Metlifecare resident Alana Cooke recently discovered she was the long-lost relative of acting royalty through a chance encounter.
It’s not every day you find out you’re related to British acting royalty, so when Orion Point resident, Alana Cooke discovered she shared ancestors with Dame Judi Dench, she was very surprised.
“I received a phone call from my cousin who told me to turn on the TV to watch ‘Who do you think you are?’ and there was all my family information being relayed; and the person involved was Dame Judi Dench,” said Cooke.
Raised in a family interested in genealogy, Alana researched her family tree more extensively in the 1960s, tracing her roots on her father’s side back to 17th-century Danish Aristocracy.
It was through Cooke’s recorded research that producers of the popular BBC TV show, which delves into the family histories of famous people, reached out to her for more information.
“They wouldn’t tell me which famous person the programme was about but said they would inform me later. I submitted all my information, but I never heard from them. It was during COVID times, so I didn’t think much more of it.”
Cooke and Dame Judi are both directly related to the first Viscount Molesworth, Ambassador to the Court of St. James, and his neighbour and secretary, Richard Bolton, whose tenures took them from London to Copenhagen in the late 1600s.
Evidently, both men descend way back to William the Conqueror. However, it was their offspring who married, and from whom Cooke and Dame Judi descend. Dame Judi through her mother’s side, and Cooke through her father’s.
“Genealogy is very complicated, but roughly, Dame Judi and I are sixth cousins,” said Cooke.
While their immediate family connection extends back several centuries, you could say that the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree, as the women share something in common – a love of the performing arts.
Delving into the family tree uncovered that Cooke was, in fact, related to other acting royalty. The actress Olivia de Havilland, from Gone with the Wind, and her sister Joan Fontaine descend from the Molesworth family.
“So, acting must run in the blood,” said Cooke.
Cooke, who finds genealogy fascinating, said finding out where she descends from has given her a sense of stability and belonging.
“For me, it’s important to know where I came from, it gives me a sense of continuity, and it’s something I can pass on to my children. But it really depends on the person, I’ve got cousins who aren’t in the least bit interested!”
After the show, Cooke reached out to Dame Judi’s agent, offering more family information.
“I asked her if she would like to know more about her Bolton family, and she did. So, I sent her all the family information I had and have since received several notes from her through her family and secretary.”
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