Jessica Biel
Biel in 2011, Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com
Birth Name: Jessica Claire Biel
Place of Birth: Ely, Saint Louis, Minnesota, United States
Date of Birth: March 3, 1982
Ethnicity: Ashkenazi Jewish (one eighth), Danish (one eighth), English, along with German, Swiss-German, Scottish, distant Welsh, Swedish, and French
Jessica Biel is an American actress, model, producer, and singer. She has had leading roles on television’s 7th Heaven, The Sinner, Limetown, and Candy, and in the films Ulee’s Gold, I’ll Be Home for Christmas, Summer Catch, The Rules of Attraction, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003), Cellular, Blade: Trinity, Stealth, London, Elizabethtown, The Illusionist, Home of the Brave, Next, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, Easy Virtue, Powder Blue, Valentine’s Day, The A-Team, The Tall Man, Total Recall (2012), Hitchcock, Playing for Keeps, The Truth About Emanuel, Accidental Love, Bleeding Heart, The Book of Love, A Kind of Murder, and Shock and Awe.
Jessica is the daughter of Kim, a spiritual healer, and Jon Biel, a business consultant. She was raised partly in Texas, Connecticut; Woodstock, Illinois, and finally Boulder, Colorado. She is married to singer and actor Justin Timberlake, with whom she has two children.
Jessica has Hungarian Jewish, from her patrilineal great-grandfather, Danish, from a great-grandmother, English, as well as some German, Swiss-German, and Scottish, and remote Welsh, Swedish, from the early 1700s, and French, ancestry. Jessica did not know of her Hungarian Jewish background until her appearance on the show Who Do You Think You Are?, in a 2017 episode. She stated:
I never heard any of this before. I’m really surprised… I can’t wait to share this with my dad… [I] never had any sort of religious community at all… [I’m] going to learn a lot more about the Hungarian Jews.
Jessica had believed that she has some degree of Native American ancestry on her mother’s side, sometimes stated as Choctaw Native American. An AncestryDNA test whose results were displayed during Jessica’s appearance on Who Do You Think You Are? did not detect any genetic markers for Native American ancestry.
The DNA test stated that Jessica’s genetic ancestry consists of:
*99% Europe
——–*30% Great Britain
——–*26% Europe West
——–*16% Italy/Greece
——–*12% Scandinavia
——–*8% European Jewish
——–*3% Iberian Peninsula
——–*2% Ireland
——–*2% Europe East [possibly Jewish]
*<1% Africa
Jessica’s paternal grandfather was Donald Arthur “Donny” Biel (the son of Edward Lincoln Biel and Carrie L. Rasmussen). Donald was born in Illinois. Edward was born in Illinois, the son of Moritz/Morris Biel and Otillie/Ottilia Morskovitz, who were Jewish emigrants from Žilina (then in the Kingdom of Hungary, now in Slovakia). Carrie was born in Illinois, the daughter of Mikael Frederik Rasmussen and Eleonora Katrine Lund, who were Danish immigrants.
Jessica’s paternal grandmother is Claire Porter (the daughter of Howard Carlisle/Carlyle Porter and Marie/Mary Celeste Weber). Claire was born in Illinois. Howard was born in North Dakota, the son of Charles William Porter and Anna E. Bryant, who had roots in the U.S. going back to the 1600s. Marie/Mary Celeste was born in Illinois, the daughter of George Theodore Weber and Elizabeth Hausner, who were of German descent.
Jessica’s maternal grandfather was Garth Lon Conroe (the son of Clifford Albert Conroe and Mary Frances Eloise Newkirk). Garth was born in Colorado, to a father from Kansas and a mother from Illinois. Clifford was the son of Vernon Eugene Conroe and Ada Butsch. Mary was the daughter of Henry Milo Newkirk and Lillian Lee Cannon.
Jessica’s maternal grandmother is Norma Jean Roberts (the daughter of James Conaway/Conway Roberts and Flora Zobeda Brasier/Brazier). Norma was born in Colorado, to parents from Missouri. James was the son of William David Roberts and Hannah Jane Miller. Flora was the daughter of William “Bill” Brazier/Brasier and Eliza Belle/Bell Pearson.
Sources: Genealogy of Jessica Biel – http://www.geni.com
Jessica’s paternal grandfather, Donald Arthur “Donny” Biel, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Jessica’s paternal grandmother, Claire Porter, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Genealogy of Jessica’s paternal great-grandmother, Marie/Mary Celeste (Weber) Porter – https://www.findagrave.com
Genealogy of Jessica Biel (focusing on her mother’s side) – https://www.wikitree.com
Jessica’s maternal grandfather, Garth Lon Conroe, on the 1940 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Jessica’s maternal great-great-grandparents, Vernon Eugene Conroe and Ada Butsch, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Jessica’s maternal grandmother, Norma Jean Roberts, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Genealogies of Jessica’s maternal great-grandparents, James Conaway/Conway Roberts and Flora Zobeda Brasier/Brazier – https://www.findagrave.com
8% Eastern European Jewish, 1% Western/Sub-Saharan African and “0.71% Native North American” – and still, nothing yet to confirm her Choctaw Nation ancestry in Northeastern Texas. The “Native North American” could be an error, but there is no reliable or confirmable way to measure Native American DNA, or if it can show a person is Indigenous by lineal descent, biologial race of being “American Indian” is a social and political construct, so it doesn’t make a person legally nor culturally one.
What do Europeans think about themselves being the most attractive race on earth !!!
Bruhhh
https://www.wikitree.com/genealogy/Biel-Family-Tree-51
I don’t know much about Jessica Biel but I don’t think the Europe East category on ancestry DNA can be “possibly Jewish.” European Jewish on ancestry DNA is equivalent to Ashkenazi Jewish and if that was Jewish it would go into the European Jewish category. In fact I believe she is less likely to have Jewish ancestry with the 2% European East than the 3% Iberian Peninsula ancestry or <1% African ancestry (assuming it's Africa North).
These are just trivia. The most important thing is that she has no Native American ancestry.
What, no Choctaw ? Here I am thinking we could have a native ancestor in common. Oh well another celebrity wannabe native bites the dust
More information:
http://www.interfaithfamily.com/arts_and_entertainment/popular_culture/Hollywood_Now_Jessica_Biels_Surprise_Discovery_Stephen_Schneiders_New_Role_Plus_Baby_News.shtml
I find it kind of surprising that her father had no idea he had a Jewish grandfather.
But then again look at Bill Maher, Madeline Albright, and John Kerry.
Maher has known that his mother is Jewish since he was about thirteen, so it’s not really the same thing.