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Tag: Who Do You Think You Are?

  • Julie Chen Explores Her Polygamist Grandfather’s Past On Ancestry Show

    Julie Chen announced in September of last year on The Talk during “Secrets Week” that her grandfather was a polygamist.

    As the audience gasped, Julie Chen continued explaining that her grandfather had nine wives who bore him 11 children that they know of. But, he had many mistresses so that number could be much bigger.

    “As you can imagine this was very hard on my grandmother,” continued Chen.

    She also revealed that her grandfather’s wives lived in separate residences and that her mother never knew which wife’s home her father would be spending the night at.

    it doesn't get much funnier than @LisaKudrow It was a joy working with her on #wdytya!

    A photo posted by JULIE CHEN (@juliechencbs) on

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kpybV1WKEY

    However, Julie Chen got to explore her roots a little further for the celebrity ancestry show, Who Do You Think You Are?.

    The story Julie Chen knew about her grandfather was a gritty one, but the side she got to know on her visit to the small village he lived in changed her perspective quite a bit.

    “I didn’t think of him beyond the rich successful guy who had lots of women,” Julie Chen said as she reviewed her experience for the show. “But this journey allowed me to see him as a patriot.”

    Julie Chen’s grandfather started a school in the small village he lived in after his mother was captured by bandits for ransom. When his family couldn’t pay the ransom, his mother was murdered.

    Perhaps the closest I'll ever get to winning one #Oscars

    A photo posted by JULIE CHEN (@juliechencbs) on

    Julie Chen’s grandfather wanted the children of his village to know that with an education, there is a way to a better life than those bandits chose.

    Julie Chen later got to meet some of the children from the school.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=711Eyf0mENk

    She said, “That was amazing, to see these little faces, the future of this town where my grandfather hails from and that they’re getting an education and they all knew who he was and they said it with pride. It really filled my heart.”

    After exploring more about her grandfather’s past, Julie Chen found herself touched as she read the words of her grandfather’s obituary.

    “That surprised me, because I never knew him,” Julie Chen admitted. “It wasn’t a revelation that I was going to read about his death, and it just struck me. Seeing his picture, that I saw in family photo albums growing up, in the newspaper article and talking about who he’s survived by, it just caught me off guard.”

    What a cool concept for a reality show. So interesting!

    Who Do You Think You Are? premieres March 8th on TLC.

    Will you be watching?

  • Valerie Bertinelli Discovers Her Great-Grandmother’s Fornication

    Actress Valerie Bertinelli got a bit of a surprise this week when it was revealed that her grandmother was born out of wedlock.

    The secret was revealed when Bertinelli appeared on Who Do You Think You Are?, a series in its fifth season on cable channel TLC. Who Do You Think You Are? is an American remake of a British series that attempts to make genealogy compelling to a mass audience. The series takes celebrities on a tour of their past, uncovering their ancestors with the help of genealogists. Past celebrities who have appeared on Who Do You Think You Are? include Susan Sarandon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Martin Sheen, Zooey Deschanel, Cindy Crawford, and Steve Buscemi.

    During Bertinelli’s episode the actress traveled from Scranton, Pennsylvania to Torino, Italy to London in search of her roots. The biggest surprise she uncovered may seem like a humorous detail in a modern context, but is something that may have been scandalous nearly a century ago.

    What she discovered was undeniable proof that her great-grandmother was guilty of fornication. Documents uncovered on the show indicate that her grandmother was born in April of 1908. That is two years before her great-grandmother was married in 1910. It was revealed that Bertinelli’s great-grandmother and great-grandfather claimed Bertinelli’s grandmother as their legitimate daughter when they wed.

    The Long Island University history professor that helped Bertinelli uncover the scandal explained that money may have been a factor, stating that a proper church wedding would have been expensive during the early 20th century and that a dowry payment may also have been a hindrance to marriage.

    Bertinelli is best known for her role as Barbara Cooper in the long-running sitcom One Day at a Time. She is currently starring in the TV Land series Hot in Cleveland.

    Other celebrities already featured in this year’s season of Who Do You Think You Are? include actress Rachel McAdams and Cynthia Nixon of Sex and the City fame. Kelsey Grammer and Lauren Graham will appear in this season’s final two episodes later this month.

    Image via Angela George/Wikimedia Commons

  • Lisa Kudrow Previews New Season of ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’

    Lisa Kudrow recently previewed the new season of TLC’s celebrity genealogy documentary series Who Do You Think You Are? for TV Guide.

    The season, which kicked off on Wednesday with an episode about former Sex and the City star Cynthia Nixson’s great-great-great grandmother, will feature Valerie Bertinelli, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Lauren Graham, Kelsey Grammer, and Rachel McAdams.

    Who Do You Think You Are? is an adaptation of the British series of the same name that has aired on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) for 11 seasons.

    The US version of the series premiered on NBC in 2010 and ran three seasons before being canceled by the network in 2012.

    The series was subsequently picked up for a fourth season by TLC and in June the network renewed the series for a six-episode fifth season.

    Season four set a strong precedent with celebrities such as Christina Applegate, Kelly Clarkson, Cindy Crawford, Zooey Deschanel, Chelsea Handler, Chris O’Donnell, and Trisha Yearwood.

    In the first episode of season five, Cynthia Nixson discovers that her great-great-great grandmother was a victim of domestic violence and, in an act of self-defense, killed her husband with an ax.

    “Real life is much more riveting and powerful. We were bug-eyed by that story!” Kudrow said.

    She went on to reveal that three more season five celebrity guests – Bertinelli, Ferguson, and McAdams – had a murderer in the family.

    Kudrow said it’s not unheard of for a celebrity to back out due to the personal nature of the information uncovered by the show:

    “…and we respect that. Sometimes they’ll talk to their family and the family says, ‘Nope. Not for us.’”

    Kudrow serves as executive producer of the series along with former Scandal star Dan Bucatinsky. Along with Don Roos (Boys on the Side, Marley & Me, Single White Female) Kudrow and Bucatinsky comprise the production company Is or Isn’t Entertainment.

    The company’s first television series, The Comeback, aired for one season on HBO and starred Kudrow and Malin Akerman (Couples Retreat, The Proposal, 27 Dresses.) The series received three Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Kudrow.

    “If they had left it on, it would have been fine. Because I think in a couple of years, TV caught up to it,” Kudrow said of the series.

    Those words proved true earlier this year when HBO revealed it would bring the show back almost ten years later for a six-episode second season.

    In 2008 Is or Isn’t launched the web series Web Therapy with Kudrow and Bucatinsky starring as an Internet therapist and her assistant.

    In the summer of 2011 the series transitioned from the Internet to television in the form of a half-hour Showtime series.

    “I feel like we snuck in through the back door, almost [like] being a recurring character that finally becomes a regular. So that was easy. Painless, sort of,” Kudrow has said of the transition process.

    In January the network announced it would renew the series for a fourth season, set to premiere in October.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons