Actor Matthew Broderick, of “The Producers” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” can trace part of his ancestry to Derby, according to a show that recently aired on NBC television.
“Who Do You Think You Are,” a new TV show, features celebrities on quests to track down their family roots.
In an episode that aired March 26, Broderick researched his father’s side of the family.
Broderick’s father was actor James Broderick, who died when Matthew was 20. He passed without telling his son much about the family’s history.
“It’s strange not knowing who he is,” Broderick said in the episode.
After learning his grandfather was a field medic in World War I honored for bravery in action, Broderick travels to the state archives in Hartford where he learns his great-great grandfather, Robert Martindale, lived in Derby and traveled to Ansonia to enlist in the Civil War on Aug. 5, 1862.
The Ansonia and Derby information comes about 26 minutes into the episode.
“Wow,” says Broderick while viewing the Civil War record. “I’m astounded I have a relative who was in the Civil War. I’m shook up.”
Broderick then finds out his great-great grandfather fought at Gettysburg.
Derby’s Jack Walsh sent a note to the Valley Indy Tuesday pointing out Broderick’s relative is listed on the Civil War monument on the Derby Green. Click here for a video explaining the monument and its history.
Visit Hulu to watch “Who Do You Think You Are” in its entirety.
