A Few of Martha Stewart's Five Siblings Were Featured in Her Documentary 'Martha'

The ultimate homemaker, the hostess with the mostest, the bestselling author and award-winning entrepreneur, Martha Stewart has done it all (even serving time in prison, but we digress). Throughout her decades in the spotlight, she has turned her name into a multi-million dollar media conglomerate and changed the facer of hospitality forever.

In her new Netflix documentary, Martha opened up about the life behind the name, including her childhood, past marriage, life as a parent, and more. And as it turns out, based on accounts from a few of her siblings, things weren't always as warm and cozy as you might think.

Get to know Martha's siblings here.

Martha, who was born Martha Helen Kostyra in 1941, is the second of six children born to parents Edward and Martha (known lovingly as "Big Martha" Kostyra. She hails from a humble New Jersey family, both her mother and her father being Polish immigrants and having worked as teachers for most of her younger life.

Martha and her siblings, George Christiansen, Kathryn Evans, Laura Plimpton, Eric Scott, and Frank Koystra, were raised by their parents to be self-sufficient and high-achieving, per multiple sources.

And just like their famous sister, many of Martha's siblings also knew their way around the kitchen and home.

In fact, Laura and George both worked for Martha at one point, per People. George and his wife, Rita, were in charge of the brand's main office for a period of time, and Laura worked for her sister for over 25 years.

Sadly, both George and Laura have passed away in the last decade.

In August 2014, Laura unexpectedly died at 59 from a brain aneurism after falling suddenly ill, per a most from Martha's blog. She was kept on life support for several days before finally passing. Her obituary described her as "a superb chef, master seamstress, and wonderful mother."

Just a few years later, in March 2017, George also died unexpectedly. His cause of death was never officially made public, but is suspected that his passing was due to a heart attack.

Martha's only older sibling, her brother Eric, is an outdoorsman and a master carpenter and DIY artist, according to his sister. Martha has previously gushed about her brother's craftsmanship on Instagram, saying, "He sculpts, he carves, he fabricates Tiffany lampshades, builds American eighteenth century furniture, and myriad other things. He can also can fix just about anything!"

However, Martha's relationship with her siblings hasn't always been great. She and her other brother, Frank, were estranged for five years from 1999 to 2004, only reconnecting after Martha became embroiled in her insider trading scandal.

"I could see the horrible agony and heartache in her eyes and in her face – I had to stop myself from tearing up,” Frank told the New York Post of his sister's trial in 2004.

Much less is publicly known about Martha's other younger sister, Kathryn, though she is featured in Martha's recent Netflix documentary.

In Netflix's Martha, a "candid" documentary which released in late October 2024, the legendary businesswoman told the story of her life "in her own words" — and also featured stories from a few of her loved ones, as well.

Martha's three living siblings, Eric, Frank, and Kathryn, all spoke about their turbulent upbringing in the documentary, opting not to show their faces on camera. While the public image of Martha's father was always one of an "industrious" man, the siblings shared that it went much further than that.

"He would give us an order, and if we didn’t follow through, we paid the penalty,” Eric said. Rather than hardworking and strict, the siblings described him as "demanding" and "supercritical."

"We had our whippings," Frank added. "We dreaded the yardstick, and at times it was the end of the belt."

While Martha has proclaimed herself as her father's favorite child, it seems that her brothers and sisters experienced a different side of him.