Is anyone related to someone famous (or Infamous?)

[MANT!]

Often I see folks on the board who might be famous..but, for those of us who probably will never get as much TV time as Squiggy, perhaps you are related to someone famous..


Here's the place to tell about it..



My wife is a direct descendant of the following person..

http://recifeguide.wordpress.com/2009/05/07/lampiao/

VERY famous in Brazil...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8RWSw25KKk


Anyone else?

 

[Data Holmes]

I'm a something cousin of Burt Rutan through my father's mother... I always thought that was cool.

 

[Jono]

Related to Henry Herbert Asquith, which also means I'm related to Helena Bonham-Carter.

I know there are some odd people I'm related to on my family tree but Asquith is the main one I remember.

 

[RoJoHen]

I'm related to some guy that ran for president once. He lost.

 

[iguana_tonante]

I'm sort of related to Fred Buscaglione, a famous Italian singer of the late 40s and 50s. I'm also more directly related to a member of a communist armed group that was active in Italy during the 70s. No, I won't give the name.

 

[sojourner]

Dolly Parton is a 3rd cousin, though I have never met her.

 

[The Boy Who Cried Worf]

My mother says we are related to Commodore Peary the guy who discovered the North Pole.

She also says we are related to Joe DiMaggio, but every Sicilian in America says that.

 

[Miss Chicken]

I believe that I am a descendant of the boxer James Figg who is said to be the Father of Modern Boxing.

 

[TheBrew]

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is a distant cousin of mine.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I'm a distant cousin of President Harry Truman.

My wife is distantly related, through a marriage somewhere in her family, to Hitler. Not exactly something you use as an icebreaker, but the thread topic did say "infamous."

 

[John Picard]

Evidently, tracing my lineage back far enough links me to Richard the Lionharted.

 

[23skidoo]

Apparently my lineage includes an individual who married one of Napoleon's siblings. I've been meaning to research that for years.

One of my grandmothers was in show business for a time and claimed to have once dated Frank Sinatra, though the timing of this is a bit suspect.

This isn't a relative, but when he was a teenager Sean Connery used to deliver groceries to my dad's family home in Edinburgh. This one was actually confirmed through an unusual source. Back in the late 80s there was a popular UK singer named Betty Boo (and if you remember that name, yeah I feel old too). She was about my age or a little older, and I read in a magazine an interview with her in which she mentioned how her parents lived in an Edinburgh neighborhood where Connery delivered their groceries. The location jived with my dad's recollection.

Alex

 

[Squiggy]

My great-great-great-great-great uncle is Andrew Jackson.

 

[Finn]

I'm descended from the guy who wrote a play about William Tell. He was of Noble birth but too far out of the line of succession where he lived.

 

[What's his face]

I'm directly descended from Philemon Wright, an important Canadian entrepreneur who founded what would eventually become the city of Ottawa.

 

[Cayla]

My mom's cousin, Dave Tobik, was a relief pitcher for the Detroit Lions and Texas Rangers during the 70's and early 80's.

 

[Squiggy]

I'm directly descended from Philemon Wright, an important Canadian entrepreneur who founded what would eventually become the city of Ottawa.

Silly man.

No Canadian is "important".

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I have an uncle who briefly played for the Phillies in the early 70's.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Evidently, tracing my lineage back far enough links me to Richard the Lionharted.

I have a friend who is related to King Henry I. Then again, he did have a lot of illegitimate children, so, if you have any English blood, there's probably a shot of being related to him too.

AFAIK, I'm not related to anyone famous (if I am, it's either buried in history in Europe or part of the really small part of my ancestry that's not a relatively recent immigrant to America).

 

[Thespeckledkiwi]

A great aunt was part of the Dillinger gang.

My uncle's...relative was great friends with Charles Lindberg and was one of the pioneer's of aviation in America (Otto Timm).

Can't think of any others off the top of my head.