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Birth Name: Penn Fraser Jillette
Place of Birth: Greenfield, Massachusetts, United States
Date of Birth: March 5, 1955
Ethnicity: English, Scottish, French-Canadian
Penn Jillette is an American magician, juggler, comedian, musician, inventor, actor, and author. He forms the magician duo Penn & Teller, together with Teller.
Penn is the son of Valda Ruth (Parks) and Samuel Herbert Jillette.
In Penn’s book Every Day is an Atheist Holiday! (2012), he wrote:
After she read Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, my mom claimed that we had some aboriginal American relatives, and some TV show recently did some genealogy research in our family background and proved she might have been telling the truth… My dad told me that I have at least one African-American ancestor. I’m a pretty direct descendant of Captain Cook, who brought syphilis to Hawaii and gave the English the name “limeys.” Statistically, the long line of sailors must have brought in most other nationalities I can think of and some I can’t.
It is not clear if Penn’s Native American and/or African-American ancestry has been documented/verified.
Penn’s ancestor Captain James Cook was a British explorer who mapped parts of Canada’s east coast, prior to the British conquest of Canada, and founded New South Wales, the first British colony in Australia. James was of half Scottish and half English descent.
Penn’s paternal grandfather was Samuel Edgar Jillette (the son of John Samuel Jillette and Ann Gillespie). Samuel was born in Carbonear, Newfoundland, Canada. The surname “Jillette” might have been spelled “Gillett” or “Jillett” originally, and is likely of French origin.
Penn’s paternal grandmother was Caroline F. Penney. Caroline was likely born in Newfoundland, Canada.
Penn’s maternal grandfather was Robert Henry Parks (the son of James W. Parks and Ellen/Ella R. Cook). Robert was born in Greenfield, Massachusetts. James was born in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, to William Parks and Jane. Ellen was born in Reading, Vermont, to L. Cook and Ellen. Ellen/Ella was a descendant of Captain James Cook.
Penn’s maternal grandmother was Elizabeth Jenkins (the daughter of Marshall Jenkins and Ellen Lucina Rhoades). Elizabeth was born in Cummington, Massachusetts. Ellen was the daughter of Arnsford Rhoades and Nancy Miller.
Sources: Genealogy of Penn Jillette – http://www.andrewkolstee.com
Genealogy of Penn Jillette (focusing on his father’s side) – http://www.ancestry.co.uk
Genealogy of James Cook – http://www.geni.com
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