William Sheller: “If It's Not You…”, His Heartbreaking Story of How He Discovered Who His Real Father Was

Tuesday, December 3, 2024, William Sheller was invited to the set of Ça commence aujourd'hui, on France 2. Émoved, the singer revealed how he had discovered the true identity of his biological father at age 53.

© France 2 William Sheller on the set of Ça starts today.

IN BRIEF

• William Sheller, born in 1946 in Paris, discovered as an adult that his biological father was Colin Thomas MacLeod, an American soldier, not Jack Hand.
• By digging through American archives, Sheller eventually found information about his biological father, but was hesitant to contact him directly.
• After writing to the address he found, he received a response from his half-brother, discovering family photos and information about his deceased father.

Born in 1946 in Paris, William Sheller was raised by his mother Paulette Desbœuf and Jack Hand, without knowing that the latter was not his biological father. In fact, he was in fact Colin Thomas MacLeod, an American soldier. Information that he discovered as an adult… Tuesday, December 3, 2024, on the set of Ça commence aujourd'hui, on France 2, it was while talking about his mother that the singer declared: “She was in hospice care and she was a camel (…) I was with her for quite a while, I would come to the clinic every day to read her a book, to be with her. And she would start to ramble a little bit, to come out with names… First it was Mac, and then it was Colin. I would say, 'You bet from a hill ?', she would say to me: 'But no, the first name'. 'But whose first name ?', 'Your father's!'”.

Recalling their discussion, William Sheller explained: “When she talked about Thomas, I would say: 'Who's ?', 'Well it's Colin!'. But you shouldn't insist either because as it turned out badly… … Écially, the poor… So I let the information out and I as it were learned that my father wasn't Jack Hand”, before specifying : “The Hand family, we didn't look alike at all! They were a little bit specials what”.

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William Sheller: “He searched for me his whole life!”

Before his mother passed away, the singer had gathered some information. “I had Colin. I had Thomas. I had a MacLeod. I had Detroit, Michigan”, he listed before explaining: “There are a lot of American sites where children are looking for their fathers (…) And then I still poked around, searched and paid – because in the United States, when you pay, you get everything you want – you can get information on anyone! (…) I searched all over Michigan for a name, but I had to find what. Was it Colin Thomas or Thomas Colin ? MacLeod, several years ago ways…”.

Eventually, his research paid off. “I found several people, some of whom were much too young to be my father, and I found a gentleman still living in a house, with an address, two phone numbers…”, he explained. However, he didn't call right away. “To walk right into the middle of a family… To jump on that poor man's head and tell him I was his son. I knew what that would do to him. What I learned later is that he'd been looking for me his whole life!”, he confided.

William Sheller received a answer

Finally, the artist waited until the 60th anniversary of the landing. “I've seen a lot of documentaries, especially about families reuniting. I thought, 'They didn't say too bad, they fought for it.' So I wrote to this address anyway, saying, 'Dear Sir, My mother, whose name was Paulette, told me before she left that my father's name was Colin Thomas. You're the only person in all of Michigan with that name and probably that age (…) Si ce is not you, excuse me, I am just a man searching for his roots'”, he declared.

While he thought he would never get a reply, two weeks later he received a large envelope from his half-brother with all the family photos. Indeed, his father died in 1989. However, William Sheller found himself a half-brother and a half-sister, and was thus able to get to know his father through them.