TV Show Reveals Famous Actor Has Ties To Stonington

STONINGTON, CT - After extensive background research, the PBS television series “Finding Your Roots” revealed Tuesday that actor Ted Danson has ties to Stonington Borough. The reveal was made during the third episode of the show's fourth season.

At the start of the episode, which also included actors Mary Steenburgen, who is Danson's wife, and William H. Macy as guests, Danson told host Henry Louis Gates Jr. that he had heard his father's family had once been prominent on the East Coast, but had no idea how. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

"I have been told things that I have...forgotten over the years," Danson said in the episode.

The show was able to trace that actor's ancestry back more than 500 years, which uncovered that Danson’s fifth great-grandfather, Oliver Smith, built a home in Stonington sometime around the year 1760. Gates said it is still standing today.

"That's huge," Danson said. "Somebody like me 300 years ago, making their way in the world. I hope they're not turning over in their grave. 'An actor?'"

The show also revealed that Smith commanded a tiny militia force that staved off a British attack on Stonington during the summer of 1775, just after the start of the American Revolution. The group's actions saved the town from destruction, which surprised Danson.

"I never envisioned one of these," Danson said, gesturing to himself, "out there, in the Revolution."

Smith at one point also owned a slave know as Venture, whom Smith allowed to work for his own wages and eventually purchase his own and his family's freedom.

Adopting the last name of Smith, the former slave published his stories in a 1798 book entitled "Venture, a Native of Africa: But Resident Above Sixty Years in the United States of America," which were related by himself.

The news of his ancestor owning a slave surprised Danson, and he told Gates that he struggled with the fact that slavery was talked about so matter-of-factually during Smith's time. He said the reveal was "challenging" but conceded that Smith's allowing Venture to free himself and treating him with dignity was positive.

Danson is know for a number of notable roles in both film and television series such as "Cheers" and HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm."

The episode can be viewed in full at pbs.com

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