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Who is Benedict Cumberbatch?

Benedict Cumberbatch is a British movie, television and theater actor. He is probably best known for his role as Sherlock Holmes in the BBC and PBS co-produced television show Sherlock. Some of his more memorable movie roles include those in Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), The Imitation Game (2014), and Marvel Comics’ Doctor Strange (2016).

Benedict Cumberbatch’s family tree has occasionally made headlines when it has been revealed that the actor has a family connection to a role such as his kinship to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (author who created Sherlock Holmes) and Alan Turing (subject of The Imitation Game). The one connection for the British actor that apparently hasn’t been revealed until now is Benedict Cumberbatch’s American ancestor who descends from Mayflower passenger John Alden. With the 400th anniversary in 2020 of the Mayflower’s arrival in New England, perhaps the role of John Alden is in his future.

Famous Kin

Benedict Cumberbatch has significant royal and magna carta ancestry with descents from King Edward I and a number of Magna Carta sureties. Surprisingly, the British actor also has an American connection with a Mayflower descent from Mayflower passengers John Alden, Priscilla Mullins, and her parents. Some of Benedict Cumberbatch’s famous kin through his Mayflower connection include U.S. Presidents John Quincy Adams and Calvin Coolidge, Irish President Erskine Childers, American “Fireside” poets William Cullen Bryant and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, author Emily Post, and fellow actors Orson Welles, Dick Van Dyke, Jodie Foster, and Raquel Welch.

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Some of the most recently added connections of famous kin for Benedict Cumberbatch

View entire list of famous kin for Benedict Cumberbatch