Ben Barnes

Barnes in 2008, image by Joe Seer/bigstock

Birth Name: Benjamin Thomas Barnes

Place of Birth: Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, U.K.

Date of Birth: 20 August, 1981

Ethnicity:
*father – English
*mother – Dutch-German Jewish

Ben Barnes is a British actor and musician. His roles include the films Stardust (2007), The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, as the title prince; Bigga than Ben, Easy Virtue, Dorian Gray (2009), Locked In, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Killing Bono, The Words (2012), The Big Wedding, Jackie & Ryan, By the Gun, Seventh Son, and The Critic (2023); and television’s Sons of Liberty, Westworld (2016), The Punisher (2017), Gold Digger, Shadow and Bone, Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities: Pickman’s Motel, and Black Mirror: Joan Is Awful. His songs include “11:11,” “Rise Up,” “Pirate Song,” “Not the End,” and “Ordinary Day.”

He is the son of Patricia, a relationship psychotherapist, and Thomas Barnes, a psychiatrist and professor. Ben’s father is English, and from a Christian background. Ben’s mother, who is from South Africa, was raised Jewish. Her parents were from Germany and the Netherlands, respectively.

Ben’s paternal grandfather was named Richard Thomas Barnes.

Ben’s paternal grandmother was Patience Elaine Harrington (the daughter of Edward Harrington and Daisy Florence Humphrys). Patience was born in Edmonton, Middlesex, England. Edward was the son of Alfred Harrington and Ellen Johnson.

Ben’s maternal grandfather was Emil Peter Becker (the son of David Becker and Anna Tuteur). Emil was born in Kaiserslautern, Germany, to Jewish parents. Anna was the daughter of Benjamin Tuteur, from Winnweiler, Rhineland-Palatinate, and of Ernestine Kissinger, from Bad Kissingen, Lower Franconia, Bavaria.

Ben’s maternal grandmother was named Cornelia “Corrie” Havelaar. Cornelia was born in The Netherlands.

Through Ben’s maternal grandfather, Ben is a third half-cousin, twice removed, of political figure and writer Henry Kissinger. Ben’s maternal grandfather, Emil Becker, and Henry Kissinger, were third half-cousins. Ben’s great-great-great-great-grandfather, Meyer Löb/Loeb Kissinger, was also Henry Kissinger’s great-great-grandfather. Meyer was married twice, to a pair of sisters. Meyer’s first wife, Marianne David-Stahl, was Ben Barnes’s great-great-great-great-grandmother. Meyer’s second wife, Schönlein/Schoenlein David-Stahl, was Henry Kissinger’s great-great-grandmother.

Sources: Genealogy of Ben Barnes (focusing on his mother’s side) – https://www.geni.com

Interview where Ben mentions his religious background – http://www.examiner.com