Profile Text
Plimpton in 2011, photo by s_bukley /bigstock.com
Place of Birth: New York City, New York, U.S.
Date of Birth: November 16, 1970
Ethnicity: English, smaller amounts of Irish, Scottish, Danish, German, Ashkenazi Jewish, Swiss-German, Welsh, and Dutch, remote French
Martha Plimpton is an American actress, singer, and model. Her roles include the films Shy People , Running on Empty , Parenthood (1989), and Mass , as well as considerable work on Broadway.
She is the daughter of actors Keith Carradine (Keith Ian Carradine) and Shelley Plimpton, who had met while in the original production of Hair . She is a half-sister of actress Sorel Carradine , a granddaughter of actors John Carradine and Sonia Sorel, a niece of actors Christopher Carradine and Robert Carradine , a half-niece of actors David Carradine and Michael Bowen , a cousin of actress Ever Carradine , who is Robert’s daughter; and a half-cousin of actress Kansas Carradine , who is David’s daughter.
Martha’s paternal grandfather was John Carradine (born Richmond Reed Carradine, the son of William Reed Carradine and Genevieve Winifred Richmond). John was born in Manhattan, New York City, New York, and had English, some Irish and Scottish, and distant Welsh, German, and French, ancestry. William was born in Mississippi, and was a correspondent for the Associated Press. His father, The Rev. Beverly Francis Carradine, was a Methodist minister, author, and leading evangelist for the holiness movement, whose own father was planter. William’s mother, Martha’s great-great-grandmother, was Laura Green Reid/Reed. Martha’s great-grandmother Genevieve was born in Milford, Otsego County, New York, and was a surgeon. She was the daughter of Horace Culver Richmond and Winifred/Winnie Ryan, whose own parents were Irish.
Martha’s paternal grandmother was Sonia Sorel, an actress (the daughter of Henry Robert Henius and Lillian Dorothy Fuess). Sonia was born in Milwaukee, Milwaukee Co., Wisconsin. Henry was born in Chicago, Cook, Illinois, to Danish-born parents. Henry’s father, Max Henius, was a prominent biochemist, who specialized in the fermentation processes, and co-founded the American Academy of Brewing, in Chicago. He was a Danish Jew, who was born in Aalborg, to Polish Jewish parents, with roots in Torun. Henry’s mother, Martha’s great-great-grandmother Johanne/Johanna Louise “Henne” Heiberg, was born in Nørresundby, Aalborg Kommune, Nordjylland. Through her Henius line, Martha is a second cousin, twice removed, of Danish writer, novelist, poet, and journalist Suzanne Brøgger. Martha’s great-grandmother Lillian was born in Belleville, St. Clair, Illinois, the daughter of Capt. Joseph Fuess, who was German, from Baden-Württemberg, and was President of the First National Bank of Belleville, and of the Fuess-Fischer Company; and of Anna Fischer, whose father was from Tirol, Austria, and whose mother was from Niederstocken, Verwaltungskreis Thun, Bern.
Martha’s maternal grandfather was William Sherman Plimpton (the son of William Melvin Plimpton and Annabelle C. Campbell). Martha’s grandfather William was born in Portland, Multnomah, Oregon. Martha’s great-grandfather William was born in Portland, the son of William Wright Plimpton and Alice Josephine Miller. Annabelle was born in Connecticut, the daughter of Laura Belle Sherman.
Martha’s maternal grandmother was Martha Jane Williams (the daughter of Samuel Carter Williams and Parrie Campbell). Martha was born in Washington. Samuel was born in Danville, Virginia, the son of Thomas D. Williams and Pattie Ann Warren. Parrie was born in Tennessee, the daughter of Thomas Jefferson Campbell and Harriet Lenora Gass.
The surname Carradine is sometimes said to have an Italian or Spanish origin. Martha’s last traceable patrilineal ancestor is believed to have been a man named Parker Carradine, who was born in Georgia, in North America, c. 1755. There is no evidence that Parker had Italian or Spanish ancestry.
Sources: Genealogies of Martha Plimpton – https://famouskin.com https://www.geni.com
Genealogy of Martha Plimpton (focusing on her father’s side) – http://www.familytreecircles.com https://www.wikitree.com
Genealogy of Martha’s father (through his brother) – https://www.findagrave.com
Martha’s paternal great-grandmother, Lillian Dorothy Fuess, on the 1900 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Marriage record of Martha’s paternal great-great-grandparents, Joseph Fuess and Anna Fischer – https://familysearch.org