King, 52, said her father, the late Thomas King Jr., never shared details about his childhood or upbringing when he was alive. Instead, he lived a peculiar life that only he knew about ⁠— not even his friends or family knew about his past, Today reported.

“Growing up, I never really knew much about him other than he loved us and where he worked and his friends, who were his good friends. But never did he share (his roots),” she said.

During the episode, host Henry Louis Gates Jr. helped the Los Angeles native navigate her father’s side of the family, specifically her grandfather, Thomas King Sr. She learned he wasn’t around for part of her father’s childhood. 

King was taken aback by the news, given that she had a close relationship with her grandfather.

“From my vantage point as a girl, my grandfather was definitely in (my father’s) life because I knew my grandfather. My grandfather actually gave me away at my wedding,” King said.

The Academy Award winner felt sorry for her father after realizing he never had a male role model. 

“It makes me angry. It makes me feel sad for my dad,” she said.

Gates also recovered census records from 1940, stating that King Sr. had two separate families in different cities. While King’s father and her grandmother, Ruby, lived in Memphis, her grandfather was legally married to another woman named Cora, who lived in Chicago, according to Today. 

The Friday star couldn’t believe the information she was reading about her grandfather in the census document. She recalled never hearing about her grandfather’s double life during her childhood. However, the discoveries also gave her a new outlook on her grandmother.

“My grandmother was a very sad woman. I remember that as a little girl,” King said.

“Now you know why,” Gates replied.

King also learned her grandfather had struggles growing up. His parents, James and Callie King, divorced when he was a child, and his mother remarried in a new city. 

Gates and the Finding Your Roots team also unearthed information about King’s mother’s side of the family. Her great-grandfather, Bob Kane, was enslaved and considered property at around 6 years old. Years later, he became a free man, married, had a family and became a registered voter.

After learning about both sides of her family, King was left speechless.

“My mind is just … this is a lot to take in. A lot I’ve never seen and never heard,” King said, speaking about her family’s “patterns.” She described the new findings as “unimaginable.”