Features
On the Trail of Family Stories
U of G prof travels the country for his new role as on-air genealogist with History TV’s Ancestors in the Attic
BY LORI BONA HUNT
Prof. Kevin James, History, hit the small screen last week in his debut as on-air genealogist with History Televison’s hit show Ancestors in the Attic.
James was both a researcher and panellist on the first three seasons of the show, which helps Canadians unearth mysteries about their past. But last winter, the producers asked if he’d be willing to step into the role of on-air “lab guy.” Soon James found himself catching a midnight plane to Newfoundland to shoot his first episode.
“They needed someone right away, and I guess I fit the bill well enough,” he says.
Life has been a whirlwind ever since, with James hastily joining the actors’ union and getting some on-the-job TV training. For most of 2009, he spent his weekdays researching and teaching Scottish studies at U of G and his weekends flying all over Canada to film segments of the show.
“On Fridays, a limousine would pick me up for the airport. I’d fly off, do an 18-hour shoot and come home,” he says. “It’s been a juggling act.”
The show takes viewers around the world as James and others help Canadians find lost relatives and discover the truth behind unsolved family mysteries.
“For me, this has been an amazing opportunity to get outside the University and see how history and research can make a huge difference on a personal level for people who have questions that need to be answered,” he says.
One episode is set in Belarus, where a Canadian woman is searching for a sister who was lost during the Russian Revolution. Another is based in China, where a woman is trying to uncover her father’s secret past. Other stories are set in Switzerland, Denmark, Germany, France and Italy.
“These are important quests, and the stories are deeply personal,” says James. “You get to know the subjects so well and to really care about them as people.”
Two of James’s favourite stories will air Jan. 14. One is about a man named Al Lambert, who was a navigator and squadron commander during the Second World War. In 1943, he was shot down over occupied France and went missing. His family had no news of his whereabouts for five months before he suddenly surfaced. He never discussed what happened to him. His grandson Chris Lambert came to Ancestors in the Attic wanting to retrace his grandfather’s footsteps during that missing period of his life.
“We went over there to the place where he was shot down and discovered he was harboured by an entire town,” says James. “The whole community took care of him and kept him a secret. We found a man who was a 16-year-old boy at the time and remembered the whole story. It was very emotional.”
Another story involves two women and some old postcards and letters from Canadian soldiers during the First World War.
“Both of the soldiers had died, and both women felt the need to track down the families of the respective men and return the postcards and letters. We help them do this.”
Each episode of the show includes a “reveal” in which the mystery is solved or the answers (or a lack of answers) are unveiled.
“We don’t tell them in advance what’s going to happen, so consequently their reactions are deeply moving,” says James. “Part of my job is to bring them comfort; I believe it’s the reason I was chosen for this job. I’m an emotional person, and I get very emotionally involved with the subjects. I am fascinated and moved by their stories.”
Solving the mysteries or unearthing those answers requires a lot of research, including in libraries, online and in other countries.
“We pick stories that aren’t too easy to solve but that we can still resolve in some way,” he says. “We don’t even know what’s going to happen. We end up with all kinds of dead ends.”
James filmed the “made-in-Canada” portions of the show, while the show’s star, Jeff Douglas, did the international travel. Douglas is known for his work on the “I am Canadian” commercials.
Although he loved working as a researcher and doing some on-air studio work for the show for three years, James never expected to find himself in front of the camera, in the field and trekking all over the country. He knew the show was holding a casting call for a new “staff genealogist/lab guy,” but he didn’t apply. “I just never saw myself doing this.”
Watching himself on TV has taken a bit of adjusting, says James, who adds that he quickly went on a diet and started growing out his curly hair after getting an early preview of the show. “I realized that, from some angles, I was starting to look bald,” he laughs.
“The most exciting thing was watching my three-year-old son when he saw a tape of the show. He couldn’t understand how I ended up on TV, but he was so excited to see me there.”
Ancestors in the Attic airs Thursdays at 6 and 9 p.m. on History TV.