Emayatzy Corinealdi

Corinealdi in 2016, photo by kathclick/Bigstock.com

Birth Name: Emayatzy Evett Corinealdi

Place of Birth: Fort Knox, Hardin, Kentucky, United States

Date of Birth: January 14, 1980

Ethnicity:
*African-Panamanian (father)
*African-American (mother)

Emayatzy Corinealdi is an American actress. Her roles include the films Middle of Nowhere, Addicted (2014), The Invitation (2015), Miles Ahead, and Beats (2019), the series The Young and the Restless, Hand of God, Roots (2016), Ballers, The Red Line, and Reasonable Doubt, and the made-for-tv movie Gun Hill.

She was born in Fort Knox, Hardin, Kentucky, to a Panamanian father, Edward E. Corinealdi, and an African-American mother, Rosemarie Hilton, who is from Ohio. Emayatzy was raised between Germany and the U.S states of Ohio, Kansas, and New Jersey.

Her name was created by her father as a combination of her grandmother’s name, Emma, and the name of a princess from Panama, Yatzy.

Through a DNA test, she learned that she has Nigerian ancestry.

Emayatzy’s paternal grandfather was James Richard Corinealdi (the son of Edwin Edward Inniss and Mabel Corinealdi). James was from Colón, Panama.

Emayatzy’s paternal grandmother was Sybil Clothilde Noel/Newell (the daughter of Peter John Noel/Newell and Agatha María Pardow/Pardo). Sybil was born in Panama, to parents who married in Jamaica. Peter was the son of Peter John Noel. Agatha was the daughter of Solomon Pardow/Pardo.

Emayatzy’s maternal grandfather was Daniel Hilton (the son of Daniel Hilton and Ina Dye). Emayatzy’s grandfather Daniel was born in Georgia.

Emayatzy’s maternal grandmother was named Emma Boone.

Sources: http://blackactors.net
http://www.backstage.com

Marriage record of Emayatzy’s parents – https://www.familysearch.org

Death record of Emayatzy’s paternal grandfather, James Richard Corinealdi – https://www.familysearch.org

Marriage record of Emayatzy’s paternal great-grandparents, Peter John Noel/Newell and Agatha Maria Pardow/Pardo – https://www.familysearch.org

Obituary of Emayatzy’s maternal grandfather, Daniel Hilton – http://www.vindy.com

18 Responses

  1. stlucas says:

    Typo: Panamanian* father

    Emayatzy’s paternal grandfather was James Richard Corinealdi (the son of Edwin Edward Inniss and Mabel Corinealdi). James was from Colón, Panama.

    On his death record, James was listed as “Japanese.”

    Emayatzy’s paternal grandmother was Sybil Clothilde Noel/Newell (the daughter of Peter John Noel/Newell and Agatha María Pardow/Pardo). Sybil was born in Panama. Peter was the son of Peter John Noel. Agatha was the daughter of Solomon Pardow/Pardo.

    Peter and Agatha got married in Jamaica.

    Marriage record of Emayatzy’s parents – https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPQ5-DF3C

    Death record of Emayatzy’s paternal grandfather, James Richard Corinealdi – https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VKBV-B4B

    Marriage record of Emayatzy’s paternal great-grandparents, Peter John Noel/Newell and Agatha Maria Pardow/Pardo – https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K5M3-3PF

  2. andrew says:

    I believe her surname might be of Sephardi Jewish origin. There’s a Samuel Corinaldi who moved in the 1700s from Italy (probably from Ferrara) to Jamaica, where he’s buried. Some of his descendants ended in Panama.

  3. fuzzybear44 says:

    do you know if her family is just from Nigeria?

    Quote from the article(“I also think that a lot of African-Americans feel that when it comes to slavery, they don’t want to speak about it because it was so harmful and hurtful )

    Nope a lot of us talk about, but the funny thing to me is my sister-in-law who is latina, didn’t know much about that period. The more she learns about it, the more piss she gets. Growing up in El salvador, her mother told her that slavery and racism didn’t existed,and that black people made it up because they were jealous

    • fuzzybear44 says:

      This was meant for (stlucas)

      • madman says:

        No, why would he? Neither the text or the quote implies it.

        • fuzzybear44 says:

          relax Madman, just asking a question. I thought maybe (stlucas) may have done some more digging and found out what ethnic group in Nigeria ( Emayatzy) actually belongs to . I also have Nigerian ancestry ( as well as most of Africa), but the Ancestry test I took doesn’t give the precise ethnic groups I belong to, just the general area. However celebrities seem to get the good test that tells you exactly who you belong to.

          • madman says:

            Didn’t mean to sound aggressive, just pointed out that obviously no one knows her full ancestry. Besides, there’s few to no African-Americans alive today who are descended from a single African ethnicity, which should also be clear.

            Genealogically, there’s practically no way to find out an African-American’s whole heritage, due to lack of records. And when it comes to DNA tests, they are often too general to give any meaningful information about Africa, using countries, whose borders more often than not has nothing to do with the ethnic groups in the region, as genetic boundaries. Are there really DNA tests that can pinpoint the exact African tribe? Haven’t the show in those cases rather managed to trace a specific ancestor of the celebrity back to Africa?

  4. stlucas says:

    “The other thing is that I hope it encourages people to go out and find where they are from. For me that was especially exciting — I found out my people had come from Nigeria, which I had never known. It’s important because it gives people a sense of grounding, that they belong somewhere”.

    https://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/roots-remake-star-emayatzy-corinealdi-talks-original-miniseries-working-with-ava-duvernay-more-q-a-1.11859596

  5. stlucas says:

    Her maternal grandparents were Daniel Hilton (the son of Daniel Hilton and Ina Dye) and Emma Boone.

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