Profile Text
Letts in 2013, photo by prphotos
Birth Name: Tracy Shane Letts
Place of Birth: Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.
Date of Birth: July 4, 1965
Ethnicity: English, Irish, Scottish, Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, Welsh, distant Muskogee Creek and Cherokee Native American
Tracy Letts is an American actor, playwright, and screenwriter. He has written the plays Killer Joe , Bug , Man from Nebraska , August: Osage County , Superior Donuts , Three Sisters (a Chekhov adaptation), The Stretch , Mary Page Marlowe , Linda Vista , and The Minutes . He wrote the films Bug (2006), Killer Joe , and August: Osage County , adaptations of his plays, and The Woman in the Window . As an actor, he has appeared on the shows Homeland and Divorce , in the films Indignation , The Lovers , Lady Bird , The Post (2017), Ford v Ferrari , and Little Women (2019); and in many acclaimed stage productions.
He is the son of Dennis Lee Letts, a college professor and actor who taught literature, and Billie Letts (born Billie Dean Gipson), a writer. He was raised partly in Durant, Oklahoma. Tracy is married to actress Carrie Coon , with whom he has two children.
Tracy’s paternal grandfather was Charles Haskell Letts (the son of Frank Baxter Letts and Susan L. “Dink” Barber). Frank was the son of George Henry Letts and Cordelia Isabella Smothers. Susan was the daughter of John Calvin Barber and Josephine Cordelia Lucas. John’s mother, Sarah Ann Posey, was the granddaughter of Nancy Berryhill, who was born on Old Muscogee Creek Nation. Through this line, Tracy is a second cousin, four times removed, of Alexander Posey, a Muskogee Creek poet who wrote about Native Americans.
Tracy’s paternal grandmother was Hazel Loraine Brady (the daughter of John James Brady and Cammie Lou Cothrun). John was the son of James Brady and Agnes. Cammie was the daughter of William Riley Cothrun and Mattie Mariah McCollum.
Tracy’s maternal grandfather was William Chester Gipson (the son of Charles/Charlie Buel Gipson and Alma Vena Burgess). Charles was born in Arkansas, the son of William Wilson Gipson and Rosetta J. Haxton. Alma was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the daughter of Jack/John S. Burgess, who was was identified in his obituary as a “Cherokee Indian;” and of Elnora Belle Wimberly. Jack’s grandfather, William Burgess, was born on Cherokee Nation East, and moved to Oklahoma in 1831, before the Trail of Tears.
Tracy’s maternal grandmother was Virginia Mary Barnes (the daughter of John Wesley Dewey Barnes and Blanche Idean Smock). Virginia was born in Oklahoma.
A DNA test whose results were displayed on the show Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (2026) stated that Tracy’s genetic ancestry consists of:
*98% Northwest European ——–*68.8% England & Ireland ——–*20.8% France & Germany ——–*7.8% Northwest Europe ——–*0.6% Scandinavia *1.3% Sub-Saharan African ——–*1.2% Senegambia & Guinea ——–*0.1% Angola & Congo *0.6% Native American *0.1% East Asian
*98% Northwest European ——–*68.8% England & Ireland ——–*20.8% France & Germany ——–*7.8% Northwest Europe ——–*0.6% Scandinavia *1.3% Sub-Saharan African ——–*1.2% Senegambia & Guinea ——–*0.1% Angola & Congo *0.6% Native American *0.1% East Asian
Genetically, he was found to have a common ancestor with actress Julia Roberts .
Source: Genealogy of Tracy Letts (focusing on his father’s side) – https://www.geni.com