From Executive Producer Lisa Kudrow (“Friends,” “The Comeback”) — in conjunction with her production company Is or Isn’t Entertainment and the U.K.’s Wall to Wall productions, “Who Do You Think You Are?” is an adaptation of the award-winning hit British television documentary series. The seven-episode program will lead celebrities on a journey of self-discovery as they unearth their family trees that reveal surprising, inspiring and even tragic stories that are often linked to crucial events in American history.
In the sixth episode, actress and New Yorker, Susan Sarandon wants to find out what happened to her Grandmother, Anita and what her history is. The first stop is home to visit Susan’s mother, Leonora. Leonora tells Susan that her mother, Anita was apparently a show girl and was very much non existent in her life. So sad. The only photo of Leonora and her mother is a distorted photo taken in front of funny mirrors at a circus. This encourages Susan even more to get out there and find out about her long lost Grandmother and her roots.
A genealogist and a historian bring Anita’s birth certificate and marriage certificate to the forefront. The first reveals that Anita had 8 siblings. The second…well, more on that later. At this point in the episode, Susan’s son, Miles helps with researching their Italian roots at the NY Public Library. The research brings Susan to Italy where church baptism records trace Susan’s Italian roots back 10 generations to the 1600s! Fascinating! Back to the marriage license revelation…Susan is brought not one but two licenses, the latter stating that Anita was never married (and there is no record of a divorce from her first marriage). Scandalous? You’ll have to watch and see.
Then, with the help of her son Miles again, Susan begins research on Anita’s second husband, Ben. All of the research leads Susan to her Grandmother’s home…which happened to be only an hour away from her home all of this time. Incredible. A neighbor tells Susan all about her Grandmother but it gets better as Susan then meets Anita’s nieces who have a ton of information to share about Anita and the family. This was definitely a successful journey for Susan Sarandon, as she not only traced her Italian roots back 10 generations but she met cousins who have been living so close all of this time!
Of all of the episodes of Who Do You Think You Are? this has to be the only one worth airing an episode along the lines of Where Are They Now? to see what became of Susan connecting with this part of her family. This was a fabulous episode…it will definitely have viewers anticipating what’s next not only during but after the episode is over.
Who Do You Think You Are? airs Fridays at 8/7c on NBC.