Gene Tierney

Birth Name: Gene Eliza Tierney

Date of Birth: November 19, 1920

Place of Birth: Brooklyn, New York City, New York, U.S.

Date of Death: November 6, 1991

Place of Death: Houston, Harris, Texas, U.S.

Ethnicity: English, Irish, one eighth Sephardi Jewish, Dutch

Gene Tierney was an American film and stage actress. Her roles included the films The Return of Frank James, Hudson’s Bay, Tobacco Road, Belle Starr, Sundown (1941), The Shanghai Gesture, Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake, Rings on Her Fingers, Thunder Birds, China Girl (1942), Heaven Can Wait (1943), Laura (1944), A Bell for Adano, Leave Her to Heaven, Dragonwyck, The Razor’s Edge (1946), The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, The Iron Curtain, The Wonderful Urge, Whirlpool, Night and the City (1950), Where the Sidewalk Ends, The Mating Season, On the Riviera, The Secret of Convict Lake, Close to My Heart, Way of a Gaucho, Plymouth Adventure, Never Let Me Go, Personal Affair (1953), Black Widow, The Egyptian (1954), The Left Hand of God, Advise & Consent (1962), Toys in the Attic, Four Nights of the Full Moon, and The Pleasure Seekers; the made-for-tv movie Daughter of the Mind; and the mini-series Scruples.

Gene was the daughter of Belle Lavinia (Taylor) and Howard Sherwood Tierney. She was raised in Westport, Connecticut. Gene was married to oil baron W. Howard Lee, until his death. She had two children with her former husband, fashion designer Oleg Cassini.

Gene’s paternal grandfather was John Henry Tierney (the son of John William Tierney and Harriet/Harriette Ann Sherwood). Gene’s grandfather John was born in Brooklyn, New York City. Gene’s great-grandfather John was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, England, the son of Irish immigrants, John Tierney and Ellen Fay. Gene’s great-grandmother Harriet was born in Brooklyn, the daughter of Thomas J. Sherwood and Ann Galloway.

Gene’s paternal grandmother was Harriet Eleanor “Ella” Fox (the daughter of John Albert Fox and Sarah Ann Hendrickson). Harriet was born in Brooklyn, New York City. John was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of John G./J. Fox and Hannah E. Gene’s great-grandmother Sarah was born in Jamaica, Queens, New York City, the daughter of William Ludlum/Ludlam Hendrickson and Mary/Maria Bennet/Bennett.

Gene’s maternal grandfather was Clarence Warren Taylor (the son of Col. Alfred Warren Taylor and Lavina/Lavinia/Levinia Henriques). Clarence was born in New York City, New York. Alfred was born in Massachusetts or New York, the son of Whaton Taylor and Normanda E. “Amanda” Gray, and had deep roots in the U.S. Gene’s great-grandmother Lavinia was born in New York City, the daughter of Sephardi Jewish parents, Aaron Moses Henriques, who was born in London, England, to a Jamaican-born father; and Sarah Furtado Nunes, who was also born in Kingston, Jamaica.

Gene’s maternal grandmother was Carrie Belle/Bell Hollingshead (the daughter of William Mapp/Bell Hollingshead and Henrietta Manning). Carrie was born in Brooklyn, New York City. William was born in New York City, the son of Charles Gordon Hollingshead and Ann/Anne Mapp/Pratt, who was English. Gene’s great-grandmother Henrietta was born in New York, the daughter of Henry Manning and Henrietta Reynolds, whose mother was Irish.

Sources: Genealogies of Gene Tierney – https://www.geni.com
https://www.findagrave.com

Gene’s maternal grandfather, Clarence Warren Taylor, on the 1880 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org

Death record of Gene’s maternal grandfather, Clarence Warren Taylor – https://www.familysearch.org

ethnic

Curious about ethnicity

14 Responses

  1. arthwen says:

    She was, to me, one of the most beautiful Old Hollywood actresses, alongside Grace Kelly.

  2. Erik1714 says:

    Gene’s paternal grandfather was John Henry Tierney (the son of John William Tierney and Harriet Ann Sherwood). Gene’s grandfather John was born in Brooklyn, New York. Gene’s great-grandfather John was the son of Irish immigrants, John Tierney and Ellen Fay. Harriet was the daughter of Thomas J. Sherwood and Ann Galloway.

    Gene’s maternal grandfather was Clarence Warren Taylor (the son of Col. Alfred Warren Taylor and Lavinia Henriques). Clarence was born in New York. Alfred was born in Massachusetts to Whaton Taylor and Normanda “Amanda” E. Gray, and had deep lines in America. Lavinia was born in New York, the daughter of Sephardi Jewish parents, Aaron Moses Henriques, who was born in London, England, and Sarah Furtado Nunes, who was born in Kingston, Jamaica.

    Gene’s maternal grandmother was Carrie Bell Hollingshead (the daughter of William Mapp Hollingshead and Henrietta Manning). Carrie was born in Brooklyn, New York. William was the son of Charles Gordon Hollingshead and Anne Mapp, who was English. Henrietta was the daughter of Henry Manning and Henrietta Reynolds, whose mother was Irish.

    Gene’s ethnicity: English, along with Irish, 1/8 Sephardi Jewish, some Dutch

  3. passingtime85 says:

    Correction.

    Shouldn’t her profile say she’s 1/8th Sephardic, instead of just the “some” moniker? Other profiles usually mention that much heritage in terms of fractions, at least when the percentage is that high.

    • follers says:

      Still working on her great-grandfather Alfred Warren Taylor’s background. At least one of Alfred and Lavina’s children married a Jewish spouse, so it’s possible that Alfred was Jewish, too.

      In fact, the Jewish spouse’s mother’s maiden name was Henriques, too.

      • ashash says:

        I knew she was too beautiful to just be Irish/English. She is probably 1/4 Jewish.

        • Alice says:

          She could perfectly be Irish or English. In fact that’s what most of her ancestry is.

          • Preservationist says:

            In truth she’s very little Irish. Only the Tierney line carried through paternally.

        • Preservationist says:

          She’s one eighth Jewish. “just English”?? Too beautiful to be? What the hell ashash?? Look up Julia Princep (199% English). She was the most beautiful woman in the 19th century by most standards.

          What you write is the very height of ignorance.

    • andrewcoe says:

      She is also Dutch through her grandmother Harriet Eleanor (Ella) Fox. Ella’s mother is Sarah Ann Hendrickson, and through that line you find a mix of English and Dutch, with names like Nostrand, Wyckoff, Voorhees, and Stoothoff.

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