Who Do You Think You Are? (US) Episode Guide

Episode Guide

Who Do You Think You Are? (US): Season 3 (2012)

• Season 3 Episode 12: Paula Deen

  Chef Paula Deen investigates her family history and learns about an event that affected her ancestors during the Civil War.

• Season 3 Episode 11: Jason Sudeikis

  Actor Jason Sudeikis heads to Chicago to research the life and death of his paternal grandfather and makes a discovery about his great great grandfather in Pennsylvania.

• Season 3 Episode 10: Rashida Jones

  American actress and writer Rashida Jones uncovers her maternal family history, tracing a path from Manhattan to Eastern Europe. She also solves a mystery about her grandmother's missing years

• Season 3 Episode 9: Rob Lowe

  The West Wing and Parks and Recreation actor Rob Lowe traces his family history, learning that one of his ancestors fought against George Washington during the American Revolution

• Season 3 Episode 8: Edie Falco

  Nurse Jackie and The Sopranos star Edie Falco sets out to learn more about the life of her mysterious great grandfather George McGrath. The journey takes her to Manhattan, where she discovers an unexpected link to Wisconsin and from there the trail leads to England, where she traces her British ancestry to Penzance in Cornwall

• Season 3 Episode 7: Rita Wilson

  American singer, actress and film producer Rita Wilson, the wife of Hollywood star Tom Hanks, travels to Greece and Bulgaria as she learns more about her late father. Along the way she uncovers an emotional secret that is completely unexpected

• Season 3 Episode 6: Helen Hunt

  Oscar-winning actress Helen Hunt traces her ancestry, delving into a family past she knows little about. Her research uncovers the rags-to-riches story of her great-great-grandfather, a German-Jewish immigrant who arrived in California as gold was being discovered. She also discovers a female ancestor played a fundamental role in the women's rights movement

• Season 3 Episode 5: Jerome Bettis

  Former professional football player Jerome Bettis travels to Kentucky to learn about his mother's side of the family.

• Season 3 Episode 4: Reba McEntire

  Nashville-based country singer Reba McEntire delves into her ancestry. Making a stop in North Carolina, she is distressed to discover a family connection to the slave trade, and that her earliest known relative arrived from England travelling alone as a nine-year-old boy

• Season 3 Episode 3: Blair Underwood

  Actor Blair Underwood utilizes a DNA test to dig deeper into his family's roots, where he discovers the secret of his family's origin.

• Season 3 Episode 2: Marisa Tomei

  Hollywood actress Marisa Tomei sets out to investigate the story of her great-grandfather, who according to her mother was murdered in the early 1900s. The actress heads to Tuscany, where he lived, and on to the island of Elba, where he worked - and it's here that a newspaper article provides some vital clues

• Season 3 Episode 1: Martin Sheen

  American version of the genealogy show which sees celebrities trace their ancestry. In this edition, actor Martin Sheen's investigation into his past uncovers two relatives who shared his passion for activism, before unexpectedly unearthing a family secret

Who Do You Think You Are? (US): Season 2 (2011)

• Season 2 Episode 8: Ashley Judd

  Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated actress Ashley Judd, star of films including Heat and High Crimes, explores the paternal side of her family and finds evidence that one of her father's ancestors came from England and may have travelled to America on the Mayflower. US version of the genealogy show, in which celebrities trace their ancestry

• Season 2 Episode 7: Gwyneth Paltrow

  Actress Gwyneth Paltrow traces her ancestry in the American version of the genealogy show. She researches her mother Blythe Danner's Pennsylvania-Dutch roots, and her father Bruce Paltrow's eastern European Jewish lineage, but has difficulty establishing which family stories are based on facts

• Season 2 Episode 6: Steve Buscemi

  Actor, writer and director Steve Buscemi traces his ancestry in the American version of the genealogy show. The star of Reservoir Dogs, Fargo and Boardwalk Empire researches the life of his mother's great-grandfather Ralph B Montgomery, who lived in New Jersey during the 1870s. However, as he digs deeper, he uncovers a darker story involving a tarnished Civil War service record and a mysterious suicide

• Season 2 Episode 5: Lionel Richie

  American singer-songwriter and musician Lionel Richie sets out to unlock the mystery of the man his beloved grandmother never spoke about - her father John Louis Brown. Among those who help him are his sister Deborah, keeper of the Richie family's photos, and Mark Lowe of the Nashville Public Library

• Season 2 Episode 4: Kim Cattrall

  Actress Kim Cattrall searches for information about her grandfather, who abandoned her mother and aunt when they were young.

• Season 2 Episode 3: Rosie O'Donnell

  Comedienne and actress Rosie O'Donnell researches her Irish ancestry, focusing on the story of her mother, who died when Rosie was 10, after a life blighted by poverty. In a journey taking her to Ireland via Canada, Rosie discovers how the potato famine drove family members into the harsh conditions of a workhouse, before a benefactor secured their passage to America

• Season 2 Episode 2: Tim McGraw

  American country singer and actor Tim McGraw, who has sold more than 40 million albums, researches his ancestry and discovers links to early settlers in America and Elvis Presley

• Season 2 Episode 1: Vanessa Williams

  Desperate Housewives and Ugly Betty star Vanessa Williams traces her family's history. She discovers a rare tintype photograph of her ancestor David Carll, one of the first black soldiers to enlist in the Union army after the ban on them serving in the Civil War was lifted, and investigates how another forebear, William A Fields, went from being a slave to a member of the Tennessee National Assembly

Who Do You Think You Are? (US): Season 1 (2010)

• Season 1 Episode 7: Spike Lee

  Actor and director Spike Lee is determined to discover more about his family's slave origins as he investigates the ancestry of his maternal grandmother Zimmie Jackson. Visiting archives in Atlanta, Georgia, he uncovers the names of three great-grandparents, a discovery that takes him on a journey back through emancipation, the American Civil War and ultimately the identity of the master who owned his family

• Season 1 Episode 6: Brooke Shields

  Actress Brooke Shields traces her ancestry, and discovers that her grandmothers could scarcely have had more different family histories. She travels to Newark, New Jersey, where her maternal grandmother was raised in a poor immigrant neighbourhood, before finding out how her paternal grandmother's family made their riches as bankers to the Vatican. She also discovers a surprising ancestral link to the French aristocracy

• Season 1 Episode 5: Matthew Broderick

  Actor Matthew Broderick was 20 years old when his father died, leaving unanswered questions about his paternal roots. During a journey to find out more, the actor uncovers his grandfather's heroism during the First World War and finds the final resting place of an ancestor who fought in the American Civil War

• Season 1 Episode 4: Lisa Kudrow

  Actress Lisa Kudrow, best known for her role as Phoebe in Friends, embarks on a journey to find out how her great-grandmother died in the Holocaust, travelling to Belarus, where she unearths documents and eyewitness testimonies. The star also finds out what became of a relative her family lost touch with

• Season 1 Episode 3: Susan Sarandon

  Hollywood star Susan Sarandon tries to trace her ancestry, focusing on the story of her enigmatic grandmother Anita Rigali, who disappeared when the actress's mother Leonora was a child. She visits New York believing Anita may have worked as a showgirl in the city, and uncovers details of a poverty-stricken childhood that was marred by tragedy

• Season 1 Episode 2: Who Do You Think You Are? (Emmitt Smith)

  Former American football player Emmitt Smith traces his ancestry, in an attempt to learn about his family's African roots. However, as his journey continues, he finds an unexpected connection to slave owners in Virginia, and makes several painful discoveries about the suffering of his ancestors

• Season 1 Episode 1: Sarah Jessica Parker

  Celebrities trace their ancestry in the American version of the British genealogy show. Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker is the first to explore her family's roots and her journey takes her to New England, where a collection of 17th-century trial papers reveals that an ancestor was involved in one of the most terrifying events in the country's history