Profile Text
Birth Name: Leo Vincent Woodall
Place of Birth: Hammersmith, London, England, U.K.
Date of Birth: 14 September, 1996
Ethnicity: English, smaller amounts of Irish, Scottish, Northern Irish, German, and Welsh
Leo Woodall is an English actor. He is known for his roles on the shows Vampire Academy , The White Lotus , Citadel , One Day (2024), and Prime Target (2025), and in the films Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy , Tuner , and Nuremberg (2025).
His father, Andrew Woodall, is also an actor, as are his grandmother, and stepfather. His father is from an upper-class family, a descendant of both the Crawley-Boevey and Child baronets, and of military engineer and cartographer Thomas Hyde Page. His great-uncle, grandmother’s brother, was actor Jeremy Child (Sir Coles John Jeremy Child, 3rd Baronet). Jeremy’s maternal great-great-grandparents were actors Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson and Gertrude Elliott.
Leo’s paternal grandfather was Antony Edward Woodall (the son of Edward Corbet Woodall, OBE, and of Janet Inez Crawley). Antony was born in Malling, Kent, England. Leo’s great-grandfather Edward was born in Croydon, Surrey, the son of Henry Corbet Woodall and Bertha Nettlefold. Leo’s great-grandmother Janet was born in Cranbrook, Kent, the daughter of The Rev. Arthur Stafford Crawley and Anstice Katherine Gibbs. Anstice was a granddaughter of businessperson William Gibbs, a founding partner in Antony Gibbs & Sons, who was also a religious philanthropist and owner/developer of Tyntesfield, a Victorian Gothic Revival house and estate, in Wraxall, North Somerset. Anstice was also a great-granddaughter of Sir Thomas Crawley-Boevey, 3rd Baronet. The Crawley-Boeveys originally lived at Highgrove (Hygrove House, Minsterworth) in the County of Gloucester.
Leo’s paternal grandmother was Deirdre Kathleen Child (the daughter of Sir Coles John Child, 2nd Baronet, and of Sheila Mathewson). Deirdre was born in St Margaret, Westminster, Middlesex, England. The 2nd Baronet was the son of Sir Coles Child, 1st Baronet, and of Eliza Caroline Barton. The Child baronets were lords of the manor of Bromley, and lived at Bromley Palace. Sheila was the daughter of Hugh Mathewson, who lived in Montréal, Québec, Canada.
Leo’s maternal grandfather was actor Michael Anthony Ashton (the son of Thomas Ashton and Muriel Enid Holden). Muriel was born in Seacombe, Cheshire, England, the daughter of George E. Holden and Elizabeth Ann Hall.
Leo’s maternal grandmother was Ellen Gertrude Sheean (the daughter of Vincent Sheean and Diana Forbes-Robertson). Ellen was born in Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S. Vincent was born James Vincent Sheean in Pana, Illinois, with Irish heritage, and was a journalist. He was the son of William Charles Sheean and Susan McDermott/MacDermot. Leo’s great-grandmother Diana was born in London, England, and was a writer. She was the daughter of British actor and theatre manager Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson and American-born actress Gertrude Elliott (born May Gertrude Dermott/Dermot). Leo’s great-grandmother Diana was a sister of aviation engineer, socialite, businessperson, engraver, costume designer, and gardener Maxine Blossom Miles (born Maxine Frances Mary Forbes-Robertson), and actress Jean Forbes-Robertson. Leo’s great-great-grandfather Johnston’s father, John Forbes-Robertson, was a theatre critic and journalist, from Aberdeen, Scotland. Leo’s great-great-grandmother Gertrude, or Lady Forbes-Robertson, was born in Rockland, Maine, and was the daughter of Thomas Dermot, a sea captain, who was born in Northern Ireland; and of Adelaide Mary Hall/Hill, who was of Colonial American (English) and German ancestry. Gertrude was also known as Little Jessie and Dettie.
Leo’s great-great-grandfather Johnston was the brother of actor and art dealer Norman Forbes-Robertson, actor Ian Forbes-Robertson, figure and landscape painter Eric Forbes-Robertson, and artist, novelist, and actress Frances Forbes-Robertson. Leo’s great-great-great-aunt, his great-great-grandmother Gertrude’s sister, was American actress and businessperson Maxine Elliott (born Jessie Dermot). Through his mother, Leo is a first cousin, twice removed, of actress Joanna Van Gyseghem, who is Jean Forbes-Robertson’s daughter; a first cousin, three times removed, of economist Roy Harrod, who was Frances Forbes-Robertson’ son; and a second cousin, twice removed, of actress Meriel Forbes, who was Norman Forbes-Robertson’s granddaughter.
Sources: Genealogies of Leo Woodall (focusing on his father’s side) – http://www.thepeerage.com https://www.geni.com
Leo’s paternal great-grandfather, Edward Corbet Woodall, on the 1911 England & Wales Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Obituaries of Leo’s paternal grandmother, Deirdre Kathleen (Child) Woodall – https://peeragenews.blogspot.com https://groups.google.com
Portrait of Leo’s paternal grandmother, Deirdre Kathleen Child, and great-grandmother, Sheila Mathewson, Bassano Ltd 1934 – https://www.npg.org.uk
Genealogies of Leo’s maternal great-grandparents, Vincent Sheean and Diana Forbes-Robertson – https://www.geni.com
Genealogy of Leo’s maternal great-grandmother, Diana Forbes-Robertson (through her sister) – https://www.findagrave.com