Cameron Douglas

Cameron Douglas – 7th Annual Legacy of Vision Gala – Arrivals and Inside – Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills, 300 S Doheny Drive – Los Angeles, CA, USA, 2017 – Photo Credit: Guillermo Proano / PR Photos

Birth Name: Cameron Morrell Douglas

Place of Birth: Los Angeles, California, United States

Date of Birth: December 13, 1978

Ethnicity: Ashkenazi Jewish, Swiss, French, English, Irish, Welsh, Dutch, Scottish, Belgian

Cameron Douglas is an American actor and writer. His roles include the films It Runs in the Family, National Lampoon’s Adam & Eve, and Wire Room.

He is the son of producer Diandra de Morrell Luker and actor and producer Michael Douglas, and the grandson of actor, director, producer, and author Kirk Douglas. His half-brother is podcaster Dylan Douglas. He has two children with his partner Viviane Thibes. He is a nephew of film producer Joel Douglas, and a half-nephew of television and film producer Peter Douglas and actor and stand-up comedian Eric Douglas.

Cameron’s father is of Ashkenazi Jewish descent on his own father’s side, and of English, Dutch, Irish, Welsh, Scottish, Belgian, and French descent on his own mother’s. Cameron’s mother has been described as “the daughter of a Swiss-American diplomatic father and an Anglo-French mother.”

Cameron’s paternal grandfather was Kirk Douglas (born Isadore Danielovitch/Danilovich, the son of Harry Demsky, born Girsh/Herschel Danilovich/Danielovitch, and of Bryna “Bertha” Sanglel/Singlair). Kirk was born in Amsterdam, a small town in upstate New York, to Belarusian Jewish parents. Harry was born in Chavusy/Chausy, Mogilev, eastern Belarus, then part of the Russian Empire, and was involved in street-level criminal enterprises with his siblings. He was the son of Isor/Iser Danilovich/Danilovitch and Brayna-Chana.

Cameron’s paternal grandmother was actress Diana Dill (born Diana Love Dill; the daughter of Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Melville Dill and Ruth Rapalje Neilson). Diana was born in Devonshire, Bermuda. Cameron’s great-grandfather Thomas was born in Devonshire, and was Attorney General of Bermuda, a Member of the Parliament of Bermuda (MCP), and a commanding officer of the Bermuda Militia Artillery. Thomas was the son of Thomas Newbold Dill, a merchant, an MCP for Devonshire Parish, a Member of the Legislative Council and an Assistant Justice, and Mayor of the City of Hamilton; and of Mary Lea Smith. Cameron’s great-grandmother Ruth was born in New Jersey, to a family that had lived in the United States for many generations, and was the daughter of Nicholas Bayard Neilson and Sarah Gifford Chapman. Through his grandmother, Cameron is a first cousin, once removed, of heiress and entrepreneur Mary Lea Johnson Richards and artist John Seward Johnson II.

A DNA test whose results were displayed on the show Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (2024) stated that Cameron’s father Michael’s genetic ancestry is:

*38.8% British & Irish
*37.1% Ashkenazi Jewish
*10.3% Eastern European
*6.5% French & German
*4.8% Broadly Northwest European
*2.1% Sardinian
*0.4% Broadly European

Genetically, his father Michael was found to have a common ancestor with actress Scarlett Johansson, through shared Ashkenazi ancestry.

Sources: http://www.jpost.com

Genealogy of Cameron Douglas (focusing on his father’s side) – https://www.geni.com

Genealogies of Cameron’s paternal grandparents, Kirk Douglas and Diana Dill – https://www.findagrave.com

Cameron’s paternal grandfather, Kirk Douglas (then Isadore Demsky), on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org

Cameron’s paternal great-grandmother, Ruth Rapalje Neilson, on the 1900 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org

Marriage record of Cameron’s paternal great-grandparents, Nicholas Bayard Neilson and Sarah Gifford Chapman – https://familysearch.org