Profile Text
Birth Name: John Whitney Stillman
Place of Birth: Washington, D.C., U.S.
Date of Birth: January 25, 1952
Ethnicity: English, as well as evidently 1/16th Ashkenazi Jewish, distant German and Welsh
Whit Stillman is an American writer, director, and actor. He has directed and written the films Metropolitan (1990), Barcelona (1994), The Last Days of Disco , Damsels in Distress , and Love & Friendship . He also directed an episode of Homicide: Life on the Street .
Whit is the son of Margaret Drinker “Meg” (Riley) and John Sterling Stillman, a lawyer, government official, and Democratic Party politician. His father was Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs under President JFK. His aunt, Annette Riley, was married to journalist and WWII rescuer Varian Fry. Whit is from a prominent, upper-class family.
Whit was raised in Cornwall, in upstate New York.
Whit’s paternal grandfather was Dr. Ernest Goodrich Stillman (the son of James Jewett Stillman and Sarah Elizabeth Rumrill). Ernest was born in Newport, Newport County, Rhode Island. James was born in Brownsville, Cameron County, Texas, and was a financier, and railroad and banking magnate, who was President of National City Bank, later Citibank, from 1891 to 1909, and Chairman of National City Bank, from 1909 to 1918. He helped grow the influence of National City; and was one of the 100 richest men in the U.S. James Stillman was the son of Charles Emerson Stillman and Elizabeth Pamela Goodrich, whose own father was a deacon. Whit’s great-great-grandfather Charles Stillman was from Wethersfield, Connecticut, and founded the town of Brownsville. After traveling south and into Mexico, he developed a network of mercantile and industrial enterprises. His interests included cotton brokerage, silver mines, real estate, merchandise outlets, a river boat company, a shipping company, and a transportation company. Whit’s great-grandmother Sarah was born in New York City, New York, the daughter of Alexander Rumrill and Mary Alvord.
Whit’s great-uncle, James A. Stillman, was also President of National City Bank, from 1919 to 1921. Two of Whit’s Stillman great-aunts married into the Rockefeller family, his great-aunt Sarah to William Goodsell Rockefeller, and his great-aunt Isabel to Percy Avery Rockefeller. His great-uncle, Ernest Goodrich Stillman, created forest and biological field station Black Rock Forest. Through this line, Whit is a first cousin, once removed, of financier Godfrey Stillman Rockefeller; U.S. Olympic rower, and Citigroup president, James Stillman Rockefeller, who appeared on the cover of Time Magazine in 1924; and philanthropist, conservationist, and amateur ornithologist John Sterling Rockefeller.
Whit’s paternal grandmother was Mildred Margaret Whitney (the daughter of Calvin Eastman Whitney and Frances/Fannie Julia Boruck/Baruch). Mildred was born in San Francisco, San Francisco County, California, and was a poet, author, editor, and writer of children’s and religious books. Calvin was born in Fort Fairfield, Aroostook County, Maine, the son of Albion Paris Whitney, who was a businessperson, and State Senator in California; and of Susan Durgin Eastman. Whit’s great-grandmother Frances was the daughter of Marcus Derckheim/Derkheim Boruck, a newspaperman and political figure; and of Mary Lydia Simmons. Whit’s great-great-grandfather Marcus D. Boruck appears to have been the son of German-born parents. He is described as Jewish in several historical publications about Jews in the western U.S., including here and here .
Whit’s maternal grandfather was Isaac Woodbridge Riley (the son of The Rev. Isaac Riley and Catherine Antionette Southmayd Parker). Whit’s grandfather Isaac was born in New York City, New York, and was head of the Philosophy department at Vassar College. Whit’s great-grandfather The Rev. Isaac was a Presbyterian minister. He was the son of The Rev. Henry Augustus Riley, a pastor of the Presbyterian church in Montrose, Pennsylvania; and of Emma Vaughan Smith. Emma’s father, Joseph Smith, was an iron chipping merchant in PA. Whit’s great-grandmother Catherine was the daughter of The Rev. Joel Parker and Harriet T. Phelps.
Whit’s maternal grandmother was Laura Brooks Troth (the daughter of Edward Troth and Linda H. Brooks). Laura was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Edward was born in Philadelphia, the son of Henry Troth and Henrietta Henri/Henry.
Sources: Genealogy of Whit Stillman (focusing on his father’s side) – https://www.geni.com
Genealogies of Whit’s parents – https://www.findagrave.com
Obituary of Whit’s paternal grandmother, Mildred Margaret (Whitney) Stillman – https://www.nytimes.com
Genealogy of Whit’s paternal great-grandfather, Calvin Eastman Whitney – https://www.findagrave.com
Information about Whit’s paternal great-grandfather, Calvin Eastman Whitney – https://www.petalumapioneers.org
Whit’s maternal great-grandmother, Frances/Fannie Julia Boruck/Baruch, on the 1870 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org Frances/Fannie Julia Boruck/Baruch on the 1880 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Genealogies of Whit’s maternal grandmother, Laura Brooks Troth (focusing on her father’s side) – https://www.wikitree.com https://www.findagrave.com
Whit’s maternal great-grandparents, Edward Troth and Linda H. Brooks, on the 1910 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org