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BEVERLY HILLS – AUGUST 12: Leslie at the 24th Annual Golden Boot Awards on August 12, 2006 at Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA. s_bukley/Bigstock.com
Birth Name: Joan Agnes Theresa Sadie Brodel
Date of Birth: January 26, 1925
Place of Birth: Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, U.S.
Date of Death: October 12, 2015
Place of Death: Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Ethnicity: German, three eighths Irish, one eighth Manx, Belgian
Joan Leslie was an American actress and vaudevillian. Her roles included the films Men with Wings , Winter Carnival , Military Academy , High Sierra , Sergeant York , The Male Animal , Yankee Doodle Dandy , The Hard Way , The Sky’s the Limit , Where Do We Go from Here? , Repeat Performance , Northwest Stampede , Born to Be Bad , Man in the Saddle , Hellgate , Flight Nurse , and The Revolt of Mamie Stover , and the show Ford Theatre . She was also billed as Joan Brodel.
She was the daughter of Agnes and John Charles Frederick Brodel, a bank clerk. She toured with her sisters, actresses, singers, and vaudevillians Betty Brodel and Mary Brodel, as The Three Brodels, during the 1930s, in the U.S. and Canada. She was married to obstetrician Dr. William G. Caldwell, until his death, with whom she had two children. She founded the Dr. William G. and Joan L. Caldwell Chair in Gynecologic Oncology for the University of Louisville.
Joan’s paternal grandfather was Johann Brodel (the son of Mathias Brodel and Magdalena Schmitz). Johann was a German emigrant, from Krewinkel, Manderfeld, Malmedy, Rhineland, Prussia. Mathias was born in Krewinkel, the son of Peter Brodel and Veronika Classen, who were born in Liège, Belgium. Magdalena was born in Strickscheid, Prüm, Rhineland, the daughter of Michael Schmitz and Susanna Hinterscheid.
Joan’s paternal grandmother was Mary Vieson (the daughter of Frederick Vieson and Margaret Lurke). Mary wa born in Hardy, Virginia, to German parents.
Joan’s maternal grandfather was Edward E. O’Hearn (the son of Thomas O’Hearn and Bridget Connolly). Edward was born in Erin, Wellington, Ontario, Canada, to Irish parents. Bridget was born in Clare, County Mayo, the daughter of Michael Connolly and Margaret Mullen.
Joan’s maternal grandmother was Elizabeth Carroll (the daughter of Peter Carroll and Bridget Ann Davis). Elizabeth was born in Speaker, Michigan, to a father from the Isle of Man, and to an Irish mother.
Source: Genealogy of Joan Leslie – https://www.familysearch.org