I have been doing genealogical research on my paternal grandmother. I found a set of papers that I must have inherited many years ago, although I don’t remember seeing them before. Among them was this image of Cary Grant in Once Upon a Honeymoon, a 1942 film. My grandmother, going under the stage name of Claudine LeDuc is the desk clerk. The only other image of her from that era is as an extra in the 1943 movie Song of Bernadette.
Although she was never honest about her age, I have learned that she was born in 1881 in Paris. It was actually quite a relief to learn that she was 88, not 73, when she died, since I am 73. That means she went to California to “make it big in the pictures” when she was 60. It was not an ideal time to start her career. Nonetheless she always was proud of herself as an actress and I had no idea that she had only these two small roles.
She is also responsible for the 29% of my DNA that is Ashkenanzi Jewish. I didn’t learn that from her, however. She was anti-Semitic, probably a good defense during the time Hitler’s reach was unpredictable and his ability to round up Jewish people was predictable.
I doubt she would be pleased at my research and what it has uncovered. She wanted to carefully curate her persona and could have preserved it forever if not for the internet. But I am glad to know the truth, some of it sordid, some of it pleasurable(who wouldn’t want to stand next to Cary Grant?) I am only here because of her. Her DNA runs through my veins. And one of my descendants is an actress.
Saved By Words 
It is very nice to have that history, especially with photographic evidence. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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I have been glad to uncover this file folder.
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Oh, very good!
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She sounds like she was an interesting woman!
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Well she was a complicated person!
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A new career after 60. There’s hope for me! 😉 And if you’re only going to be in 2 films, one of them might as well star Cary Grant.
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My wife has Jewish ancestry. Some branches of the family have remained so. Others were quite successful in covering it up, so much so it brought reactions ranging from surprise to denial when it was re-discovered.
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Sorry – clicked the wrong reply link.
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No problem. 😊
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My father adamantly denied it. I am learning that he wasn’t unique.
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A very good point!
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It looks as though she put her all into the part no matter how small!
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For sure.
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I’ve seen that movie! How exciting! I love discovering interesting info about our ancestors & their/our perceptions of their/our story.
Blessings,
Jennifer
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I may have to watch it myself now that I have found that photo.
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Fascinating!
Is there an easy explanation for this grandmother’s giving you 29% of your Jewish DNA?
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I probably was confusing. 29% of my DNA is Jewish and comes from her. Each grandparent gives around 25% of their DNA to a grandchild. In her case it was a little more.
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I guess that grandmother was quite dynamic!!! I was expecting to see 25%. Maybe DNA doesn’t always follow the rules.
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I guess it doesn’t come out evenly. My brother and I have slightly different percentages.
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It makes sense to me now. You and your brother do not look exactly alike, so it stands to reason that you have a slightly different mix from the inherited DNA. With that reasoning, identical twins should have the same percentages.
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I think that is right. I am pretty clueless about how it distributes.
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Wow fascinating. What a brave trail Blazer to embark on such a career move at 60!
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I like the spin many of my readers have seen in this adventure. I had not thought of it that way before.
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Wow, it’s awesome that your grandmother went to California to be an actress when she was 60. I really admire people who don’t let their age stop them from doing new things.
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Welcome to the tribe. On my father’s side I was aware of the Jewish heritage. My mom found out the “family secret” of her Jewish heritage on her mom’s side after she converted to Judaism at 19.
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Thanks. I am intrigued by how many kept it a secret.
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Isn’t it nice to eventually discover where we came from? And your grandmother was an actress.
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Another photo today of her in her prime.
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Geneology can be quite interesting. My sister-in-law has done quite a bit of research on our family.
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Any scandals? That seems to be all my granddaughter wants to hear about!
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I really enjoyed this post, Elizabeth. My grandmother was the same age (well, five years younger) and that was a generation of people who crafted their image. My mother was the same way. It’s a shame that as a result, many stories have been lost, or I should say never told. You must be so glad you did some detective work. How cool to have a photo of your grandmother with Cary Grant!
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I posted a photo just now of how I think she always thought of herself.
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I just saw it. Lovely!
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Snap! I’m 32% Ashkenazy according to my DNA results. I don’t know anything about my parents, as I was adopted in the days when you didn’t find out… but I had my DNA tested by Ancestry.
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Did you find any matches?
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A couple of potential second cousins have been in touch, but I’m afraid I can’t tell them much about my parents. He was a gentleman farmer (married, not namedon birth certificate) she was his secretary and had a twin sister. And this is all heresay told to my adoptive mother back then.
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Second cousins are actually quite close in DNA searches. Mine I already knew about.
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What a wonderful story Elizabeth! Lots of family secrets to be found!
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Especially the Jewish one.
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That is a great photograph to have, Elizabeth. How exciting to have an actress in the family who stood next to Carey Grant. My mother met Roger Moore once and he invited her out for dinner. She didn’t go though.
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My mother once managed not to say hello to William Holden when she saw him on a Hawaii beach. I think seeing him made a much bigger impression on her than Hawaii did!
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This post was particularly interesting to me because I had an older half-sister (stage name Ruth Tobey) who appeared in several 1940s films (incl. JANIE and JANIE GETS MARRIED). Unfortunately I never met her, as we lived 2,000 miles apart and my father wasn’t interested in us meeting. After I grew up. she died before I ever got to California. I’ve often wondered what she was like.
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I had to google her just now. What a lot of information and a nice photo of her. Too bad that your dad didn’t want you to meet. Had he abandoned her mother?(I am all about family scandal at the moment!)
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