Julia Roberts is not who she thinks she is

Question

I watched a clip from the Genealogy Program hosted by Dr Henry Louis Gates Jr and this week. Featuring Actress Julia Roberts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sXCRjTtHNU

And that clip aired on TV today.

There is an NPE in her paternal line - Her great great grandfather Roberts was not her biological ancestor.

This was also published as a People Magazine article.

https://people.com/movies/julia-roberts-learns-she-isnt-actually-a-roberts-after-dna-test/

I don't know if Julia Roberts currently has a Profile or even if it is public, but I thought that we should make a record of this so that someone can do some further research.

Comments

What is NPE?

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Non Parental Event - it usually means that the father's name as stated on the birth certificate is not the biological father.

Answer 1

She is already on Wikitree because I checked a week or so ago and her grandfather has the right father attached.

Comments

Yes Doug, you are correct. You are referring to the GREAT grandfather.

The NPE was the GREAT GREAT grandfather - He was a Mitchell, NOT a Roberts.

Answer 2

I attached her profile to the post -- looks like she has a pretty complete tree but maybe some more info from the show can be added.

Comments

Disregard my reply. It was meant for someone else.

Answer 3

I watched that episode yesterday because someone had commented about Edward Norton's family tree to me and I remembered I worked on Alice Baals profile, among others.

I'm glad they were able to complete a DNA trail on Julia's cousins to prove her lineage... regardless of whether her ancestors were born out of wedlock.

Answer 4

She is who she thinks she is. If she wants to continue being a Roberts, she's a Roberts. If she wants to be a Mitchell, she's a Mitchell. Her second gr grandfather was a Mitchell, born and raised a Roberts. My 7th gr grandfather may be illegit. For 300 plus years, my family has been Smith's. I've read where it has been suggested that he was base born of the Churchill family. If, I mean IF, I find a source to support that claim, I would consider myself a Smith of the Churchill line, not a Churchill. I'll be shocked if Julia changes her name to Julia Mitchell.

Comments

I'm not saying that Julia cannot continue to use the name Roberts. I am just repeating what the sensational headlines say!!! LOL

Of course Julia can stay a Roberts. I would be very surprised if she did actually change her name. She has no reason to.

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The vast majority of today's headlines cause me to LOL

Answer 5

I’m in the same boat she is. My grandfather turned out not to be the son of his father. So my last name went from Sayers to Howell. I went through the same emotions Julia showed and it took me a year to set aside the 20+ years of research I did on my Sayers family and start researching my genetic Howell family.

Comments

Was that determined by DNA? When you say you went from a Sayers to a Howell, was that mentally or did we go back and start changing names based on sources. If it were considered a NPE your Grandpa would no doubt, be considered a Howell. Throw in (sources) a marriage license and birth certificate, now he's a Sayers. Throw in (more sources) DNA, now we have a conundrum. For the sake of accuracy, should a NPE be documented within marriages when they are proven to exist? I'm sure this has occurred more than twice in human history. Regardless, you are still one of my favorite Wiki cousins even if the Sayers/Howell dynamic changes our relationship.

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Our relationship will not change as I have my grandfather connected to who I believe is his father. It was all verified through DNA. My grandfather didn't have a birth certificate until much later when he got a delayed birth certificate. But it didn't list parents. He grew up believing his father was his father. I'm not sure his father knew that he wasn't his son. I had three Sayers cousins who descended from my 2nd great grandfather test and we did not match. So I had two other cousins from my great grandfather test, and we matched as half cousins. I match his maternal line - just not the Sayers line. Then I went to my matches and found a group of high matches who shared a set of common ancestors, Arthur Grant Howell and Rebecca Mary Jane Barnett. They had 4 sons and I have narrowed it down to 2 based on a few variables. And then name played the last variable - so I have my grandfather, Elmer Sayers, as the son of Elmer Howell.

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I got to know, was the carcass that was stolen that of a steer? Sorry bout the rabbit hole. I didn't look, did your gran dad have brothers that were then 1/2 brothers?

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He grew up with three older brothers and one sister. He didn’t know he was not their full sibling. One of his nephews that I tested was shocked at the discovery, so no one knew as far as I can tell. As for Elmer Howell, yes, it was a steer he killed and took to feed his family. At least, that is what the newspaper article says.

Answer 6

The Mitchell ancestor mentioned in the video is currently correctly associated on WikiTree, I believe?! His profile, though, could use "some love", please see https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Mitchell-41279

Probably the video should be added to her and to his profile as kind of a "source"

Answer 7

Supposedly Julia Roberts and I are 8th cousins. According to WikiTree, we share a 7th great-grandmother, Bridget Wilson Newman. Does anyone who is an expert in genealogy know how or if that impacts our family tree and if that means we are not cousins?

Comments

Your relationship match is through her 2nd great grandmother, Rhoda (Suttles) Roberts, the mother of who was supposed to be her great grandfather. So your relationship does not change. You are still 8th cousins.

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Thank you so much for your help! I was thinking that was the case but I wasn't 100% sure.