Violet McGraw
McGraw in 2019, photo by kathclick/www.bigstockphoto.com
Birth name: Violet Elizabeth McGraw
Place of Birth: California, U.S.
Date of Birth: April 22, 2011
Ethnicity:
*father – Italian [including Sicilian], three eighths Irish, one eighth Polish
*mother – possibly Ashkenazi Jewish, Italian, and other
Violet McGraw is an American actress. Her roles include The Haunting of Hill House, Bennett’s War, Doctor Sleep, Separation, Black Widow, and M3GAN. She is the sister of actors Jack McGraw, Aidan McGraw, and Madeleine McGraw, the latter of The Black Phone.
Violet’s paternal grandfather is Dennis Michael Mcgraw (the son of William H. McGraw and Jeanne P. Bunny). William was the son of Edward Joseph McGraw and Emma Caroline McGill, and was likely of mostly Irish descent. Jeanne was the daughter of Edwin J. Bunny, whose grandparents were all Irish, and of Camille/Camilla/Karmila P. Mack/Miller/MacMkiewicz/Mazikiawicz, whose parents were Polish.
Violet’s paternal grandmother is Merilla Rizza (the daughter of Salvo/Salvio/Solvo Rizza and Evelyn Callie Lotito). Merilla was born in Berlin, Germany, to American parents. Salvo was the son of Italian parents, Paul Rizza, who was born in Syracuse, Sicily, and Concetta Patula. Evelyn was the daughter of Anthony H. Lotito, who was Italian, the son of parents from Teano, Caserta, Campania; and of Angela/Angelina Sylvester, whose parents were also Italian.
Violet’s maternal grandparents or great-grandparents were likely Jack Silverstein and Violet Louise Caruso. Jack was born in Michigan, the son of Russian Jewish parents, Nathan Silverstein and Celia Kravitz. Violet was born in California, the daughter of Italian parents, John/Giovanni Pasquale Caruso and Clorinda Molino.
Source: Obituary of Violet’s paternal great-grandmother, Jeanne P. (Bunny) McGraw – https://www.legacy.com
Violet’s paternal great-great-grandmother, Camille P. Mack/Miller/MacMkiewicz, on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Camille P. Mack/Miller/MacMkiewicz on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Marriage record of Violet’s paternal great-grandparents, Salvo/Salvio/Solvo Rizza and Evelyn Callie Lotito – https://www.familysearch.org
Genealogy of Violet Louise Caruso – https://www.findagrave.com
A suggestion of organizing the ancestry with percentages. 50% Italian (grandmothers) 25% Ashkenazi Jewish (maternal grandfather) 6.25% Polish. 18.75% Irish with some English and German. I am certain Jack Silverstein and Violet Elizabeth Caruso were the grandparents not great-grandparents. I am curious if this suggestion makes sense.
They were probably her grandparents, it’s just that the ages threw me off and I had no confirmation of their relationship. I didn’t find anything to even confirm for sure that they’re related to her mother, but they almost certainly are so I included it.
German is up there because I thought her great-great-grandmother could’ve been of partial German origin. But she turned out to have Polish parents, so there’s no German in her family tree that we know of. Also, her great-grandfather could’ve been fully Irish, it’s hard to tell.
Additional information. Violet’s 2nd great-grandfather Anthony H. Lotito (1890-1940) was the son of Ciro Vincent Lotito and Cecilia Secciardi (1864-1928). Both Ciro and Cecilia were born in Teano, Caserta, Campania, Italy.
Paul Rizza, 2nd great-grandfather as listed above (1891-1979) was born in Syracuse, Sicily, Italy. He was the son of Josephine Guiseppa Amenta (1857-1933). Campania and Sicilian should be added as tags.
Birth name: Violet Elizabeth McGraw
https://www.familysearch.org/search/ark:/61903/1:1:VFQL-XL4
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M3SF-53P
Camille P. Mack/Miller/MacMkiewicz, whose parents were from Germany or Russia
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Camille/Camilla/Karmila P. Mack/Miller/MacMkiewicz/Mazikiawicz, whose parents were Polish
She is thus 1/16th Polish.
Violet’s paternal grandmother is Merilla Rizza (the son of Salvo/Salvio/Solvo Rizza and Evelyn Callie Lotito). Merilla was born in Berlin, Germany, to American parents. Salvo was the son of Italian parents, Paul Rizza and Concetta Patula. Evelyn was the daughter of Anthony H. Lotito, who was Italian, and of Angela/Angelina Sylvester, whose parents were Italian.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:245B-MS6
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2FL-8KRM
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V6VY-JDK
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VFSZ-9CX