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. .1.1.1 says:

    This one is a better source regarding her ancestry.
    her father is english, irish, scottish, and welsh.
    her mother is german and scandinavian.
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/megan-smolenyak-smolenyak/julia-roberts-isnt-a-robe_b_828778.html

  2. Chad MacGregor says:

    Both surnames Roberts and Robertson are Scottish.

  3. tash says:

    She definately has american indian blood. all the beautiful people have american indian blood. Cameron Diaz, Megan Fox, Angelian Jolie, Johnny Depp, Myley Cyrus, Beyonce

    • Me! says:

      haha..and you are stupid… that is just a huge lie!! they are all White.. they just pretend to have some indian blood! how can a Blue eyed and blonde haired Miley Cyrus have indian blood

      • Jem says:

        SHUT UP STUPID!

      • I love the wind says:

        How can someone with blue eyes and blond hair have Indian blood? It’s very possible! Do you know nothing about genetics? If someone is mixed, they can inherit genes from BOTH sides of the family. Say someone is half Swedish (blond haired, fair skinned, and blue eyed) and half Cherokee Indian (dark hair, tan skin, and brown eyes). They will probably inherit mostly dominant traits (usually the darker ones), but also some recessive traits (usually the lighter ones). So, for instance, they may have dark skin and hair, but blue eyes. Now suppose this person mates with someone of English ancestry (let’s say…blond hair and green eyes). Their children will inherit both those dominant Cherokee traits AND the recessive European traits, which become stronger when they are coming from both sides of the family. So, as the Cherokee traits become more distant, their descendants will come to show no physical Cherokee traits, but will still carry them in their DNA. Therefore, someone who doesn’t look “Indian” can still have Native American ancestry.

      • 411 says:

        @Me

        I’ve been reading some of your comments.Not to be mean,but you just say anything that pops into your head,without anything to back it up.It’s real easy as you say for a( Blue eyed and blond haired Miley Cyrus have native blood ).Look at Larry David he’s 37% native,I ask you does he look it?.Your outward appearance doesn’t tell everything about your ethnicity

    • brianna says:

      Yeah. All those people you named would be lucky if they if they had more than 5% native blood. Native wannabes. LOL.

  4. : ) says:

    guys don’t be mean… i have jewish in me

  5. poop de bear says:

    Roberts is black. Everyone in her home town of Georgia knows it but her pr people have a way of editing what comes on the internet about her. Naturally curly red hair , huge lips, and pasty skin that is light but not really light is always the clue. She is what the original creoles looked like and everyone down south knows it. Unless you are jewish or italian when you look like that you’re black. Probably a black great grand mother who had to hook up with old geogria slave master.

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