge Gainsbourg, was 38 when she performed in New York in April 2010, a year after she won the best actress award at Cannes.
In 2021, Charlotte made her first documentary as a director, and it was about her mother: ‘Jane by Charlotte.’
Uma Thurman was 24 in this 1994 photo, the year of her breakthrough in ‘Pulp Fiction,’ which earned her an Oscar nomination. Her daughter with Ethan Hawke, Maya Hawke, was 25 in June 2024 at the premiere of ‘Inside Out 2,’ in which she voiced Anxiety.
Maya, known to millions as Robin on ‘Stranger Things,’ married musician Christian Lee Hutson in February 2026.
Alan Light photographed Diana Ross on March 26, 1990, her 46th birthday. Her daughter Tracee Ellis Ross was 46 in this December 2018 portrait.
Both are still busy: Diana headlined ‘New Year’s Rockin’ Eve’ in Times Square as 2026 began, and Tracee was announced as the next star of the solo play ‘Every Brilliant Thing’ on Broadway.
Tippi Hedren was 34 in this July 1964 portrait, the year Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Marnie’ came out. Since 1983 she has run Shambala, a sanctuary for big cats in California. Her daughter Melanie Griffith was 31 at an Oscars party in March 1989, the year ‘Working Girl’ earned her a best actress nomination.
In January 2025, Griffith wrote on Instagram that her “beautiful Mama turned 95 yesterday!”
Ava Phillippe, born in 1999, turned 27 this September. A few weeks later, on Sept. 26, 2026, she posed at the Nashville Film Festival with her brother, Deacon, her mother, Reese Witherspoon, and her grandmother, Betty Reese.
On Ava’s birthday, Witherspoon posted: “Happy birthday to my sweet girl Ava!”
Reese Witherspoon, her daughter Ava and her mother Betty stood side by side in Nashville this September, three generations in one frame. That photo doesn’t need ages in the caption. My mom would say what she says about every picture in her hallway: look at the hands.
Do people ever mix you up with your mom or your daughter? Tell us in the comments.











