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[[File:dainty june on stage 3556.jpg|link=Gypsy|frame|Behind this child actor is a fame-hungry parent.]]
{{quote|''"I've always dreamed of becoming an actress. [[Suspiciously Specific Denial|That's not why I'm pushing Olivia to do it]]. [[Lampshade Hanging|Is it suspicious that I brought that up unprovoked]]?"''
|'''Olivia's mother''', ''[[Family Guy]]''}}
Sometimes parents really want their kids to become child stars. However, they tend to [[Wag the Director|interfere in the actual work]], causing problems [[What an Idiot!|in the very works they want to make their children stars]]. Often they can help their kids start successful careers, but in fiction, it's very rare.
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{{examples}}
== Fictional examples ==
* Happened with Kohane's mother in ''[[
▲=== Anime & Manga ===
* Onpu Segawa's mother from ''[[Ojamajo Doremi]]'' is a milder version of the trope, as she ''does'' care for Onpu somewhat more than the typical Stage Mom but still pushes her to be an [[Idol Singer]] like she used to be ''and'' is often out working when she should be with Onpu.
▲* Happened with Kohane's mother in ''[[xxxHolic]]'', who pushes her young girl to appear on television specials, even when the girl is clearly uncomfortable and only wants her mother's affection.
▲* Onpu Segawa's mother from ''[[Ojamajo Doremi]]'' is a milder version of the trope, as she ''does'' care for Onpu somewhat more than the typical Stage Mom but still pushes her to be an [[Idol Singer]] like she used to be ''and'' is often out working when she should be with Onpu. {{spoiler|When poor Onpu falls into a [[Convenient Coma]] after using her power against the rules too frequently, Mrs. Segawa has an [[Heroic BSOD]] and blames herself heavily, thinking she pushed Onpu too much towards success and caused her to collapse.}}
** Haruka Harukaze, Doremi's [[Tsundere]] mother and an ex-pianist who lost her career due to a [[Game-Breaking Injury]], was close to become one. When little Doremi showed some degree of musical talent, she tried to shape her into a good pianist, but [[Heroic BSOD|Doremi panicked when on-stage]] and Haruka didn't insist. [[My Greatest Failure|She felt so guilty about it]] that when Doremi's little sister Poppu wanted her mom to teach her how to play, it took both her ''and'' Doremi's efforts to convince her.
* Subverted by Miyata's father in ''[[Hajime no Ippo]]''. While his son Ichiro took up boxing few after Miyata-san's forceful retirement, it was because of Miyata's own will and not because his dad pressured him to do it, and father and son care for each other very much.
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{{quote|'''Sara:''' Remember this... a kid is not a parent's doll. }}
* Sawakita's father in ''[[Slam Dunk]]'' looks like this a little, but he's actually an aversion since he does truly care for Sawakita himself.
* In ''[[Speed Grapher]]''{{'}}s first episode, a young would-be ballerina and her stage mom visit the ballet dancer Kazuya Shirogane in his camerino so the girl can show off her dancing skills and become his pupil. Shirogane turns out to be an Euphoric, [[Kick the Dog|and ends up breaking the girl's arm]] while screaming [[Madness Mantra|"Not flexible! Not flexible! NOT FLEXIBLE"]]. [[Nightmare Fuel|AAAAHHHHH!!!]]
*
* Averted utterly by Kurata Misako, Sana's mother in ''[[Kodomo no Omocha]]''. Sana is about as close to a [[Free-Range Children|Free-Range Child]] as a well-known child star can get, because Mama is ''very'' hands-off and trusts agent/babysitter Rei to handle anything that comes up. Mama is also about six inches short of being a full-bore [[Cloudcuckoolander]]...
=== Comic Books ===
* The original Silk Spectre from ''[[Watchmen (comics)|Watchmen]]'' coached her daughter to [[Legacy Character|take up her profession]].
* Bonnie Jones nee King, Cissie Jones-King (aka Arrowette)'s mother from ''[[Young Justice (comics)|Young Justice]]'' in [[The DCU]], was a superhero stage mother, pushing her daughter into becoming a superhero because of her own frustrated ambitions. In issue #7, this angered Wonder Girl's mother, who has the exact opposite attitude towards her daughter Cassie's heroics. She called out Bonnie on caring more about fame than her daughter's safety, asking whether she even knew that Arrowette had recently{{when}} taken an arrow through the shoulder. This resulted in a [[Cat Fight]].
** It was also pointed out around that time that the costume that Bonnie had made for Cissie was more flashy than functional, and didn't protect her very well (several iterations of it were a sparkly, girly mini-dress). Arrowette's costume change to a more sensible one (yes, the bare midriff was ''more sensible'' than what she had on before) was supposed to signify that Bonnie had backed off.
** Nightwing chewed that mom out too (he had showed up at the parents conference for Tim).
* The recent{{when}} ''[[Doctor Strange|Strange]]'' miniseries had a plot that involved pageant mothers actually making deals with a ''demon'' in order to secure a win. As one would expect, and because the demon was a huge cheater who decided he didn't have to adhere to the rules of magic, this backfired horribly. As for the pageant itself when it was shown, more than a few readers who'd been in or been involved with pageants noted that yes, some of the adults at those things really are that scary.
* [[Calvin and Hobbes|Calvin]] once asked his father if he was attempting to live vicariously through Calvin to make up for his own failures in life. His father shot back that if he was, [[Stealth Insult|he'd be trying a lot harder]]. Calvin manages to deduce his father's disrespect.▼
* Striker of ''[[Avengers Academy]]'' had a mother like this who gave him his drive to be famous.
▲=== Films ===
* ''[[Gypsy]]''. See "Theatre"
* In ''[[Beaches]]'', there were some stage mothers as well.
* Arguably, Violet's mother in the 2005 version of ''[[Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (film)|Charlie and The Chocolate Factory]]''. We don't see her interacting with (or even acknowledging the existence of) the other kids or parents, but she keeps pushing Violet and plays up to a very indifferent Willy.
* ''[[The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom]]'' and ''[[Willing to Kill: The Texas Cheerleader Story]]'', two movies about the same real-life Stage Mom, [[wikipedia:Wanda Holloway|Wanda Holloway]]. (See the Real Life section, below.) The first one had Holly Hunter playing said mom.
* ''[[Little Miss Sunshine]]'' was all over this. Not with the family itself, but when they get to the pagent and see the other contestants and their families.
* Velma Von Tussle in ''[[Hairspray]]'', who, among other things, tries to {{spoiler|switch the votes for Miss Teenage Hairspray and before that, attempt to seduce Tracy's dad to get her kicked off.}}
* Kim Cattrall's character in ''[[Ice Princess]]'', in a rare semi-sympathetic example.
* Kirstie Alley's character in the black comedy ''[[Drop Dead Gorgeous (film)|Drop Dead Gorgeous]]'' takes it to the biggest extremes, as she's determined to have her daughter Rebecca (played by Denise Richards) win every single contest she's in by sabotaging them. {{spoiler|The kid finally ends up ''dead''... when her mom lights up fireworks placed under a swan float she's in.}}
* Male example
{{quote|"Andrew! You've got to be NUMBER ONE! I won't tolerate any losers in this family! WIN, WIN WIN!"}}
* Another male example, but less exaggerated: Troy's father and basketball coach from ''[[High School Musical]]''.
* Erica Sayers of ''[[Black Swan]]'', the [[My Beloved Smother|smothering mother]] of the main character, who has a lot of issues.
* Doris Finsecker's mother in the original 1980 ''[[Fame]]'' seems to be the only reason Doris is even auditioning for the High School of the Performing Arts, and has Doris try out for multiple departments, in the hope that ''one'' will stick. And when [[Shrinking Violet]] Doris finally starts coming out of her shell and takes control of her life, Mama Finsecker almost loses it.
=== Literature ===
* An [[Moral Event Horizon|appalling]] example in ''[[The Godfather]]'': one mother is clearly
* In [[James Joyce]]'s ''[[Dubliners]]'', the short story " A Mother" reads this way today. At the time, given the limited career opportunities for women, it's more an example of an [[Unbuilt Trope]].
* In the young adult novel ''[[Virtuosity (novel)|Virtuosity]]'' by Jessica Martinez, Carmen's mother Diana is an example of this. Diana is a former opera singer who gets throat cancer and can no longer sing. Diana instead ends up living vicariously through Carmen, a violin prodigy. In the end, {{spoiler|Diana ends up bribing the judges in a competition(in which the prize is a priceless violin and a concert series) so that Carmen's only worthy opponent doesn't make it past the semifinals.}}
* A minor character in ''[[Elemental Masters|The Gates of Sleep]]'' is a child chess prodigy, whose father drove him into a breakdown by pushing the kid into more and more public exhibition games.
=== Live-Action TV ===
* Spoofed in the [[Nickelodeon]] show ''[[Roundhouse]]''—the main character had a bitchy rival in a talent or other competition, and in response to his "What do you have that I don't?" she brought out her stage mother. There was a pretty kickass song that went with it—the only lyrics I half-remember were, "You'll be gettin' my claws if I don't hear that applause! Stage motherrrrrr!"
** Someone transcribed the song, which was called (appropriately enough) "Stage Mother" and was written by Buddy Sheffield. The lyrics—mirrored from a now defunct Geocities site—can be found [http://www.oocities.org/pennyme768/stagemother.html here].
* There was one of these as a recurring sketch on ''[[Little Britain]]''
* An early ''[[Law and Order]]'' episode, "
{{quote|'''Patricia Blaine:'''
'''Phil Cerreta:'''
'''Patricia Blaine:'''
* There's a "What if" episode of ''[[Desperate Housewives]]'' in which Gabrielle pushes her youngest daughter to become a child star despite her absolutely sucking at it. It ends up with wasting both their lives and her husband and other daughter leaving them
* All of the mothers on ''[[Dance Moms]]''.
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'''Dick''': Because it's important that you experience the humiliation of adolescent boys at the hands of bitter adults trying to re-write the failures of their youth. It'll be fun! }}
* Averted for the most part on ''[[Make It or Break It]]''. Kelly's mom, Kaylie's father, and Lauren's father fit this trope, but the other parents of the main cast are properly supportive without being pushy.
=== Music ===
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* [[Noel Coward]]'s "(Don't Put Your Daughter On The Stage,) Mrs. Worthington" is addressed to a stage mother whose aspirations are greater than her daughter's potential.
=== Newspaper Comics ===
▲* ''[[Calvin and Hobbes
=== Professional Wrestling ===
* [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]]'s Jack Swagger has the [[Gimmick]] of an overachieving child with a Stage Dad, now all grown up and determined to find the same success in wrestling. In order to [[Moral Event Horizon|completely cement him]] as a [[Dirty Coward]], Swagger ran away while Kane beat up his father - and then justified it afterward by saying he felt vindicated for his father being an overbearing Stage Dad.
* This happened quite often when wrestling promoters had sons. It was desirable to build a promotion around men who would be loyal to you, and family was usually that. The most notorious wrestling stage dad would probably be Fritz Von Erich, given the fate of most of his six sons.<ref>he outlived all but ''one'' of them.</ref>
* Bonnie Blood, ex-wife of Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, took increasing control of his career from 1988 on, even to the point where she got control of his stage name in the divorce settlement.
=== Theater ===
* ''[[Gypsy]]''
* Mrs. Walker from ''[[Once in a Lifetime]]'' has elements of this, even though she causes relatively little harm in the course of her championing her daughter Susan.
* ''[[Phantom of the Opera
* In ''[[Coriolanus]]'', the titular character's mother, Volumnia, pushed him into a military career from his childhood, enforcing on him the notion that he should do everything on his power to ensure fame and honor for himself in the eyes of Roma's populace. [[Gone Horribly Right|It worked a bit too well.]]
* Gloria's mother from ''[[Psychonauts]]'' who screwed her life over
▲=== Videogames ===
▲* Gloria's mother from ''[[Psychonauts]]'' who screwed her life over TWICE. First time was dumping her at Hagatha's Home For Girls where she was forced to sing, dance and act. The second time was when she became famous as a worldwide sensation and her greatest performance was marred by {{spoiler|a letter informing her that her mother had committed suicide, which drove Gloria into pure schizophrenic madness.}}
** To be fair, Gloria's mother didn't hate her and did try to send letters of love to her, but {{spoiler|they were being constantly destroyed by her bastard of a husband.}}
* ''[[Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney]]'': |Morgan Fey
▲=== Webcomics ===
* Parodied in an ''[[Achewood]]'' [http://achewood.com/index.php?date=03312003 guest strip] with Philippe's mother. "Please Mommy not the BUCKLE MOMMY NOT THE BUCKLE!!"
* While not as bad as some of the other mothers mentioned here, Ash of ''[[Misfile]]'' was pressured into showing off a dress by his/her mother, who also repeatedly asked Ash to do some modelling, though she would back off when Ash said no.
** Also the characters of Jenny senior and Jenny junior from an early story arc.
* ''[[Better Days]]'' talks about the problems of little girls pressured into [http://www.jaynaylor.com/betterdays/archives/2007/06/chapter-18-reac-23.html child pageants] by their mothers.
=== Western Animation ===
* Beebee Bluff's mother on ''[[Doug]]'' was a stage mother for one episode, but at the end, Beebee was able to call her out on it and her mother quickly saw the error of her ways.
* Helga's parents in ''[[Hey Arnold!]]'' [[Parental Neglect|neglect Helga's needs]] and [[Parental Favoritism|shower her sister Olga with attention]]... but they get to ''this'' extreme. Bob is so demanding in regards to Olga's intellectual and artistic talents and puts so much pressure on her that Olga is now a neurotic [[Fragile Flower]] who panics horribly at the mere prospect of getting a B grade, to the degree that she thinks ''Helga'' is the one who has it easier of the two since she can do whatever she wants and their parents won't say anything.
* In ''[[The Grim Adventures of Billy
{{quote|'''Mom 1''': Remember this is mommy's big day.
'''Mom 2''': The bigger you smile the more beautiful mommy looks.
'''Mom 3''': Baby it's time to win mommy's love. }}
* Rare man example in ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'' where Homer managers Lisa in a talent contest, bullying everybody behind the scenes to get the best for her.
** A much earlier episode subverted this trope when Homer signed Lisa up for a beauty pageant. Homer didn't do it for any personal glory, but instead because Lisa was feeling insecure about her looks and he thought it would help her self-esteem. [[And It Worked]]!
* Susan Dinwittie from ''[[
** What really makes it sad is her third child, [[The Unfavorite]] genius {{spoiler|engineer who thought she was spending time with him and asking about his projects in a possibly forced attempt to get to know him and have him feel like he was still valued. Nope
* In ''[[Steven Universe]]'', Sadie's mom gets into this trope every time Sadie shows inclination towards any sport or performing activity. The thing is, she's not malicious and isn't trying to live vicariously through her daughter, she legitimately wants people to see how wonderful and talented Sadie is. The problem is that Sadie only tries those activities in search of personal enjoyment, and every time her mom gets to treat any of Sadie's interests as [[Serious Business]] and becomes a full mom-manager driven to get her to excel in said activity only gets Sadie to tire and lose interest on it very quickly no matter how much she liked it. Even worse, because she knew her mom didn't have any ill intent, she couldn't truly express her displeasure until Steven intervened and encouraged her to do so.
== [[Real Life]] examples ==
=== General ===
* Successful entertainers who have children typically wind up getting accused of this if their children follow them into showbiz.
=== Acting ===
* Minnie Marx, mother of the [[Marx Brothers]]. It was [[Tropes Are Not Bad|mainly her hard work]] that ever got them recognition in [[Vaudeville]] before their breakthrough. It helps that her children were already adults who has gotten into entertainment by themselves and were trying to breakout when she got involved.
*
* In ''[[Star Trek]] IV'', Sulu (George Takei) was meant to have a chance encounter, while walking around 20th-century San Francisco, with a kid who would turn out to be his ancestor. Unfortunately, the kid who was to play the part had what Shatner described (in ''Star Trek Movie Memories'') as "the most over-the-top stage mom" he had ever encountered, and she ended up making her kid so stressed out that she made it effectively impossible to actually film the scenes.
* Nearly all of Macaulay Culkin's Hollywood burnout can be attributed to his father/manager, Kit Culkin. To give an example, one of the reasons Macaulay
* [[Judy Garland]]'s mother came about as straight up abusive. She tended to punish her by locking Judy inside of closets, and later suggested to studio executives to do the same if the girl ever acted up. She also kept feeding her pills to keep her weight and increase her productivity. This ended up ''very'' badly, with Garland becoming a barely functional addict, marrying numerous times, and dying at 57 while looking way older than that.
* Dina and Michael Lohan, parents of [[Lindsay Lohan]], are exemplars of the self-serving side of this trope. Dina took Lindsay to nightclubs and let her drink when she was underage, then used her daughter's personal troubles to launch her own career in entertainment, getting herself a reality show on [[E!]]. Then, she pushed her younger daughter Ali to enter showbiz as well, causing many people to fear that Ali will end up with as many or more problems thanks to her mother. Michael, meanwhile, blabs about Lindsay to the media every chance he gets, and went on ''Celebrity Rehab'' for seemingly no other reason then to get attention and talk about her.
** [[Robot Chicken|"Could you make the check out to cash? It's my nickname for her..."]]
* In a
** It would have been worse if the mother was familiar with ''SMBC Theater'', since most of the material is not safe for kids. This is why they always have adults kneeling when they have children in the sketches.
* [[Drew Barrymore]]'s mother Jaid could be blamed in large part for her daughter's drug and alcohol problems at such a young age. Jaid regularly took young Drew to such adult hangouts like Studio 54 and the China Club, using the fame of the kid to be granted acess. Years later,
* [[Hilary Duff]]'s parents are said to be the reason why the ''[[Lizzie McGuire]]'' franchise was cancelled after [[The Movie]]. Basically they got too greedy, trying to get an extra fee of $500,000 for Hillary if the movie surpassed $50 million gross, even when she has already received a substantial pay and Disney offered her a salary of $4 million to star in a second film plus 25% of the profit. Her mother's insistence of the $500,000 being paid upfront instead caused the whole deal to fall off.
* More than one similar accusation has been leveled at Billy Ray Cyrus ([[Miley Cyrus]]' father and co-star) in regards to the ''[[Hannah Montana]]'' franchise. Billy Ray says it's the other way round: that the executives were the ones abusing and restraining Miley. Then again, he's also blamed atheists for the same thing. [[Cloudcuckoolander|Billy Ray might just be cuckoo.]]
* [[Thora Birch]]'s father (Jack Birch, a former porn star) has meddled in his daughter's affairs enough that he's caused a hit to her reputation. He reportedly showed up on set during production of the 2007 film
** Thora was also
** Equally distressing, Thora doesn't appear fazed by her dad's behavior, nor is she upset that he has cost her work. After she was fired from ''Dracula
* [[Will Smith]] and Jada Pinkett-Smith have been accused of pushing their children into showbiz at too early an age. Their son [[Jaden Smith|Jaden]] is an actor (best known for
* [[Brooke Shields]]' mother Teri was infamous for this well into her daughter's 20s.
* [[Natalie Wood]], who played the above mentioned ''Gypsy'' on the big screen, had her own real Mama Rose in her mother Maria, who was extremely determined to make her daughter a star no matter the cost. According to at least one biography, Maria would do stuff like killing a butterfly in front of her distressed child in order to make her to cry on camera on scenes that required it.
* Deliberately averted with [[Mara Wilson]], as her parents impressed on her the importance of education and whose attitude towards their child's career was "well, if you don't find it fun anymore you can always retire and we won't held it against you". As a result, Mara is more level-headed than most [[Former Child Star]]s and even wrote [http://www.cracked.com/blog/7-reasons-child-stars-go-crazy-an-insiders-perspective/ an article] on [[Cracked.com]] about the reasons of the crash and burn of those kids. Said article mentions this trope as one of the reasons, and she recalled having work with a child that was the breadwinner for his whole family.
* Walt Disney also wanted to avoid this trope when he created ''[[The Mickey Mouse Club]]''. He deliberately went to cast amateur children with talent instead of professional child actors, and then went to set up a separate room for their mothers to read, knit or relax specifically to keep them off during filming.
* [[Taylor Momsen]] has [https://web.archive.org/web/20130913153610/http://www.popeater.com/2010/11/12/taylor-momsen-childhood/ accused her parents] of being this. She allegedly was pushed into modeling by her mother at seven, and then she was overworked in modeling and acting gigs to burnout levels. This may explain her transformation from a [[Gossip Girl|teen soap]] star to a raunchy, scantily-clad rock frontwoman [[Jail Bait|before she turned 18]]. Momsen is now very active in her music career and doesn't seem that interested in going back into acting.▼
* Jackie Coogan, the first child star, whose parents exploited him financially to the point that they left him penniless due to their mismanagement of his earnings. The [[wikipedia:Coogan Act|Coogan Act]], created in 1939 and one of the first legal instruments designed to prevent parents from siphoning out the money their performer children made, was named and created after his case.
* The failure of ''[[Galactica 1980]]'' was attributed to a mixture of [[Executive Meddling]] and this trope. The Executives' insistence on adding [[Kid Appeal Character]]s -- interpreted by [[Kids and Cute Robots|actual children]] -- bit them in the butt when said children brought with them their respective Stage Moms, whose interference in the production poisoned the already fragile working environment so much everybody just gave up and instead directed their efforts to have the series canceled as soon as they could.
* Jennette McCurdy, better known as Sam Puckett from ''[[iCarly]]'', was forced into acting at six by her very pushy mother, who made her work as the main breadwinner of the family and controlled every aspect of the poor girl's career. McCurdy eventually became very vocal on how much she hated acting and despised most of the characters she played, and she abandoned that career soon after her mother's death in 2013, moving into writing and directing. That her 2022 autobiography is titled "I'm Glad That My Mom Is Dead" and the cover depicts her with an funerary urn full of confetti says everything about her feelings over her late mom.
* Downplayed by Melissa Joan Hart's mother Paula, who, while getting her into acting at a very young age, she was following Melissa's own interest on acting. She also tried to keep her into age appropriate roles and image: she opposed letting young Melissa get her eyebrows plucked and wear more makeup for ''[[Clarissa Explains It All]]'', and made the strategic choice of not letting Melissa accept adult roles after that series ended on the perception that the girl's popularity among the teenage demographics could be better used. This plan paid off with Melissa's next role as the title character of ''[[Sabrina the Teenage Witch (TV series)|Sabrina the Teenage Witch]]'', which catapulted her into stardom.
* [[Will Wheaton]] was subject to completely abusive parents, who not only forced him to work 12 hours daily despite him being a minor and even retorted to gaslighting him into accepting roles by telling him that the offers they wanted him to accept were the only ones he was being offered, they were absolutely dismissive of his increasing depression and addictions and spent over $100.000 of his earnings on themselves. It's very telling that he claims that his ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' costars (and specially his onscreen mom) are his true family.
=== Music ===
* [[Britney Spears]]' mother Lynne pushed her and her sister Jamie Lynn to become stars. [[Break the Cutie|You know how this ended
* Joe Simpson, father of [[Jessica Simpson|Jessica]] and [[Ashlee Simpson|Ashlee]]. Nick Lachey, Jessica's former husband, implied that the meddling of his father-in-law over her career and life played no small role in their eventual breakup and divorce. Also notice how both women's musical careers stalled and faded after they distanced from him in the 2010s, with Jessica getting into business ventures and dedicating her time to her family with her second husband and Ashlee becoming a Broadway musical actress.
* [[Michael Jackson|Joe]] [[Janet Jackson|Jackson]] really, really didn't want [[The Jackson 5ive|his kids]] to become criminals on the streets of Gary, Indiana. He probably could have found a better way to do this, however. All the Jackson children have complained about their father being openly abusive whenever they didn't perform or rehearse to his standards, and discouraged them from having any interests outside show business.
** [[Michael Jackson|Michael]] was the worst victim of the trope. Due to being the youngest son, he was basically deprived of a childhood and spent all of his formative years rehearsing and performing under the [[Abusive Parents|heavy hand]] of his father. This, in turn, may have been the main reason of Michael's eccentricities in later life that in turn led him to acquire both infamy as a [[Memetic Molester]] and an early death. For worse, Joe not only used his son's funeral to promote some personal projects of his, he also hinted that he wanted to push Michael's kids into show business too...
** It says something about Joe Jackson's controlling nature that his daughter [[Janet Jackson|Janet]] couldn't find success until she ditched him and associated with two other, less controlling producers to record a [[New Sound Album]].
* [[The Beach Boys]] suffered through years of dreadful stage-fathering. [[wikipedia:Murry Wilson|Murry Wilson]], father of Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson, was a mildly successful songwriter/producer who, for their first few years, acted as manager, producer, and publisher to the group. Among other questionable practices and decisions, he allegedly whacked Brian Wilson in the head with a 2x4, causing hearing damage. ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20101003032225/http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg
* Mexican singer [[wikipedia:Luis Miguel|Luis Miguel]]'s father and manager, Luisito Rey (real name Luis Gallego Sanchez). Rey was a singer himself with a failed career, when he discovered the talent of his eldest son. The guy was very bent into making his precocious kid a star (which, according to Luis Miguel's biographical series in [[Netflix]], included giving him stimulants to keep him productive, forcing the boy with stay with him after Rey divorced his mother, and even making the lady to disappear under mysterious circumstances when she began to protest too much), and given how much of a [[Teen Idol]] superstar the kid was during the Eighties you can argue he succeeded... only for Luis Miguel to dump him when he got of age just to escape his incredibly controlling ways. Rey eventually succumbed to alcoholism and died of cirrhosis in 1992, a few years after his firing.
* [[w:The Shaggs|The Shaggs]], a band
▲* [[Taylor Momsen]] has [http://www.popeater.com/2010/11/12/taylor-momsen-childhood/ accused her parents] of being this. This may explain her transformation from a [[Gossip Girl|teen soap]] star to a raunchy, scantily-clad rock frontwoman [[Jail Bait|before she turned 18]].
*
* [[Beyoncé]]'s father, Mathew Knowles, has been pointed as the reason behind the dissolution of his daughter's previous group, [[Destiny's Child]], due to a mix of being a stage dad and having incredibly bad business sense. Beyoncé herself has had a very tenuous relationship with him since she began her solo career.
* [[Backstreet Boys|Nick]] and Aaron Carter's careers were ruined by their stage parents, who blew their earnings and settled them in profound debt. Nick managed to cut them off and bounced back with his group, but Aaron, who has a solo career and acquired a drug problem on the road, was forced to cut off his parents at 18 before he was completely drained up, and still he had to file bankruptcy in 2013 at age 25, eventually dying at 34 in 2022. The same parents tried to push out a singing career for Nick and Aaron's sister Leslie, without any success; all she got from their trouble was an addiction to psychiatric meds, which ended killing her at age 25 in 2012.
* Endemic in the [[Classical Music]] world, where any parent who notices their children can press piano keys or play some instrument with any accuracy immediately tries to promote them as "young prodigies", to the extent that most parents who can make their children to take piano classes when they are toddlers take the chance, even if there is no actual expectation of statehood or talent, because everyone in that camp, prodigy or not, begin ''just that young'' and beginning later even when talented puts them in disadvantage. It has come to the point that in many music schools some kind of practices (like making children sing opera, a genre that is taxing to even adult larynges) are actively discouraged despite the parents' protests in order to protect the child's future career.
** If you search on the classic composers between the XVIII and XIX centuries you can find that a number of them began as young prodigies, pushed into playing and singing at an early age at their parent wishes. The most archetypal example is [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]] and his sister Maria Anna touring Europe as a piano and violin duet under their (also a renowned musician) father Leonard's tutelage. In fact, the "Child Prodigy" trope is so ubiquitous that it comes as a surprise that some famous composers like Richard Wagner and Johannes Brahms didn't begin to write music until their middle age (Mozart himself didn't hit his stride until his twenties).
* The founder and manager of teen [[Boy Band]] Menudo averted this by forcing the parents of his talent to sign him over their parental rights, so he could get full control over the boys without any pesky parental interference. Probably because early on he encountered a subversion of this trope: one father who travelled with the group went on full stage dad controlling mode... to make sure that his son and his group mates were adequately fed and took regular breaks, which went against the manager wish of keeping the group constantly training and working.
* Averted by [[Ringo Starr]], who after his own experiences as both part of [[The Beatles (band)|The Beatles]] and as a solo act, for a long time tried to discourage his son Zak Starkey from getting into music. Instead, Zak was encouraged to become a drummer by his godfather [[Keith Moon]].
=== Sports ===
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=== Other ===
* [[wikipedia:Wanda Holloway|Wanda Holloway]], the woman who inspired ''[[The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom]]'' and ''[[Willing to Kill: The Texas Cheerleader Story]]''. She asked her brother
* Watch any show about child pageants. All the moms and more than one dad shown there will be like this, more often than not, to ''sickening'' degrees. This is the whole point of the
** One particularly sickening example is the story of [https://web.archive.org/web/20130830102749/http://www.monstersandcritics.com/lifestyle/consumerhealth/news/article_1639085.php/Plastic-Surgeon-slams-Pageant-Mom-8-year-old-getting-Botox-story-repugnant Kerry Campbell], who gave her ''eight-year-old daughter Botox injections''. When she was found out, she not only defended this practice (claiming it was never too early get your child cosmetic surgery to "get rid of the lines"), but also claimed that ''other'' pageant moms practiced this as well. The fact that the story turned out to be fake [[The Tyson Zone|did nothing to dispel it]].
** One 5-year-old girl named Carley developed an alter-ego called Darla to cope with her mom's pushing.{{verify}}
** Whenever ''[[The Soup]]'' had to cover these shows, its host Joel McHale threw his most pointed barbs. At one point he compared one of the parents that appeared in ''Dance Moms'' with Chronos, the Greek Titan who devoured his children, in a way that make Chronos the ''better'' parent in comparison!
* George Sampson, the winner of ''[[Britain's Got Talent]]'' in 2008, should have had a very promising career after his victory in the show. Unfortunately, his career was run into the ground in less than a year, in no small part due to his obnoxious and extremely demanding mother, who was largely responsible for Simon Cowell's company ditching Sampson after they became sick of her. Sampson is making a rebound, however, as he has starred in the film ''Street Dance''.
* Rose Hovick, mother of burlesque star Gypsy Rose Lee and actress June Havoc. She became legendary for this trope following Gypsy's 1957 autobiography and the subsequent musical adaptation ''[[Gypsy (theatre)|Gypsy]]'' as mentioned above.
* A bizarre version of this was the infamous case of [[w:FamilyOFive|''Daddyoffive'']], a [[YouTube]] channel where the parents [[Abusive Parents|did cruel and outright abusive "pranks" on their children]] and then uploaded the videos [["Just Joking" Justification|as "humorous" ones]]. They monetized their videos and those went very popular, so by the time they were finally investigated and arrested they had made millions by exploiting their children's distress.
▲* [[Brooke Shields]]' mother Teri was infamous for this well into her daughter's 20s. For example, when Brooke joined the [[Princeton Triangle Club]] (a musical theatre troupe) during her freshman year at [[Ivy League|Princeton University]] and earned a small part in their annual revue, Teri Shields swept in and tried to wrest control of the production from the club and its hand-picked team of professionals. The Triangle Club fought her to a standstill, but still had to cope with her attempts to direct publicity and make it appear that the production was essentially ''The Brooke Shields Show'', as well as installing armed guards in the theatre.
* Some people have accused Lynn Johnston, author of ''[[For Better or For Worse]]'', of a variant of this trope, in the sense that while she didn't directly exploited her children the way this trope is traditionally expected, by [[Write Who You Know|incorporating a distressingly high number of their real experiences (ranging from comical to humiliating events) in her work]] she subjected them to [[Muse Abuse]]. As a result, her children were often victims of bullying in school, and as they became older they grew apart from their mother.
* Stage parenting was believed to be the reason behind the tragic case of Peruvian model and entertainer [[w:Mónica Santa María|Mónica Santa María]]. She was pushed into modeling at 7 years old by her mother, over her father's objections, and by the time she became a teenager she was one of the most famous models of her country. In 1990, when she was 17, she became one of the hostesses of ''Nubeluz'', which soon became the biggest children's show in Latin America. She was the most popular among the hostesses, and she stayed in the show until 1994, with a brief retirement of six months in 1993. Unfortunately, she also presented symptoms of bipolar disorder and had frequent bouts of depression that went untreated, which resulted in her suicide in 1994 at the age of 21.
* Kris Jenner, the matriarch of the Kardashian-Jenner cluster of socialites, has been the mom-manager of her children for decades now, and she has been so hellbent to make them famous and monetize their notoriety one way or another that she has gotten the nickname of "Pimp Mother Kris" (PMK for short). At least one journalist has accused her of having leaked the sex tape that make her daughter Kim Kardashian famous, and while she had denied that, she hasn't denied that she took advantage of the notoriety it brought.
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[[Category:
[[Category:The Parent Trope]]▼
[[Category:Always Female]]
▲[[Category:The Parent Trope]]
[[Category:Truth in Television]]
▲[[Category:Stage Mom]]
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