Troian Bellisario
Bellisario in 2011, Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com
Birth Name: Troian Avery Bellisario
Place of Birth: Los Angeles, California, United States
Date of Birth: October 28, 1985
Ethnicity:
*father – Italian, Serbian
*mother – African-American, Louisiana Creole [African, French, English]
Troian Bellisario is an American actress and singer. She is known for playing Spencer Hastings on the series Pretty Little Liars.
Her father, Donald Bellisario, is a television producer and screenwriter. Her mother, Deborah Pratt, is an actress, novelist, and television producer. Her half-brother is actor Michael Bellisario. Troian is married to Canadian actor Patrick J. Adams, with whom she has two children.
Troian’s father is of Italian and Serbian descent. Troian’s maternal grandparents were both African-American and/or Louisiana Creole; of African-American and European, including French and English, descent. About her name, “Troian,” she has said, “It’s a family name. It was a surname on my father’s maternal side. It means “woman of Troy.”” The surname “Troian” exists in North Italy.
Troian’s father is pictured here. Troian’s mother is pictured here.
Her step-siblings are actor Sean Murray and producer Chad W. Murray.
Troian’s paternal grandfather was Albert Jethro Bellisario (the son of Giuseppe/Guiseppe “Joseph” Bellisario and Maria Luigia/Luiga Troian). Albert was born in Pennsylvania, to Italian parents. Giuseppe was born in Gamberale, Province of Chieti, Abruzzo, the son of Antonio Bellisario and Teresa Domenica D’Angelo/D’Andrea. Maria was born in Sospirolo, Belluno, Veneto, the daughter of Antonio Troian and Agata De Zanet.
Troian’s paternal grandmother was Dana Lapčević (the daughter of Samuel Paul Lapčević and Anna J. Dobrich). Dana was born in Pennsylvania, to Serbian parents. Anna was born in Kovacevac.
Troian’s maternal grandfather was Col. Bertram Roberson Pratt (the son of Richard Edward Pratt and Theresa Cecilia/Cecelia Coates/Coats). Bertram was born in Alabama. His family was from Mobile in that state. Bertram and his parents were both black. They are listed as either “Mulatto” (mixed race) or “Negro” (black) on U.S. Censuses. Richard was the son of Major Lankford and Priscilla Tartt. Theresa was the daughter of William Coates and Elizabeth Whitehead.
Troian’s maternal grandmother was Geraldine Marion Bryant (the daughter of Lincoln Joseph Bryant and Mabel Avery). Geraldine was born in Louisiana. Lincoln and Mabel were both black. Lincoln was born in Louisiana, the son of Aismene/Andrew Joseph Bryant and Camille Dunn/Decuir. Mabel was born in Louisiana, the daughter of Lavina/Lavinia Goeffney/Gafney, and, evidently, of a white man named John Leeds Avery. U.S. censuses list Lincoln and both of his parents as “Mulatto” (mixed race) or “Negro” (black), and Mabel as “Negro” (black).
Sources: Genealogies of Troian Bellisario – http://gw.geneanet.org
http://www.wikitree.com
https://www.geni.com
Obituaries of Troian’s paternal grandparents, Albert Jethro Bellisario and Dana (Lapčević) Bellisario – http://www.findagrave.com
Death record of Troian’s paternal great-grandfather, Giuseppe/Guiseppe “Joseph” Bellisario – https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com
Marriage announcement of Troian’s maternal grandparents, Col. Bertram Roberson Pratt and Geraldine Marion Bryant – http://www.newspapers.com
Troian’s maternal grandfather, Col. Bertram Roberson Pratt, on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Col. Bertram Roberson Pratt, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Obituary of Troian’s maternal grandfather, Col. Bertram Roberson Pratt – http://articles.chicagotribune.com
Troian’s maternal grandmother, Geraldine Marion Bryant, on the 1940 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Troian’s maternal great-grandfather, Lincoln Joseph Bryant, on the 1910 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Lincoln Joseph Bryant on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Mabel Avery’s father was white, and from a prominent family of politicians. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F3M4-YPB
I wonder how they know that he was her father?
Geni.com lists him as Lavina/Lavinia Goeffney’s husband, but I don’t think they were legally married. John appears on U.S. Censuses 1900 through 1930 as a single man.
I can’t find Lavina on those censuses, but John quite possibly was her partner.
Yes, I’ve seen that record (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XMYX-LJR).
Btw Theresa Cecelia Coates looked white:
http://photos.geni.com/p13/ab/30/12/a3/5344483e62a56d89/ceg42xez_original.jpg
Black people often look white on old black-and-white pictures.
Anyway, I did write “Mabel was also born in Louisiana, the daughter of Lavina/Lavinia Goeffney, and, evidently, of a white man named John Leeds Avery”.
How…normally white people look swarthier in black and white pictures
I don’t think that’s true either.
She is black. The end.
Theresa Cecelia Coates may have been an octoroon or something, still enough to be listed as “mulatto” and “negro” in U.S:
Black women:
https://www.aipsmedia.com/healthsystem_project/aips/pages/images/news/2019/5c501e3f74bae_GettyImages-477937744.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d4/ab/29/d4ab297143ce05a859991fea0c170ec6.jpg
Big deal?
@Andrew, I’m curious, why do people here only list what the records say? And if there is no record then people will consider it not true?
@follers and white people can also look mixed and dark skinned in photos as well. This guy is White/European and he looks dark. https://imgur.com/gallery/tIcc5RN His name is listed as Leslie Clark but you can’t find any documents in him, so what would you say he is?
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=113259634
@follers and white people can also look mixed and dark skinned in photos as well. This guy is White/European and he looks dark. https://imgur.com/gallery/tIcc5RN His name is listed as Leslie Clark but you can’t find any documents in him, so what would you say he is?
https://www.geni.com/people/Troian-Bellisario/6000000013115890793
I’m confused with her name. Most sites say it’s a Slavic name, but Troian says it’s an Estracan name (whatever the tribe in Italy before the Italic people came) hence why her grandmothers named that but I have seen nothing on the interest with the supposed Italian origins but I have seen the Slavic origins of the name
“Troian” is a surname from Veneto in North Italy. Many Venetian surnames end with -an, -in, -on etc..; I guess his paternal great-grandmother, Maria Luigia Troian-Menegolla, was the daughter of a Menegolla and of a woman whose surname was “Troian”.
Huh? It’s deffinitely NOT a Slavic name. Where did you read that?
Trajan as a Slavic male first name also comes from Latin.
I saw a yt video of her mother at some Barnes and nobles or something like that. She is actually pretty pale.. For someone whose suppose to mostly black.. Not even like golden, like I’ve seen Caucasians darker than her. With a little makeup she played as a white woman in tv once. Just proves that her “black” mother was black in identity and in dna probably less than 50 percent, I’d say she was almost a quadroon at times but other times look more a mulatto that got more European genes. Hence Troian’s looks. She’s mostly white or European and will be treated as such.
@alexgo
Quote(I saw a yt video of her mother at some Barnes and nobles or something like that. She is actually pretty pale.. For someone whose suppose to mostly black.. Not even like golden, like I’ve seen Caucasians darker than her.)
Black Americans lots of times will fluctuate in color as they aged for some reason. They either get brighter or darker. I’ve seen Deborah Pratt when she was younger , and never would’ve mistaken her for a white women(even with a little make-up on.
Quote(Just proves that her “black” mother was black in identity and in dna probably less than 50 percent)
well like I was just demonstrating to another member of the site, you can’t always go by outside appearance. Blair Underwood, and don Cheadle are both dna tested to be more Euro than Tyra banks, yet who’s brighter? Genes are real funny, there no telling what traits you’re gonna get. My sister-law(my brothers baby mamma), is nickname (Whiteface) because she very light. Her mother , herself ,her children, and grandchildren, all high yellow. There hasn’t been a white person in her family in generations , however that high yella skin trait keeps coming.
Quote(Hence Troian’s looks. She’s mostly white or European and will be treated as such.)
Well you right Troian is more Euro, and probably is seen as that, However isn’t more important how she perceives herself? Like Roma Maffia here:
http://cimg.tvgcdn.net/i/r/2012/11/14/98b1d745-342b-45df-ac1c-d4b4bf485fd5/thumbnail/660×960/1e82497ba009fa7db25412c5d2feae0d/121114roma-mafia1.jpg
Who is seen as white, but is part black, and would like to play black roles. The funny thing is, she’s playing a white woman (rachel dolezal) who pretends to be a black woman
The playing (rachel dolezal) thing might be a rumor, however I’m pretty sure she could pull it off
Oh her. Rachel. People are getting weirder everyday.
Anyways, it was all over her IMDb apparently she played a white biker chick, Deborah I mean. I do understand what you mean though. Deborah looked mulatto when she was younger, as she grew older she now looks almost sort of like my quadroon neighbour. But since her grandparents were labeled as mulatto at times there is no telling just how “black” they were. But I’ve heard Troian on Twitter call herself mixed/part black so She acknowledges it.
Made me wonder, she’s part Creole (nowadays popular meaning is european/African descent). Since I know French colonization was a bit different from English, I can see why in Louisiana more of the black people there look a tad bit more admixed than your average AfAm. I actually really wish Deborah would get a DNA test tbh..
But yeah genes are crazy. I think I saw a picture of a young Troian with her supposed cousin, and that cousin was darker than deborah even when she was younger, and looked like your average AfAm (around 80%ish African). I saw pictures of Deborah’s sister and she didn’t look that black either but idk.
@alexgxo
Quote(Made me wonder, she’s part Creole (nowadays popular meaning is european/African descent).
That always was the original meaning of the word. The creoles(when the term was first uses) were the Portuguese/ West Africans on the coast of West Africa, which gave way to the Cape Verde people. When the slavery moved over to here, the mixed blacks used the term to separate themselves from the incoming unmixed Africans. Europeans adopted the term because of the prestige it represented. Over time a culture bloomed from that.
Quote(Since I know French colonization was a bit different from English, I can see why in Louisiana more of the black people there look a tad bit more admixed than your average AfAm.)
They weren’t that much different. The English spent as much time in the slave quarters as the French did. The main difference is placage( a business arrangement), where the whites took care of their children(most of them). The (English, Ducth, Irish etc) wouldn’t hesitate to sell their children.
Quote(But yeah genes are crazy. I think I saw a picture of a young Troian with her supposed cousin, and that cousin was darker than deborah even when she was younger, and looked like your average AfAm (around 80%ish African). I saw pictures of Deborah’s sister and she didn’t look that black either)
That’s normal with Creole families . You can take one family, same mother , same father and have 5 kids all of them could be a different color, Hair different and different facial traits
I’ve gotba question? What shade of black do you have to be to be “black”? No matter what shade, Ms. Pratt would have still been back of the bus in Jim Crow America. How much percentage of ancestry doesn’t define ” blackness “.
@Memphis
Quote(I’ve gotba question? What shade of black do you have to be to be “black”? )
I do not know, every time I turn around people are telling me who isn’t black(because their skin is to bright, or look at their hair it not kinky , or the nose isn’t wide enough etc). I’ve never been around black people that are only one color, I’ve seen them on tv like that, but never in person
Quote(No matter what shade, Ms. Pratt would have still been back of the bus in Jim Crow America.)
Completely agree. Every woman I know that looks like her says their black. So As far as I’m concern, she’s a black woman, but I will respect whatever she wants to call herself
Quote( How much percentage of ancestry doesn’t define ” blackness “.)
completely agree. My father was as high yellow as they come(probably majority white), but saw himself strictly as a black man