It is the classic American story, a tale of three brothers that begins more than a century ago in the Old Country.
When the oldest brother inherits the family estate, the two younger brothers set out for the New World in search of their fortunes — one heading north, the other south, their paths spun behind them like slender threads that fray with the passing of time and break.
In the case of the Lamas family, the story starts in the northwest corner of Spain, diverges to Cuba and Argentina, and converges — at least temporarily — in the northwest corner of the United States.
Connected are a Port Townsend doctor and the son of a Hollywood movie star, a TV star in his own right.
“I’ve always wondered if we’re related,” Dr. Fernando Lamas said.
Dr. Lamas is the radiologist at Jefferson General Hospital and great-grandson of one of the brothers, the second-born son named Fernando.
Leaving his home in Galicia, Spain, the 19th century Fernando ended up in Cuba, where he started a family, passing down his first name like a family heirloom to a son in each generation.
“There’s five of us,” Dr. Lamas said.
“My son, myself, my father, my grandfather and my great-grandfather, who came from Spain in the 1870s or ’80s.
“His brother went to Argentina.”
Lorenzo Lamas is the son of Arlene Dahl, the actress, and Fernando Lamas, who grew up in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and became an acclaimed singer and actor.
Fernando Lamas arrived in Hollywood in 1950 with an MGM contract, and had a noteworthy career in movies and television directing until his death in 1982.
On Saturday, the doctor and the movie star’s son met for the first time in Port Townsend, where Lorenzo, who has starred in the TV series “Falcon Crest,” “Renegade” and currently “The Bold and the Beautiful,” was appearing at the Jeffco Expo.
There, the two men — the doctor and the actor — learned that both families originally came from the same province in Spain.
“I am fascinated by this,” Lorenzo said of the family history, as he looked at a map Dr. Lamas brought of northwest Spain.
“Now I know where to look.”