John Jacob Astor IV IV was born on July 13, 1864 at his parents' country estate Ferncliff in Rhinebeck, New York. He was the youngest of five children and only son of businessman, collector, and race horse breeder/owner William Backhouse Astor, Jr. and socialite Caroline Webster "Lina" Schermerhorn. His four elder sisters were Emily, Helen, Charlotte, and Caroline ("Carrie"). He was a great-grandson of fur-trader John Jacob Astor and Sarah Cox Todd, whose fortune made the Astor family one of the wealthiest in the United States. Astor's paternal grandfather William Backhouse Astor, Sr. was a prominent real estate businessman. Through his paternal grandmother, Margaret
John Jacob Astor VI his son, Astor was a grandfather to two boys, William Backhouse Astor IV (b. 1959) and Gregory Todd Astor (b. 1966) who portrayed Colonel Astor in "Titanic the Musical" in April 2012 Gregory married Robin Rhodes, and together, they have three children: Alexandra Ellen "Allie" Astor (b. 1997), Rebecca Charlotte "Becca" Astor (b. 1998), and Stephen William Astor (b. 2002). Through his daughter, Astor was a grandfather to Nicholas Astor Drexel (b. 1988). Astor's name is shown on one of the page buttons on an apartment building in Mel Brooks' 2005 movie musical "The Producers". Even though some sources refer