Oliver Platt

Platt in 2014, image via prphotos.com

Birth Name: Oliver James Platt

Place of Birth: Windsor, Ontario, Canada

Date of Birth: January 12, 1960

Ethnicity: English (mostly), smaller amount of Scottish, distant Irish, Dutch, and French

Oliver Platt is an American actor. Among his many roles are the films Flatliners, Beethoven, Indecent Proposal, The Three Musketeers (1993), Executive Decision, A Time to Kill, Dangerous Beauty, The Impostors, Dr. Dolittle, Ready to Rumble, Don’t Say a Word, Zig Zag, Pieces of April, The Ice Harvest, Frost/Nixon, 2012, Please Give, Love & Other Drugs, X-Men: First Class, The Oranges, Shut In, and Professor Marston and the Wonder Women, and television’s The West Wing, The Big C, and Fargo.

Oliver was born in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, to American parents. His mother, Sheila Maynard, was a clinical social worker, and his father, Nicholas Platt, was a diplomat who served as U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, Zambia, and the Philippines. Oliver’s brother, Adam Platt, is a New York Magazine restaurant critic. Oliver was raised in the U.S., as well as internationally for his father’s job. Oliver is married to Camilla Campbell, with whom he has three children.

Both of his parents came from prominent New England families, and had considerable Colonial American (English) ancestry, with U.S.-born ancestors going back to the 1600s. Oliver also has a smaller amount of Scottish, and distant Irish, Dutch, and French, ancestry.

Oliver’s patrilineal line can be traced to Simon Platt, who was born, c. 1533, in Ware, Hertfordshire, England.

Oliver’s paternal grandfather was Geoffrey Platt (the son of Charles Adams Platt and Eleanor Hardy). Geoffrey was born in Cornish, Sullivan, New Hampshire. Charles was an artist, landscape gardener, landscape designer, and architect, and was the son of John Henry Platt and Mary Elizabeth Cheney. Eleanor was the daughter of Alpheus Holmes Hardy and Mary Caroline Sumner.

Oliver’s paternal grandmother was Helen Choate (the daughter of Joseph Hodges Choate, Jr. and Cora Lyman Oliver). Helen was born in Manhattan, New York, New York. Joseph was the son of Joseph Hodges Choate, a diplomat and lawyer, who was U.S. Ambassador to the U.K., from March 6, 1899 to May 23, 1905; and of Caroline Dutcher (Sterling) Choate, an artist, educational reformer, suffragist, philanthropist, and socialite. Joseph’s brothers, Oliver’s great-great-great-uncles, were William Gardner Choate, a prominent lawyer and federal judge, who created private school, Choate Rosemary Hall; and George Cheyne Shattuck Choate, a physician, who founded Choate House, a psychiatric sanatorium. Oliver’s great-grandmother Cora was the daughter of General Robert Shaw Oliver and Marion Lucy Rathbone.

Oliver’s maternal grandfather was Walter Maynard (the son of Walter Effingham Maynard and Eunice Ives). Oliver’s grandfather Walter was born in New York. Oliver’s great-grandfather Walter was the son of Effingham Maynard and Helen Maria Hollister. Eunice was the daughter of Brayton Ives, who was a Union Brevet Brigadier General in the Civil War, and a prominent businessperson; and of Eleanor Anderson Bissell.

Oliver’s maternal grandmother was Eileen Burden (the daughter of Arthur Scott Burden and Cynthia Burke Roche). Eileen was born in New York. Arthur was an equestrian, from the Burden family of industrialists, and was the son of James Abercrombie Burden, whose parents were Scottish, his father from Dunblane, Stirling, and his mother from Drymen, Stirling; and of Mary Proudfit Irvin, whose father was from Glasgow, Scotland, and was a businessperson. Oliver’s great-grandmother Cynthia was a prominent socialite, and resided at the famous Elm Court mansion in Newport, Rhode Island, in the 1950s. Cynthia was born in St. George Hanover Square, London, England, the daughter of British MP James Boothby Burke Roche, 3rd Baron Fermoy, whose father was born in Cork, Ireland; and of American heiress Frances Ellen/Eleanor Work, from New York. Oliver’s great-great-grandmother Frances was heir to a dry good and finance fortune, created in New York City, and a pork-packing fortune, created in Chillicothe, Ohio.

On his mother’s side, he is a second cousin, once removed, of Diana, Princess of Wales. Oliver’s maternal great-great-grandparents, James Boothby Burke Roche, 3rd Baron Fermoy, and Frances Ellen Work, were also Princess Diana’s maternal great-grandparents. Through his father, he is a third cousin, once removed, of journalist Ben Bradlee. Oliver’s great-great-great-grandparents, George Choate and Margaret Manning Hodges, were also Ben’s maternal great-great-grandparents.

Sources: Genealogies of Oliver Platt – http://famouskin.com
https://www.geni.com

Oliver’s paternal grandfather, Geoffrey Platt, on the 1910 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org

Marriage record of Oliver’s paternal great-grandparents, Charles Adams Platt and Eleanor Hardy – https://www.familysearch.org

Oliver’s paternal great-grandmother, Eleanor Hardy, on the 1880 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org

Death record of Oliver’s paternal great-great-grandfather, Alpheus Holmes Hardy – https://www.familysearch.org

Death record of Oliver’s paternal great-great-grandmother, Mary Caroline (Sumner) Hardy – https://www.familysearch.org

Oliver’s paternal grandmother, Helen Choate, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org

Genealogy and obituary of Oliver’s mother – https://www.findagrave.com

Oliver’s maternal grandfather, Walter Maynard, on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org

Oliver’s maternal grandmother, Eileen Burden, on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org