David Fincher

Fincher in 2009, photo by s_bukley/Bigstock.com

Birth Name: David Andrew Leo Fincher

Place of Birth: Denver, Colorado, U.S.

Date of Birth: August 28, 1962

Ethnicity:
*father – English, Scottish, German, Swiss-German, Welsh, French, remote Irish
*mother – German

David Fincher is an American director and producer. Known for his dark sensibilities and intense thriller-genre filmmaking, he has directed the films Alien³, Se7en, The Game (1997), Fight Club, Panic Room, Zodiac, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Social Network, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011), Gone Girl, Mank, and The Killer (2023). He has also directed music videos for “Express Yourself,” “Vogue,” “Love Is Strong,” and “Suit & Tie,” episodes of House of Cards and Mindhunter; and an episode of Love, Death & Robots. He co-founded production company Propaganda Films.

He is the son of Clara Mae (Boettcher), a mental health nurse, and Jack Fincher (Howard Kelly Fincher), a screenwriter and journalist, who was a reporter and bureau chief for Life. Jack wrote the script of David’s film Mank. His father was raised in Texas and Oklahoma. His mother was from South Dakota. David was raised in San Anselmo, California, from a young age, moving to Ashland, Oregon, as a teenager.

David is married to producer Ceán Chaffin. He has a daughter with his former wife, model and photographer Donya Fiorentino. Donya also has two children with her former husband, English actor Gary Oldman, who was directed by David in Mank.

David’s paternal grandfather was Merlin/Murlin Jackson Fincher (the son of Oliver Benton Fincher and JoAnna America Evans). Merlin was born in Texas. Oliver was the son of Andrew Jackson Fincher and Temperance Forrester. Joanna was the daughter of Thomas Evans and Mary Sparger.

David’s paternal grandmother was named Grace Mae Hutcheson (the daughter of John A. Hutcheson and Mattie G.). David’s grandmother Grace was born in Tennessee.

David’s maternal grandfather was Leo Henry Boettcher (the son of Heinrich Ernst “Henry” Boettcher and Sophia Katharine Anna Sievers). Leo was born in Iowa. David’s great-grandfather Heinrich was born in Germany, the son of Johann/John Philipp Dietrich Boettcher, from Neetze-Scharnebeck Kreis, Luneburg, Niedersachsen, and of Anna Marie Bunn. Sophia was born in Wichtenbeck, Hanover, Germany, the daughter of Johann Heinrich Sievers and Dorothea Catherina Maria Hobermann.

David’s maternal grandmother was Gertrude Marie Katrina Wilhemina Ehlers (the daughter of Friedrich Ehlers and Anna Elizabeth Happel). Gertrude was born in Iowa. Friedrich was born in Morgan, Missouri, the son of German parents, Claus Ehlers, from Hanover, Niedersachsen, and Wilhelmina Caroline Louise “Mina” Dieckman, from Gellersen, Aerzen, Niedersachsen. Anna was born in Kassel, Hessen, Germany, the daughter of Andreas “Andrew” Happel and Maria Elizabeth Moeller.

Sources: Genealogy of David Fincher – https://www.geni.com

Genealogy of David’s father – http://www.marshallgenealogy.org