| James Read's Family Tree As per the photography feature in the ABC Press Kit |
It isn't the sort of information that would normally appear on an actor's resume, or even in the bio that
lists his home town and the theaters where he's played.
But in the case of James Read (Bottom photo), the existence of two Civil War combatants is relevant:
Great-great grandfather: Sampson T. Groves (standing, top left), 1834-1916. Enlisted U.S. Army July
1863, served in Company M, First Ohio Volunteer Heavy Artillery; honorably discharged July 25, 1865
Great-great uncle: Sebaldus Hassler (seated, top right), born in Germany, 1835. Entered U.S. Army
Sept. 12, 1861 with 37th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Promoted to First Lt. in Company E; Killed in action near
Vicksburg May 20, 1863, three months before his 28th birthday.
That's a long time ago, and it has nothing to do with an actor's life of agents and scripts and billing and
negotiations, but it has a great deal to do with James Read's life as an actor today because he is one of
the central characters in "North and South," John Jakes' epic tale of a nation splitting apart.
James Read is starred as George Hazard, a young native of the North whose West Point background will
lead him into the Union Army in this |2-hour miniseries which will air in six parts as an "ABC Novel for
Television" on the ABC Television Network beginning SUNDAY, NOV.3 (9:00-1 1:00 p.m., EST).
"l think l'd heard about these ancestors when I was a kid," the actor recalls, "but the significance wasn't
something I was conscious of. Now the connection makes me feel very good; it's a source of pride."
Both Groves and Hassler are ancestors on his mother's side: Groves his mother's father's mother's
father; Hassler his mother's father's father's brother. That side of the family has been in America since
"probably the late 17th century." (His father's sides, arriving in the late 1800s, are the relative
newcomers.)
Filming "North and South" on locations in South Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas, Read
discovered that "l began to feel like a 'Northerner' for the first time. Normally I just feel 'American,' but so
many people in the South seem to carry the wound of the Civil War around with them like it happened
yesterday. I found it hard to talk to Southerners very long without talking about the War. And feeling
Northern’.”
Read looked again at the photos of h is great-great ancestors. "These are George Hazard's
contemporaries, right here," he said. "They would be under his command. lt all gets very involving when
you make a personal connection."
JP 9/17/85
lists his home town and the theaters where he's played.
But in the case of James Read (Bottom photo), the existence of two Civil War combatants is relevant:
Great-great grandfather: Sampson T. Groves (standing, top left), 1834-1916. Enlisted U.S. Army July
1863, served in Company M, First Ohio Volunteer Heavy Artillery; honorably discharged July 25, 1865
Great-great uncle: Sebaldus Hassler (seated, top right), born in Germany, 1835. Entered U.S. Army
Sept. 12, 1861 with 37th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Promoted to First Lt. in Company E; Killed in action near
Vicksburg May 20, 1863, three months before his 28th birthday.
That's a long time ago, and it has nothing to do with an actor's life of agents and scripts and billing and
negotiations, but it has a great deal to do with James Read's life as an actor today because he is one of
the central characters in "North and South," John Jakes' epic tale of a nation splitting apart.
James Read is starred as George Hazard, a young native of the North whose West Point background will
lead him into the Union Army in this |2-hour miniseries which will air in six parts as an "ABC Novel for
Television" on the ABC Television Network beginning SUNDAY, NOV.3 (9:00-1 1:00 p.m., EST).
"l think l'd heard about these ancestors when I was a kid," the actor recalls, "but the significance wasn't
something I was conscious of. Now the connection makes me feel very good; it's a source of pride."
Both Groves and Hassler are ancestors on his mother's side: Groves his mother's father's mother's
father; Hassler his mother's father's father's brother. That side of the family has been in America since
"probably the late 17th century." (His father's sides, arriving in the late 1800s, are the relative
newcomers.)
Filming "North and South" on locations in South Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas, Read
discovered that "l began to feel like a 'Northerner' for the first time. Normally I just feel 'American,' but so
many people in the South seem to carry the wound of the Civil War around with them like it happened
yesterday. I found it hard to talk to Southerners very long without talking about the War. And feeling
Northern’.”
Read looked again at the photos of h is great-great ancestors. "These are George Hazard's
contemporaries, right here," he said. "They would be under his command. lt all gets very involving when
you make a personal connection."
JP 9/17/85
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