Julia Roberts has one of the most renowned names in the world, having risen to popularity in films like Pretty Woman and Mystic Pizza before becoming one of Hollywood’s most sought-after talents.
When she looks into her family history, she discovers that her identity isn’t as obvious as she thought.
The 55-year-old spoke with host Dr Henry Louis Gates, Jr, 72, on a new episode of Finding Your Roots, which airs on PBS in the United States, to learn more about her father’s lineage.
Julia was shown in an 1880 census for Douglas County, Georgia, with her great grandfather John Pendleton Roberts and his mother, Rhoda Suttle… However, John’s father was nowhere to be seen.
Rhoda was married to a Roberts, a man named Willis Roberts, but he died a decade before John was born, making him impossible to be Julia’s great great grandpa.
While no documents indicated John’s father, Dr Henry was able to perform some additional research thanks to DNA donated by Julia and her first cousin, another descendant of John’s.
‘Julia and one of her father’s first cousins, a fellow descendant of John Roberts, both agreed to take DNA tests,’ he explained.
‘We then compared their results to people in publicly available databases searching for matches, hoping to identify John’s father through the DNA of his descendants. In the end, we found a cluster of matches that tied Julia and her cousin to one man.’
That individual in question was Henry McDonald Mitchell Junior, Julia’s biological great great grandfather.
‘So we’re Mitchells?’ Julia asked incredulously, as Dr Henry confirmed: ‘You’re Julia Mitchell,’ prompting the Oscar winner to burst into laughter.
The historian emphasised that Julia is ‘not a biological Roberts,’ speculating that none of her family members were aware of the fact.
‘Well that farm knew, because her husband wasn’t there and she was still having babies!’ Dr Henry quipped.
‘Is my head on straight still? Am I facing you?’ Julia continued, in utter shock.
Dr. Henry added that, while they couldn’t be certain if John ever knew who his father was, a useful piece of information suggested that it might have been kept a secret.
Henry was in the same 1880 census as Rhoda, but with his own wife, Sarah, and their six children, and they resided just a few miles away.
‘A few short miles, it would seem,’ Julia remarked.
But that’s not all: Henry’s widowed mother, Elizabeth Mitchell, lived only four homes away from Rhoda, so he may have visited his mother and thus met Rhoda.
‘So he would go see his mother like a good boy,’ Dr Henry theorised, as Julia added: ‘And Sarah was probably saying, “Aw, you’re going to go see your mum? That’s so sweet.”’
‘On the one hand, truly, my mind is blown. And it is fascinating,’ the Notting Hill star stated in response to the shocking news about her family history. It’s also fascinating.
‘And on the other hand, there’s part of me that when I’m calmer can still wrap my arms around the idea that my family is my family. And I do prefer the name Roberts. This was a very unexpected turn Dr.’
Finding Your Roots airs on PBS in the US.
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