Home Alone Director Debunks a Myth

The director of Home Alone has shot down a long-running urban legend about the source of the McCallister family's money. "Not organized crime," Chris Columbus said on the Hollywood Reporter's Awards Chatter podcast. The question has been batted about for years because the McCallisters live in a Chicago mansion, but the parents' jobs are never spelled out, notes USA Today. Many have speculated that Kevin's dad, Peter, was in the mafia—see Exhibit A—but it's not so, says Columbus.

So how do the parents make their money? Mom Kate McCallister "was a very successful fashion designer," says Columbus, adding that he and writer/producer John Hughes discussed it while making the Christmas classic. (Note that Kevin used mannequins to fool the inept burglars.) And Peter's job? "I don't remember," says Columbus, adding that his best guess was advertising. But he is sure that Peter was not in the mob. "Even though there was, at the time, a lot of organized crime in Chicago." (More Home Alone stories.)