Dwayne Johnson's Siblings: All About His Half-Brothers and Sisters

Dwayne Johnson was born into a well-known wrestling family, which includes seven half-siblings.

The Black Adam actor’s father, the late Rocky Johnson (born Wade Bowles), was a Hall of Fame professional wrestler. His mother, Ata Johnson, also had wrestling in her blood: She was the daughter of Peter Maivia, a prominent professional wrestler and trainer, and Lia Maivia, a wrestling promoter.

Though Dwayne was primarily raised as an only child after his birth in 1972, he knew he had two older half-siblings: A sister, Wanda Bowles, and a brother, Curtis Bowles Johnson, from his father’s first marriage to Una Sparks.

However, in June 2022, a Sports Illustrated article claimed that Rocky fathered five additional children with five other women throughout Canada in the 1960s and '70s. According to DNA testing, Rocky allegedly welcomed several other sons and daughters, including Paula Parsons, Trevor Edwards, Lisa Purves, Adrian Bowles and Aaron Fowler.

Dwayne hasn't publicly commented on his additional brothers and sisters, but the former PEOPLE’s Sexiest Man Alive has always been outspoken about his dedication to his family — which includes his wife, Lauren Hashian, and three daughters, Simone, Jasmine and Tiana.

“My No.1 priority is to always protect my family. And protect my children, my loved ones,” he told PEOPLE in September 2020.

For their part, Dwayne's half-siblings told Sports Illustrated that they don't expect anything from the actor. “Dwayne has nothing to do with the decisions that his dad made; he doesn't even know who we are," Adrian said.

Here's everything to know about Dwayne Johnson’s siblings.

Dwayne was raised as an only child

Despite having seven half-siblings, Dwayne was only aware of two of them growing up: His older sister, Wanda, and older brother, Curtis, from his father’s first marriage to Una.

Though he knew of Wanda and Curtis, Dwayne did not spend time with them. “I grew up an only child. So admittedly, I grew up selfish in a lot of ways,” Dwayne told Fatherly in 2019.

Dwayne was raised by his father, Rocky, and mother, Ata — and spent his childhood on the road, following his father’s wrestling career. The family moved frequently, and by the time Dwayne entered high school, he had lived in 13 different states, he revealed in a May 2021 appearance on Sunday Today with Willie Geist.

“I have had a Forrest Gump-ian childhood growing up,” he said. “Wrestling in the ‘80s and in the ‘70s was way different than it is today. A lot of the times, including my father, the wrestlers would live paycheck to paycheck.”

Wanda and Curtis grew up in Toronto with their mother

Rocky had two children with his first wife, Una: A daughter named Wanda, born in December 1962, and a son, Curtis, born in May 1965. Rocky and Una wed in 1966, but his professional wrestling career quickly put a strain on their relationship, Sports Illustrated reported.

According to the outlet, she asked him to leave wrestling and return home to be with her and their kids. Though he already had a job lined up to deliver fish if he made the move, Rocky decided to keeping pursuing professional wrestling, leaving Una to raise Wanda and Curtis on her own. When they eventually divorced in 1978, they had been living separate lives for several years.

Despite his absence during their childhood, Rocky publicly acknowledged Wanda and Curtis during his induction into the WWE Hall of Fame induction in 2008. (Dwayne — who was trained by his legendary father — introduced Rocky at the ceremony.)

“I would also like to thank my beautiful daughter, Wanda, [and] my son Curtis,” he said in his speech.

While his career may not have allowed Rocky to spend a lot of time with his two older children, Curtis managed to maintain a close relationship with his father.

“You were my super hero as a youngster, & my teacher as an adult,” Curtis wrote on Instagram following Rocky’s death from a heart attack in January 2020. “I will always carry with me the lessons you taught me & I cherish the time we had together on this planet.”

Dwayne reportedly has five other half-siblings

In June 2022, a Sports Illustrated article revealed that Dwayne’s father, Rocky, had allegedly fathered at least five other children with five different women in the 1960s and '70s. Genealogical DNA testing reportedly confirmed that the individuals were half-siblings on the paternal side — and were Rocky’s daughters and sons.

The eldest of the recently discovered half-siblings is Paula Parsons, who was born to her mother, Thema, in May 1964 (18 months after Wanda was born). Thelma reportedly met Rocky when she was 19 years old in Toronto, and the pair had a two-year relationship before she gave birth. Paula was raised in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia by her grandparents.

Then came Trevor Edwards, who was born in March 1967 in Montreal. He was raised by his mother, Doreen — a Caribbean immigrant who worked in St. Catharines, Ontario, around the same time Rocky wrested in the area.

Lisa Purves was born in October 1968 in Vancouver, Canada, the fifth of Rocky’s children. Her mother, Vera Pinter, met Rocky when they were introduced through a mutual acquaintance. The pair eventually moved in together, but he left for a wrestling show when she was four months pregnant — and never returned. Vera last heard from Rocky the night before Lisa was born, and she later learned that he was married with children, according to the publication.

Rocky fathered two additional children in 1970: A son named Adrian Bowles, who was born in April 1970 and raised solo by his mother Carolyn in Nova Scotia, and another son named Aaron Fowler, who was born two months later in June 1970 and raised in Nova Scotia and British Columbia, Canada.

Dwayne has not commented publicly on the revelation of his additional brothers and sisters — but the siblings told Sports Illustrated that they don’t hold anything against their famous younger brother.

"Dwayne doesn’t owe us anything," Lisa said.

Lisa is working on a documentary about their family's story

Lisa, an independent filmmaker based in Vancouver, has been working on a documentary about her half-siblings and their journey toward finding their father since 2018.

Despite its plot, the film didn’t begin as a personal project: Initially, she set out to make a documentary about children who were abandoned by their parents — but she couldn’t find people willing to participate.

“I started doing research on what happens when you abandon a child, how it affects their life,” she told Sports Illustrated. “And I’m like: This is exactly me. ... All the s--- that it lists is me.”

A friend suggested that Lisa make a documentary about herself, and Just Call Me Lisa was born. The documentary’s title comes from her struggle to decide which last name to use for herself.

“I don’t feel like I have a family name or history that I am connected to,” she wrote on her blog. “When I was born, my mother didn’t want me to have the stigma of being a bastard on paper so she gave me her ex-husband’s last name, Pinter.”

She continued, “I was married for a while and became Lisa Purves. After I got divorced, I couldn’t go back to Pinter because it doesn’t belong to me ... I couldn’t take my father’s last name because he refuses to acknowledge me.”

Four of Lisa’s half-siblings — Paula, Trevor, Adrian and Aaron — participated in the documentary, according to her Instagram.

“My life has changed completely since we found each other and not only have we formed a loving and caring family, their stories are also being told alongside mine in this film,” she wrote in a 2020 blog post.

Dwayne's half-siblings were affected by Rocky's death

Rocky died at the age of 75 from a massive heart attack caused by a deep vein thrombosis on Jan. 15, 2020.

Dwayne had been candid in the past about his “complicated” relationship with his father — and revealed on Instagram that he and Rocky got into the “biggest fight” over Christmas 2019 and didn't reconcile before his death.

“We weren’t talking, or I wasn’t talking, and three weeks later, he dropped dead, and that was it,” he said in a video. “I never had a chance to say goodbye, and I never even had a chance to reconcile what we were going through.”

Rocky’s death also caused unresolved feelings among his other children.

“I was really angry at him for dying,” Lisa wrote in a 2020 blog post. “I had planned to see my father ... so I could have my say and then forgive him face to face. ... Not for him, but for me so I could move forward and leave my painful past behind. His death took that away from me.”

She also wrote about how her brothers and sister were processing Rocky’s death.

“As difficult as my father's death was for me, it is a lot worse for them,” she shared. “I am going to spend as much time as it takes, the rest of my life even, to help my siblings heal.”

Dwayne's half-siblings are close to their uncle Ricky

Though Dwayne’s half-siblings may not have been able to form a relationship with their father before his death, they have all become close with Rocky’s younger brother — and only surviving sibling — Ricky Johnson.

Trevor was the first to meet Ricky in person in June 2017 and afterward, the two took a DNA test, which confirmed they were uncle and nephew, according to Sports Illustrated.

“I hugged him and told him I loved him, and welcomed him to the family,” Ricky told the publication.

After connecting with more of Rocky’s children via social media, Ricky told Lisa about the existence of three of her half-siblings (Trevor, Adrian and Paula) in 2018. Lisa arranged for a family reunion in Toronto the same year, which Paula called “the greatest moment of my life,” per the outlet.

“We’re all close because of [Ricky],” Adrian added.

Ricky and his wife Jeanie have maintained a strong relationship with Rocky’s kids and their extended families, revealing to the magazine that they regularly talk, text and organize Zoom calls.

He also revealed that he did not agree with how his brother Rocky approached fatherhood — and is trying to make up for his shortcomings.

“I keep reinforcing that I love them,” he said about his relationship with Rocky’s daughters and sons. “I tell them that all the time, all the kids.”

He added, “They deserve to be loved, like any other child does. Whether they’re rich and famous or not.”

Lisa believes they may have more siblings

Lisa revealed to Sports Illustrated that she believes Rocky may have fathered more children — and that there are more siblings out there.

“I’m still searching,” she said in 2022.

She also spoke more about the possibility of additional brothers and sisters on her blog.

“I discovered that I wasn't the only child my father abandoned,” she wrote in a 2020 post. “So far there are five of us. All of us DNA tested and proven to be family. And rumors of several more, all of whom I am currently trying to find.”

Ricky told Sports Illustrated that his brother was aware of some of the children he fathered.

“We talked many times, just me and him, one on one,” Ricky told the magazine. “We fought about [the way he treated his family], argued about it. That’s the way he chose to live his life.”