| Bad Boy Billy Bob By Sean O'
Driscoll
Johnny Depp isn’t the only Hollywood star who is interested in his Irish
lineage. Bad boy Billy Bob Thornton has been looking into tracing his ancestry
as well.
Thornton, star of this summer’s remake The Bad News Bears, recently spoke
to Sean O’ Driscoll of the Irish Voice about his new film and his Irish
roots.
Thorton’s father’s family is Irish, while his mother’s side is part Irish,
Italian and Native American.
“That’s the side [his mother’s] we know quite a bit about. That’s the
Italian-Choctaw Indian side. So ethnically, I was screwed from the beginning.
Italian, Choctaw and Irish. Boy oh boy. My uncle used to say, ‘Lock up the
liquor, the firearms and white women!’” he jokes.
Thornton began his search for blood relatives in 2003. His assistant
has been extensively searching the Internet and genealogy records in Ireland.
The search has led him to the West of Ireland and the Galway area.
Thornton has only been to the Dublin area while touring with his country
rock band, but now he wants to go to the West of Ireland to search for his
family.
“It turns out that most of my people were from around the Galway area
which is beautiful. I do want to get there. It’s something I’m real proud
of and now I want to find out more.”
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