Julia Roberts Isn’t ACTUALLY Julia “Roberts”?? | Finding Your Roots | Sponsored by Ancestry®

Julia Roberts discovers her ACTUAL great-great-grandfather and gets a new last name, on Finding Your Roots with Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

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00:00 Introduction
0:25 Julia Roberts’s story begins with her great-grandfather
1:23 Julia Roberts searches for biological 2nd great-grandfather
2:52 Julia Roberts’s real last name revealed
3:31 Julia Roberts’s family mystery is solved

[AncestryUS]

Julia Roberts had her mind blown with this DNA discovery. What is the most surprising thing you’ve learned about your family tree?

[kunaak]

I can't imagine that was much of a secret at the time. "The lady who lives alone keeps having kids, even though her husband died 10 years ago".

[chelee]

People take secrets to the grave and Ancestry digs those secrets back up. I’m glad, because it gives us the gift of knowing.

[justsayin]

Found a sweet half sister this year. She's 79, I'm 71.

[TsterMr]

Dr. Gates is awesome. He is the perfect host for this show and leads the guests down the path of their heritage with aplomb. Wish we could all have that experience!

[damemarthafalker]

Wow. From this airing, I was able to find direct ancestors for Henry McDonald Mitchell who were already in my family tree. Julia Fiona Roberts is my 10th cousin, once removed.

[maryrine-marybel]

Found my family through ancestry mother still alive 101. In puerto rico. Went to pr to her. She was happy. Then she died

[kindking]

I feel for Julia here, finding out this kind of information while you're being filmed. I worked on my family genealogy for 10 years, couldn't get any further back in my father's line because both of his grandfathers were illegitimate, so I got a DNA test done. Found out he wasn't really MY father and I'd grown up with the wrong name just like Julia. It's fascinating to find out, but devastating at the same time. But it does make you realize "family" has nothing to do with your DNA.

[tommymorano]

I had the same thing happened to me, I was raised to believe we were Busby‘s, but when DNA became available I found out that we were not related to any of the Busby side, found out that my great grandmother had affair with a married man who lived next-door and we match all his descendants and his family to DNA, crazy the gift that God has given to change our family history with DNA and especially solving cold cases.

[judithdomangue]

Can you imagine the screams of the Mitchells who just realized they are related to Julia Robert’s? Lol

[sugarth]

I’m adopted and found my biological family two years ago. I found out my bio mom was 16 and went on to have a semi successful modeling career in the 70s. So much so, I’d seen her growing up. My dad’s side was more interesting, my great uncle survived the titanic. Both sets of parents are gone now…. But I do have extended biological families that have been nice to meet. Don’t ever think genetics doesn’t contribute to who you are as a person. I’ve learned so much.

[greenmachine]

I did the ancestry thing and figured out that I was surrounded by my ancestors. The furthest back I found was one 4x great grand father. That is seven generations counting me. I visited his grave. I found several 3x great grand parents. I bought D2 and cleaned their headstones. Planted bulbs. It was fun and enriching. A lot of interesting and sometimes sad stories. I found two cherokee women in my ancestory. A 2x ggm and a 3x ggm on the next blood line over. Finding your ancestors graves and visiting them makes it real. I higly recommend doing it.

[rachelm]

This is why I love doing genealogy research on family. I learned so much. I was able to find out some interesting information on my paternal grandmother. It helped me to understand some painful issues that she had to deal with. I was also able to discover how my Uncle, her first born son, received his name. Every family has had to deal with something painful, shameful, embarrassing, etc. But, everyone deserves to know the truth about who they are and where they came from.

[greghanson]

My paternal grandfather was adopted in 1894 and my maternal grandmother was adopted in 1889. I have since tracked down both sets of biological parents, and uncovered some interesting family stories relative to both adoptions.

[Aurelius]

My dad took one of these test before passing away and a couple of months later my cousin took one as well. It turned out that my dad and his sister were only half-siblings (same mom, different dad's) we were sure confused at first, because my grandparents divorced way later in life and there was always talks of infidelity on both sides but nothing could have been confirmed. Turns out grandma was very cheeky all along.

[apostolia]

Her smile is like a curious child... lovely!!!!

[claudiavirginiaalarconbena]

Finding out about one's own family line, can be a very big roller-coaster ride!
So many different emotions and secrets are revealed too!
Thanks so much for your time and efforts for researching!

[nancyhammons]

One important thing to remember while you are researching your family is that you are not responsible for the actions of your ancestors.

[jwwid]

I've recently found out (2 tests) my father is not my bio father. I'd been researching trying to find my maternal grandmother's people as she was adopted and always wanted to know. I succeeded in that search but also found out the interesting fact on my paternal side. Still processing the information and figuring out how to share with my family.

[Skeptique]

This exact thing happened to my mother. I discovered her 2x great grandmother's husband died 3 years before her great grandfather was born. I only noticed it when the DNA wasn't adding up. It turned out to be a man she was living with when the great grandfather was 7 years old. She was listed as his maid and he was 20 years younger than her. Never would have suspected, but DNA doesn't lie! My mother gets a kick out of telling her brothers they have the wrong last name.