Actress Regina King shed tears while realizing why her grandmother was a “very sad woman” when she learned about her late grandfather’s double life on “Finding Your Roots.”
The Academy Award-winning actress appeared in the latest Season 8 episode, where she was given information about her late father’s upbringing that helped her understand him more since he didn’t open up much about his childhood, Today reports.
King, 52, recalled how mysterious her late father, Thomas King Jr., was before his passing in 2009.
“Growing up, I never really knew much about him other than he loved us and where he worked and his friends, who were his good friends,” King said.
“But never did he share (his roots).”
Host Henry Louis Gates Jr. surprised “The Harder They Fall” star when he informed her about her late grandfather, Thomas King Sr., missing parts of her father’s childhood.
“From my vantage point as a girl, my grandfather was definitely in (my father’s) life because I knew my grandfather,” King recalled. “My grandfather actually gave me away at my wedding.”
The “If Beale Street Could Talk” star was more surprised to learn about the public records that show her late grandfather had two separate families in two different cities. King’s father and grandmother, Ruby, lived in Memphis, while her grandfather was legally married to a woman named Cora, who lived in Chicago.
“I don’t understand,” King said after reading the census. She recalled the truth about her grandfather’s double life never being discussed in her family.
The revelation helped King better understand her grandmother’s behavior during her childhood.
“My grandmother was a very sad woman. I remember that as a little girl,” King said.
The “Ray” star now admits to having mixed emotions about her late grandfather after learning the truth about his two families.
“It makes me angry,” she said. “It makes me feel sad for my dad.”
Later King learned about her late grandfather’s challenging upbringing, which included his parents divorcing and his mother leaving to go live with a new husband in another city.
“My mind is just … this is a lot to take in,” King said. “A lot I’ve never seen and never heard.”
She noted her family’s “patterns” of pain and called the revelations “unimaginable.”
“Pain is inherited as well as joy,” she said.