--- title: National Sisters Day 2017: Famous Sisters Through History description: For National Sisters Day, celebrate famous sisters throughout the centuries, from the Brontës to the Bouviers. canonical: https://time.com/4863561/famous-sister-pictures/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-04T14:00:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:50:19.809Z article:section: History og:title: National Sisters Day 2017: Famous Sisters Through History og:description: For National Sisters Day, celebrate famous sisters throughout the centuries, from the Brontës to the Bouviers og:url: https://time.com/4863561/famous-sister-pictures/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt319d687384377a80/6988d63122fb85a07be22034/lillian-dorothy-gish.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2405 og:image:height: 1353 og:image:alt: The Gish Sisters Lillian And Dorothy og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: National Sisters Day 2017: Famous Sisters Through History twitter:description: For National Sisters Day, celebrate famous sisters throughout the centuries, from the Brontës to the Bouviers twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt319d687384377a80/6988d63122fb85a07be22034/lillian-dorothy-gish.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Fame Runs in the Family With These Sisters From History > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/) and [Liz Ronk](https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/) Aug 4, 2017 2:00 PM UTC  Silent film stars Lillian and Dorothy Gish, circa 1920s. Silent film stars Lillian and Dorothy Gish, circa 1920s.Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/) and [Liz Ronk](https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/) Aug 4, 2017 2:00 PM UTC You don’t have to be famous to have experienced some of the dynamics experienced by the groups in the photos above — you just have to have a sister. Though we can only hope that others aren’t experiencing sisterhood in the mold of the five identical Canadian girls known as the [Dionne Quintuplets](http://time.com/3722283/the-dionne-quintuplets-little-girls-lost-in-the-harsh-glare-of-fame/) — who grew up like sideshow performers, in a home with a play space covered in glass for tourists to look through — but some of the downsides to sisterhood are practically inevitable. For example, sibling rivalry is a common problem. Lee Radziwill has had to deal with living in the shadow of her sister, First Lady Jackie Kennedy. As Queen Elizabeth’s husband Prince Philip [once told](http://people.com/celebrity/jackie-kennedys-sister-lee-radziwill-gives-rare-peek-at-her-life-beside-the-icon-you-have-to-walk-three-steps-behind/) Radziwill, “‘You’re just like me – you have to walk three steps behind.” And a [1942 LIFE profile](https://books.google.com/books?id=ClAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA89&dq=joan+fontaine+olivia&hl=en&sa=X&ei=dM8aVaTbHYa-ggT82oHYAg&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=joan%20fontaine%20olivia&f=false) of Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine noted that a dampening of their rivalry would lead to a dampening of their careers. The same went for columnists Ann Landers and Abby Van Buren (born Esther and Pauline Friedman). A [1958 LIFE profile](https://books.google.com/books?id=sFMEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA104&dq=The+evidence+indicates+that+it+is+their+subtly+ferocious+struggle+which+lends+their+work+its+real+fascination&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjK44m09bbVAhWNZiYKHY%5FhCDcQ6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=The%20evidence%20indicates%20that%20it%20is%20their%20subtly%20ferocious%20struggle%20which%20lends%20their%20work%20its%20real%20fascination&f=false) of the feuding twins said that “it is the subtly ferocious personal struggle which lends their work its real fascination, and that without this goad neither of them would ever have begun it in the first place.” But, even in the face of fighting, sisterhood often prevails. Though Queen Elizabeth II and her late sister Princess Margaret had their moments of disagreement, for example, the Monarch was recently seen with a clutch that seemed to bear the image of her [sister’s face](http://people.com/royals/did-queen-elizabeth-carry-a-purse-with-her-sisters-face-on-it/). And, looking back into history, it’s clear that sisters can accomplish a lot when they support one another — whether they’re the 19th century abolitionist and suffragist Grimké sisters, the literary Brontës, or the [Hyers sisters](http://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=theatre%5Farticles), who worked to expand the range of roles available for African-American performers in the 19th century. And of course, like the [Mitford sisters](http://time.com/4477650/mitford-sisters-history/), they didn’t have to go into the same field in order to make their own marks on the course of world events. For National Sisters Day on Sunday, here’s a look at some of the most famous sisters of the last few centuries.  The Dionne quintuplets on their 4th birthday in Callender, Ontario, May 28, 1938\. Left to right: Emilie, Annette, Marie, Cecile and Yvonne. Bettmann—Getty Images  Actors Olivia de Havilland (L) and Joan Fontaine at a party in Saratoga, California, circa 1934. Bettmann—Getty Images  Singers and playwrights Anna Madah Hyers (top) and Emma Louise Hyers. Courtesy of The New York Public Library Digital Collections  Abolitionists and women's rights activists Sarah Grimké (L) and Angelina Grimké (R). Circa 1820s. Fotosearch—Getty Images (x2)  Then-Princess Elizabeth and her sister Princess Margaret in a library in Buckingham Palace on July 19, 1946. Lisa Sheridan/Studio Lisa—Getty Images  The Bronte sisters, writers, painted by their brother Patrick Branwell Bronte, circa 1834. VCG Wilson/Corbis via Getty Images  Jacqueline Bouvier (later Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis), seated, with her sister Caroline Lee Bouvier, standing behind her, wearing ball gowns, 1951. Cecil Beaton/Condé Nast via Getty Images  English-born doctors and sisters Elizabeth Blackwell (L) and Emily Blackwell (R). Both circa 1860s. Bettmann—Getty Images; MPI—Getty Images  Actor Zsa Zsa (left), Eva (center), and Magda Gabor (right), glamorous trio of sisters doing a night club stint at Ciro's, 1953. Bettmann—Getty Images  Silent film stars Lillian and Dorothy Gish, circa 1920s. Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images  Advice columnists and twin sisters Abby Van Buren and Anne Landers at their fiftieth high school reunion in Sioux City, Iowa. June 21, 1986. Bettmann—Getty Images  Singing group The Andrews Sisters (l-R Maxine Andrews, Patty Andrews, and LaVerne Andrews) pose for a portrait circa 1944 in New York City, New York. Michael Ochs Archives—Getty Images  Three of the Mitford sisters, aristocrats and tabloid sensations, at Lord Stanley of Aldernay's wedding. (L-R) Unity Mitford, Diana Mitford and writer Nancy Mitford. Circa 1932. 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