Getty Paulina Porizkova, Ric Ocasek and their children.
Ric Ocasek has passed away. The Cars lead singer was found dead in his New York townhouse on Sunday evening. He was 75. Ocasek is survived by six children, two from each of his three marriages.
The names of these children are Oliver, Jonathan, Christopher, Adam, Eron and Derek. Read on to learn more about Ocasek’s family, and how some have them have followed in their father’s footsteps and pursued a career in the entertainment industry.
1. His Son Christopher Is a Musician & the Founder of Glamour Camp
Christopher A. Otcasek was born in 1964. Unlike his father, Christopher decided to keep the original spelling of his surname when he embarked on a music career. He signed a deal with EMI Records in 1988, and went on to form the Glamour Camp. While technically a pop band, Glamour Group was really a solo outlet for Christopher to perform music with different session players.
Some of the musicians who appeared on the self-titled Glamour Camp album were Will Lee and Sid McGinnis, who played in David Letterman’s house band, and drummer Andy Newmark, who was a member of Sly & the Family Stone. Glamour Camp was disbanded in 1989, but Christopher continued to release solo music on the side.
His most notable appearance as a solo artist was on the soundtrack to the 1990 film Pretty Woman. He performed a cover of the 1958 Johnny O’Keefe single “Wild One.” Christopher has sporadically acted throughout his career as well. He had a brief part in Pretty Woman, and he appeared in the 2001 comedy Elvis Is Alive.
2. His Son Eron Is an Actor Who Studied At the Lee Strausberg Institute
Eron J. Otcasek was born in 1973. He attended Emerson College in Boston, and studied acting at the prestigious Lee Strausberg Institute. In addition to his studies at Emerson, Eron took classes at New York Film Academy and later graduated from New York University with a B.A. in film and television.
According to his IMDb profile, Eron has since contributed to a number of popular and acclaimed films. These films include 1997’s Affliction and 1999’s Simply Irresistible, both of which saw him serve as a member of the editorial team. Eron has appeared in several films and TV shows as an actor. He made his screen debut in the 2001 comedy Inscrutable Americans, and went on to have small parts in 2003’s School of Rock and 2004’s 13 Going on 30.
Some of his most notable TV work includes guest spots on Law & Order, The Jury, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. More recently, Eron starred in the 2009 thriller Absence, and served as an editor on the 2014 short film That Film About Money.
3. His Son Oliver Is an Aspiring Musician & Photographer
Oliver Ocasek was born in 1999. During an interview with The Cut, Oliver talked about his interest in photography and sharing his father’s passion for music. “I’m taking a photography class at school, and am just out documenting the streets,” he said at the time. “Music is my main interest; I play the piano, the violin, and mandolin and am hoping to compose a violin concerto over Christmas break. Creativity runs in our family; my mom was a model and is now a writer, and my dad was the lead singer of the Cars.”
In addition to his artistic interests, Oliver said that he likes collecting antique trinkets and clothing. “I love the Victorian age, I collect pocket watches, and I like treasure-hunting; I’ll take antiques I buy at flea markets and sell them on eBay,” he revealed. “I actually used the profits to buy a $600 metal detector. I love metal-detecting—I once found a 1911 Ingersoll pocket watch in the backyard of our house upstate. But I’m also really into computer programming and AI.”
Oliver and his brother Jonathan, who was born in 1993, are the product of Ocasek’s third marriage to Paulina Porizkova. Ocasek and Porizkova separated in 2018, but the latter issued a statement on Instagram, assuring fans that their family is still tightly knit.
“Our family has always been – and still is – a well-built car,” she wrote. “When the four of us are together, we can go wherever the road takes us. But as a bicycle, my husband and I no longer pedal in unison. So, we’re ditching the bicycle. Ric and I have been peacefully separated for the past year. The photos of our happy family are, in fact, happy family photos; we are just no longer a couple.”
4. Ocasek Said That Being In the Cars Made It Difficult to Raise His Children
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Ocasek talked about the enormous success he had with the Cars, and how it affected the way he raised his children. “It was all about the Cars. There was no domestic life,” he admitted. “I was always sad for the children.” Ocasek also said that one of his sons is a recovering drug addict, though he refused to reveal which one. “I’d always think, ‘Is it my fault? I could have gone different ways,” he added.
Ocasek also talked about touring with the Cars, and the disadvantages that came with constantly being away from home. “When I was touring a lot, it was overwhelming. It was like, make a record, then tour for six or eight months,” he told the A.V. Club. “And then, you know, forget your kids’ names, and be stuck in some room somewhere at 10 o’clock and the only thing open is Denny’s You need to write songs, but you can’t write them because you’re on the road, you’re in a plane.”
“So, after about 10 years of that, I was like, ‘I don’t think so. I’ll just get off the road for a while, for a good while’,” he continued. “I’m sure some of the guys in the band wouldn’t have minded it if we toured 20 years in a row.”
5. Ocasek Said He Liked to Keep His Family’s Personal Life Out of His Songwriting
During a 1986 interview, Ocasek talked about his songwriting process, and how he preferred to keep the specifics of his family’s personal life under wraps. “It`s funny, though,” he told the Chicago Tribune. “I’ve never wanted people prying into my (personal) life, but I feel that my song lyrics are kind of an open book. I feel that writing songs for my solo albums is kind of like spilling my guts, telling people how I really feel subconsciously. When I`m writing, it`s like I`m not really in control.”
Greg Hawkes, the keyboardist for the Cars, said that Ocasek was never forthcoming about his personal life, and that he didn’t realize he had children until well into the band’s success. The two men were on a 1979 tour when Ocasek revealed his son was coming to a show.
“It turns out that it was his earlier son, from an earlier marriage, that he never mentioned to me,” Hawkes recalled. “And it was another year before I found out he had two sons by his first marriage, not just the one who came to the show. Ric is not revealing in that personal sense, as in ‘Oh, yeah, I’ve got a couple of other kids.’”