It glosses over genealogy and displays lots of interesting connections but there are also lots of inaccuracies. In the end of this book he requests people to contribute to a possible next book. As this book needs correcting I wrote to him on 19 February but have not as yet received a reply. I would like to display a few of my remarks most of them will tell what he had recorded in his book, much of it is not medieval but will give an idea about this book.
Page 1. William Christopher "who played Father Mulcahy on the long-running television series M*A*S*H." On page 55 it is recorded that Rene Auberjonois played that role.
Page 12. Jane Fonda. Her mother confused her "ancestor" with the nine-day Queen. The language used is deceptive, Lady Jane Grey is no-one-s ancestor---she had no children. Except for one son, Jane Seymour also has no descendants at all.
Page 13. A tree shows the link between F. Scott Fitzgerald and Francis Scott Key. Are you aware that Francis Scott Key is a descendant of King John of England, William the Conqueror, Lady Godiva and Charlemagne?
Page 14. Oliver Hardy. The story about Nelson and Hardy is always reported wrongly. Apparently he said "Kismet, Hardy " Kismet=fate, destiny
Page 16. Michael Wilding descends from John of Gaunt? How? "He was a direct descendant of the archbishop of Canterbury who crowned Queen Victoria." Direct descendant? Or an indirect descendant? I understand a person is a descendant (or ancestor) or not. By using the word direct it seems to imply a full male line of descent. In 1837 William Howley was Archbishop of Canterbury, not a Wilding.
Page 18. Quincy Jones, now he is interesting. Forget the Lanier family
Page 20. In the tree connecting Tennessee Williams to Quincy Jones is shown his grandfather Thomas Lanier Williams, son of Colonel Joseph Williams and Rebecca Lanier. In an other source I found these parents to be John Williams and Rhoda C. Morgan. I guess someone missed out a generation. Can you check this?
Page 26. Glenn Ford claims a descent from President Martin Van Buren. He should complain as he is not recorded in Burke's Guide to American Presidents which records their descendants as well.
Page 27. Judy Garland 1922-1969 a first cousin of Ulysses Grant 1822-1885??? Come on!!!
Page 31 in the introduction Bela Lugosi played one of Prince Charles's most infamous ancestors...Prince Charles is descended from Vlad Dracula. This is not correct! He is not a descendant. You quite correctly show that he is a descendant of a (half-) brother of Vlad. Wrong unfair term in this case, he is not descended from Vlad.
Page 39 Michael Douglas family tee. Please check who are the parents of Nicholas Bayard, Mayor of New York. I presume you swapped places for him with his wife.
Page 41 Charles Coburn is directly descended from Roger Williams. Again I doubt it, wrong term. He may be a descendant but not a direct (in the male line) descendant.
Page 48 Humphrey Bogart is also descended from Malcolm II, King of Scots, Alfred the Great and Charlemagne.
Page 49 Tree for Hugh Hefner. Have you swapped places again for Hugh's parents?
Page 51 Priscilla Mullins is also ancestor of John Adams, 2nd President; John Quincy Adams, 6th President and also Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Page 53 Brooke Shields entry. Lucrezia Borgia is continually maligned but she did not have sex with her father or her brothers Juan or Cesare.
Page 54. Glenn Close is a descendant of John Strong who is also an ancestor of spy Nathan Hale, J.P.Morgan, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Lady Diana Spencer and Brooke Shields.
Page 55 Rachel Ward is not a daughter of any Earl of Dudley, she is a granddaughter. She also descends from King Charles II ans so William the Conqueror, Charlemagne, Robert teh Bruce, just too many to mention.
Page 55. Rene Auberjonois played Faterh Mulcahy.
Page 57. Gloria Grahame is either a descendant or an indirect descendant of Edward III, Gloria Grahame's paternal line are not Plantagenets. She also descends from Sir John Hawkwood, William the Conqueror and Charlemagne.
Page 57 Joanne Woodward, has a remarkable ancestry, descending from Charlemagne.....so do Steve McQueen, Paul Peterson, Anthony Perkins, Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Gepburn, just to mention a few.
Page 58, the tree, the first three generations are wrong (see my website to see what it should be).
Page 60. John D. Rockefeller cousin of Elizabeth I? Who is not a cousin? Recent research believes him to be a descendant of Henry VIII and William teh Conqueror and Charlemagne.
Page 60 Basil Rathbone's mother descends from Henry IV? How? I could not find any indication if Ruvigny's blood royal (not an easy book to find things in).
Page 61 Richard Nixon no longer is regarded to be a descendant of Edward III.
Page 61 Burt Lancaster descending from the House of Lancaster? Just because the name is the same?
Page 65. Shelley Winters, do you know the links from her to Katharine Schratt?
Page 68. David Van Cortlandt Crosby is also a descendant of Robert II, King of Scots, Robert the Bruce, William the Conqueror and Charlemagne.
Page 72 Franklin Delano Roosevelt, descends from James II, King of Scots, Edward III, king of England, William the Conqueror and Charlemagne. And also from the following Mayflower passengers, Mary Allerton, John Howland, Elizabeth Tilley, Richard Warren, Isaac Allerton, Mary Norris, Degory Priest, John Cooke and Francis Cooke
As a last on page 130, Erroll Flynn is not a descendant of Fletcher Christian. Erroll Flynn descends from Edward 'Ned'Young and John Adams, two other mutineers.
In fact I had only gone as far as page 72 in detail as it was becoming too much.
Robert Davenport supplied a Po Box address in Beverly Hills, California, but sadly I have not heard from him. I still think the book is fun but it could be so much better.
Best wishes
Leo van de Pas
Canberra, Australia