Kristen Bell Brought to Tears by Grandfather’s WWII Heroism on ‘Finding Your Roots’ (VIDEO)
Kristen Bell is brought to tears over a revelation about her grandfather’s past in TV Insider’s exclusive sneak peek at Tuesday’s (February 18) new episode of Finding Your Roots, embedded above.
In the clip, Bell learns that her grandfather Bernard was awarded a Silver Star medal for his bravery during his service in World War II.
After host Henry Louis Gates, Jr. presents her with the news that he rescued a wounded fellow soldier in the middle of battle, Bell says, “I didn’t know specifics. I knew that he had risked his life to save a couple people and that’s why he’s got some medals hanging up, but I didn’t know the specifics.”
After, Gates then presents her with those specifics, saying, “On February 18, 1944, your grandfather actually saved the life of a fellow soldier under heavy mortar and artillery fire.”
“That’s very cool. I’m very proud of him,” Bell says in response through tears.
Bell appears on Tuesday’s new episode, titled “The Ties That Bind,” and it’s actually a family affair in more ways than one. In addition to finding out these emotionally evocative details about her loved one, her own husband, Dax Shepard, also joins Gates for a journey into his personal family history.
The logline for the episode reads, “Henry Louis Gates, Jr. meets actors Kristen Bell & Dax Shepard—a married couple who whose ancestors had some remarkable similarities. Telling stories of soldiers, settlers & criminals, Gates compels the pair to reimagine their family trees.”
The episode is the seventh of the season, which premiered in early January. Still ahead on the show are Debra Messing and Melanie Lynskey (February 25), Sheryl Lee Ralph and historian Lonnie Bunch (April 1), and Laurence Fishburne and Henry Louis Gates. Jr (April 8).
Finding Your Roots With Henry Louis Gates Jr., Tuesdays, 8/7c PBS