Episode 43: Celebs Dig Up Their Family Secrets
Former Friends star, Lisa Kudrow follows celebrities as they dig up their family histories on her new reality TV show. Welcome Lisa. The crowd applaud. Usually when people say who do you think you are, it is sarcastic, says Oprah. Snarky, agrees Lisa. Lisa first discovered the show while working in Ireland. “It was riveting, and I just felt like, ‘Well, why don’t we get to have a show like this here?”. Here’s a peak, take a look.
Emmitt Smith, Sarah Jessica Parker, Matthew Broderick, Susan Sarandon, Lisa Kudrow and Brooke Shields learn about their roots and learn even more about themselves along the way in the new show, Who Do You Think You Are?. Sarah Jessica Parker says most of us see who we are in the mirror, and how do you fit that information into your world. She went into this feeling no link to the past, she was terribly wrong and has buckets of questions. She is told her relative has something to do with the Salem Witch Trials. She finds it terrifying, and incredible. Brooke Shields discovers that the most powerful king of all time, Louis XIV is her cousin. Matthew Broderick learns that his grandfather was in Gettysburg. He says it’s like discovering that you are different than you thought. Susan Sarandon could never figure out what happened to her grandmother- she was a showgirl. Spike Lee meets his cousins. Emmitt Smith’s great great great grandfather was a slave. On this extraordinary trip into their pasts, celebrities find out their history and learn more about themselves. “It’s changed everything about who I thought I was,” Sarah Jessica says. “Everything.”
Oprah asks Lisa about her family history. Lisa met someone that she thought was dead, he had survived the holocaust and joined the Polish navy and came to Brooklyn to tell her parents that all their family from the village had died. They begged him to stay but he didn’t. Lisa thought that she was going to find out how he died, but instead she found him alive. It was like a miracle. Her Dad’s parents were both Eastern European Jews. “Most American Jews from Eastern Europe, they have a Holocaust story,” she says. “I wanted to find out my family’s story.” One day, Lisa sat down with her father, Lee, to find out more. After World War II, Lee says a distant relative showed up at his Brooklyn home to relay tragic news. His name was Yuri Barudin. “Yuri told our family that he was playing in the woods, and he could see that the Nazis were shooting, and he was watching his family being cut down by the Nazis,” Lee says. “They killed all the Jews in town. My grandmother was one of them.” Lisa says the story of how her great-grandmother Meri Mordejovich died still haunts her father. “He was a child when this relative came over,” she says. “I want to find out exactly what happened to my great-grandmother’s family.” Lisa’s emotional journey continues in Eastern Europe, in the the town that that the massacre took place. She flew to Ilya, Belarus, the town where her great-grandmother lived and died, to piece together the past.
Local historians helped Lisa find records that documented her great-grandmother’s murder. Next to Meri Mordejovich’s name, the ledger stated that she was a Jewish housewife from Ilya who’d been killed and burned. ”I knew my great-grandmother was murdered,” Lisa says. “But to hear the words ‘killed and burned,’ that’s worse than I thought.” Then, Lisa visited the place where her great-grandmother and countless others were shot and buried. They were made to approach the edge of the pit in small groups of two or three, then they were shot and the next group came up. “How do you prepare for the last moment of your life, knowing what’s coming?” Lisa says. “You watch the people before you and know that’s your fate, while you’re naked and humiliated and waiting for your turn to get shot.” Those poor parents with their children. Lisa’s grandmother had her grandchildren around, that is so hard.
Oprah asks what it does for you to find out where you come from. Intellectually, Lisa says she knew, but it was at an emotional distance. In some way, she was a little proud of herself, what she went through. “I’m delivering their story to people, and they’re not forgotten,” she says. “Now, there are witnesses.”
Oprah say that she came from a woman who had built a school at a time when black people weren’t supposed to read. The fact that you came from that gives you a sense of power and pride. Lisa met a 94 year old woman who asked about her white teeth, and then said are you from America, are you rich? It was the first time that Lisa was able to say yes I am, without any shame.
More celebrities are discovering this for themselves in the new reality series Who Do You Think You Are? Here’s what Brooke Shields discovered. Her father died in 2003 and no one spoke much of his side of the family, they were aristocrats. A genealogist traced her family tree. In Rome, she discovered that her father’s family were among the most influential families in Rome. She reals at the family house, can you imagine living there? It’s a palace. A professor from the University of Rome shows her inside the summer residence. She sees the wedding certificate that tells her that there was a French relative. Brooke Shields says that part of her is so French, she studied French Literature at college. She goes to the French countryside to see where he started, a marked contrast from the opulence of his Italian residence. The top of the family tree shows an intriguing French figure, Marie, who was born in the Louvre. Her father was Henry IV. She goes to the chamber containing Henry IV”s heart, which she touches. She feels awestruck.
Oprah says that awestruck is the term. Lisa explains that there are other connections, around 950BC, the royals had records that far back so you can trace it.
Emmitt Smith, NFL great and Dancing With The Stars legend is in the studio. Welcome back says Oprah. A few weeks ago, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame. He says that it was a special moment that he couldn’t prepare himself mentally for the opportunity, but he couldn’t wait. It was a unique experience. His father told him something crazy- just before they called his name, his father said that he never went to college because his mom got sick, so Emmett is living his father’s dream. All Emmett could think was he is living his own dream, his fathers dream and fulfilling God’s purpose for his life. That’s amazing says Oprah.
Emmett followed his roots to Burnt Corn, Alabama, the town where his great-grandmother was born. “I feel like a detective on a hunt trying to find clues,” he says. In Burnt Corn, Emmitt wandered into a convenience store and asked a clerk if he knew two of his relatives, Bill and Victoria Watson. Coincidentally, Joe, the clerk, turned out to be Emmitt’s second cousin. Emmitt also learned that his great-great-grandmother, Victoria, had an unusual maiden name—Puryear. Genealogist Marjorie Sholes told Emmitt that “Puryear” was probably the name of a slave owner. “African-Americans, at the end of the Civil War, sometimes picked the names of their last slave owner,” she says. Emmitt went in search of Victoria’s parents’ names. In an old ledger, Marjorie found a man named Prince Puryear who was described with the letter “m,” which meant mulatto. “Specifically, black/ white race,” she says. They also discovered that Prince’s mom was a woman named Mariah. “Now, I know that Prince was mixed race and born into slavery,” Emmitt says. “If Mariah was his mother, could she be the link between the black and the white side of my family?” This is a story that’s getting good, says Emmitt.
Records show Prince and his mother Mariah were owned by a notorious slave trader called Alexander Puryear. They went to a cemetery where the black people were buried out back in a wooded area. His great, great, great grandaddy is somewhere in the woods, it is sad that he can’t go visit the gravesite which has been worn away over the years. Alexander Puryear trafficked slaves from Virginia to Alabama. In Mecklenburg, Virginia, Emmitt comes across Puryear’s Tires and Puryear’s Florist. Virginia historian John Caknipe said Samuel Puryear, Alexander’s father, might be the link to Mariah. To find out for sure, John selected a book of old deeds from a shelf. The number on the book was 22—the same number Emmitt wore on the football field for 15 years.
“I’ve been wearing jersey number 22 since college,” he says. “Maybe it is my destiny, and I’ve always believed I was a child of destiny, but, whew, this is … it’s making me a little bit nervous.” Oprah believes that there is no such thing as coincidences. Emmett agrees, that was one of the weirdest moments for him, the book was like walking into his first Superbowl. He was anxious, but thrown by the fact that it was in deed book 22. Of course it was, says Oprah. She asks how it was to find out about his family history, how did it change his view of himself? He likes to think of himself as a humble person with a warrior’s spirit and heart. But to find that his people were treated as property was hard. Oprah keeps a document in her living room where slaves are listed with the other property of the household. She passes it everyday to remind herself where she came from. And where you want to go, says Emmitt. To see people looked upon as cattle, passed down with artifacts was heartbreaking.
Oprah says that he had a heartbreaking moment looking at marriage records., while sitting on the porch of an old slave quarters in Clayborn, Alabama. There was a trail from Virginia to Louisiana given by the Government to transport goods. “That house down in Clayborn is where I started to put things together,” he says. “And right then and there, I sensed that my ancestors were crying out to me because they were lost for so many years, and here, their great-great-grandson is going on the journey to find who they were.”
Wow, that’s powerful, says Oprah. While Emmitt sat on the porch, it started to rain. “It was coming to me all at one time, and it was incredible,” he says. “Often times, people want closure, and I felt like my folks did not have closure. At that time, when I found that information, I felt like they were crying out, ‘We got closure now.’” It was strong, Oprah knows what that feels like, they hold hands. He asks why he has to cry on her show?
Oprah says that he has a sensitive side, he says it’s his wife and kids. In the 22nd book of deeds, he discovered that Maria was raised and bred, like the racehorses. Slaves were bred like animals, but the animals were treated better. Maria was passed down at a very young age. Emmitt has 13 year old and 10 year old daughters and can’t imagine having them passed down through slavery that way.
The historian would put money on the fact that Samuel was the father of Maria. He thinks that Alexander was trafficking slaves and Samuel recognized that Maria was his sister, was family. It is likely her birth was a rape. Samuel was cold and heartless but related to Emmitt. Emmitt says he’s glad that his heart is not like Samuel’s. Wow, says Oprah. It’s amazing says Emmitt. Emmitt says he’s even more thankful for the power of progress. “I thank God for people who stood up for equality for all of us,” he says. For those who opened doors to allow usto do what we are now able to do.
Oprah was so struck by coming from a people who had nothing, from which they could make something. Which meant if they could do that, God only knows what she could do. The potentials are endless, Maria could never have imagined that Emmitt would be a Hall of Famer. He feels he’s standing on the shoulders of giants, people who sacrificed so much of their lives for our freedoms, he feels the same way about the US military. The luxuries of living in freedom. He says that everyone must go do this themselves. Unless you step back in that time warp, it is critical; this will help you appreciate the visions and struggles of the past and define your vision of going forward. He knows who he is and who he wants to be, and he knows what his role and responsibilities are to his family, country, state and city, and those folks right there [family photograph]. Oprah says what a beautiful family. Oprah thanks Emmitt and Lisa and encourages everyone to watch the show.
Oprah says that we have to talk to her good friend Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr., a Harvard professor, about genealogy. You may recall his confrontation with a police officer at his Cambridge, Massachusetts, home, Dr. Gates was arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct. His arrest sparked a racially fueled national uproar, which led to the first-ever White House Beer Summit. President Barack Obama, Dr. Gates and the arresting officer, James Crowley, sat down over mugs of beer and talked out the conflict. Since then, Dr. Gates says he and Officer Crowley have developed a really good relationship. In fact, Dr. Gates says he and Officer Crowley are more than friends. After asking Officer Crowley to take a DNA test, Dr. Gates discovered they’re distant cousins. “He and I descend from the same Irish ancestor,” Dr. Gates says. “Eight percent of the men in Ireland have our identical DNA, and we all descend from King Niall of the Nine Hostages. It was good to be the king—the guy slept with everybody in the kingdom.” Regis Philbin also shares the same ancestor, a bloodline that dates back to 450 A.D. Dr. Gates says Officer Crowley recently gave him the handcuffs used in his arrest. “They have his name, Crowley, etched on them,” Dr. Gates says. The handcuffs will be donated to the new emerging Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, which is scheduled to be completed in 2015. Oprah thanks him, she’s on the board.
As Officer Crowley and Dr. Gates discovered, it’s a small world. Despite our different races, religions and cultures, family trees intertwine, and humans are, ultimately, connected. This fact is proven in Dr. Gates’ new PBS series, Faces of America.
When Oscar-winning actors, Olympic Games medalists and celebrated musicians allowed Dr. Gates to trace their roots, many were surprised by the results. These celebrated people think they know were they come from, but they are getting all new knowledge.
Actress Eva Longoria always thought of herself as a Mexican-American, but a DNA test showed that she’s actually 70 percent European, 27 percent Native American and 3 percent African. “To know that I have a majority Spanish blood is a little…you know, I’ve been so proud of being Mexican—Mexican from Mexico,” she says. “To know that that’s not really who I am.” ”It’s not only who you are,” Dr. Gates says.
Kristi Yamaguchi, Olympic Gold Medallist finds out that her grandfather fighting in the US Army was the only Japanese man fighting Japan in his unit. In the New York Times it said that he was promoted for being unquestionably the best soldier in the unit.
Cutting-edge DNA research also leads to some surprising family connections. Eva finds out she’s related to Grammy-winning cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and actress Meryl Streep discovers she’s linked to director Mike Nichols, a man she’s worked with on four films. Meryl laughs and says it’s ridiculous. They are great friends, they are very close.
Dr Gates says that the test is not available commercially. Oprah says that she was one of the pioneers. Dr Gates says yes, with Quincy Jones. In fact, he got the idea in 2000 at Quincy’s house because Quincy was into doing family trees. Dr Gates says he has the greatest job in the world, bringing people back from the past. Letting people see them and meet them and encounter shadows from the past.
Dr Gates wanted a Jew and a Muslim on the show to discover where their genealogy may intersect. Dr Oz discovers that he shares the same common ancestry as Mike Nicholls, who is a Russian Jew. Dr Oz finds this information to be life changing; Jews and Muslims must recognize how integrated that they really are. The only thing separating them is the way that we think about things.
Oprah says that we are all connected. 50,000 years ago all of our ancestors were walking around in East Africa. If there was a garden of Eden, it would be in Africa. It’s hard for some Southerners to face, says Oprah. Yes, it’s a scientific fact, says Dr Gates. We have common ancestors; in Dr Oz and Mike’s case, they had a shared grandfather around 9000 years ago.
In the year 1767, a man sat down and did his family tree and picked the generational names for the next 60 generations after his death. In Yo Yo Ma’s name, Yo is a generational name, his sister is called Yo too. They joke about Yo This, Yo That, Yobama. The family tree goes back to 1217 and is the property of one of Yo Yo Ma’s distant cousins. In the 60’s Mao ruled that all things old should be destroyed. The document was hidden in the wall, and forgotten about. 4 years ago the cousin renovated his kitchen and found the forgotten family tree. The guy almost threw it away. It is made of bamboo which can be boiled and restored. They had it replicated and showed it to Yo Yo Ma.
How can people watching at home discover their ancestors and follow their family tree? Dr. Gates says there are two ways to get started. You can log on to websites like Ancestry.com, which has a monthly subscription fee, and search a database for distant relatives. Dr. Gates says the second option is your local genealogical society. “I live in Cambridge, as you know, where it’s the New England Genealogical Society. You can walk in off the street. There’s one in New York,” he says. “They’re all over the country.”
He says that the Temple of Delphine in Ancient Greece’ s motto was Know Thyself. In the series, Dr Gates says, Know Thy Past, Know Thy Self.
The new series airs on PBS, check your local listings, or watch it in full online at PBS.org.
After California introduced the hands free cellphone law last year, in 6 months they have seen a 20% reduction in fatalities and collisions. That means there has been 700 fewer deaths and up to 100,000 fewer collisions in one state. Everyone stop texting and talking on the phone in the car. Take the pledge, Know Thyself. Thank you.
WHAT WE LEARNED TODAY:
Oprah believes that there is no such thing as coincidences.
Oprah says that we are all connected
Everyone comes from East Africa, despite what some Southerners may like to think.
Eva Longoria and Yo Yo Ma share a common ancestor.
Meryl Streep shares a common ancestor with director Mike Nichols, a man she’s worked with on four films.
A VERY QUICK SUMMARY:
Celebrities are just like us. Some of them are even related. They have famous, important relatives too.