Profile Text
Collins in 2012, image via DFree /Bigstock.com
Birth Name: Lily Jane Collins
Place of Birth: Guildford, Surrey South Western, Surrey, England, U.K.
Date of Birth: 18 March, 1989
Ethnicity: English, one quarter Ashkenazi Jewish, small amount of German
Lily Collins is a British and American actress and model. Her roles include the films The Blind Side , Priest , Abduction (2011), Mirror Mirror , Stuck in Love , The English Teacher , The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones , Love, Rosie ; Rules Don’t Apply , To the Bone , Okja , Here Comes the Grump , Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile ; Tolkien , Inheritance (2020), Mank , Windfall (2022), and MaXXXine ; the series 90210 , The Last Tycoon , Les Misérables , and Emily in Paris ; and the music video for “City of Angels.”
Lily was born in Guildford, Surrey South Western, Surrey, England, and moved to Los Angeles, California, at a young age. She is the daughter of British musician Phil Collins (Philip David Charles Collins) and American Jill Tavelman. Lily is married to film director and writer Charlie McDowell, with whom she has a daughter. Charlie is the son of British actor Malcolm McDowell and American actress Mary Steenburgen .
Lily’s father is of English descent. Lily’s maternal grandfather was Jewish, of Russian Jewish descent, while Lily’s maternal grandmother had English, and some German, ancestry.
Lily’s paternal grandfather was Greville Philip Austin Collins (the son of Austin George Percy Collins and Phillis/Phyllis Mary Piper). Greville was born in Richmond, Surrey, England. Austin was the son of Arthur James Collins and Ellen Piper. Phillis was the daughter of George Henry Piper and Eliza Hall.
Lily’s paternal grandmother was Winifred M. Strange (the daughter of Charles Ronald Strange and Lillie/Lilian/Lilly/Lily/Lillian Maud Tozer). Winifred was born in Fulham, London, England, and was a prominent theatrical agent. Lily’s great-grandmother Lillie was the daughter of Alfred Tozer and Sarah Ann Whall.
Lily’s maternal grandfather was Jack Charles Tavelman (the son of Joseph B. Tavelman and Clara Gelen). Jack was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, to Russian Jewish parents. Joseph was the son of Jacob Tavelman and Freida Brill.
Lily’s maternal grandmother was Billie Jeanette/Jane Shoaff (the daughter of David Ernest Shoaff and Mary Tommie Miller). Billie was born in California, and had English, and some German, ancestry. David was from Virginia, and was the son of The Rev. James Watts Shoaff, a Protestant minister, and of his wife, Nettie Frasher. Lily’s great-grandmother Mary was from Mississippi.
Sources: Genealogy of Lily Collins (focusing on her father’s side) – https://www.geni.com
Genealogy of Lily’s father – https://www.familysearch.org