It turns out Paul Rudd has more in common with his “Clueless” character Josh than he thought — or at least his parents do. “Clueless” is a 1995 modernization of Jane Austen’s novel “Emma,” with Alicia Silverstone as the Emma character (here called Cher). When Emma falls in love with her brother-in-law’s brother Mr. Knightley, Cher falls in love with her former stepbrother, Josh, played by Rudd. All that is to say that interfamily relationships were not that uncommon, and it wasn’t too unlikely for cousins to marry.
Turns out, this is true of Rudd’s parents. While Rudd appeared (sporting a particularly old-fashioned-looking mustache) on a 2019 episode of “Finding Your Roots,” the celebrity genealogy show on PBS, host Henry Louis Gates Jr. revealed to Rudd that his parents are actually second cousins. His mother Gloria and his late father Michael were both born in England, she in Surbiton, he in Edgware, per Mental Floss. Paul was born in Passaic, New Jersey, and the family moved around a bit, eventually settling in Kansas when he was 10 years old. Paul learned on the show that his paternal great-grand-uncle was also his maternal great-grandfather (via NJ Advance Media).
Always one to make jokes, particularly in the face of anti-Semitic hate due to his Ashkenazi Jewish roots, Rudd responded to the news of his parents’ relationship with typical humor. “[This] explains why I have six nipples,” he said. “Does this make my son also my uncle?”
