Shailene Woodley
Woodley in 2010, image via kathclick/Bigstock.com
Birth Name: Shailene Diann Woodley
Place of Birth: San Bernardino, California, United States
Date of Birth: November 15, 1991
Ethnicity:
*father – English
*mother – African-American, Louisiana Creole [African, French, Spanish, German], English, Swiss-German
Shailene Woodley is an American actress and activist. Her roles include The Descendants, The Spectacular Now, White Bird in a Blizzard, The Fault in Our Stars, and The Secret Life of the American Teenager.
Shailene is the daughter of Lori and Lonnie Woodley. Her father, whose family is from the U.S. South, has English ancestry. Shailene’s maternal grandfather had African-American and Creole ancestry, and Shailene’s maternal grandmother has Louisiana Creole [including African, French, Spanish, and German] ancestry on one side of her family, and English and Swiss-German ancestry on the other side of her family.
Shailene’s paternal grandfather was Virgil James Woodley (the son of James Franklin Woodley and Velma L. Howard). Virgil was born in Oklahoma. Shailene’s great-grandfather James was the son of James Samuel Woodley and Julia Ann Arnold.
Shailene’s paternal grandmother was Dovie Oralee Sims (the daughter of Omer Epsy Sims and Eva Ellen Payne). Dovie was born in Texas. Omer was the son of Denton Otto Sims and Clara Florence Allen. Eva was the daughter of Hiram Walker Payne and Verdenia Maude Ellis.
Shailene’s maternal grandfather was Stephen David Victor (the son of Harold Joseph Victor and Bessie M. Harrold). Stephen was born in California. According to most censuses, both Harold and Bessie were Black and/or biracial (censuses list Harold and Bessie as black, and one census lists them as “Mulatto”). Harold was born in Louisiana, the son of Joseph Victor and Leila/Lelia Prudhomme, who were described as “colored” on his sister’s birth record, and “Black” on the U.S. Census and other records. Leila’s parents, Joseph Prudhomme and Lelia/Lilia Pope/Poper Lewis, were Louisiana Creole. Shailene’s great-grandmother Bessie was born in California, to Texas-born parents, William John/S./T. Harrold and Bessie Hutchins, who were both described as “colored” on her birth record and on censuses. Shailene’s great-great-grandmother Bessie’s parents were Lee Hutchins, who was said to have been born in England, of unclear background, and Georgia Walker, who was a black woman born in Texas.
Shailene’s maternal grandmother is Diane Lynn Fauria (the daughter of Vernon Louis Fauria and Marguerite Lois Davis). Diane was born in California. Vernon was a Louisiana Creole. Marguerite was caucasian. A picture of Vernon and Marguerite can be seen here.
Shailene’s great-grandfather Vernon Fauria was born in Windsor, Ontario, Canada and raised in Los Angeles. He was the son of Creole parents from Louisiana, who both had black ancestry, mixed with caucasian. Vernon’s father, Joseph Mathews/Matthews Fauria, was of African, Spanish, French, and German descent. Vernon’s mother, Louise Aline Martinez, had Spanish, African, and possibly French, ancestry. A picture of Vernon with his siblings can be seen here. A picture of Vernon’s parents, Shailene’s great-great-grandparents Joseph and Aline, can be seen here. A picture of Shailene’s great-great-grandfather, Joseph Mathews Fauria (top left), with his own parents, Victor Nicholas/M. Fauria and Agnes Cora Zipple (seated), can be seen here.
Shailene’s great-grandmother Marguerite Davis’s father, Norman Edward Davis, was of British Isles/English ancestry. Maguerite’s mother, Shailene’s maternal great-great-grandmother, Evangeline/Evangelia/Perrengere/Berengere Perrin/Perrine, was Swiss, of Swiss-German descent, and was the daughter of Lewis O. Perrin and Berthe C. Hague. This makes Shailene Woodley of 1/16th Swiss ancestry.
Shailene’s mother Lori Woodley – 4th Annual Kailand Obasi Hoop-Life Basketball Tournament Fundraiser – Arrivals – USC Galen Center, 3400 S Figueroa Street – Los Angeles, CA, USA, 2016 – Photo Credit: Guillermo Proano / PR Photos
Sources: Genealogies of Shailene Woodley – http://gw.geneanet.org
https://www.geni.com
Genealogy of Shailene Woodley (focusing on her father’s side) – http://www.wikitree.com
Genealogies of Shailene’s paternal grandparents, Virgil James Woodley and Dovie Oralee (Sims) Woodley – http://www.findagrave.com
Shailene’s maternal great-grandfather, Harold Joseph Victor, on the 1910 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Harold Joseph Victor on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Birth record of Shailene’s maternal great-great-aunt (her great-grandfather Harold’s sister) – https://www.familysearch.org
Shailene’s maternal great-great-grandmother, Leila/Lelia Prudhomme, on the 1900 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Re-marriage record of Shailene’s maternal great-great-grandmother, Leila/Lelia Prudhomme, to William H. Harris – https://www.familysearch.org
Shailene’s maternal great-great-grandmother, Leila/Lelia (Prudhomme) Harris, and Shailene’s step-great-great-grandfather, William H. Harris, on the 1940 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Shailene’s maternal great-great-great-grandparents, Joseph Prudhomme and Lelia/Lilia Pope/Poper Lewis, on the 1880 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Birth record of Shailene’s maternal great-grandmother, Bessie M. Harrold (Bessie Herald) – https://www.familysearch.org
Shailene’s maternal great-grandmother, Bessie M. Harrold (Bessie Herald), on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Bessie M. Harrold on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Death record of Shailene’s maternal great-great-grandfather, William John/S./T. Harrold – https://www.familysearch.org
Death records of Shailene’s maternal great-great-grandmother, Bessie (Hutchins) Harrold – https://www.familysearch.org
https://www.familysearch.org
Genealogy of Shailene’s maternal grandmother, Diane Lynn Fauria – http://bayoubohemia.net
Marriage record of Shailene’s maternal great-great-grandparents, Joseph Mathews/Matthews Fauria and Louise Aline Martinez – https://www.familysearch.org
Pictures and genealogy of Shailene’s maternal great-great-grandfather, Joseph Mathews/Matthews Fauria – http://www.findagrave.com
Shailene’s maternal great-great-grandfather, Joseph Mathews/Matthews Fauria, on the 1880 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Joseph Mathews/Matthews Fauria on the 1900 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Death record of Shailene’s maternal great-great-grandfather, Joseph Mathews/Matthews Fauria – https://www.familysearch.org
Birth record of Shailene’s maternal great-great-grandmother, Louise Aline Martinez – https://www.familysearch.org
Shailene’s maternal great-great-grandmother, Louise Aline Martinez, on the 1900 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Shailene’s maternal great-grandmother, Marguerite Lois Davis, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Marriage record of Shailene’s maternal great-great-grandparents, Norman Edward Davis and Evangeline/Evangelia/Perrengere/Berengere Perrin/Perrine – https://www.familysearch.org
Shailene’s maternal great-great-grandmother, Evangeline/Evangelia/Perrengere/Berengere Perrin/Perrine, on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
No visible non-white features, could pass as a Scandinavian white.
not as scandinavian. She’s 1/16/1/32 black at most, silly debat
Lol this is so true
I always thought she was English, German, maybe French with a little distant Spanish. But African? She can’t possibly be. Then it has to be that far back in the family, like hundreds of years ago! That girl does not look partially black at all, whatsoever!
Did you actually READ? Did you look at the links? If you did, you would see that it said her black great grandparents existed in 1930. Most definitely NOT ‘hundreds of years ago’. Both her maternal grandparents have black. She has a significant amount of African ancestry. Let it go.
If her grandparents have black ancestry it’s remote. The term “Creole” doesn’t necessarily mean “part black”; in fact it’s original meaning was simply a French person born in the New World as opposed to France. Creole who are part black typically look white. In Louisiana it’s generally regarded as a euphemism for a person who is mostly white with a remote dollop of black ancestry.
In any event only a crazy person or klansmen would say she has “significant black ancestry”. It’s so thin and dubious it would require a DNA test to confirm. George Bush looks more black than she does.
And in anticipation of politically correct responses, I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with being part black. But this woman clearly has at most trace amounts of black ancestry (on the order of what might be found in any arbitrarily selected white person).
Her grandfathers mother and father is not at all ‘remote’. And I never said being part creole meant part black. Her grandfather is a mulatto because his parents were black/mulatto. Her grandma also part black.Obviously you need to look up the definition of ‘remote’.
No, her grandmother is not part black. Her grandmother looks white, and if you go to the family photos you see that her mother and father both look white, as do her father’s parents (who are of mostly Spanish ancestry, if you follow the link you can trace them right back to Ibiza, Spain).
The only black in Shailene Woodley is probably her maternal grandfather, who is probably like 25% African and had the one drop rule applied. It says he was listed as white one year.. would that happen to anyone who LOOKED black? I think not.
Of course her grandmother is part black. Those pages with the pictures list many census records where her ancestors are listed as “Black”/”Mulatto” and so on.
^ So? My grandmother is “mulatto” on her birth certificate and the only relative she had who looked black was one grandmother. That was all it took back then.
I looked up Shailene’s relative on the census and even her ancestor directly from Spain was labeled “mulatto”.. Spain is in Europe, so obviously they just called anyone darker than a certain standard “mixed”.
If a white Spanish ancestor of hers was listed as “Mulatto” or “Colored” on a census, it is because they were living with their “Mulatto” or “Colored” spouse/partner. I’ve seen that happen a few times.
However, if you think random white people were listed as “Mulatto” or “Colored” on U.S. censuses, you’re dreaming.
@mmessina92
That relative may have been exactly what they were listed as.Black people didn’t stay out of spain.The country has always had a black population,now as well as in the past.So it’s very possible that relative was a mulatto
To answer your earlier post about Woodley’s grandfather being labeled “White:”
My Great-Great Grandfather was half Western European and half Guinean. They labeled him as White one time on the United States Census in 1870 when he was a child. 10 years later, they labeled him as Black. Add another 10 years and they label him as Mulatto along with his Mulatto wife (of Irish, Creek-Indian, and African descent). By 1920, they labeled him as Black/Negro again. So it happens, and it changes.
And it’s not unheard of for a person who has one black parent or parents who are both biracial to come out looking white. Just like Troian Bellisario, Mariah Carey, or Pete Wentz.
And these average youtubers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VmxflmlcyQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8h8V4qDX6mA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj9hTvtAQRg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-iHx-pb13g
So, they can be about 50% black and come out White-looking too.
On my dad’s side, all my ancestors have been classified as mulatto for the last 100 years. They were mulatto; they married people who were mulatto; they had children who were mulatto who also married people who were mulatto (at least the people I’m directly descendant from). The family still has Black features, yet really light skin (I know I had this Great-Aunt on my paternal Grandfather’s side and growing up, I thought she was White because she was so pale). Anyways, if any one of them had married a fully white person, they probably would have had children just as white looking as Troian Bellisario. You never know. My mom is rather dark and is most likely 90% black -at least, and my sister still came out with light eyes, light skin, and light brown hair with natural blonde highlights. She’s engaged to a half-black, half-Creole guy (who’s often mistaken for Puerto Rican or Latino) who has a half-sister (who’s fully creole) that came out looking White. It makes me wonder what their children will look like seeing as they have about as much Black in them as White and even some Native American ancestry. I’m hoping to get a DNA test done to see how the percentages add up when you test a person descendant from generations of mulattos. The only test I did was on my father and his paternal line and it only shows the White ancestry; giving him the haplogroup of R-U106.
Uh…just because she doesn’t *look* black doesn’t mean she can have some black in her. I don’t look white and my dad is white (A.K.A. not hundreds of years ago). I’m Jamaican, African-American, German, French, Dutch, American, and Italian. It’s disappointing to see people judging just on someone’s looks.
So you’re mostly white…exactly.
I don’t care…she’s gorgeous.
Not really. She’s hella average.
Yeah .
Wait! What?? She’s part african!! That’s impossible so some whites in america are not actually completely white?? She looks white end of story no african feautures in her at all!..nicole ritchie is supposedlly part african even tho she looks more caucasian what r people these days??
The black part is a lie. She doesn’t look black AT ALL.
It could be that she has a thimble full of black blood. But it’s more likely thus is a politically correct fib. The links prove nothing and she looks whiter than Sean Hannity and George Bush. If she is part black it’s so little you’d need a DNA test to prove it, having zero impact on her phenotype and of interest only to race obsessed liberals and skinheads.
Looks 100% White.
There is no way African visible in her.
You guys keep saying that. It’s not going to change the fact that she’s part black
Exactly.
She’s not though. Where’s the proof???????????????????
She’s not part black? Then why did census records list three of her great-grandparents as “Black”/”Mulatto”?
1/8 counted as mulatto. So if she is black, she barely is. You have to be 12% of a race to claim it. I don’t even think she would be 12% then
Thank you!
True ,