The Righteous Gemstones Family Tree and Montgomery Cousins
Righteous Gemstones Family Tree starts with Roy Gemstones and his son Eli Gemstones. Eli is portrayed as a father with three kids in the HBO series.
The Gemstones are featured on HBO's black comedy series titled 'The Righteous Gemstones.' The series premiered on August 18, 2019, and has since run for three seasons. The third season premiered on June 18, 2023, and will run till August 6, 2023.
The satirical series follows a megachurch dysfunctional Gemstone brood led by the patriarch Dr. El Gemstone. He has three adults children but are all immature and impulsive causing trouble to the family now and then.
El and his children operate a megachurch named Gemstone Salvation Center and live an affluent life off the donations in the church. They also provide televangelists service through their church as well.
The show stars John Goodman, Danny McBride, Adam DeVine, and Edi Patterson in main roles as Dr. Eli Gemstone, Jesse Gemstone, Kelvin Gemstone, and Judy Gemstone, respectively.
Some real-life televangelists are Kenneth Copeland, Creflo Dollar, and Joni Lamb.
The Righteous Gemstones Family Tree
Righteous Gemstones family includes El Gemstone and his three children. El is the patriarch with three adult kids Jesse, Kelvin, and Judy Gemstone.
El Gemstone
El Gemstone is the patriarch in the HBO series. El is a widower and lead pastor of Gemstone Salvation Center.
He is portrayed by actor John Goodman in the television series created by McBride for HBO Max. El does not display greediness or vulgar behavior like his kids but he does put his own wealth before spirituality.
Jesse Gemstone
Jesse Gemstone is the oldest son of El Gemstone. Jesse is married to Amber in the television series.
He works as the associate pastor at Gemstone Salvation Center. He gives the impression of being a faithful father to his three sons Gideon, Pontius, and Abraham.
However, in reality, Jesse has a crude and arrogant personality and often displays his true colors with his debauched lifestyle with friends and subordinates. Jesse is portrayed by the actor Danny McBride on the series.
Kelvin Gemstone
Kelvin Gemstone is the youngest son of El Gemstone. Kelvin is a youth pastor at Gemstone Salvation Center.
Kelvin does not have a wife or children yet. He focuses all of his attention and hard work to prove himself as a leader at the church but often falls victim to his own immaturity and impulsiveness. The character is played by actor Adam DeVine in the dark comedy series.
Judy Gemstone
Judy Gemstone is the only daughter of El Gemstone. Judy is the middle child of El and his late wife Aimee-Leigh.
The middle child and only sister among the Gemstone siblings, Judy often feels underestimated by her siblings and parents. She is prone to neurotic and psychopathic behaviors. The character is portrayed by actress Edi Patterson in the HBO series.
Apart from the main members bearing Gemstone as their last names, the show also includes the Montgomery siblings. El's younger sister May-May married Peter Montgomery and shares two kids Chuck and Karl with him.
Montgomery Cousins
The Righteous Gemstones Cousins Chuck Montgomery and Karl Montgomery are nephews of El Gemstone. Thus, Chuck and Karl Montgomery are cousins of the Gemstone siblings.
Chuck and Karl Montgomery made their debut in the third season of the dark comedy show, they were first mentioned in the first episode of season three titled "For I Know the Plans I Have for You."
The Righteous Gemstones Montgomery brothers Karl and Chuck helped their father Peter run the doomsday prepper compound but the brothers get thrown out by Peter. Karl and Chuck go to live with their maternal grandfather and cousins, the Gemstones.
Their entry to Gemstone mansion is hilarious, as the two brothers gobble food like wild animals while everyone present around gives a blank stare of a shock to the Montgomery brothers.
Gemstone siblings and Montogomery brothers have a hard time fitting in together under the same roof, to ease the situation, the patriarch El lays a rule stating they must find a way to co-exist in the mansion.
Karl Montgomery Righteous Gemstones is portrayed by Robert Oberst in the television series and his brother Chuck is portrayed by actor Lukas Haas. More comedy from the two talented actors is yet to come in the upcoming episodes of HBO's dark comedy crime series.
Is The Righteous Gemstones Based On A Real Family?
The Righteous Gemstones are not based on a real family but is a fictional one created for the HBO show. The fictional and dysfunctional Gemstones is led by El.
The Gemstones are megachurch founders and members living off an affluent life from the donation received from people for their church. Although they are shown in the series as fictional, similar practices are found in abundance around the world, according to Distractify.
The creator of the show Danny McBride, who also portrays El's oldest son, drew inspiration for the story of the series and characters from his actual experience of attending a similar megachurch, both in his childhood and later in his adulthood, according to GQ.
Speaking with the publication about the background of the characters and the show, McBride revealed he had a bad taste in church after his parents divorced when he was in 6th grade and people started whispering about his mother and father's split behind their backs.
He stopped going to the church altogether but as an adult, he grew curious about how the churches have evolved and started attending once again. However, much to his surprise he was shocked by the stories of megachurches, thus, drawing inspiration for the show.
