“I wish I could’ve talked to him about that,” the actress said. “They kept things so private.”

Rita Wilson shares tragic, ‘shocking’ story of her father’s secret other family: ‘He never said anything to us’

"I wish I could've talked to him about that," the actress said. "They kept things so private."

By Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel is a news writer at **. He began writing for EW in 2022.

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April 22, 2026 3:07 p.m. ET

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Rita Wilson in Los Angeles on March 15, 2026. Credit:

Neilson Barnard/Getty

- Rita Wilson discovered that her father had a wife and son who tragically died before he moved to the United States.

- The actress learned the surprising revelation while filming the English TV show *Who Do You Think You Are*.

- Wilson also shared a poignant detail about her half brother's connection to her son: "I still can't get over that."

Rita Wilson is reflecting on a tragic revelation in her family history.

The *Sleepless in Seattle* actress recently opened up about discovering the story of her father's first family before his emigration from Bulgaria to the United States.

"I did this show — it's an English show, *Who Do You Think You Are*," she said on the podcast *How to Fail With Elizabeth Day*. "Usually in those genealogy shows, they go back many, many generations. But what they found with my dad was that his story was so shocking and unusual that they stuck with his story."

Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson in Los Angeles on April 16, 2026.

Michael Buckner/Getty

Wilson recalled traveling to Bulgaria and examining official records of her father's family, which contained two unfamiliar names.

"I'm kind of trying to figure this out, and they said, 'Well, your dad was married,'" she remembered. "I said, 'What?!' 'Yes, he was married, and he had a child.' I said, 'Am I gonna meet someone? Am I gonna meet a family?' It was a little boy."

Unfortunately, however, Wilson did not have the opportunity to meet her father's other family.

"My dad's first wife, whose name was Alice, gave birth on Dec. 26, and she died three days later due to complications from delivery," the actress explained. "Her son, and my dad's son, Emil, lived for four months. This was right after the war, and then he passed away."

Wilson also clarified that her half brother didn't die from starvation, but rather an infection.

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The actress then addressed a tragic twist of fate in the story. "This is where it gets weird: My sister's firstborn child was born on Dec. 26, and my youngest son was born on Dec. 26," she said. "And I think of my dad, all of those years, celebrating all those birthdays, and knowing that he had a child born on Dec. 26, Emil, who passed away."

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Wilson said her father never mentioned anything about his departed loved ones to her and her family. "I still can't get over that. He never said anything to us," she recalled. "I wish I could've talked to him about that. They kept things so private."

Watch Wilson's full conversation with Elizabeth Day above.

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