Affleck in 2010, marcello farina / Shutterstock.com
Birth Name: Benjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt
Place of Birth: Berkeley, Alameda, California, United States
Date of Birth: August 15, 1972
Ethnicity: English, Irish, German, Scottish, Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, distant French and Swiss-German, remote Swedish and Welsh
Ben Affleck is an American actor, writer, director, and producer. He is known for his roles in Armageddon, Gone Girl, Argo, and The Town, among many other films. He also directed the latter two. He won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Good Will Hunting, with childhood friend, actor Matt Damon. Ben is the son of Chris Anne (Boldt) and Timothy Byers Affleck. His brother is actor Casey Affleck. He has three children with his former wife, actress Jennifer Garner.
Ben was selected People Magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive” in 2002.
Ben’s maternal grandfather was of half German and half Irish ancestry. Much of the rest of Ben’s ancestry is English, along with some Scottish, Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, other German, distant French and Swiss-German, and remote Swedish and Welsh. Ben’s maternal grandmother was from a family with roots in the American South.
Ben’s middle name, Géza, a Hungarian name, was given to him after a Hungarian friend of his parents, who was a Holocaust survivor. This was mentioned in an interview on Inside the Actors Studio (2001).
Ben is a tenth cousin, once removed, of his friend Matt Damon. Ben’s paternal nine times great-grandparents, Elizabeth and William Knowlton, of England, were also Matt’s paternal ten times great-grandparents. It appears that, until 2014, Ben and Matt were not aware of this genealogical relationship (common for two people of New England, English, ancestry).
Ben’s patrilineal line can be traced back to his great-great-great-grandfather, William F. Affleck, who was born, c. 1825, in Kirkpatrick Durham, Kirkcudbright, Scotland.
Ben’s paternal grandfather was Myron Hopkins Strong Affleck, Jr. (the son of Myron Hopkins Strong Affleck and Frances Lucretia Perkins). Ben’s grandfather Myron was born in Rhode Island. Ben’s great-grandfather Myron was the son of William Robert Affleck, Jr. and Mary Hoyt Strong. Frances was the daughter of Willard Clifford Perkins and Rachel/Rachael Harris Rathburn Cross.
Ben’s paternal grandmother is Nancy Louise Byers (the daughter of Allen Dewey Byers and Dorothy Elizabeth McGuire). Nancy was born in Michigan. Allen was the son of Allen C. Byers and Lulu Lee/Lori French. Dorothy was the daughter of George Woolverton McGuire, Jr. and Viola M. Naylor.
Ben’s maternal grandfather was William O’Brien Boldt (the son of Joseph Raymond Boldt and Anne Rita Lenihan). William was born in New Jersey. Joseph was born in Rhode Island, the son of German immigrants, Heinrich/Henry Boldt and Eliza/Ida Luttuch/Lettich/Hanckal; Heinrich is known for discovering the 10th century concave gold disc, the Curmsun Disc, when he was twelve years old. He found the door to the cellar crypt while playing with friends at the Groß- Weckow village in Pomerania. Ben’s great-grandmother Anna was born in County Down, Ireland, the daughter of Edward Lenihan and Anne/Annie Smyth.
Ben’s maternal grandmother was Elizabeth N. Roberts (the daughter of Lawrence Lester Roberts and Margaret McLain). Elizabeth was born in New York. Lawrence was born in the District of Columbia, the son of parents from the state of Georgia, Flournoy Carter Roberts and Margaret V. Cole. Ben’s great-grandmother Margaret McLain was born in Mississippi, the daughter of parents who were also born there, Gordentia Waite McClain and Harriet M. Roberts. One of Ben’s maternal great-great-great-great-great-grandfathers was Adam Rankin Alexander, a U.S. Congressman, of the Jacksonian Republican party, from Tennessee (from 1823 to 1827).
A DNA test taken by the show Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (2014) stated that Ben’s genetic ancestry is:
*99.7% European
——–*46% British & Irish
*0.2% Middle Eastern and North African
*0.1% Sub-Saharan African
In his 2016 book about the show, Finding Your Roots, Season 2: The Official Companion to the PBS Series, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. wrote that among Ben’s genetic ancestry was a “small amount” of Ashkenazi Jewish.
Sources: Genealogies of Ben Affleck – http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com
http://www.geni.com
http://famouskin.com
http://www.genefiend.org
Family history of Ben Affleck – https://archive.is
Genealogy of Ben Affleck (focusing on his father’s side) – http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com
Marriage record of Ben’s paternal great-grandparents, Allen Dewey Byers and Dorothy Elizabeth McGuire – https://www.familysearch.org
Genealogy of Ben’s paternal great-grandmother, Dorothy Elizabeth McGuire (focusing on her father’s side) – http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com
Obituary of Ben’s maternal great-grandfather, Joseph Raymond Boldt – http://select.nytimes.com
Ben’s maternal grandmother, Elizabeth N. Roberts, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Obituary of Ben’s maternal grandmother, Elizabeth N. (Roberts) Boldt Shaw – http://www.nytimes.com
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