At a Glance
- Joey Lawrence balances dad duty to Charleston, 20, Liberty, 16, and toddler Dylan, 3.
- Charleston already acted alongside him, Liberty sings like “Ariana Grande,” and Dylan just blew her first kiss.
- Why it matters: The ’90s heartthrob shows how fame, divorce and late-in-life fatherhood shape modern parenting.
Joey Lawrence stepped off the ’90s stage and into full-time dad mode, raising two daughters from his first marriage and a toddler with his reconciled wife Samantha Cope. Ethan R. Coleman reported for News Of Los Angeles that the actor now measures success less by ratings and more by bedtime stories, blood transfusions and helicopter-parenting debates.
Charleston “Charli” Lawrence, 20
Charleston arrived in 2006, joining Lawrence and ex-wife Chandie Yawn-Nelson on Dancing with the Stars tour buses before she could walk. “I’m lucky to have such a great family,” he told TV Guide in 2008, recalling 8-month-old Charli on the road for “8 to 10 weeks.”
By age 3 she negotiated two Little Golden Books instead of one. At 5 she mastered spelling, reading and shoe-tying, Lawrence updating News Of Los Angeles on every milestone.
Today the art-loving 20-year-old already has screen credits. She played Lawrence’s stepdaughter in Lifetime’s Deadly Deed. “She was excellent,” he told Morning Honey in 2024, adding Charleston may “circle back” to Hollywood after exploring interior design.
Liberty “Libby” Grace Lawrence, 16
Liberty’s 2010 birth came six-and-a-half weeks early with Rh disease, requiring a partial blood transfusion and 2½ weeks in an incubator. “We couldn’t touch her, nothing. That first month was brutal,” Lawrence told News Of Los Angeles.
Big sister Charleston cheered her on, fetching diapers and singing lullabies. Fully recovered, Liberty now sings duets with Charleston that “blow me away… They sound like Ariana Grande,” Lawrence said.
While unfazed by her dad’s fame-“they don’t really care,” he joked to News Of Los Angeles in 2022-Liberty still gets the same social-media lectures her older sister heard. Lawrence calls himself a “helicopter parent,” stressing consistency and respect: “If that’s not there… it’s going to be a lost cause.”
Dylan Rose Lawrence, 3
Lawrence’s January 16, 2023, daughter with actress Samantha Cope arrived after a public divorce filing and private reconciliation. Instagram photos showed “Mom, Dad and big sisters… so smitten.”
Weeks later he told Too Fab that newborns “break you in and they break you down.” His favorite moment now: “When she blows me a kiss back because she just started doing that,” he told SheKnows in 2024. Dylan’s first words included “Bye, Dada.”
Cope’s feed chronicles Dylan with horse Remington and balloon-filled birthdays, captioning the toddler’s first trip around the sun: “the only person I was actually spoiling was me.”
Key Takeaways
- Lawrence parents across two decades, from Charleston’s early tours to Dylan’s first kisses.
- Medical crises, showbiz temptation and social-media pitfalls shape his “respect first” rule.
- Whether guiding Liberty’s vocals, Charleston’s art or Dylan’s pony rides, the former teen idol calls the role his best gig yet.
