Daniel Radcliffe — actor with roots in the Russian Empire
Daniel Jacob Radcliffe was born on 23 July 1989 at Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital in London, the only child of the casting agent Marcia Gresham, née Jacobson, and the literary agent Alan Radcliffe. His father came from a working-class Protestant family in Banbridge, County Down. His mother, born in South Africa and raised in Westcliff-on-Sea in Essex, is of Ashkenazi Jewish descent, with roots in Germany, Lithuania, Poland and Russia. His connection to the Russian Empire runs through her family and lies four generations back.
In 2019 he explored both sides of his family in the BBC series Who Do You Think You Are? On his mother's side the line runs through his grandmother, Patricia Gresham, to her father, Samuel Gershon, a jeweller with a diamond business in Hatton Garden, and to Samuel's parents, Louis Gershon and his wife Jessie: the records show Louis as born in Germany and Jessie in Russia. No town is recorded for her. Before the programme Radcliffe had repeated a family story that they "originated in Russia and left because of the pogroms", while saying he did not know whether it was true.
After a robbery at his business, Samuel Gershon died in 1936. Three weeks later his widow, Raie, changed the family name from Gershon to Gresham to protect their daughters. Marcia later took her mother's surname, Gresham, rather than her father's, Jacobson.
Radcliffe's first television role was the young David in the BBC's David Copperfield (1999), and his film debut came in The Tailor of Panama (2001). Cast as Harry Potter after months of auditions, he played the role in all eight films from 2001 to 2011. During and after the series he appeared in Extras, December Boys and the television film My Boy Jack (2007), and worked extensively on stage in London and on Broadway. His later films include Swiss Army Man and Now You See Me 2 (both 2016). He was not raised in the faith but has said he is proud to be Jewish.
"Great-great-grandparents Louis Gershon (born in Germany) and Jessie Gershon (born in Russia) settled in Britain; the family name became Gresham in 1936."
Migration storyTracing the roots — Russia (great-great-grandmother Jessie Gershon; town not documented)
His mother's family were Ashkenazi Jews from Germany, Lithuania, Poland and Russia. The documented Russian link, traced on Who Do You Think You Are? in 2019, is his great-great-grandmother Jessie Gershon, recorded as born in Russia; her son Samuel was his great-grandfather.
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Russia (great-great-grandmother Jessie Gershon; town not documented). At the time, this region lay within the Russian Empire, which spanned from Poland to the Pacific.
A career defined by ambition
"I'm very proud of my Jewish roots."