Sarah Jessica Parker

The 'Sex and the City' actress marked mum Barbara's milestone birthday by gathering more than 30 family members - including her actor husband Matthew Broderick, son James, 10, and four-year-old twin daughters Marion and Tabitha - for a fun family evening at trendy French eatery, Le Charlot, in New York City's Upper East Side.

The 48-year-old star hired a private space at the restaurant and treated the birthday girl and family members to a lavish dinner, which consisted of several courses.

A source told the New York Post newspaper the generational gathering - which saw Barbara's 11 grandchildren, who are aged between 12 and just two weeks old - was "full of joy".

As well as her famous daughter, Barbara - a teacher and former actress herself - has seven other children from two marriages.

The matriarch split from Sarah's father, journalist Stephen Parker, while she was a child and later married truck driver Paul Forste.

The birthday dinner is just the latest display of affection from family-focused Sarah.

Although she could stop acting and live off the lucrative royalties she receives from syndication of her hit show - which ran between 1998 and 2004 - the actress is insistent on continuing to work in order to provide for her family.

She said: "I've been financially responsible for so many people for such a long time - my family - that it's not enough to have money for myself. And it's not about luxury. It's about my mum's house payments."