American actor Edward Norton discovered she was the 12th-generation great-grandmother of the real-life Pocahontas, the romanticized and mythologized daughter of a 17th-century Native American chief.
The Oscar-nominated artist discovered his family bond with a woman who married Virginia settler John Rolph on an episode of the PBS program Finding Roots.
Historian and presenter Henry Louis Gates Jr. confirmed the long-standing family rumor and told Norton, “You have no doubt that you have a direct trace connecting you in the 12th generation to your great-grandparents, John Rolfe and Pocahontas.”
According to Gates, the couple married on April 5, 1614, in Jamestown, Virginia, while William Shakespeare was still alive. He added that documents show that Pocahontas died three years later in Gravesend, England, and that Rolf died around March 1622.
Pocahontas invited English settlers in the early 17th century to what is now the United States. Legend has it that he saved Captain John Smith’s life by putting his head on top of him and stopping his execution.
Norton, 53, who researched his lineage before appearing on Finding Your Roots, said he didn’t like that part of the story. When asked what it was like to have a slave-owning relative, the actor replied, “Short answer: this sort of thing is irritating.”
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