Daniel Gillies

LOS ANGELES – AUG 10: Gillies arriving to CW Premiere Party on August 10, 2011 in Burbank, CA, DFree/Bigstock.com

Birth Name: Daniel J. Gillies

Place of Birth: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Date of Birth: March 14, 1976

Ethnicity: English, Scottish, Irish, Northern Irish, at least 1/16th French

Daniel Gillies is a New Zealand-Canadian actor, film producer, director, and screenwriter. His roles include the shows Street Legal, Masters of Horror, The Vampire Diaries, Saving Hope, The Originals, which he also directed episodes of; Virgin River, The Newsreader, and Sight Unseen; the made-for-tv movies Snow Queen (2002) and The Lost Wife of Robert Durst; the mini-series Into the West; and the films A Soldier’s Sweetheart, No One Can Hear You, Various Positions, Spider-Man 2 (2004), Bride and Prejudice, The Sensation of Sight, Captivity (2007), Uncross the Stars, Occupation: Rainfall, and Coming Home in the Dark. He wrote, directed, and starred in the film Broken Kingdom.

Daniel was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, to parents from New Zealand. When he was five, his parents decided to return to their native country, and the family lived in Invercargill and then Hamilton. His father, John, is a pediatrician. His mother is a nurse. When embarking on an acting career, Daniel lived in Australia, Canada, and then Los Angeles, California. He has two children with his former wife, American actress Rachael Leigh Cook.

Daniel’s patrilineal line can be traced to Thomas Gillies, who was born, c. 1763, in Rothesay, Isle of Bute, Scotland.

Daniel is descended from renowned Scottish-born otolaryngologist Sir Harold Gillies (Harold Delf Gillies), known as the “father of modern plastic surgery,” and his English-born wife, Kathleen Margaret Jackson. Sir Harold was born in Dunedin, New Zealand, the son of politician Robert Gillies, who was a Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Bruce, from 1884 to 1885; and of Emily Street. Robert was born in Rothesay, Argyll and Bute, the son of John Gillies, who was a lawyer and Otago Provincial Council member; and of Isabella Lillie. Kathleen Jackson was born in Shoeburyness, Essex, England, to an English father, and to a mother from Tarbolton, Ayrshire, Scotland.

Daniel’s maternal grandfather was Leonard George McNeill (the son of Robert Henry McNeill and Nellie Edith Brickland). Leonard was born in Taihape, Rangitikei, New Zealand. Robert was born in Akaroa, Canterbury, New Zealand, the son of John McNeill, who was from Antrim, Ireland; and of Melinda Jane Hoskins/Hosking, who was from Cornwall, England. Daniel’s great-grandmother Nellie was born in Little River, Christchurch, Canterbury, the daughter of Henry Charles Brickland, who was born in Chester, Cheshire, England; and of Helena/Helene Florence/Jane Le Prou, whose parents were French, her father from St Samson-sur-Risle, Eure, Upper Normandy, and her mother from Échillais, Charente-maritime, Poitou-Charentes.

Daniel’s maternal grandmother was Judith Eleanor Boon (the daughter of Douglas Elmsly/Elmsley Boon and Olive Zoe Wastney). Judith was born in Nelson, New Zealand. Douglas was born in Collingwood, Tasman, the son of James Boon, whose parents were English, his father from Somerset, and his mother from Yorkshire; and of Elizabeth Simpson Elmsly, who was from Aberdeen, Scotland. Daniel’s great-grandmother Olive was the daughter of George Edmund Wastney, whose parents were from Nottinghamshire and London, respectively, in England; and of Emily Louise Alborough, whose father was from Norfolk, England.

Daniel is sometimes said to have Māori ancestry. This is not accurate.

Sources: https://podcasts.apple.com

Genealogy of Daniel Gillies – https://www.geni.com