Finding Your Roots

2012
4.8
154 reviews
TV-14
Rating
Eligible
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Finding Your Roots - Season 7 episodes (10)

1 To the Manor Born
1/19/21
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. uncovers the surprising lineages of actor Glenn Close and director John Waters, digging into centuries past to encounter a succession of bold forebears who found fortune amidst drama and rebellion.
2 Against All Odds
1/26/21
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. introduces media personality Andy Cohen and radio journalist Nina Totenberg to Jewish ancestors who journeyed from Russia to America determined to overcome enormous odds in the face of oppression.
3 No Irish Need Apply
2/2/21
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. reveals the roots of actor Jane Lynch and comedian Jim Gaffigan, exploring the experience of their Irish ancestors on America’s shores—an experience characterized by sacrifice and religious persecution.
4 The Shirts on their Backs
2/9/21
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. reveals the immigrant roots of actors Tony Shalhoub and Christopher Meloni, introducing ancestors who confronted inconceivable challenges almost entirely alone.
5 Write My Name in the Book of Life
2/16/21
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. helps musician Pharrell Williams and filmmaker Kasi Lemmons understand the experiences of their enslaved ancestors, uncovering extraordinarily rare first-person accounts of their relatives who endured bondage.
6 Country Roots
2/23/21
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. uncovers the remarkable backgrounds of country music icons Clint Black and Rosanne Cash, traveling generations into the past to trace lineages from the shores of Sicily to the American South.
7 The New World
4/13/21
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. explores the family trees of actor John Lithgow and journalist Maria Hinojosa, introducing them to ancestors who arrived in North America long before the birth of the United States.
8 Anchored to the Past
4/20/21
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. introduces trail-blazing journalists Gretchen Carlson and Don Lemon to the ancestors who blazed a trail for them, traveling from Louisiana sugar plantations to immigrant towns in rural Minnesota.
9 On Broadway
4/27/21
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. investigates the families of Broadway stars Audra McDonald and Mandy Patinkin, introducing them to relatives whose names they’ve never heard before. He leads his guests back to Eastern Europe and the American west.
10 Laughing on the Inside
5/4/21
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. uncovers the roots of comedians Lewis Black and Roy Wood, Jr.—two very funny men whose family trees are filled with stories that tend more towards drama than comedy.

About this show

In sharing their stories, FINDING YOUR ROOTS uses every tool available, from cutting-edge DNA research to old-school genealogical sleuthing to reveal long-buried secrets.

Ratings and reviews

4.8
154 reviews
Kathleen Kerr
August 2, 2015
This show has prompted me to try finding my own historical people. I know my family brought about the world's leading people from ancient Normandy, on to America and Canada (Arcadia). The Louisiana Purchase, The founding of the State of Louisiana, and the founder of New Orleans Louisiana itself! Plus my grandfather fought at Normandy in WWII! All my peoples prior to just us kids are dead and gone so this show is the best help I have had to get to know a family that has a castle in Normandy France (400 year
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Susan Kay
September 9, 2016
Compelling documentaries of the historical roots of the melting pot of the people's of our current day America! Harvard Professor Gates uses all the current scientific tools available, as well as recorded historical documents world-wide, to solve the puzzles of Geneology of famous guests. Everyone's family history has a story, and this program urges one to ask - What's Yours?
11 people found this review helpful
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Wendy McNees
March 10, 2022
Wow I cried when Mandy Patinkin found out that 20 of his relatives died in the Holocaust. Audra McDonald Great Grandfather Clarence Jones was a very hard worker and her Grandfather Thomas was a Great man .
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