Ben Affleck was born to Chris Anne Boldt and Timothy Affleck on August 15, 1972, and was raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he formed his lifelong friendship with fellow actor Matt Damon. Although Chris and Timothy divorced when Ben was a child, both played important roles in his upbringing. Following the death of Ben’s mother, Chris, at age 83 in 2026, interest in the Oscar winner’s family has grown.
Keep reading to learn more about the famous actor’s parents.
Chris Anne Boldt
Chris Anne Boldt was a longtime educator, civil rights activist and the mother of Academy Award winners Ben and Casey Affleck. She spent 35 years teaching in Massachusetts public schools after earning both her undergraduate degree through Radcliffe College and a master’s degree from Harvard University. During the 1964 Freedom Summer, Chris taught literacy classes in Mississippi and remained committed to social justice causes throughout her life, later volunteering for Barack Obama‘s 2008 presidential campaign and supporting environmental and humanitarian organizations.
Chris also played a key role in encouraging both Ben and Casey’s interest in acting. Through a former Harvard classmate who worked as a casting director, she helped Ben land some of his earliest auditions, while remaining a steadfast supporter of both sons as they built their Oscar-winning careers. Ben has frequently spoken about his mother’s dedication to education and public service, and Chris accompanied him to the 1998 Academy Awards, where he and Matt won Best Original Screenplay for Good Will Hunting.
In August 2022, Chris made headlines after suffering a minor leg injury during Ben and Jennifer Lopez‘s Georgia wedding celebration and was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment before being released, according to the Daily Mail.
Chris died peacefully in her sleep on June 2, 2026, at the age of 83, after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in late 2025. News of her death was shared publicly on July 24, 2026, when her family published an obituary honoring her decades of service as a teacher, activist and devoted mother.
Timothy Affleck
Timothy Affleck is the father of Ben and Casey. After he and Chris divorced in 1984, Ben and Casey were primarily raised by their mother in Cambridge, Massachusetts, though Timothy remained part of their lives. Unlike Chris, who worked in education, Timothy held a variety of blue-collar jobs over the years, including working as an auto mechanic, bartender, bookie, carpenter and janitor at Harvard University.
Ben has spoken candidly about his father’s struggles with alcoholism during his childhood, admitting the experience had a profound impact on him. “His life sort of hit the skids when I was in my teens,” Ben told The Hollywood Reporter in 2012. “It was difficult. When one’s parent is an alcoholic, it’s hard. It was a little scary and trying, but then he got sober when I was twentysomething, and he’s been sober ever since.”
Despite those challenges, Ben has said their relationship improved after Timothy achieved sobriety. In the same interview, the Oscar winner explained that the two primarily stayed in touch by email and that his father would occasionally drive from the East Coast to California to visit Ben and his grandchildren because a medical condition made flying difficult. “My father has positional vertigo, and if he flies he gets really dizzy, so he has to drive out to California, which he does a couple times a year. We talk, but we e-mail mostly.”
In recent years, Timothy has largely stayed out of the spotlight, while Ben and Casey have occasionally spoken about both of their parents’ influence on their lives and careers.
