Weird Facts 101: Weirdest celebrity family relations

July 24, 3:57 AMWeird Facts ExaminerKelvin Lynch

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        FDR and Sarah Palin are 9th cousins, once removed

Ancestry.com genealogy researchers have dug up some of the most unlikely celebrity family connections.  Who knew Barack Obama and Brad Pitt are related?  Or Sarah Palin and Franklin Roosevelt?  Or George W. Bush and Dick Cheney?  Well, its all true.

And here are some more strange and unexpected celebrity family connections:

•   Britney Spears and John Edwards

The volatile blond pop singer and former presidential candidate (whose own marriage has been pretty volatile lately) are seventh cousins three times removed. Their common ancestor was John Stovall, born in Virginia around 1705.

•  Princess Diana and Sarah Palin

That's right, the glamorous former British princess and the moose-hunting Alaska governor share more than a legacy of expensive couture--they're 10th cousins. Both share the same ninth great-grandfather, John Strong, who was born in England in 1605.

• Tom Hanks and Abraham Lincoln

There's little resemblance, but the man who played the slow-witted Forrest Gump is indeed a relation of our cerebral 16th president. Didn't I just catch Hanks reading Team of Rivals?

• Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles

Can you say incest?  They're married, but also apparently blood relatives--ninth cousins once removed. All hail the house of Windsor.

• Richard Nixon and James Dean

The slippery former president and ultra-cool actor don't have much in common, but are actually seventh cousins, once removed.

• George W. Bush and Hugh Hefner

The churchgoing, Republican politician probably doesn't have too much in common with Playboy founder Hefner. But "W" and Hugh share some blood: They're 11th cousins, twice removed. Bush's 10th great-grandfather and Hefner's eighth great-grandfather was Thomas Richards, who died around 1650.

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