Up Next
Back to Show
Finding Your Roots
The Butterfly Effect Preview
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. introduces actors Debra Messing & Melanie Lynskey to ancestors who made bold decisions that forever reshaped their family trees. Moving from shtetls in Eastern Europe to a fruit stand in NY City to the wilds of New Zealand, Gates introduces his guests to relatives who took great risks, overcame enormous hardships—and unwittingly transformed the lives of their descendants.
Support Provided By
Unlock with PBS Passport
53:11
Uncover the paternal ancestry of Stephen King, Gloria Reuben and Courtney B. Vance.
Unlock with PBS Passport
52:41
The ancestral pasts of Adrian Grenier, Michelle Rodriguez, and Linda Chavez.
Unlock with PBS Passport
52:40
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. reveals the ancestral pasts of John Legend and Wanda Sykes.
Unlock with PBS Passport
52:40
The ancestral pasts of Martha Stewart, Margaret Cho, and Sanjay Gupta.
Unlock with PBS Passport
52:40
The ancestral pasts of Samuel L. Jackson, Condoleezza Rice, and Ruth Simmons.
Unlock with PBS Passport
52:40
A look at the ancestral pasts of actors Robert Downey, Jr. and Maggie Gyllenhaal.
Unlock with PBS Passport
52:40
The family histories of Pastor Rick Warren, Rabbi Angela Buchdahl, and Sheikh Yasir Qadhi.
Unlock with PBS Passport
52:40
The ancestral pasts of married Hollywood actors Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick.
Unlock with PBS Passport
52:40
The ancestral pasts of journalist Barbara Walters and educator Geoffrey Canada.
Unlock with PBS Passport
52:40
The family histories of New Orleans musicians Branford Marsalis and Harry Connick Jr.
Unlock with PBS Passport
52:40
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. examines the pasts of politicians, John Lewis and Cory Booker.