Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Johnnie Walker

I'm digging Geni, the online family tree, even though it's a pain in the butt. On the one hand they email me about seven times a day. On the other, I learn about family members I never knew.

Here's a perfect example. For years I heard a rumor that we had a silent film star in the family. The story was a beacon of hope for those of us who became performers (quite a few). My uncle Jimmy would tell me stories of the great actor. "Oh, he was so handsome. Always wore his hat tilted to one side". That's all the information I got. I heard that story so many times I began to disbelieve it. Who gets famous for wearing a hat tilted to one side?

Turns out the rumors are true. I looked on the family tree and there's my second great uncle, Johnnie Walker. And there's a picture.




Here he is on imdb. He made 91 movies. And he's real. And hey, look how he's wearing that hat!

Thanks, Geni.

3 comments:

Keith McCarty said...

Jon,

Thank you for the post featuring Geni and your experiences while using the product. Remember, you can control which Email Notifications you receive through your 'Notifications' setting. To get there, click the 'Settings' link in the upper right hand corner of any page within Geni. Then click the 'Notifications' link and disable any notifications you do not wish to receive. Once again, thank you for the post and feel free to let us know if you have any additional questions.

Thank you,

-Keith-
The Geni Team

Anonymous said...

Somehow I can't see pop (Uncle Jimmy) saying "oh, he was son handsome."
Jimmy

Brian Kunath said...

Perhaps you were channeling your great, great uncle when you took on the role of an early 20th Century performer in "The Zany Boys."