Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

8.7
/10
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Before the popularity of AncestryDNA, journalist and cultural critic Henry Louis Gates, Jr. divulges the family trees of various celebrities, many times with stunning revelations.
  • 51min
  • Seasons: 10
  • Episodes: 106
T1
Continuing

Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

season 1

serie United States 2012

Episode rating

Season 1
7.8
E1
8.1
E2
7.9
E3
7.8
E4
6.8
E5
7.8
E6
8.1
E7
7.8
E8
7.9
E9
7.7
E10

Cast of season 1

In order of relevance in the season

Episodes of season 110

  • 7.8
    /10

    Harry Connick, Jr. and Branford Marsalis
    episode S1.E1 march 2012
    Actor and musician Harry Connick, Jr. and legendary jazz musician Branford Marsalis share their love of jazz and New Orleans itself, but they both also have European immigrant ancestors who blazed unconventional trails in America.
  • 8.1
    /10

    Cory Booker and John Lewis
    episode S1.E2 march 2012
    Two African-American politicians from different generations and opposite backgrounds, legendary civil rights leader John Lewis, and Democratic senator Cory Booker, learn about black and white slavery era ancestors they never knew about.
  • 7.9
    /10

    Barbara Walters and Geoffrey Canada
    episode S1.E3 april 2012
    Prof. Gates unearths missing links in the family histories of legendary broadcast journalist Barbara Walters, and equally notable activist and educator Geoffrey Canada, as they try to learn the original last names of their fathers.
  • 7.8
    /10

    Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick
    episode S1.E4 april 2012
    What do husband and wife Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick have in common? Other than being famous Hollywood actors in their own right, they both also come from old abolitionist families. But that's just the beginning.
  • 6.8
    /10

    Angela Buchdahl/Rick Warren/Yasir Qadhi
    episode S1.E5 april 2012
    Family roots of Baptist evangelical Christian megachurch founder, pastor Rick Warren, Angela Buchdahl, the first Asian-American Rabbi, and American Muslim scholar Yasir Qadhi unearth a story about the spiritual foundations of America.
  • 7.8
    /10

    Robert Downey, Jr. and Maggie Gyllenhaal
    episode S1.E6 april 2012
    Actors Robert Downey, Jr. and Maggie Gyllenhaal are textbook examples of Americans with a rich medley of European immigrant stories in their family trees.
  • 8.1
    /10

    Samuel L. Jackson, Condoleezza Rice and Ruth Simmons
    episode S1.E7 april 2012
    Actor Samuel L. Jackson, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Brown University president Ruth Simmons were all once second-class citizens in the Jim Crow south. Where in Africa do they come from and who are their white ancestors?
  • 7.8
    /10

    Sanjay Gupta/Margaret Cho/Martha Stewart
    episode S1.E8 may 2012
    Comedienne Margaret Cho, CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta and TV personality Martha Stewart are all children of first or second-generation immigrants and share the peculiar burdens of that heritage.
  • 7.9
    /10

    John Legend/Wanda Sykes/Margarett Cooper
    episode S1.E9 may 2012
    Musician John Legend and comedienne Wanda Sykes, as well as Professor Gates himself and his 98-year-old friend Margarett Cooper, discover the extraordinary stories of the free black ancestors they never knew about.
  • 7.7
    /10

    Michelle Rodriguez/Adrian Grenier/Linda Chavez
    episode S1.E10 may 2012
    Actress Michelle Rodriguez, actor Adrian Grenier and Republican analyst Linda Chavez all share Spanish colonial roots, yet each views their own identity very differently.