Daniel Radcliffe
Radcliffe in 2005, BMCL / Shutterstock.com
Birth Name: Daniel Jacob Radcliffe
Place of Birth: Fulham, Hammersmith, London, England, U.K.
Date of Birth: 23 July, 1989
Ethnicity:
*father – Northern Irish, Irish
*mother – Ashkenazi Jewish
Daniel Radcliffe is a British actor. He is known for playing Harry Potter in the eight feature films, from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2. Among his other roles are the films The Tailor of Panama, December Boys, The Woman in Black (2012), Kill Your Darlings, Horns, The F Word (2013), Victor Frankenstein, Swiss Army Man, Now You See Me 2, Imperium (2016), Jungle (2017), Beast of Burden, Playmobil: The Movie, Guns Akimbo, Escape from Pretoria, The Lost City (2022), Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, Merrily We Roll Along (2025), and Pizza Movie; the made-for-tv movies David Copperfield (1999), My Boy Jack, The Gamechangers, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs the Reverend, and David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived; the series The Simpsons, Robot Chicken, A Young Doctor’s Notebook, Have I Got News for You, Miracle Workers, Mulligan, and The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins; and the dark ride Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey; as well as works on stage. He has used the pen name Jacob Gershon, his maternal grandmother’s original family name.
Daniel is the son of Alan Radcliffe (Alan George Radcliffe), a literary agent, and Marcia Gresham (previously Marcia Gresham Jacobson), a casting agent. He has a son with his partner, American actress Erin Darke.
Daniel’s father is from Northern Ireland, and was raised Protestant. He has Northern Irish and Irish ancestry; given the English surname Radcliffe, Daniel’s father likely also has English roots. Daniel has family in County Down.
Daniel’s mother was born in South Africa, to Ashkenazi Jewish parents (their families were originally from Lithuania, Poland, and Russia). Daniel’s maternal grandfather was from South Africa and Daniel’s maternal grandmother was born in England.
Daniel is an atheist, and has repeatedly stated that he identifies as Jewish. For example, when asked by The Daily Beast if he considers himself Jewish, he stated:
Absolutely. I really do. My dad is Northern Irish and my mum is Jewish. That’s working blood. Though I am not religious in the least, I am very proud to be Jewish.
Daniel’s paternal grandfather was Edward “Teddy” Radcliffe (the son of George Edward Radcliffe and Dora Gertrude Watt). George was born in Banbridge, Co. Down, the son of Edward Radcliffe and Margaret Anne Bell.
Daniel’s paternal grandmother was named Elsie May Crowther (who likely was the daughter of Florence McDowell). Florence was the daughter of Tommy McDowell and Elizabeth.
Daniel’s maternal grandfather was Wilfred Jacobson (the son of Saul Harry Jacobson and Harriette Harris). Wilfred was from Johannesburg, South Africa. Saul was a Lithuanian Jewish immigrant. Harriette was born in London, to a Jewish family.
Daniel’s maternal grandmother is Muriel Jean Patricia Gresham (born Gershon; the daughter of Samuel “Sam” Gershon and Rachel/Raie Diana Jacobs). Muriel was born in Rochford, Essex, England. Samuel was born in Hackney, London, England, and was the son of Louis Gershon, who was born in Wreschen, now Września, Posen, Germany, now Poland; and of Jessie Greenwall/Lipman, who was born in Kalisz/Kalisch, Wielkopolskie, Poland. The couple had lived in South Africa. Daniel’s great-grandmother Rachel was also born in London, to Maurice Jacobs (the son of Yehuda Leib/Louis Krengel and Bessie Sara Marks) and Julia Jacobs or Millie Cohen (the daughter of Maurice Cohen).
Sources: Information about Daniel’s appearance on Who Do You Think You Are?, 2019 – https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk
https://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com
https://www.theguardian.com
Genealogies of Daniel Radcliffe – http://bygonesandbyways.blogspot.ca
http://www.geni.com
http://www.wikitree.com
Death record of Daniel’s maternal great-grandmother, Harriette (Harris) Jacobson – https://www.familysearch.org
Perspective needs to be put into this. If the Radcliffe name came directly down through the patrilineal line then a male named Radcliffe came to Ireland in the early 17th century (1609) which is when the Ulster plantations happened. So then that would make this man in around 12th to 14th great grandparent to Daniel Radcliffe. So he would have had over 4,000 10th grandparents or over 16,000 12th grandparents and the quite possible Englishman would have had his ancestors between him and Daniel Radcliffe living in Ireland for in around 400 yrs. I reckon most of those would have been very very Irish.
Daniel Radcliffe’s great-grandmother and Saul Harry Jacobson’s spouse was Harriette Harris.
Source: familysearch.org (Saul Harry Jacobson’s records)
Although Daniel Radcliffe’s fathers mainly Protestant/Northern Irish he has some Irish Catholic in him.
Paternal grandfathers parents: George Edward Radcliffe (1900) and Dora Gertrude Watt (1893). George was the son of Edward Radcliffe and Margaret Anne Bell. Edward was the son of William Radcliffe (1826) and Sarah Jane Arlow (1828). William was the son of John Radcliffe and Mary Cassidy (1803-1879). in County Down, Northern Ireland. Even though Mary was from Northern Ireland, she has a very Irish surname (Cassidy) and from the records I found I believe she was Catholic. Other lineage of Radcliffe’s father were ethnically Irish as well.
maternal grandfather: Wilfred Jacboson (1919-1994) was the son of more specifically Saul Harry Jacobson (1881-March 26,1945) who died in Johannesburg, South Africa.
source: Saul Harry Jacobson in the JewishGen online Worldwide Burial Registry.