Mrs. Lohan, who still keeps that last name even though she’s been divorced from Lindsay’s father, Michael Lohan, for going on two years now, was born on September 15, 1962 in New York. Born Donata Sullivan, one of her most popular nicknames (unrelated to her relationship with Lindsay) is “The White Oprah,” as if she were some Caucasian version of Oprah Winfrey. However, considering the apparent influence Dina Lohan has had on her daughter’s life and a lot of the actual good Oprah’s done throughout her career and life, it’s doubtful whether the two are really worth comparing.

Lohan’s “career” before becoming a professional stage mom is, interestingly, considered a matter of controversy. In fact, whether or not a career actually existed is up for debate. Lohan, a former Wall Street Analyst, claims to be, among other things, a former Radio City “Rockette.” However, according to a recent article in The New York Post, officials at Radio City Music Hall conducted an extensive “Rockette” archives search and found nothing to substantiate Lohan’s claim to fame there. Lohan has also maintained she used to be a Broadway actress, a soap-opera actress, and an actress on a number of T.V. commercials—none of which has been verified by any kind of documentation.

Reportedly, Lohan did appear in a kids’ T.V. health program, Healthy Kids, along with a younger, more innocent Lindsay, who herself was just starting out in show business.   According to the IMDB.com, Lohan’s only acting credits are as “herself on Entertainment Tonight, E! True Hollywood Story, and Driven, a mostly unknown and short-lived documentary series that featured celebrities such as Jay Z, Russell Simmons, Anna Kournikova, Mike Tyson, Ashton Kutcher, Jamie Foxx, Tyra Banks, and the band Green Day.   

Lohan married Michael Lohan—a Wall Street trader who later developed and then sold the lucrative family pasta business in pursuit of various Hollywood projects (aka his child) and to trade in futures—in 1985, and was officially divorced from him about 20 years later (December 12, 2005). Lindsay Lohan was born the year after their marriage—on July 2, 1986—and the couple has three other children together: Aliana, Dakota, and Michael, named after dear old Dad, who spent much of his kids’ growing-up years in the slammer for securities fraud and, later, aggravated unlicensed driving and attempted assault.

Her own “career” behind her, Lohan seemed to focus her attention on becoming her children’s (particularly Lindsay’s) business manager, perhaps attempting to vicariously live the show-biz she claims to have had.  However, many of her critics say she should really focus on the “mothering” department instead.