Will Friedle
Friedle in 2016, photo by cvanwagoner/bigstock.com
Place of Birth: Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.
Date of Birth: August 11, 1976
Ethnicity:
*father – Sephardi Jewish, Ashkenazi Jewish, as well as German, Irish, possibly remote African-Jamaican
*mother – Irish, Dutch
Will Friedle is an American actor, voice actor, comedian, screenwriter, and podcast host. In live action, he is known for his role as Eric Matthews on the series Boy Meets World and Girl Meets World; and has also featured in the films Trojan War adn National Lampoon’s Gold Diggers, on the shows Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Go Fish, and The Random Years, and in the made-for-tv movies My Date with the President’s Daughter, H-E Double Hockey Sticks, and Everything You Want. In animation, his performances include Terry McGinnis/Batman in the Batman Beyond universe and Ron Stoppable on Kim Possible, as well as the shows The Secret Saturdays, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, ThunderCats, Mad, Winx Club, Transformers: Robots in Disguise, Guardians of the Galaxy, Teen Titans Go!, which he also wrote for; Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters, DC Super Hero Girls, and The Legend of Vox Machina; films including the Batman Unlimited franchise and other DC properties, and My Little Pony: A New Generation; and video games including Kingdom Hearts II and Lego Marvel Super Heroes. He has hosted web series Geek & Sundry Painters Guild and Mini Primetime.
He was raised in Avon, Connecticut, the son of Patricia and Gary Friedle, who are lawyers. Will’s paternal grandfather was of Ashkenazi Jewish and German descent. Will’s paternal grandmother, who was Jamaican, was likely of mostly Sephardi Jewish and Irish ancestry, and possibly distant African-Jamaican. Will’s mother is of half Irish and half Dutch descent.
He is married to Susan Martens.
A 23andMe DNA test whose results Will discussed on his podcast stated that his genetic ancestry is:
*98.8% European
——–*18.7% Ashkenazi Jewish
Most of his genetic ancestry is Northwestern European, particularly the “British & Irish” category. He did not specifiy his percentage of Sephardi ancestry.
Will’s paternal grandfather was George Allen Friedle (the son of Sam/Samuel Friedle and Margaret Reydel/Routher/Reister). George was born in New York. Sam was born in Russia, the son of Jewish parents, Bernard Friedle and Victoria Ginisburg, who are listed as Yiddish-speakers on the 1920 U.S. Census. Will’s great-grandmother Margaret was born in Germany, and was likely from a Lutheran family.
Will’s paternal grandmother was Edna Maud Alethia Curtin (the daughter of Valarie Violet Maud Curtin). Edna was born in Crossroads, Saint Andrew, Jamaica, and moved to New York as a child. She was listed as “white” on U.S. Censuses. Her father was likely a Sephardi Jew. Her mother Valarie was the daughter of Nigel Hannaford Curtin and Amelia Georgiana Burnett. Amelia was listed as “coloured” on her baptismal record. It appears that her father, Charles Barrow Burnett, was had African ancestry, and that her mother, Rosanna Delisser, was of Sephardi Jewish and Irish descent.
Will’s maternal grandfather was William G. Leary (the son of Timothy E. Leary and Nora Bradley). William was born in Hartford, Connecticut. Timothy was Irish. Nora was the daughter of Irish parents, Patrick Bradley, from Clare, and Nancy Hayes.
Will’s maternal grandmother was Gertrude Markus Van Wyck (the daughter of John Van Wyck and Coba Wouters). Gertrude was born in New Jersey, to Dutch parents.
Will is a fourth cousin, twice removed, of British-Jamaican record producer Chris Blackwell. Chris’s maternal great-great-great-grandparents, Samuel de Aaron Delisser and Abigail Charlotte Lindo, were also Will’s paternal great-great-great-great-great-grandparents. The two are also fourth cousins, three times removed, through their shared ancestors Alexandre Elisha Lindo and Hannah. They are related through their shared Sephardi Jewish lines.
Sources: Will’s paternal grandfather, George Allen Friedle, on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Obituary of Will’s paternal grandfather, George Allen Friedle – https://www.newspapers.com
Death record of Will’s paternal great-grandfather, Sam/Samuel Friedle – https://www.familysearch.org
Birth record of Will’s paternal grandmother, Edna Maud Alethia Curtin – https://www.familysearch.org
Will’s paternal grandmother, Edna Maud Alethia Curtin, on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Genealogy of Will’s paternal great-great-grandmother, Amelia Georgiana Burnett – https://www.geni.com
>was Edna
>Valarie was the daughter of Nigel Hannaford Curtin and Amelia Georgiana Burnett.
Amelia was listed as coloured on her baptismal record.
https://prnt.sc/WxUHOfAXbLwQ
If the tree on familysearch is correct, her mother, Rosanna Delisser, was the daughter of a Jewish father, Alexander Samuel Delisser, and of Amelia McConnell (white woman).
I can’t find the baptismal record of her father, Charles Barrow Burnett, but 2 of his siblings were also listed as coloured.
https://prnt.sc/IlM-W9jzwEFN
https://prnt.sc/wPaG64Pkt_-m
>Gertrude Markus Van Wyck
>Wyck and Coba Wouters).
>to Dutch parents.
As you can see from this tree, Alexander Delisser was Sephardic.
https://www.geni.com/people/Amelia-Curtin/6000000033045809878
Looks like Will is a fourth cousin 3 times removed of Chris Blackwell of Island Records, through Alexandre Elisha Lindo and Hannah.
Edna’s father was possibly named Dudley Alexander.
There’s a Dudley Clifford Alexander from Kingston that fits age-wise. This Dudley was also a Sephardic Jew (I think his great-grandmother Catherine Elkin was Ashkenazi, but the rest of his ancestors were Sephardi).
Who is Berid?
Maternal grandfather: William G. Leary (1906-1962) Hartford, Connecticut. He was the son of Timothy E. Leary about 1867 in Ireland and Nora Bradley born in Massachusetts in 1869. Nora was the daughter of Irish parents Patrick Bradley and Nancy Hayes.
Maternal grandmother: Gertrude M. Van Wyck, who was the daughter of John Van Wyck. John was born in the Netherlands in 1877.