Williams in 2013, image via Prphotos.com
Birth Name: Michelle Ingrid Williams
Place of Birth: Kalispell, Montana, U.S.
Date of Birth: September 9, 1980
Ethnicity: Norwegian (43.75%), as well as English, German, Danish, Swiss-German, Swedish, Scottish, and Welsh
Michelle Williams is an American actress. She has had leading roles in Brokeback Mountain, Blue Valentine, My Week with Marilyn, Manchester by the Sea, and The Fabelmans, all of which she has been nominated for an Oscar for; and has also appeared in the films Lassie, Species, Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, Dick, But I’m a Cheerleader, Me Without You, Prozac Nation, The Station Agent, The Hottest State, I’m Not There, Deception, Synecdoche, New York; Wendy and Lucy, Shutter Island, Meek’s Cutoff, Oz the Great and Powerful, Certain Women, Wonderstruck, The Greatest Showman, All the Money in the World, I Feel Pretty, Venom, and its sequel; and After the Wedding, and on television’s Dawson’s Creek and Fosse/Verdon.
Michelle is the daughter of Carla Ingrid (Swenson) and Larry Richard Williams, an author, stock and commodity trader, and politician, who was the Republican Party’s nominee for the U.S. Senate from Montana, in 1978 and 1982. Michelle’s father is of one half Norwegian, one quarter German, and approximately one quarter English, ancestry, along with distant Scottish roots. Michelle’s mother is of three eighths Norwegian, one eighth Swedish, one eighth Swiss-German, one eighth Danish, possibly one eighth English, one sixteenth Welsh, and one sixteenth Scottish, ancestry. Thus, Michelle is of 43.75% Norwegian ancestry.
Her family moved to San Diego, California, when she was nine.
Michelle is married to film and theatre director Thomas Kail. She has a daughter with her former partner, late actor Heath Ledger; and two children with Thomas.
Michelle’s patrilineal line traces to Stephen Williams, who was born, c. 1584, in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England. Stephen’s son, Robert Williams, immigrated to the United States.
Michelle’s paternal grandfather was Richard Sigwart Williams (the son of Lloyd Garfield Williams and Mae/May Elizabeth Sigwart). Richard was born in Miles City, Custer, Montana. Lloyd was born in Wisconsin, the son of Frank Thomas Williams and Mary Adelaide Thurston, and had English, and distant Scottish, ancestry. Mae was born in Missouri, the daughter of Gustav/Gus W. Sigwart and Gussie Boehme, and had German ancestry.
Michelle’s paternal grandmother was Sylva Berthea Brurs (the daughter of John Bertin Tobiasson Brørs/Brurs and Thea Nelsen/Nelson). Sylva was born in Montana. John was born in Namdalseid, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway, the son of Tobias Olson Brørs and Sanna/Sana Olsdatter/Olson Kaldalbakken. Thea was born in Minnesota. Thea’s father, Martin Nelsen/Nelson, was born in Wisconsin, to Norwegian parents. Thea’s mother, Margaret Tollefson/Tollofson/Beck, was born in Minnesota, also to Norwegian parents, with roots in Espeset, Nes, Buskerud.
Michelle’s maternal grandfather was Floyd D. Swenson (the son of Fred Reid Swenson and Lula/Lulu Schenk). Floyd was born in Montana. Fred was born in Utah. Fred’s father, John Olaf Swenson, was born in Utah, to Swedish parents, August Swenson, from Stafsinge, Halland, and Bertha Olson Peterson/Persson, from (Valby) Kyrkheddinge, Malmohus. Fred’s mother, Prissella Marrimone Lewis, was born in Utah, to a Welsh emigrant father, Frederick Lewis, from Glamorgan, and a Scottish emigrant mother, Agnes Reed Ferguson, from Lanarkshire. Michelle’s great-grandmother Lula’s father, Karl “Charles” Schenk, was born in Eggiwil, Signau, Canton of Bern, Switzerland, the son of Samuel Schenk and Magdalena Aebersold, and had Swiss-German ancestry. Michelle’s great-grandmother Lula’s mother, Michelle’s great-great-grandmother Martina Larsen, was born in Denmark, the daughter of Poul/Paul Christian Larsen and Johanna Maria/Marie Poulson.
Michelle’s maternal grandmother was Doris T./I. Reiquam (the daughter of William Daniel Reiquam and Bessie Perry Crane). Doris was born in Montana. William was born in Minnesota, the son of Norwegian parents, Kristoffer/Christopher Andreas Reiakvam/Reiquam and Ane/Annie Sophie Stephine Danielson, who were from Naustdal, Sogn og Fjordane. Michelle’s great-grandmother Bessie was born in Montana, the daughter of Charles Perry Crane, who was born in Indiana, and had English ancestry; and of Elizabeth Inga Balstad, who was Norwegian, with parents from Rendalen, Hedmark.
Michelle is a fourth cousin, once removed, of actor Aidan Gallagher, and a fourth cousin of filmmaker Jerusha Hess. Michelle’s maternal great-great-great-grandparents, Samuel Schenk and Magdalena Aebersold, were also Aidan’s paternal great-great-great-great-grandparents, and Jerusha’s maternal great-great-great-grandparents.
Sources: Genealogies of Michelle Williams – https://www.geni.com
https://famouskin.com
Genealogy of Michelle Williams (focusing on her father’s side) – http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com
Michelle’s paternal grandfather, Richard Sigwart Williams, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Michelle’s paternal grandmother, Sylva Berthea Brurs, on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Michelle’s paternal great-grandmother, Thea Nelsen/Nelson, on the 1900 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Michelle’s maternal great-grandmother, Lula/Lulu Schenk, on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
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