Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. with Tony Shalhoub
For actors Christopher Meloni of Law and Order and Tony Shalhoub of Monk, there are emotional moments in “The Shirts on their Backs,” an episode of Finding Your Roots airing Tues., February 9, at 8 p.m. (ET) on PBS.
Though their roots are from different countries, two actors share common threads in their family stories illuminated by host Henry Louis Gates Jr. Christopher Meloni learns of the humble origins of his paternal great-grandfather, an orphan, who sailed to America from Genoa, Italy. Tony Shalhoub hears the stark, wrenching story of survival for his Chachoub (Shalhoub) family of orphans from Mount Lebanon in the Ottoman Empire, their immigration to New York and settling in Wisconsin in 1920. Shalhoub also discovers the reason why his mother’s family chose The Dairy State as their home, as well as details of a relative’s tragic death.
Christopher Meloni is surprised that one of his deeply rooted French-Canadian ancestors descended from the Farnsworth family of Groton, Mass. “Just to have the name Farnsworth identified with me is fascinating!” says Meloni.