Shira Piven

Sometimes it's good to have relatives in the same business as you are. Shira Piven was the older sister of actor Jeremy Piven and the daughter of Byrne and Joyce Piven, who were actors and acting instructors themselves. Those names are an impressive family lineage, but Shira held her own in the business. Shira, who was born on October 8, 1961, grew up in Evanston, Illinois and spent much of her childhood around the theater. She directed a lot of stage shows in cities such as Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Washington, DC. In 1996, Shira married Adam McKay, a writer/producer/director best known for his work with Will Farrell, which included the creation of the website Funny or Die. Piven appeared in two of McKay and Ferrell's films, "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy" (2004) and "StepBrothers" (2008). Moving behind the camera, Piven co-wrote and directed the indie film "Fully Loaded" (2011), a dark comedy about a pair of single moms cutting loose for a night on the town. Piven's next film was the comedy-drama "Welcome To Me" (2014), starring Kristen Wiig as a mentally unstable woman who wins the lottery.