Italian Roots

GATES: I'M HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR.

WELCOME TO "FINDING YOUR ROOTS".

IN THIS EPISODE, WE'LL MEET TALK SHOW-HOST JIMMY KIMMEL, AND ACTORS MARISA TOMEI AND JOHN TURTURRO.

THREE AMERICANS WHO HAVE BEEN FUNDAMENTALLY SHAPED BY THEIR ITALIAN HERITAGE.

KIMMEL: I VIDEOTAPE MY RELATIVES AS THEY GET OLDER.

I KEEP ALL THE FAMILY PHOTOS.

I, I'M KIND OF THE FAMILY HISTORIAN.

TURTURRO: I'VE ALWAYS BEEN, YOU KNOW, SERIOUS WHEN I'VE GOTTEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO ANYTHING, AND I THINK THAT'S 'CAUSE I KNOW WHERE I COME FROM.

TOMEI: I DO LOVE BEING ITALIAN.

I LOVE OUR HERITAGE, OUR TRADITIONS, THE LAUGHTER.

THERE'S ALSO ALL THE STURM UND DRANG, BUT THAT'S OK, TOO.

I CAN TAKE IT.

I CAN TAKE THE INTENSITY.

GATES: TO UNCOVER THEIR ROOTS, WE'VE USED EVERY TOOL AVAILABLE.

GENEALOGISTS COMBED THROUGH THE PAPER TRAIL THEIR ANCESTORS LEFT BEHIND, WHILE DNA EXPERTS UTILIZED THE LATEST ADVANCES IN GENETIC ANALYSIS TO REVEAL SECRETS HUNDREDS OF YEARS OLD.

AND WE'VE COMPILED EVERYTHING INTO A BOOK OF LIFE.

ONE COPY IN THE WHOLE WORLD.

TOMEI: JUST ONE IN THE WHOLE WORLD?

GATES: A RECORD OF ALL OUR DISCOVERIES.

TURTURRO: WOW!

GATES: YOU'RE LOOKING AT THE MOMENT WHEN YOUR ANCESTOR BECAME AN AMERICAN.

KIMMEL: THAT'S UNBELIEVABLE.

GATES: AND THERE'S HIS PHOTO.

KIMMEL: HANDSOME GUY.

WHAT HAPPENED TO ME?

GATES: JIMMY, MARISA AND JOHN EACH DESCEND FROM PEOPLE WHO CAME TO AMERICA FROM ITALY WITH LITTLE MORE THAN THE SHIRTS ON THEIR BACKS.

IN THIS EPISODE, THEY'LL EXPLORE THE SACRIFICES THOSE ANCESTORS MADE ALONG THE WAY, AND DISCOVER THAT THEIR FAMILY BONDS RUN MUCH DEEPER THAN THEY EVER COULD'VE IMAGINED.

(THEME MUSIC PLAYS) ♪ ♪ GATES: MORE THAN 17 MILLION AMERICANS CLAIM ITALIAN DESCENT, AND THEY, AND THEIR TRADITIONS, ARE DEEPLY WOVEN INTO THE FABRIC OF OUR NATION.

BUT ITALIANS WEREN'T ALWAYS CELEBRATED IN THIS COUNTRY.

MOST ARRIVED HERE WITH NOTHING, AND STRUGGLED FOR ACCEPTANCE.

THEIR SHARED JOURNEY, FROM OUTSIDERS TO ICONS, IS ASTONISHING.

IN THIS EPISODE, WE'LL LOOK AT HOW THIS PROCESS UNFOLDED IN THREE FAMILIES.

THE FIRST MAY SURPRISE YOU... TALK-SHOW HOST JIMMY KIMMEL'S FATHER IS OF IRISH AND GERMAN DESCENT, BUT HIS MOTHER'S ROOTS LIE IN ITALY, AND JIMMY, WHO GREW UP SURROUNDED BY HIS MOTHER'S EXTENDED FAMILY, IS STRONGLY TIED TO THOSE ROOTS.

KIMMEL: I PRIMARILY IDENTIFY WITH ITALIAN-AMERICAN CULTURE.

MY MOM IS 100% ITALIAN-AMERI, IT'S F, WELL, UNLESS YOU KNOW SOMETHING DIFFERENT.

AND M, THE ITALIAN SIDE OF OUR FAMILY IS, I, DOMINEERING A GOOD WORD TO DESCRIBE THEM.

GATES: AS A CHILD, JIMMY REALIZED THESE "DOMINEERING" RELATIVES WERE A COMEDIC GOLD MINE, SO HE GOT AHOLD OF A TAPE RECORDER AND BEGAN SURREPTITIOUSLY RECORDING HIS FAMILY DINNERS, PROVIDING HIMSELF WITH A WEALTH OF ENTERTAINMENT.

KIMMEL: I HAVE, UH, A SEQUENCE COMMITTED TO MEMORY I LISTENED TO IT SO MUCH.

MY UNCLE FRANK IS TRYING TO POUR KETCHUP OUT OF THE BOTTLE, AND YOU HEAR HIM SAY, "CHIP, HOW DO YOU POUR THIS?"

AND HE'S SHAKING, AND SHE GOES, "FRANK, YOU GOTTA SHAKE IT.

FRANK, YOU GOT, FRANK, YOU GOTTA OPEN IT, FRANK."

HE HAD THE CAP ON IT.

"YOU GOTTA OPEN IT BEFORE IT'LL GODDAMN POUR OUT."

AND THEN SHE GOES INTO THIS RANT.

HE'S SO STUP, HE'D NEVER INVENT THE AIRPLANE, HE'LL NEVER INVENT THE LIGHT BULB, ETCETERA.

GATES: THAT'S GREAT.

KIMMEL: AND IT WAS FROM THAT MOMENT ON THAT I STARTED STUDYING THEM LIKE JANE GOODALL.

GATES: JIMMY'S TAPE RECORDINGS WOULD SET A PATTERN FOR HIS WHOLE CAREER, AS HE'S CONSISTENTLY DRAWN ON HIS FAMILY FOR INSPIRATION, AND FOR RAW MATERIAL.

IN HIGH SCHOOL, HE LAUNCHED A RADIO SHOW, WHERE PRANK CALLS TO HIS RELATIVES BECAME A REGULAR PART OF HIS ACT.

AND WHEN HE FINALLY GOT HIS BIG BREAK ON TELEVISION, AFTER MORE THAN A DECADE AT VARIOUS RADIO STATIONS, JIMMY TOOK A CHANCE BY ALMOST IMMEDIATELY PUTTING THOSE RELATIVES IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA.

KIMMEL: THIS IS MY COUSIN SAL AND MY AUNT CHIPPY.

UNCLE FRANK, EVERYBODY!

CHIPPY: I'M THE AUNT WITH NO SONS AND I GET CRUCIFIED BY THESE TWO MORONS.

GATES: WERE YOU NERVOUS ABOUT PUTTING YOUR FAMILY ON AIR?

KIMMEL: NO, I WASN'T, BECAUSE I KNEW I DIDN'T BELONG THERE EITHER, SO...

IT'S NOT LIKE, LIKE THEY HAD TO SHARE THE STAGE WITH A SEASONED PROFESSIONAL, AND YOU KNOW ULTIMATELY THE AUDIENCE DECIDES WHETHER SOMEBODY IS, IS GOOD OR NOT.

GATES: SURE.

KIMMEL: AND FROM, I MEAN, THE FIRST TIME WE PUT MY UNCLE FRANK ON THE SHOW, PEOPLE LOVED HIM.

THE FIRST TIME WE PUT MY AUNT CHIPPY ON THE SHOW, PEOPLE LOVED HER, AND THAT'S REALLY ALL YOU NEED.

GATES: AUDIENCES, OF COURSE, HAVE SHOWN THAT THEY LOVE JIMMY, TOO.

HIS LATE-NIGHT SHOW IS WELL INTO ITS SECOND DECADE.

HE'S TWICE HOSTED THE OSCARS, AND IN 2018, HE WAS CHOSEN BY TIME MAGAZINE AS ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE.

BUT FOR ALL HE'S ACHIEVED, JIMMY REMAINS DEVOTED TO HIS HERITAGE.

INDEED, IT'S SO IMPORTANT TO HIM THAT SOON AFTER MOVING TO LOS ANGELES, HE LAUNCHED A TRADITIONAL ITALIAN STREET FESTIVAL, THE FEAST OF SAN GENNARO, HOPING TO FILL A VERY PARTICULAR NEED.

KIMMEL: WELL, THE FEAST WAS A GREAT PLACE TO GET, MOSTLY FOR ME, ZEPPOLES, THESE LITTLE ITALIAN DOUGHNUTS.

THAT'S REALLY, THAT'S THE REASON I STARTED THIS FEAST.

IT TURNED INTO A BIG CHARITY EVENT, BUT I REALLY JUST WANTED THESE LITTLE FRIED DOUGHNUT PUFFS THAT, UM, THAT YOU CAN'T SEEM TO GET AT A RESTAURANT, BUT IT JUST SEEMED LIKE A GOOD IDEA, TO JUST, YOU KNOW, IN LA, THERE'S NOT A, UM, THERE'S NO LITTLE ITALY IN LA, WHICH IS A STRANGE THING BECAUSE THERE ARE A LOT OF ITALIANS OUT HERE.

GATES: MM-HMM.

KIMMEL: AND SO, UM, YOU KNOW, ONE OF MY ITALIAN FRIENDS AND I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA TO START A FEAST.

IT STARTED IN MY BACKYARD, AND IT MUSHROOMED AND BECAME THIS BIG THING HERE IN, IN HOLLYWOOD.

GATES: DOES YOUR MOM COME?

DOES SHE GET INVOLVED?

KIMMEL: YES.

THE WHOLE FAMILY GETS INVOLVED.

YES.

GATES: LIKE JIMMY, MARISA TOMEI WAS BORN IN BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, SURROUNDED BY FAMILY WHOSE ROOTS TRACE BACK TO ITALY.

BUT SHE GREW UP IN A NEIGHBORHOOD THAT WAS EXTREMELY DIVERSE.

SHE HAD FRIENDS OF MANY DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS, SO OWN HER ETHNICITY WAS NOT, INITIALLY, A BIG PART OF HER IDENTITY.

GATES: WHEN DID YOU START THINKING OF YOURSELF, WE'RE ITALIAN?

TOMEI: IT TOOK A WHILE.

MORE, ACTUALLY, MORE AS I, UM, SET OUT TO BE AN ACTRESS AND WAS TOLD THINGS LIKE, WELL, YOU, YOU CAN'T BE IN THESE COMMERCIALS CAUSE UH, YOU'RE TOO ETHNIC.

GATES: REALLY?

TOMEI: AND I STARTED THINKING, WELL, WHAT DOES ETHNIC EVEN MEAN, AND WHAT AM I?

GATES: MARISA'S QUESTION WAS ANSWERED, AT LEAST IN THE PUBLIC'S MIND, WHEN SHE WAS CAST AS MONA LISA VITO, A FAST-TALKING ITALIAN AMERICAN, OPPOSITE JOE PESCI IN "MY COUSIN VINNY".

TOMEI: MY NIECE, THE DAUGHTER OF MY SISTER, IS GETTING' MARRIED.

MY BIOLOGICAL CLOCK IS TICKIN' LIKE THIS AND THE WAY THIS CASE IS GOIN', I AIN'T NEVER GETTIN' MARRIED.

GATES: IT WAS A BREAKOUT PERFORMANCE, EVEN IF IT LEFT MARISA, AND HER PARENTS, SOMEWHAT DISORIENTED.

TOMEI: EVEN SPEAKING THAT, WITH THAT HEAVY BROOKLYN ACCENT UM WAS ALMOST AN OFFENSE TO MY MOTHER AND THE WAY THAT SHE HAD RAISED US, UM, BUT OF COURSE THE CHARACTER IS ACTUALLY VERY SMART.

GATES: YEAH.

TOMEI: AND BEYOND CLEVER, REALLY, REALLY SMART, UM, BUT JUST IN A DIFFERENT KIND OF PACKAGE.

GATES: YEAH.

THOUGH IT MAY HAVE SEEMED OUT OF CHARACTER AT THE TIME, "MY COUSIN VINNY," WON MARISA AN OSCAR, AND LAUNCHED HER CAREER.

TODAY, SHE IS ONE OF THE MOST RECOGNIZABLE ITALIAN AMERICANS IN HOLLYWOOD, A ROLE SHE THOROUGHLY EMBRACES.

TOMEI: I DO LOVE BEING ITALIAN.

I DO.

I LOVE THE WAY THAT I WAS RAISED.

I LOVE OUR, MY PARTICULAR FAMILY'S HERITAGE, OUR TRADITIONS, OUR HOLIDAY TRADITIONS, UM, AND UH, THE LUST FOR LIFE, UH, THE LAUGHTER.

THERE'S ALSO ALL THE STURM UND DRANG, BUT THAT'S OKAY, TOO.

I CAN TAKE IT.

I CAN TAKE THE INTENSITY.

GATES: MY THIRD GUEST IS EMMY-AWARD WINNING ACTOR JOHN TURTURRO.

JOHN CAME TO FAME IN THE 1980S, AND HAS APPEARED IN OVER 60 FILMS AND TELEVISION SHOWS, GIVING SEVERAL TRULY ICONIC PERFORMANCES.

LIKE MARISA TOMEI, HE'S ONE OF HOLLYWOOD'S MOST RECOGNIZABLE ITALIAN AMERICANS.

AND ALSO ONE OF ITS PROUDEST.

HIS FATHER WAS AN ITALIAN IMMIGRANT, HIS MOTHER WAS A SECOND GENERATION ITALIAN-AMERICAN.

HE SPENT HIS EARLY YEARS IN QUEENS, NEW YORK, AND MEMORIES OF HIS YOUTH BRING A SMILE TO HIS FACE.

TURTURRO: I LOOK LIKE A HAPPY CHILD.

GATES: YEAH, YOU DO.

TURTURRO: YEAH.

I, I THINK I WAS.

I WAS REALLY CLOSE TO MY MOM.

AND, UM, WE LIVED IN A GARDEN APARTMENT, AND WE ALL SLEPT IN THE SAME ROOM, UH, MY MOTHER, MY FATHER, MY BROTHER RALPH, AND ME, YOU KNOW.

IT WAS A VERY, UH, MIXED NEIGHBORHOOD.

I THINK THAT KIND OF, UH, LEFT A BIG, UH, MARK ON ME, IN A GOOD WAY.

GATES: UNFORTUNATELY FOR JOHN, HIS FAMILY DIDN'T REMAIN IN HIS NEIGHBORHOOD FOR LONG.

BY THE TIME HE WAS IN MIDDLE SCHOOL, THE TURTURROS HAD MOVED OUT TO A SUBURB KNOWN AS ROSEDALE, WHERE JOHN WAS MADE TO FEEL DIFFERENT, ALL BECAUSE OF HIS ETHNICITY.

TURTURRO: WHEN I MOVED TO ROSEDALE, I REMEMBER, PEOPLE THOUGHT, 'CAUSE I WAS DARK, THEY CALLED ME, LIKE, YOU KNOW, "HE'S A PUERTO RICAN," YOU KNOW, ALL THIS, I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW ANY PUERTO RICANS AT THAT TIME AND I WOUND UP ACTUALLY GETTING BUSSED OUT, BECAUSE OF THE BUSSING SITUATION, FOR JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL.

AND UH, IT WAS ALL BLACK, AND FIRST DAY I WENT TO SCHOOL, I REMEMBER, I GOT THAT BUTTON PINNED ON ME.

SOMEBODY WAS PUTTING BUTTONS ON US, "I'M BLACK AND I'M PROUD, SAY IT LOUD," JAMES BROWN.

IT WAS A YELLOW BUTTON, I REMEMBER, AND I WAS LIKE, "OKAY.

UH, UH."

GATES: JOHN TOLD ME THAT HIS SENSE OF BEING DIFFERENT ALSO MADE HIM NERVOUS ABOUT PURSUING A CAREER IN ACTING.

WHEN HE WAS GROWING UP, THERE SIMPLY WEREN'T THAT MANY PEOPLE IN HOLLYWOOD WHO RESEMBLED HIM IN ANY WAY.

BUT THE WORLD WAS ABOUT TO CHANGE.

TURTURRO: FIRST TIME I SAW DUSTIN HOFFMAN IN "MIDNIGHT COWBOY" I WAS, I WAS SHOCKED.

I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT, THERE WAS SOMEBODY, LIKE, "THIS GUY COULD BE IN OUR FAMILY, YOU KNOW, AND HE'S AN ACTOR."

GATES: WHAT WHAT ABOUT THE WAY HE LOOKED...?

TURTURRO: WELL, YOU JUST, YOU DIDN'T SEE PEOPLE WHO WERE REALLY, YOU KNOW, ETHNIC, UH, ACTORS, PLAY, LIKE, A BIG PART.

AND THAT WAS AN EYE-OPENING THING FOR ME, AND THEN, OF COURSE, THE OTHER GUYS CAME IN, PACINO AND DENIRO, AND YOU WERE LIKE, "OH, YOU KNOW, MAYBE THERE'S ROOM FOR, YOU KNOW, SOMEONE ELSE, YOU KNOW," 'CAUSE YOU DIDN'T GROW UP WITH THAT IN YOUR BRAIN.

GATES: MY THREE GUESTS ALL SEE THEMSELVES AS PRODUCTS OF THEIR ITALIAN ROOTS, BUT EACH CAME TO ME WITH FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS ABOUT THOSE ROOTS.

I STARTED WITH JIMMY KIMMEL, AND THE ITALIAN-AMERICAN WHO INSPIRED HIM MORE THAN ANY OTHER, HIS MATERNAL GRANDFATHER, SAVINO IACONO.

HOW DO YOU THINK HE INFLUENCED YOUR OWN SENSE OF HUMOR?

KIMMEL: HE ALWAYS MADE EVERYONE LAUGH.

I, WE WERE AT HIS, LIKE, 85TH BIRTHDAY PARTY.

THEY BRING THE CANDLE OUT AND THERE ARE 85 CANDLES ON THE CAKE, AND HE HAD GIANT HANDS, MY GRANDFATHER.

BIG GORILLA MITTS, AND HE'S, AND THEY'D PUT THE CAKE IN FRONT OF HIM, AND HE TAKES HIS HANDS, AND HE PUTS ALL THE CANDLES OUT WITH HIS HANDS, AND MY MOTHER AND MY AUNT CHIPPY START SCREAMING AT HIM, IMMEDIATELY, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

YOU KNOW, HE, MANIAC.

YOU'RE GONNA BURN YOURSELF, AND UM, AND I'M SITTING NEXT TO HIM, AND I'M DYING, I'M THE ONLY ONE LAUGHING.

I'M DYING LAUGHING, AND HE LEANS OVER, AND HE WHISPERS IN MY EAR, TAKE ME TO THE HOSPITAL.

GATES: JIMMY TOLD ME THAT HE WAS ESPECIALLY INTERESTED IN HIS GRANDFATHER'S PARENTS: VINCENZO AND MARIA IACONO.

HE KNEW THEY'D BEEN BORN IN ITALY, AND THAT THEY WERE AMONG THE FIRST MEMBERS OF HIS MOTHER'S FAMILY TO COME TO AMERICA.

BUT HE WANTED TO KNOW MUCH MORE.

THE STORY BEGINS WITH A PASSENGER RECORD FOR A SHIP CALLED THE S.S. RAVENNA, WHICH ARRIVED IN NEW YORK CITY IN JANUARY OF 1903.

KIMMEL: "VINCENZO IACONO, 35 YEARS OLD, TRAVELING WITH $10."

GATES: THAT MARKS THE MOMENT THE FIRST ITALIAN ON THIS BRANCH OF YOUR FAMILY TREE SET FOOT IN THE UNITED STATES.

KIMMEL: $10.

TO MOVE YOUR FAMILY TO ANOTHER COUNTRY ON A BOAT IS SUCH A TUMULTUOUS THING... GATES: MM.

KIMMEL: TO DO.

IT JUST, IT ILLUSTRATES, FOR ME, HOW DIFFERENT MY LIFE IS FROM THEIRS.

I JUST CAN'T IMAGINE ANYONE IN OUR FAMILY BEING A, ALLOWED TO GET ON A, WHAT LOOKS LIKE A PRETTY RICKETY BOAT.

AND SAIL FROM A PLACE WHERE EVERYONE SPEAKS ITALIAN TO A PLACE WHERE SMALL POCKETS OF PEOPLE SPEAK ITALIAN.

GATES: AND IT TOOK SO MUCH COURAGE.

KIMMEL: EITHER COURAGE OR DESPERATION, I DON'T KNOW.

GATES: OR BOTH.

KIMMEL: YEAH.

GATES: WELL, THE RECORD THAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT INDICATES THAT VINCENZO WAS TRAVELING ALONE.

SO, ANY IDEA WHERE MARIA AND THE CHILDREN MIGHT'VE BEEN?

KIMMEL: THE BAHAMAS?

GATES: MARIA, OF COURSE, WAS BACK IN ITALY.

LATER THAT YEAR SHE BROUGHT HER TWO YOUNG CHILDREN, BOTH UNDER THE AGE OF FIVE, TO NEW YORK CITY ON HER OWN!

THE JOURNEY COULD NOT HAVE BEEN EASY.

BUT AS WE RESEARCHED FURTHER, I BEGAN TO UNDERSTAND WHY THE FAMILY MIGHT HAVE BEEN WILLING TO FACE THIS ORDEAL.

VINCENZO AND MARIA CAME FROM THE TOWN OF CASAMICCIOLA ON THE TINY ISLAND OF ISCHIA.

ON THE NIGHT OF JUNE 28TH, 1883, ISCHIA WAS DEVASTATED BY AN EARTHQUAKE.

MUCH OF CASAMICCIOLA WAS DESTROYED.

GROWING UP, JIMMY HAD BEEN TOLD THAT VINCENZO'S FAMILY WAS DECIMATED, AND THAT HIS GREAT-GRANDFATHER ONLY SURVIVED BECAUSE HE WAS WATCHING A PLAY IN NEARBY NAPLES WHEN THE EARTHQUAKE STRUCK.

WE BOTH WONDERED IF THIS POSSIBLY COULD HAVE BEEN TRUE.

KIMMEL: IT'S NOT A STORY THAT IS, IS FREELY SHARED, IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT I, I, I EVER REMEMBER MY GRANDPARENTS TALKING ABOUT.

I KNOW MY, MY MOTHER TOLD ME THE STORY, AND THEN, UM, I WAS INTERESTED IN IT.

GATES: YEAH.

KIMMEL: IF IT REALLY HAPPENED.

IT DOES SO, IT'S A PRETTY FANTASTICAL STORY, THE IDEA THAT THEY WOULD GO OUT FOR THE EVENING, UH, AND TAKE A BOAT FROM THE ISLAND TO GO SEE A PLAY ON THE MAINLAND AND COME BACK TO NOTHING.

GATES: YEAH.

KIMMEL: AND SO IT'S, IT, IT, IT WAS A LITTLE BIT HARD TO BELIEVE.

GATES: WE FOUND NO EVIDENCE OF ANY PLAY STAGED IN NAPLES ON THAT FATEFUL NIGHT.

HOWEVER, THE EARTHQUAKE ITSELF IS NO FAMILY LEGEND, IN FACT, IT WAS WIDELY REPORTED ALL OVER EUROPE AND AMERICA, AND IT'S CLEAR THAT VINCENZO WAS LUCKY TO HAVE SURVIVED.

MORE THAN 1,700 PEOPLE IN HIS HOMETOWN PERISHED IN THE EARTHQUAKE.

GATES: 40% OF THE TOWN DIED, AND ABOUT 80% OF THE TOWN'S HOUSES CRUMBLED, INCLUDING YOUR ANCESTORS' HOME.

IMAGINE, YOU KNOW, UH, THIS TERRIBLE THING, AND YOU RETURN HOME, AND EVERYTHING AND EVERYBODY IS GONE.

KIMMEL: AND OF COURSE WE MOVED TO LA WHERE IT'S LIKE WE'RE CHASING THE EARTHQUAKES.

GATES: YEAH, YOU GOT THE, AN EARTHQUAKE CHIP!

AND LIFE DIDN'T GET ANY EASIER FOR VINCENZO AS... KIMMEL: HOW CAN ANYTHING BE WORSE THAN THIS?

GATES: YEAH.

KIMMEL: WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?

DID RAVENS TAKE HIS EYEBALLS?

GATES: THE ANSWER TO JIMMY'S QUESTION WOULD PROVE PAINFUL TO CONTEMPLATE.

VINCENZO'S FATHER AND THREE OF HIS SIBLINGS WERE KILLED IN THE EARTHQUAKE.

AND WHILE VINCENZO WOULD IMMIGRATE TO AMERICA AND ULTIMATELY PROSPER, THE TRAGEDY WAS LIKELY NEVER FAR FROM HIS MIND.

INDEED, BY COMPARING THE 1920 CENSUS FOR HIS HOUSEHOLD IN NEW YORK WITH A LIST OF PEOPLE WHO PERISHED IN THE EARTHQUAKE, WE SAW THAT VINCENZO FOUND A WAY TO MEMORIALIZE HIS LOST FAMILY MEMBERS.

KIMMEL: HE NAMED THEM AFTER, HIS CHILDREN AFTER THEM.

GATES: GIUSEPPE WAS JOSEPH.

LUCIA OR, OR LUCIA WAS LUCY.

SAVERIO WAS SAL, AND SOFIA WAS SOPHIE.

THEIR NAMES HAVE BEEN AMERICANIZED, BUT THEY MATCH THE NAMES OF THREE OF HIS DEAD SIBLINGS AND HIS FATHER.

I FIND THAT INCREDIBLY MOVING.

KIMMEL: YEAH.

I GUESS YOU START OVER.

GATES: YEAH, BUT YOU, YOU SPEAK THE NAMES.

KIMMEL: YEAH.

IT'S FUNNY, YOU GET UPSET ABOUT PEOPLE THAT YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW.

GATES: BUT THEY'RE IN YOUR BLOODSTREAM.

KIMMEL: YEAH.

GATES: YOU CARRY DNA FROM THESE PEOPLE.

KIMMEL: YEAH, AND THEIR, THEIR FOOD IS PART OF M, YOU KNOW, MY LIFE, AND UH... GATES: THEIR SMELLS, YOU KNOW, THEIR TASTES.

KIMMEL: YEAH.

GATES: THEIR SENSE OF HUMOR.

MARISA TOMEI HAS ITALIAN ROOTS ON BOTH SIDES OF HER FAMILY TREE.

BUT, UNLIKE JIMMY, SHE KNEW VERY LITTLE ABOUT THEM.

WE STARTED WITH HER MATERNAL GREAT-GRANDFATHER, A MAN NAMED GIACOMO D'IGNOTI.

OUR SEARCH LED US TO MESSINA, A PORT IN SICILY, WHERE WE CAME UPON A FAMILIAR NAME.

TOMEI: "ON THE 4TH OF JANUARY OF THE YEAR 1887, IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF MESSINA WAS BORN D'IGNOTI, WITH A D APOSTROPHE IGNOTI, GIACOMO, SON OF ANTON, ANTONINO, SON OF ANTONINO, AGE 28, AND BUTA FRANCESCA."

GATES: THAT'S THE BIRTH RECORD YOU'RE LOOKING AT FOR YOUR GREAT-GRANDFATHER GIACOMO.

TOMEI: WOW.

WOW.

GATES: THIS RECORD WAS CRUCIAL BECAUSE IT NOT ONLY PLACED MARISA'S ANCESTORS IN A SPECIFIC LOCALE, IT ALSO GAVE US THE NAME OF HER GREAT-GREAT GRANDFATHER: ANTONINO D'IGNOTI.

AND HE WOULD TURN OUT TO BE THE LYNCHPIN IN HER FAMILY'S STORY.

ANTONINO WAS A CARPENTER, BORN IN THE LATE 1850S.

BY THE TURN OF THE 20TH CENTURY, HE WAS LIVING IN MESSINA, MARRIED WITH SIX CHILDREN.

AT THE TIME, SICILY WAS AMONG THE POOREST PLACES IN EUROPE, BESET BY HUNGER AND SOCIAL UNREST.

SO ANTONINO TOOK A CHANCE, AND SET OFF FOR AMERICA.

THE ODDS WERE STACKED AGAINST HIM.

HE ARRIVED WITH ONLY $10 IN HIS POCKET AND WAS IMMEDIATELY DETAINED.

TOMEI: WELCOME.

GATES: YEAH, WELCOME, GIVE ME YOUR TIRED, YOUR POOR.

TOMEI: YEAH, VERY DIFFERENT.

VERY DIFFERENT.

GATES: ANTONINO IS YOUR ORIGINAL IMMIGRANT ANCESTOR ON THIS LINE OF YOUR FAMILY TREE.

TOMEI: OKAY, WOW.

GATES: AND COMING IN 1902.

HE IS THE PERSON WHO BROUGHT THIS PART OF YOUR FAMILY TO AMERICA.

TOMEI: WOW.

GATES: AND HE CAME TO THIS COUNTRY, NOTHING.

NOW, WHEN IMMIGRANTS CAME HERE WITH NO MONEY, LIKE YOUR GREAT-GREAT GRANDFATHER, IT WAS COMMON FOR THEM, "BOY YOU'RE IN THE WRONG PLACE.

YOU'RE GONNA GO BACK HOME TO BE DEPORTED RIGHT AWAY."

AND AS YOU COULD SEE, ANTONINO WAS HELD FOR INQUIRY.

TOMEI: UH-HUH.

GATES: SO THEY LIKELY CONSIDERED DEPORTING HIM.

BUT THEY DECIDED TO LET HIM IN, AND THAT CHANGED YOUR FAMILY'S FORTUNES.

TOMEI: THIS IS INCREDIBLE.

GATES: ANTONINO WAS OVER 40 YEARS OLD WHEN HE ARRIVED IN NEW YORK, BUT HE SEEMS TO HAVE HAD THE ENERGY OF A MUCH YOUNGER MAN.

HE SOON FOUND WORK, AND THEN HE BEGAN TO BRING HIS FAMILY OVER FROM SICILY.

WITHIN EIGHT YEARS, HIS WIFE AND ALL OF THEIR CHILDREN HAD CROSSED THE ATLANTIC.

THEIR STORY IS COMMON AMONG ITALIAN AMERICAN FAMILIES, BUT THAT DOESN'T MAKE IT ANY LESS IMPRESSIVE.

AND AS WE DUG MORE DEEPLY, WE REALIZED JUST HOW FAR THE D'IGNOTIS HAD ACTUALLY COME.

THIS IS YOUR GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER'S DEATH RECORD FROM 1912.

THIS RECORD NAMES YOUR THIRD GREAT-GRANDPARENTS, ANTONINO'S PARENTS AND... TOMEI: WHOA.

GATES: DO YOU SEE WHAT IT SAYS ABOUT HIS FATHER'S LAST NAME?

TOMEI: UH, IT'S UNKNOWN.

GATES: UNKNOWN.

WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THAT?

TOMEI: I DON'T KNOW.

UH, I DON'T KNOW.

GATES: WELL, WE CONSULTED AN EXPERT IN ITALIAN GENEALOGY AND HE TOLD US SOMETHING FASCINATING.

LITERALLY, "IGNOTO" MEANS UNKNOWN, LITERALLY.

TOMEI: UH-HUH.

GATES: AND YOUR THIRD GREAT-GRANDFATHER GIACOMO'S SURNAME "D'IGNOTI" TRANSLATES AS QUOTE "OF THE UNKNOWN ONES" OR "OF UNKNOWN PARENTAGE."

TOMEI: OH MY GOD.

WOW.

WOW.

GATES: IT WAS, AN IDENTIFIER GIVEN TO BABIES WHO HAD BEEN ABANDONED.

TOMEI: YOU KNOW WHEN I SAW IT WITH THE APOSTROPHE D FOR THE FIRST TIME, I WAS LIKE WHAT DOES THIS WORD MEAN, IT MUST MEAN SOMETHING, AND I... GATES: THAT'S WHAT IT MEANS.

TOMEI: UH-HUH.

WOW.

GATES: "OF UNKNOWN PARENTAGE."

DID YOU HAVE ANY IDEA OF THE ORIGINS OF THAT NAME?

TOMEI: NO.

NO.

NO, NOT AT ALL.

GATES: WE CAN'T SAY FOR CERTAIN WHETHER ANTONINO HIMSELF WAS ABANDONED AS AN INFANT, OR WHETHER THE NAME COMES FROM A MORE DISTANT ANCESTOR.

WE ONLY KNOW THAT THIS BRANCH OF MARISA'S FAMILY TREE APPEARS TO HAVE BEGUN WITH A FOUNDLING CHILD.

AND WE HAVE AN IDEA OF WHAT THAT CHILD EXPERIENCED, BECAUSE SICILY'S LANDSCAPE STILL BEARS EVIDENCE OF A ONCE PAINFULLY COMMON EVENT.

WOULD YOU PLEASE TURN THE PAGE?

TAKE A LOOK AT THAT.

ANY IDEA WHAT THAT IS?

TOMEI: UH, MAYBE IT'S LIKE A CHURCH, ALL RIGHT, I'M THINKING IT'S LIKE A CHURCH WINDOW WHERE YOU PUT YOUR BABY.

GATES: BRILLIANT.

YEAH.

TOMEI: REALLY?

GATES: 100... TOMEI: I MEAN IT LOOKS LIKE A PRISON, BUT IT LOOKED LIKE... GATES: WELL, IT WAS, IT WAS LITERALLY CALLED A FOUNDLING WHEEL.

YOU EVER HEAR OF A FOUNDLING WHEEL?

TOMEI: NO.

GATES: IN THE EARLY 1800S, ROUGHLY 7% OF THE BABIES IN SICILY WERE ABANDONED, OBVIOUSLY BECAUSE OF THE CRUSHING POVERTY IN SOUTHERN ITALY.

TOMEI: UH-HUH.

YEAH.

YEAH, THE CRUSHING, CRUSHING, CRUSHING POVERTY.

GATES; YOU KNOW, YOUR ANCESTORS PAID THEIR DUES.

TOMEI: YEAH.

THAT IS, UH, IS DEEP.

GATES: TURNING TO JOHN TURTURRO, WE FOCUSED FIRST ON HIS MOTHER, KATHERINE INCERELLO.

JOHN REVERES HIS MOTHER FOR HER GREAT WARMTH, AND CREDITS HER FOR INSPIRING HIS CREATIVITY.

KATHERINE'S SPIRIT IS ALL THE MORE IMPRESSIVE CONSIDERING THE CHALLENGES SHE FACED DURING HER CHILDHOOD: HER PARENTS WERE SICILIAN IMMIGRANTS WHO STRUGGLED MIGHTILY IN AMERICA.

SO MUCH SO THAT THEY MADE A TRAGIC DECISION.

TURTURRO: MY GRANDMOTHER DIED AND FROM WHAT I HEARD FROM MY MOTHER, UH, IT WAS IN A VERY UNFORTUNATE WAY, THAT HER, SHE HAD HAD A LOT OF KIDS, THEY COULDN'T AFFORD ANOTHER KID.

HER SISTER MADE SOME KIND OF CONCOCTION THAT WAS GONNA HELP ABORT THE BABY, AND UH, IT POISONED HER.

GATES: KATHERINE WAS JUST SIX YEARS OLD WHEN SHE LOST HER MOTHER.

UNFORTUNATELY, HER TROUBLES WERE ONLY BEGINNING.

HER FATHER SOON FOUND HIMSELF UNABLE TO SUPPORT A FAMILY ON HIS OWN.

AS A RESULT, KATHERINE, AND TWO OF HER BROTHERS, WERE SENT TO ORPHANAGES.

JOHN WAS AWARE OF WHAT HAD HAPPENED TO HIS MOTHER, BUT HE'D NEVER SEEN THE ACTUAL DOCUMENTS DETAILING IT.

JOHN, THIS IS FROM THE ARCHIVES OF WHAT IS KNOWN AS THE ROMAN CATHOLIC ORPHAN ASYLUM SOCIETY.

TURTURRO: "KATHERINE, KATE INCERELLO.

DATE OF ADMISSION: 6/2/27.

AGE WHEN ADMITTED: 6.

"CAUSE OF ADMISSION: DESTITUTION."

I COULD ALWAYS SEE THAT IN MY MOTHER.

GATES: SEE WHAT?

TURTURRO: I THINK SO MUCH OF MY MOTHER'S LIFE WAS, YOU KNOW, AFFECTED BY HER LOSING HER MOTHER.

SHE DIDN'T WANT TO LOSE HER FAMILY.

AND SHE WAS VERY PROTECTIVE OF ALL THREE OF US.

GATES: TELL ME ABOUT YOUR GRANDFATHER.

DO YOU REMEMBER ANYTHING ABOUT HIM?

TURTURRO: YES I DO.

I REMEMBER HE WAS VERY SWEET, UH, TO ME.

I THINK HE DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH FUNDS, YOU KNOW?

HE COULD, COULDN'T BE ABLE TO WORK AND TAKE CARE OF HER.

GATES: JOHN'S GRANDFATHER SEEMS TO HAVE DONE HIS BEST TO KEEP HIS FAMILY TOGETHER.

IN 1931, HE REMARRIED AND BROUGHT KATHERINE AND HER BROTHER FRED BACK HOME.

BUT HIS SECOND WIFE PASSED AWAY JUST FIVE YEARS LATER, AND THE FAMILY DISSOLVED YET AGAIN.

KATHERINE WENT TO LIVE WITH STEP-SIBLINGS.

JOHN HAD NO IDEA WHAT HAPPENED TO HER FATHER, HIS OWN GRANDFATHER.

THE ANSWER SHOCKED BOTH OF US.

TURTURRO: "MR. INCERELLO IS MARRIED FOR THE THIRD TIME TO A NEGRO WOMAN, ELDER DEBORAH.

MR. INCERELLO GOES TO CHURCH WITH HER AND, HAS 'TURNED PROTESTANT.'

SHE COULD SEE NOTHING WRONG IN THE WAY OF HER MARRIAGE TO A WHITE MAN."

THIS IS VERY GOOD NEWS.

UH, WOW.

GATES: DID YOU HAVE ANY IDEA?

TURTURRO: I HAD NO IDEA.

NONE, NONE AT ALL.

I MEAN, MY MOTHER NEVER SAID ANYTHING TO ME, EVER.

GATES: HE HAD TO TAKE AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF FLAK FOR DOING THIS.

TURTURRO: I'M SURE.

GATES: I MEAN, YOU WOULD TAKE FLAK IN 1968, 1998, IN SOME PLACES.

THIS IS 1938.

TURTURRO: IT'S INTERESTING BECAUSE HE'S REALLY FROM THE OTHER COUNTRY.

HE'S NOT AMERICANIZED.

GATES: RIGHT.

TURTURRO: YOU KNOW WHAT I'M SAYING?

SO, MAYBE HE SEES THINGS IN A DIFFERENT WAY.

YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN?

A MUCH MORE, YOU KNOW... GATES: OPEN.

TURTURRO: YEAH.

MAYBE.

GATES: JOHN'S GRANDFATHER MAY HAVE FOUND HAPPINESS, BUT HIS FAMILY'S STRUGGLES WEREN'T OVER.

IN MAY OF 1938, HIS SON FRED WAS SENT BACK TO THE ORPHANAGE THIS TIME FOR DELINQUENCY.

AND HIS NEW WIFE ATTEMPTED TO GET HIM OUT.

JOHN, THIS IS ANOTHER SECTION OF THE REPORT WE WERE JUST LOOKING AT.

IT DESCRIBES HOW YOUR GRANDFATHER'S THIRD WIFE, ELDER DEBORAH, FELT ABOUT HELPING TO RAISE YOUR UNCLE FRED.

WOULD YOU PLEASE READ THE TRANSCRIBED SECTION?

TURTURRO: "SHE FEELS CONFIDENT THAT SHE WILL BE A GOOD MOTHER TO FRED.

SHE IS SURE THE DEPARTMENT OF WELFARE WILL DISCHARGE HIM TO HER AND MR. INCERELLO.

VISITORS SPOKE WITH THE NEIGHBORS WHO ARE ALL COLORED.

THEY THINK VERY LITTLE OF THE INCERELLOS BECAUSE OF THE FACT THAT THE MAN IS WHITE.

HE GOES BY THE NAME OF HIS WIFE, MR.

DEBORAH."

BOTH: MR. DEBORAH.

GATES: HOW, WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THAT?

TURTURRO: WELL, I'LL TELL YOU.

IN MY FAMILY, NOTHING SURPRISES ME.

YOU COULD KEEP GOING, AND I'M LIKE, "I WAS JUST WAITING TO HEAR STUFF."

I REALLY, HONESTLY, 'CAUSE I JUST KNOW, LIKE, THERE WAS ALL, THERE WAS A MILLION MYSTERIES THERE.

GATES: THAT IS A BIG SECRET, MAN.

TURTURRO: MR. DEBORAH.

GATES: MR. DEBORAH.

TURTURRO: WOW.

DON'T FORGET, HE DID THAT WITH AN ITALIAN ACCENT.

IT WASN'T LIKE HE WAS, HE'S SAYING IT LIKE YOU WOULD SAY IT OR I WOULD SAY IT.

HE WOULD SAY, "I'MMA MR. DEBORAH," YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN?

SO, UH, WOW.

SHE WAS GONNA TAKE CARE OF FRED NOW.

GATES: SHE WANTED TO TAKE CARE OF FRED.

TURTURRO: RIGHT.

GATES: AND SHE SAID, "I'D BE A GOOD MOTHER TO FRED."

TURTURRO: RIGHT.

GATES: WHAT DO YOU THINK THE CITY DID?

LET'S TURN THE PAGE.

WOULD YOU PLEASE READ THE EXCERPTED.

TURTURRO: WOW.

WHEW.

"MISS SCHWARTZ, WORKER ON THE CASE STATED THAT DUE TO THE RACIAL AND RELIGIOUS DIFFERENCES OF MR. INCERELLO AND HIS NEW WIFE, THE APPLICATION HAS BEEN REFUSED."

GATES: THE APPLICATION WAS REFUSED.

TURTURRO: I, THIS IS REALLY NEWS, THIS IS, WOW.

GATES: CAN YOU IMAGINE HOW COLD THAT IS?

THEY WOULD RATHER KEEP THE KID IN THE ORPHANAGE THAN LET HIS OWN FATHER TAKE CARE OF HIM, BECAUSE HE'S MARRIED TO A BLACK WOMAN.

WHY DO YOU THINK YOUR MOTHER NEVER TOLD YOU ABOUT IT?

YOU HAVE TO BE ASKING YOURSELF THIS.

TURTURRO: WELL, IT SEEMS PRETTY OBVIOUS.

I MEAN, WHY SHE NEVER TOLD ME, SHE WAS LIKE, "WELL, MY FATHER," YOU KNOW?

I MEAN, SHE HAD A LOT OF PROBLEMS WITH HIM BECAUSE HE DIDN'T TAKE CARE OF HER.

GATES: RIGHT.

TURTURRO: BUT THEN, YOU KNOW, SHE AND SHE TOLD ME EVERYTHING.

I MEAN, SHE'S TOLD ME EVERYTHING, BUT THIS IS REALLY, I GUESS SHE WAS LIKE, "WELL, I'M NOT GONNA TALK ABOUT THAT."

GATES: YEAH.

TURTURRO: I DO THINK SHE WAS A PRODUCT OF HER GENERATION.

AND THERE WERE CERTAIN THINGS, PROBABLY, YOU KNOW, THAT SHE WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN AS OPEN TO PROBABLY, MAYBE, PROBABLY, MAYBE HER FATHER MARRYING THIS OTHER WOMAN; MAYBE THAT WAS A LITTLE, YOU KNOW... GATES: SHE SAID, "THAT'S TOO FAR."

TURTURRO: YOU KNOW, FOR HER AT THE TIME, I DON'T KNOW, I DON'T KNOW WHAT SHE REALLY THOUGHT ABOUT IT OR NOT.

OR IF SHE WAS ON THE "OUT'S" WITH HIM AT THAT TIME.

GATES: HOW DO YOU THINK THIS SHAPED THE KIND OF PARENT YOUR MOTHER WAS TO YOU?

A LOT OF TRAUMA HERE.

TURTURRO: I JUST KNOW SHE WAS A REALLY, REALLY NURTURING PARENT, YOU KNOW?

SHE WAS A, YOU KNOW, A REALLY TERRIFIC MOTHER.

GATES: WE HAD ALREADY TAKEN MARISA TOMEI'S MATERNAL ROOTS BACK TO SICILY, WHERE THE PAPER TRAIL ENDED IN THE 1850S.

TURNING TO HER FATHER'S SIDE OF HER FAMILY TREE, WE WERE ABLE TO GO BACK EVEN FURTHER.

OUR JOURNEY STARTED WITH MARISA'S GRANDMOTHER, RITA CALVOSA, WHO WAS BORN IN BROOKLYN IN 1918.

THE CHILD OF TWO ITALIAN IMMIGRANTS, STRUGGLING TO GAIN A FOOTHOLD IN AMERICA.

HER FATHER ALBERT, A GARMENT WORKER, DIED WHEN RITA WAS ONLY EIGHT.

THE LOSS LEFT THE FAMILY IN TURMOIL, AND ALBERT'S STORY HAD BEEN LARGELY FORGOTTEN.

WE RECOVERED IT, THANKS TO A CLUE IN HIS NATURALIZATION PAPERS.

TOMEI: "ALBERT CALVOSA...

I WAS BORN IN SAN DEMETRIO, ITALY.

I EMIGRATED TO THE UNITED STATES ON THE VESSEL COLUMBIA ON JUNE 1891."

GATES: YOU EVER HEAR OF SAN DEMETRIO?

TOMEI: NO.

GATES: IT'S PART OF THE CALABRIA REGION OF ITALY, AND IT'S THE TOWN INDICATED ON THE MAP TO THE LEFT.

TOMEI: UH-HUH.

GATES: THAT'S WHERE YOUR GREAT- GRANDFATHER ALBERT WAS BORN.

TOMEI: WOW.

GATES: DID YOU KNOW THAT?

TOMEI: NO, I DIDN'T KNOW THAT.

GATES: CALABRIA IS THE VERY SOUTHERN-MOST REGION OF THE ITALIAN PENINSULA, AND MUCH LIKE ITS NEIGHBOR SICILY, IT'S HISTORICALLY SUFFERED FROM SYSTEMIC POVERTY.

RECORDS IN THIS AREA CAN BE DIFFICULT TO ACCESS, LEAVING MANY ITALIAN-AMERICANS WITH QUESTIONS ABOUT THEIR CALABRIAN ANCESTORS.

BUT WITH MARISA, WE WERE FORTUNATE.

WE FOUND A SERIES OF BIRTH AND MARRIAGE RECORDS, TAKING US BACK TO HER THIRD-GREAT GRANDPARENTS, AND PROVIDING A TELLING DETAIL ABOUT THEIR LIVES.

TOMEI: "MARIA THERESA CUMANO AND DON CARLO MARIA, ROYAL CHANCELLOR."

GATES: ROYAL CHANCELLOR.

TOMEI: OH.

JUST WHAT A GIRL WANTS TO HEAR.

GATES: ANY IDEA WHAT THAT MIGHT MEAN?

TOMEI: NO, BUT I LIKE THE RING TO IT.

GATES: YEAH, ESPECIALLY THE ROYAL PART.

A ROYAL CHANCELLOR WAS A GOVERNMENT POSITION.

AND MARISA'S THIRD GREAT-GRANDFATHER, DON CARLO MARIA CORRADO, SERVED IN A GOVERNMENT HEADED BY A VERY POWERFUL MAN.

FERDINAND II, A SCION OF THE HOUSE OF BOURBON, ONE OF EUROPE'S PREMIER ROYAL FAMILIES.

BEGINNING IN 1830, FERDINAND WAS THE RULER OF WHAT WAS KNOWN AS THE "KINGDOM OF THE TWO SICILIES", THE LARGEST KINGDOM ON THE ITALIAN PENINSULA, AND DON CARLO WAS PART OF HIS ADMINISTRATION.

MARISA'S FAMILY HAD CLEARLY RISEN ABOVE THE POVERTY THAT AFFLICTED SO MANY PEOPLE IN CALABRIA.

BUT THEIR POSITION WAS UNSTABLE.

IN 1848, ITALY WAS CAUGHT UP IN A WAVE OF REVOLUTION, AS LIBERAL NATIONALISTS ATTEMPTED TO UNIFY THE COUNTRY AND OVERTHROW ITS MANY MONARCHIES.

SUDDENLY, FERDINAND II WAS SEEN AS A TYRANT.

WHICH RAISED AN INTERESTING QUESTION.

SO, WHAT DO YOU THINK?

WERE YOUR ANCESTORS IN FAVOR OF THE MONARCHY OR IN FAVOR OF SOCIAL CHANGE OF THIS UNIFICATION MOVEMENT?

TOMEI: OH, I DON'T KNOW.

WHAT DID HE DO?

GATES: YOU GOTTA GUESS.

TOMEI: I, I, I'M ROOTING FOR THE SIDE OF THE PEOPLE!

GATES: WELL, LET'S FIND OUT.

TOMEI: OKAY.

GATES: WOULD YOU PLEASE TURN THE PAGE?

THIS IS A DOCUMENT FROM A TRIAL THAT DESCRIBES A REVOLT IN SAN DEMETRIO IN THAT YEAR OF REVOLUTION, 1848.

YOUR THIRD GREAT-GRANDFATHER TESTIFIED IN COURT AGAINST A MAN NAMED DON RAFFAELE MAURO.

TOMEI: "IN ORDER TO CONVINCE THE PEOPLE THAT THE KING WAS NO LONGER RELEVANT, DON RAFFAELE MAURO HAD THE STATUE OF THE KING SHOT BY A FIRING SQUAD, ORDERING THAT BEFORE THE EXECUTION THERE SHOULD BE A SIMULATED TRIAL AND THAT A DEATH SENTENCE SHOULD BE PROCLAIMED!"

NOT SHORT ON DRAMA.

"ACCORDING TO THE TESTIMONY OF DON CARLO MARIA CORRADO, DON RAFFAELE MAURO ORDERED THAT THE KING'S STATUE SHOULD BE REMOVED FROM SAN DEMETRIO AND THAT AFTER BEING PARADED IGNOMINIOUSLY THROUGH THE STREETS OF THE TOWN, AMONGST CRIES OF DEATH TO THE TYRANT, IT WAS DEPOSITED IN THE GUARDROOM IN ORDER TO BE SHOT BY FIRING SQUAD THE NEXT MORNING.

DON CARLO MARIA CORRADO CLAIMS THAT DON RAFFAELE MAURO DISPLAYED SUCH DESPOTISM THAT HE TERRIFIED THE ENTIRE POPULATION."

WOW!

GATES: WHAT'S IT LIKE TO SEE THAT?

IT'S TESTIMONY... TOMEI: WOW.

WOW.

GATES: ISN'T THAT COOL?

TOMEI: IT REALLY COMES TO LIFE.

GATES: YEAH.

TOMEI: WOW.

GATES: HIS OPPOSITION OF REVOLUTIONARY MAURO TELLS US THAT HE REJECTED THE LIBERAL MOVEMENT.

NOW, ARE YOU DISAPPOINTED?

TOMEI: I AM, REALLY.

GATES: YEAH, BUT HE WAS PROTECTING HIS FAMILY, HIS INCOME.

TOMEI: WELL, YOU HAVE TO GIVE UP SOMETHING, SOMETIME, SACRIFICE FOR THE GREATER GOOD, BUT... GATES: MARISA'S DISAPPOINTMENT WAS PALPABLE, BUT THE STORY WASN'T OVER.

FERDINAND AND HIS ALLIES FAILED TO CRUSH THE LIBERAL MOVEMENT, AND IN 1861, AFTER MORE THAN A DECADE OF STRIFE, THE KINGDOM OF THE TWO SICILIES BECAME PART OF A UNIFIED ITALY.

WANT TO GUESS HOW YOUR FAMILY FARED IN ALL THIS TURMOIL?

TOMEI: I DON'T KNOW HOW POPULAR THEY WERE ANYMORE IN THAT TOWN.

GATES: WELL, WE'RE GONNA FIND OUT.

TOMEI: OKAY.

GATES: WOULD YOU PLEASE TURN THE PAGE?

TOMEI: YES.

GATES: MARISA, THIS IS A LISTING OF MANY OF THE PARTICIPANTS WHO SUPPORTED UNIFICATION.

TOMEI: WHO SUPPORTED UNIFICATION?

"DON CARLO MARIA CORRADO."

GATES: YES.

YOUR THIRD GREAT-GRANDFATHER EVENTUALLY TURNED ON THE BOURBON REGIME.

TOMEI: OH, OKAY.

ALRIGHT, COME ON!

GATES: NOW, THAT MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER?

TOMEI: YEAH.

GATES: WE HAD NOW TAKEN MARISA BACK TWO GENERATIONS IN CALABRIA, AND REVEALED HOW HER ANCESTORS HAD NAVIGATED ONE OF THE MOST TUMULTUOUS PERIODS IN ALL OF ITALIAN HISTORY.

BUT A QUESTION STILL CONFRONTED US.

HOW DID THE DESCENDANTS OF A FORMER CHANCELLOR END UP AN IMMIGRANT IN BROOKLYN?

THE ANSWER WAS SIMPLE: ECONOMICS.

UNIFICATION DIDN'T BRING PROSPERITY TO ALL.

IN 1887, THE ITALIAN GOVERNMENT IMPOSED PROTECTIONIST TARIFFS SEEKING TO STIMULATE INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE NORTH, BUT WREAKING HAVOC ON THE AGRARIAN ECONOMY IN THE SOUTH, AND DRIVING MARISA'S ANCESTORS TO EMIGRATE.

TOMEI: "STATE OF NEW YORK, CERTIFICATE AND RECORD OF DEATH OF RAPHAEL CALVOSA.

HE DIED ON THE 8TH DAY OF OCTOBER, 1896, DIED OF DIABETES."

GATES: THERE'S YOUR GREAT-GREAT GRANDFATHER RAFFAELE.

HE AND HIS WIFE, SERAFINA, MOVED TO NEW YORK WITH YOUR GREAT-GRANDFATHER ALBERT, SEE, WE'RE MAKING A CIRCLE, SOMETIME IN THE EARLY 1890S.

TOMEI: THIS IS INCREDIBLE.

I'M VERY, VERY, VERY GRATEFUL, THE GIFT OF NOT ONLY A LIFETIME, MANY LIFETIMES, REALLY.

WOW.

GATES: AND THESE PEOPLE WILL NEVER BE LOST AGAIN.

TOMEI: WOW.

YEAH.

THAT'S A BEAUTIFUL WAY TO PUT IT.

THANK YOU.

GATES: WE HAD ALREADY UNCOVERED THE STORY OF JOHN TUTRURRO'S MATERNAL FAMILY, AND WITNESS HOW THEY STRUGGLED AFTER IMMIGRATING TO AMERICA FROM SICILY.

TURNING TO JOHN'S PATERNAL SIDE, WE FOUND ANOTHER FAMILY STRUGGLING UNDER SIMILAR CIRCUMSTANCES.

JOHN'S FATHER, NICHOLA TURTURRO, WAS BORN IN GIOVINAZZO, ITALY.

MONTHS BEFORE HIS BIRTH, HIS FATHER LEFT FOR AMERICA, SEEKING WORK THAT HE COULDN'T FIND AT HOME.

THE SEPARATION LEFT AN INDELIBLE MARK ON YOUNG NICHOLA.

TURTURRO: MY FATHER NEVER MET HIS FATHER UNTIL HE WAS SIX YEARS OLD, 'CAUSE HIS FATHER LEFT WHEN HIS MOTHER WAS PREGNANT.

SO, HIS FIRST, SO HE WAS ALWAYS HUNGERING FOR HIS FATHER'S, LIKE, UH, UH, APPROVAL.

MY FATHER WAS EMOTIONAL.

I MEAN, I'M AN EMOTIONAL PERSON, BUT HE HAD MORE RAGE, HE HAD A LOT OF RAGE IN HIM AND STUFF, AND SOMETIMES GOT HIMSELF INTO BIG TROUBLE THAT WAY.

GATES: SHORT FUSE?

TURTURRO: YEAH, AT TIMES, YES.

HE HAD A, HE HAD A WILD TEMPER WHEN HE WAS, WHEN HE WAS YOUNGER.

GATES: I WANTED TO HELP JOHN LEARN MORE ABOUT HIS FATHER'S FAMILY, SO THAT HE MIGHT BETTER UNDERSTAND WHAT MADE HIS FATHER THE WAY HE WAS.

WE STARTED WITH JOHN'S GRANDFATHER, RAFFAELE TURTURRO, THE MAN WHO BROUGHT THE TURTURROS TO AMERICA.

JOHN NEVER MET RAFFAELE, BUT HE KNEW THAT HE CAME FROM GIOVINAZZO.

AND THAT IS WHERE OUR SEARCH BEGAN.

WE WERE ABLE TO SHOW JOHN HIS GRANDFATHER'S BIRTH CERTIFICATE, AS WELL AS RECORDS REVEALING THAT RAFFAELE SERVED IN THE ITALIAN NAVY AS A YOUNG MAN, AND THAT HE MADE HIS LIVING BY TRANSPORTING GOODS.

AND THEN WE FOUND SOMETHING THAT WAS ESPECIALLY MEANINGFUL.

TURTURRO: AH.

IS THAT THEIR BOAT?

GATES: YEAH.

IT LEFT FROM NAPLES AND ARRIVED IN NEW YORK ON FEBRUARY 8, 1925.

CAN YOU READ THE ENTRY THAT WE'VE EXCERPTED AT THE BOTTOM?

TURTURRO: OH, WOW.

"RAFFAELE TURTURRO, AGE 29, OCCUPATION, CARTER."

GATES: THAT'S YOUR GRANDFATHER ARRIVING IN AMERICA.

TURTURRO: THAT'S SOMETHING.

GATES: THAT'S SOMETHING.

THAT'S THREE MONTHS BEFORE YOUR FATHER WAS BORN.

SO, YOUR GRANDFATHER LEFT ITALY WHEN HIS WIFE WAS SIX MONTHS' PREGNANT.

TURTURRO: RIGHT.

GATES: CAN YOU IMAGINE DOING THAT, AND SAILING ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE OCEAN?

AND WHAT IT WAS LIKE FOR YOUR GRANDMOTHER AND YOUR FATHER BACK IN ITALY?

TURTURRO: WELL, I KNOW MY FATHER SAID, YOU KNOW, HE REALLY WANTED TO BE WITH HIS FATHER REALLY BADLY, YOU KNOW?

HE SAID HE WAS LONELY.

YOU KNOW, HE WANTED TO SEE HIS FATHER.

GATES: RIGHT.

SO, LET'S SEE HOW HE FARED.

COULD YOU PLEASE TURN THE PAGE?

TAKE A LOOK AT THIS DOCUMENT.

ANY IDEA WHAT THAT IS?

TURTURRO: THAT'S HIS, UH, CERTIFICATE OF CITIZENSHIP.

GATES: THAT IS WHEN YOUR GRANDFATHER BECAME AN AMERICAN CITIZEN.

WOULD YOU PLEASE READ THE HIGHLIGHTED SECTION?

TURTURRO: WOW.

"BE IT KNOWN THAT RALPH TURTURRO, HAVING PETITIONED TO BE ADMITTED AS CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES, IS HEREUNTO AFFIRMED THIS TENTH DAY OF NOVEMBER IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 1930..." THAT'S HIS CERTIFICATE OF CITIZENSHIP.

WOW, "COMPLEXION: DARK."

GATES: DARK.

THERE YOU GO.

TURTURRO: IT'S, UH, YOU KNOW, IT'S VERY MOVING FOR ME.

IT'S A BIG JOURNEY.

GATES: BIG-TIME.

TURTURRO: LOOK, AND THEY HAVE, LIKE, RAFFAELE, AND THEN THEY PUT "RALPH" ON TOP OF IT.

GATES: YEAH.

TURTURRO: IT'S FUNNY, THE, AMERICANIZING HIM, YOU KNOW?

GATES: YEAH, HE BECAME AN AMERICAN CITIZEN NOVEMBER OF 1930, AND A LITTLE MORE THAN A YEAR LATER, HIS WIFE AND CHILD ARRIVED.

DID YOUR FATHER TALK ABOUT WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO GET HERE, WHAT AMERICA WAS LIKE?

TURTURRO: YEAH.

HE TOLD ME THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, HE HAD NEVER SEEN DIFFERENT KINDS OF PEOPLE, YOU KNOW, FROM WHERE HE GREW UP.

HE HAD NEVER BEEN TO A MOVIE THEATER.

HE SAW "DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE" VERY EARLY ON, WHICH I'M, I'M SURPRISED THEY TOOK HIM TO THAT.

GATES: SOMETHING TO HELP YOU SLEEP AT NIGHT.

TURTURRO: YEAH.

THEY PUT HIM IN FRONT OF THE CLASS.

THEY MADE HIM SIT IN THE FRONT, BECAUSE HE, HE COULDN'T SPEAK ENGLISH, AND HE SAID HE WAS REALLY KIND OF TERRIFIED.

YOU KNOW, HE DIDN'T KNOW ANY, YOU KNOW?

GATES: BUT IT HAD TO BE TRAUMATIC, MAN.

TURTURRO: YEAH.

YEAH.

GATES: OH GOD.

THEY ALL MADE HUGE SACRIFICES TO COME TO THE UNITED STATES, AND MORE ESPECIALLY, TO BECOME AMERICANS.

TURTURRO: WELL, I THINK THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE WERE LOOKING FOR A LIFE.

BUT THAT'S A BIG JOURNEY, TO LEAVE YOUR LANGUAGE, YOUR CULTURE, EVERYTHING YOU KNOW, YOUR FAMILY, AND YOU KNOW, TO GO IT ALONE.

GATES: YEAH.

TURTURRO: AND SO, SOMEONE LIKE HIM, I LOOK AT HIM AND I SAY, "YOU KNOW, THAT'S, THAT'S THE REASON WHY I'M, THAT I'M DOING WELL," AND THAT I'M TALKING TO YOU, IS BECAUSE OF HIM.

GATES: TIME WAS RUNNING OUT WITH MY GUESTS, BUT I HAD ONE MORE STORY TO TELL JIMMY KIMMEL.

AND WHILE IT DIDN'T INVOLVE ITALIAN ANCESTRY, IT WAS CENTRAL TO HIS IDENTITY, AND IT WOULD, I HOPED, RESOLVE A MYSTERY SURROUNDING HIS PATERNAL GREAT-GRANDFATHER, A MAN NAMED FRANK KIMMEL.

RECOGNIZE THAT GUY?

KIMMEL: THAT IS MY GRANDFATHER'S FATHER.

GATES: MM-HMM.

KIMMEL: AND WHAT A FACE THAT IS.

I MEAN, THAT IS, IT'S MORE MUPPET THAN HUMAN.

GATES: THAT'S FRANK KIMMEL, ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO GO DOWN THIS ROAD?

KIMMEL: YEAH, LET'S GO DOWN IT.

GATES: OKAY LET'S SEE WHAT WE FOUND OUT.

FRANK WAS THE FIRST PERSON IN JIMMY'S FAMILY TO USE THE SURNAME "KIMMEL."

HIS PARENTS, CHRISTIAN AND THERESA, WERE GERMAN IMMIGRANTS WHO SPELLED THEIR NAME "KUMMEL."

IT APPEARS THAT FRANK SWITCHED THE "U" FOR AN "I", PERHAPS TO SEEM LESS GERMAN DURING AN ERA WHEN THE UNITED STATES AND GERMANY WERE AT WAR.

CHANGES OF THIS SORT WERE COMMON.

BUT AS WE LOOKED CLOSER, THE STORY BECAME MORE COMPLICATED.

WE NOTICED THAT FRANK'S MOTHER'S OBITUARY AND HIS FATHER'S WILL, BOTH WERE MISSING ONE VERY IMPORTANT DETAIL.

JIMMY WHAT DO YOU NOTICE MY FRIEND?

KIMMEL: NEITHER OF THEM ACKNOWLEDGES THE EXISTENCE OF MY GREAT-GRANDFATHER, FRANK.

GATES: IT'S PRETTY COLD NOT TO MENTION YOUR OWN KID IN YOUR OBITUARY RIGHT?

KIMMEL: I GUESS IT IS.

YEAH.

GATES: WE WERE NOW FACING A POINTED QUESTION: COULD IT BE POSSIBLE THAT CHRISTIAN AND THERESA WEREN'T REALLY FRANK'S PARENTS?

WE DISCOVERED WHAT SEEMED LIKE A CLUE IN THEIR MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE.

GATES: WHEN WERE HIS PARENTS MARRIED?

KIMMEL: APRIL 13, 1886.

GATES: COULD YOU READ WHEN HE WAS BORN?

KIMMEL: DECEMBER 1880.

GATES: THERESA AND CHRISTIAN WERE MARRIED SIX YEARS AFTER FRANK WAS BORN.

KIMMEL: HE'S A BASTARD.

GATES: THAT'S A HARSH WORD.

DIGGING DEEPER, WE UNCOVERED A PASSENGER RECORD, SHOWING THAT THERESA KUMMEL, WHOSE MAIDEN NAME WAS STOCKHAUSEN, IMMIGRATED FROM GERMANY TO AMERICA IN 1883.

AT THAT TIME, FRANK WAS THREE YEARS OLD.

BUT HE DIDN'T SAIL WITH HIS MOTHER, WHICH WAS HIGHLY UNUSUAL.

FOR OBVIOUS REASONS, MOTHERS AND THEIR YOUNG CHILDREN TENDED TO TRAVEL TOGETHER.

GATES: SO WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THIS?

ARE THERESA AND CHRISTIAN FRANK'S PARENTS?

KIMMEL: I DON'T KNOW.

I, NOT IF SHE TRAVELED WITHOUT HIM.

GATES: HMMM.

KIMMEL: THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING.

YOU KNOW, IT'S VERY INTERESTING.

THE ONE ANCESTOR THAT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR MY LAST NAME IS THE ONE ABOUT WHOM THERE IS QUESTION.

I THOUGHT THAT WAS MY LAST NAME.

MAYBE IT ISN'T.

GATES: AT THIS POINT, WE HAD A MYSTERY, BUT NO FURTHER RECORDS TO HELP US SOLVE IT.

OUR ONLY HOPE WAS DNA.

SO WE TURNED TO GENETIC GENEALOGIST CECE MOORE.

CECE PURSUED A TWO-PRONGED STRATEGY.

FIRST, SHE TRACKED DOWN A DESCENDENT OF THE STOCKHAUSEN FAMILY, AND ASKED THEM TO TAKE A DNA TEST.

THEN SHE COMPARED THEIR GENETIC PROFILE TO JIMMY'S FATHER'S GENETIC PROFILE, LOOKING TO SEE WHAT THEY SHARED.

TO HELP JIMMY UNDERSTAND THE RESULTS, WE CREATED A CHART, HIGHLIGHTING IN RED ANY STOCKHAUSEN DNA THAT HAD BEEN PASSED ON TO THE KIMMELS.

GATES: YOU SEE ANY RED?

SO, JIMMY, BASED ON THIS TEST, THERESA WAS MOST LIKELY NOT FRANK'S MOTHER.

KIMMEL: WOW, WHO'S GONNA BREAK THIS TO FRANK?

GATES: OF COURSE, IT WAS STILL POSSIBLE THAT CHRISTIAN KUMMEL WAS FRANK'S BIOLOGICAL FATHER.

TO FIND OUT, CECE IDENTIFIED AN INDIVIDUAL WHO DESCENDED FROM BOTH THERESA AND CHRISTIAN, AND COMPARED THEIR DNA PROFILE TO JIMMY'S FATHER'S PROFILE.

TO MAKE OUR FINDINGS CLEAR, WE CREATED ANOTHER COLOR-CODED CHART, SINCE WE KNEW THAT JIMMY DID NOT INHERIT DNA FROM THERESA, ANY RED ON THE CHART WOULD HAVE TO HAVE COME FROM CHRISTIAN.

AND, THIS TIME, THERE WAS SOME RED.

KIMMEL: SO THAT MEANS THAT CHRISTIAN KUMMEL HAD FRANK WITH ANOTHER WOMAN.

GATES: BINGO.

KIMMEL: THIS IS VERY GOOD NEWS, BECAUSE I DID NOT WANNA GO TO THE DMV AND GET MY PASSPORT REDONE, AND UM, I MEAN, THERE ARE JUST SO MANY THINGS.

CHRISTMAS CARDS.

THIS COULD BE A DISASTER.

GATES: IS THIS A RELIEF?

KIMMEL: YEAH, IT IS A, IT'S A RELIEF I DIDN'T KNOW I HAD TO BE RELIEVED ABOUT, BUT IT'S DEFINITELY A RELIEF.

GATES: IN A SENSE, THIS IS A SAD STORY.

SOMETHING MUST HAVE HAPPENED THAT LED TO FRANK'S ESTRANGEMENT FROM THE COUPLE WHO RAISED HIM.

BUT THERE'S NO WAY TO KNOW WHAT IT WAS.

JIMMY'S FATHER TOLD US THAT FRANK NEVER TALKED ABOUT HIS FAMILY, SO THE KIMMELS KNOW VIRTUALLY NOTHING ABOUT CHRISTIAN KUMMEL, MUCH LESS ABOUT THEIR ROOTS BACK IN GERMANY.

WE WERE ABLE TO CHANGE THAT, BY TRACING CHRISTIAN DEEP INTO THE PAST, ALL THE WAY BACK TO JIMMY'S 9TH GREAT-GRANDFATHER: A MAN NAMED JOHANNES KUMMEL, WHO WAS BORN AROUND THE YEAR 1600.

DID YOU IMAGINE THAT YOU HAD SUCH DEEP GERMAN ROOTS?

KIMMEL: WELL, I ASSUMED THAT THERE MUST BE SOME, BUT UM, I DIDN'T THINK YOU'D BE ABLE TO FIND THEM!

I MEAN THAT'S PRETTY REMARKABLE.

GATES: I HAD ONE FINAL SURPRISE FOR EACH OF MY GUESTS.

WHEN WE COMPARED THEIR DNA TO THAT OF OTHER PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN IN THE SERIES, WE FOUND SIGNIFICANT MATCHES FOR ALL THREE, EVIDENCE WITHIN THEIR OWN CHROMOSOMES OF RELATIVES THEY DIDN'T KNOW THEY HAD.

YOU WANNA TAKE A WILD GUESS ON, ABOUT WHO THAT MIGHT BE?

KIMMEL: I'M HOPING IT'S NOT HITLER.

GATES: NO, IT'S GOTTA BE SOMEBODY WE'VE DONE IN THE SERIES.

KIMMEL: OH, OH, OH, OKAY.

OH, YOU GUYS HAVE NOT DONE HITLER, HE'S NOT BEEN BY THE SHOW?

GATES: NO.

KIMMEL: MM, I DON'T KNOW.

I DON'T KNOW WHO IT WOULD BE.

GATES: COULD YOU PLEASE TURN THE PAGE?

KIMMEL: YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME.

THIS, BY THE WAY, THIS EXPLAINS ME, THAT'S UNBELIEVABLE.

I, I MAKE MY OWN VINEGAR.

GATES: DO YOU REALLY?

KIMMEL: YES.

GATES: OH MY GOD.

YOU ARE COUSINS WITH MARTHA STEWART.

KIMMEL: WELL THIS IS GREAT NEWS FOR THE HOLIDAYS.

I MEAN, IT'S VERY BAD NEWS FOR HER, BUT IT'S VERY GOOD NEWS FOR ME.

BAD NEWS, MARTHA.

YOU'RE A KIMMEL.

GATES: YOU DO MATCH WITH SOMEONE WHO'S BEEN IN THE SERIES BEFORE.

TOMEI: REALLY?

GATES: UH-HUH.

TOMEI: OH MY GOD.

GATES: THAT MEANS YOU'RE COUSINS.

YOU HAVE LONG IDENTICAL SEGMENTS OF DNA.

TOMEI: UH-HUH.

GATES: ISN'T THAT COOL?

TOMEI: YES.

GATES: PLEASE TURN THE PAGE AND MEET YOUR GENETIC COUSIN.

TOMEI: JULIANNE?

GATES: YEAH.

TOMEI: JULIANNE?

JULIE?

YOU KNOW WE WENT TO SCHOOL TOGETHER?

GATES: REALLY?

I DIDN'T KNOW THAT.

TOMEI: YES, JULES.

OH, I CAN'T WAIT TO TELL HER.

GATES: MARISA SHARES AN IDENTICAL STRETCH OF DNA ALONG HER X-CHROMOSOME WITH HER LONGTIME FRIEND, JULIANNE MOORE.

SURPRISINGLY, JULIANNE HAS NO ITALIAN ANCESTORS THAT WE KNOW OF, WHILE EVERY ANCESTOR WE COULD NAME ON MARISA'S TREE HAS ROOTS IN ITALY, EVIDENCE OF A HIDDEN DIVERSITY COMMON TO MANY ITALIAN-AMERICANS.

AND FULLY ON DISPLAY IN JOHN TURTURRO'S DNA.

PLEASE TURN THE PAGE.

TURTURRO: I HAVE A FEELING I'M GOING TO BE SURPRISED.

WOW!

GATES: YOU ARE COUSINS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL.

TURTURRO: WOW.

YOU KNOW, I KNOW BRYANT A LITTLE BIT.

GATES: YEAH, WELL YOU KNOW HIM MORE CLOSELY THAN YOU THOUGHT.

TURTURRO: SO, WE HAVE...?

GATES: YEAH, AND YOU'RE NOT RELATED ON HIS BLACK SIDE, YOU'RE RELATED ON HIS WHITE SIDE.

BRYANT HAS A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF SOUTHERN EUROPEAN ANCESTRY, AND THAT EXPLAINS HOW YOU TWO SHARE A COMMON ANCESTOR SOMEWHERE BACK IN THE DISTANT PAST.

IT'S THROUGH THE SOUTHERN EUROPEAN PART, NOT THE AFRICAN PART.

ISN'T THAT WILD?

TURTURRO: IT'S A SMALL WORLD.

GATES: SMALL WORLD, AND YOU KNOW HIM.

TURTURRO: IT'S INTERESTING WHEN YOU, WHEN YOU SEE, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE COMING HERE AND THE WHOLE MIXTURE OF A DIFFERENT CULTURE.

IT KIND OF MAKES YOU FEEL UH, GOOD IN A WAY.

GATES: ISN'T THAT AMAZING?

TURTURRO: THAT'S KINDA GREAT, MAN.

GATES: THAT'S THE END OF OUR JOURNEY WITH JOHN, JIMMY AND MARISA.

JOIN ME NEXT TIME WHEN WE UNLOCK THE SECRETS OF THE PAST FOR NEW GUESTS, ON ANOTHER EPISODE OF "FINDING YOUR ROOTS".

LINNEY: THAT'S UNBELIEVABLE.

NARRATOR: NEXT TIME ON "FINDING YOUR ROOTS" JOURNALISTS, SOLEDAD O'BRIEN... O'BRIEN: I THINK WE FOUND THE BAD LEG OF THE FAMILY HERE.

NARRATOR: LISA LING.

LING: MY GRANDFATHER WAS KNOWN AS THE, "BLACK DRAGON."

NARRATOR: AND ACTOR, LAURA LINNEY.

LINNEY: WOW!

NARRATOR: ANCESTORS... LING: HE MIGHT HAVE BEEN AKIN TO A GANGSTER AT THAT TIME IS WHAT I'VE HEARD.

GATES: UH-HUH.

NARRATOR: LAWBREAKERS... LINNEY: WHAT DID HE DO, WHAT DID HE DO?!

NARRATOR: AND CRIMINALS.

O'BRIEN: I AM SO EMBARRASSED!

IT'S TERRIBLE!

NARRATOR: ON THE NEXT, "FINDING YOUR ROOTS"