Henry Louis Gates Uncovers Robert Downey Jr.'s Genealogy On "Finding Your Roots"

Henry Louis Gates Jr. has helped celebrities uncover fascinating aspects of their ancestry, oftentimes discovering things they never knew before. This week on his PBS series "Finding Your Roots With Henry Louis Gates," he will delve into the genealogy of actors Robert Downey Jr. and Maggie Gyllenhaal.

Both Downey and Gyllenhaal are textbook examples of the many Americans with a rich mixture of European ancestry. Gates and his team dig into their deep American roots in early colonial communities, and meet their Eastern European Jewish ancestors, who share almost identical migration stories from the Mayflower to Ellis Island.

On his show, Gates has already unearthed the ancestry of media legend Barbara Walters, and even found a family connection between actor Kevin Bacon and his wife Kyra Sedgwick.

Find out what the two discover Sunday night at 9 p.m. on PBS.

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Comments

[bilyroby]

05:19 PM on 04/24/2012

Professor Gates, the hardest thing for you to do is the genealogy of the human race, where did the split come in, why is there different cultures, and which one is the worst.

[monilove42]

11:04 AM on 04/24/2012

Sick.

[destiny smith]

07:22 PM on 04/23/2012

I would love to find out my roots I wonder how much they charge?

[heather65]

03:19 PM on 04/23/2012

I saw this episode...very fascinating...and Maggie's segment was also interesting. I hope to have my DNA traced someday.

[robertste998]

03:05 PM on 04/23/2012

What a great show! Gates does a great job. I'm addicted to it.

[Gabrielle Rossi]

02:14 PM on 04/23/2012

That is a very interesting show.

[Hoodooman]

01:47 PM on 04/23/2012

While I would enjoy tracing my ancestry for entertainment purposes, I do not subscribe to the notion that one's ancestry has any bearing who I am as an individual. It appears however, that many do attribute much of who they are to their ancestry, and that would be a sad mistake.

[car37ter]

12:33 PM on 04/23/2012

I'm a huge fan of RD--loved in Restoration.

[Kritikos]

10:38 AM on 04/23/2012

......under his weed plants..

[jb2xalot]

02:20 AM on 04/23/2012

By watching this show I discovered that Robert Downey Jr. and I share a direct relative. Who'd have thought. Very cool.

[PandaUnbound]

02:00 AM on 04/23/2012

Big deal. Every one knows about the six degrees of seperation and Kevin Bacon.

[iunhartbaciv]

07:40 AM on 04/23/2012

I'd love to have six or even ten degrees of connection with Kevin Bacon.

[dawnsiek]

12:11 AM on 04/23/2012

What was the name of the DNA company that HLG referred to tonight?

[wilinot]

09:40 PM on 04/22/2012

I love this show, and on Friday nite I love watching "Who Do You Think You Are".

[trumbull desi]

09:35 PM on 04/22/2012

This is a very interesting program. It's fascinating to see the richness of the information that the genealogist can find. And the pairing of the public figures is really well done, too.

[Bostontru2u]

10:03 PM on 04/22/2012

I agree.

[yahooserious]

10:48 PM on 04/22/2012

Genealogy is addicting...fun, fascinating and sometimes sad. Always worth the time..

[Angie Daniels]

09:27 PM on 04/22/2012

With Downey's coloring, I wouldn't be surprised if way back in there he's got some native american, persian or perhaps even african ancestry.

[iunhartbaciv]

07:40 AM on 04/23/2012

Try Jewish.

[monilove42]

11:06 AM on 04/24/2012

Yes he was very convincing in Tropic Thunder...I almost forgot, he was Robert Downey Jr....jk.

[Angie Daniels]

02:33 PM on 04/24/2012

Tropic Thunder was hilarious on so many levels. But I like him most as Tony Stark. (but I'm a Black woman/sci fi nerd who loves superheroes, so what do I know)