Julia Roberts

Roberts in 2011, Featureflash / Shutterstock.com

Birth Name: Julia Fiona Roberts

Place of Birth: Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.

Date of Birth: October 28, 1967

Ethnicity: English, German, Swedish, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, remote French

Julia Roberts is an American actress and producer. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for Erin Brockovich (2000). Perhaps the biggest female movie star of the 1990s, she has also starred in the films Mystic Pizza, Steel Magnolias, Pretty Woman, Flatliners (1990), Sleeping with the Enemy, Hook, The Pelican Brief, Everyone Says I Love You, My Best Friend’s Wedding, Stepmom, Notting Hill, Runaway Bride, The Mexican, America’s Sweethearts, Ocean’s Eleven, and its sequel Ocean’s Twelve; Mona Lisa Smile, Charlie Wilson’s War, Valentine’s Day (2010), Eat Pray Love, August: Osage County, Secret in Their Eyes (2015), Money Monster, Wonder (2017), Ben Is Back, and Ticket to Paradise, and on television’s The Normal Heart, Homecoming (2018), and Gaslit. She runs production company Red Om Films. She has been a global ambassador for Lancôme since 2009.

Julia is the daughter of Betty Lou and Walter Grady Roberts, who were actors and playwrights. She was raised in Smyrna, Georgia. She is the sister of actors Eric Roberts (Eric Anthony Roberts) and Lisa Roberts Gillan, and the aunt of actress Emma Roberts, who is Eric’s daughter. Julia is married to cinematographer Daniel Moder, with whom she has three children.

Julia’s father’s family has lived in the Southern United States for many generations; her ancestry includes English, German, Swedish, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, and remote French.

A DNA test whose results were displayed on the show Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (2023) stated that Julia’s genetic ancestry consists of:

*32% England & North Western Europe
*32% Scotland
*26% Norway
*7% Sweden & Denmark
*2% Wales
*1% Ireland

Genetically, she was found to have a common ancestor with actor Edward Norton.

Julia’s paternal grandfather was Walter Thomas “Tom” Roberts (the son of John Pendleton Roberts and Jimmie Glen Corbitt). Walter was born in Georgia. John was the son of Henry McDonald Mitchell, Jr., whose mother likely was born in Ireland, and of Rhoda/Rodie Suttle/Suttles. John was born and raised under the name of his mother’s late husband, Willis R. Roberts, who had died over a decade before his birth. John’s biological father was married to another woman when he was born. Jimmie was the daughter of Thomas C. Corbitt and Josephine “Josie”/Jodie Gherkey/Garker.

Julia’s paternal grandmother was Beatrice M. Beal (the daughter of William Edward Beal and Pearl F. Dooley). Beatrice was born in Georgia. William was the son of John Frank Beal and Martha Ann Redd. Pearl was the daughter of Washington “Lewis” Dooley and Mahalia/Mahala Ann “Haley” Hitt.

Julia’s maternal grandfather was Wendell John Bredemus (the son of John Math/Mathias/Matheus/Mathews Bredemus and Elin Maria “Eleanor” Johansdotter/Johnson). Wendell was born in Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota. Julia’s great-grandfather John was the son of Mathias/Mathew Bredemus, who was German, and of Elizabeth Steffens/Stevens, who was of German descent. Elin was Swedish, born in Sundstorp, By, Värmland, Sweden, the daughter of Johan/John Jansson/Johnson and Emma Kristina/Christina Carlsdotter/Karlsdotter/Carlson.

Julia’s maternal grandmother was Elizabeth Ellen Billingsley (the daughter of James Henry Billingsley and Nellie Hutchings). Elizabeth was born in Indiana. James was the son of John James Warren Billingsley and Elizabeth P./A. Hymer/Hyner/Pickelhymer. Nellie was the daughter of Dolphin/Dalphin/Dalphon Hutchings and Ellen Greenlee/Matkin/Matkins.

Sources: Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak’s article about Julia’s ancestry, at The Huffington Post – http://www.huffingtonpost.com

Genealogies of Julia Roberts – http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com
http://www.geni.com
https://www.wikitree.com

Genealogies of Julia’s parents – https://www.findagrave.com

Genealogy of Julia’s paternal great-grandfather, John Pendleton Roberts – http://www.findagrave.com

Marriage record of Julia’s maternal great-grandparents, James Henry Billingsley and Nellie Hutchings – https://familysearch.org

ethnic

Curious about ethnicity

95 Responses

  1. ethnogenesis says:

    IDK she has either Jewish or Cherokee ancestry, but she learned about Roberts wasn’t by blood but by marriage, a genealogist can explore further details about what kind of heritage she has from not through an ancestor through marriage.

  2. Bronco says:

    The article says “Julia’s father’s family has lived in the American South”. That means in South America, right?

    • River9 says:

      OMG, big NO. That means her father’s family has lived in the American South like the states in the southern United States like Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, Alabama, North & South Carolina, and so on. Don’t get them confused or intertwined, there’s a huge difference between the two terms “South America” and “American South”

  3. jonasbsjr says:

    this genetic results kinda match 100% her documented heritage, wich is quite rare, anyway, she does look like a british+scandinavian mix

    • River9 says:

      Yeah I agree with you, but I can also see some Germanic influence on her overall face. Like she could also pass as German too. Although speaking of Germanic, Scandinavian too are Germanic but of the North Germanic subdivision

  4. A user says:

    Interesting how different her AncestryDNA results. Although i understand that AncestryDNA has some issues like overestimating Scottish, and underestimating German.

  5. muricansareallmutts says:

    Very Jewish with such big mouth and —– —-.

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