# Americans who became notable citizens of another country. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 31, 2003, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-became-notable-citizens-of-another-country/198770 "2003-08-31T05:28:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-became-notable-citizens-of-another-country/198770/21 "2003-09-01T00:22:07Z")
Robert Crumb and Gilbert Shelton, the two greatest underground cartoonists, emigrated to France. I guess they count as expats; not sure what their current citizenship is, and they both did their best work in America. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-became-notable-citizens-of-another-country/198770/22 "2003-09-01T03:23:20Z")
ruadh writes: \> Nicole Kidman was also born in America. Yes, but her parents are Australian, and that’s what counts. She was born in Honolulu while her father was doing his Ph.D. at the University of Hawaii. Her parents had come to the U.S. just so he could do his graduate work. She lived there just a few months and then her family moved to Washington, D.C. for three years while her father did a post-doc. Then they moved back to Australia. Kidman is thus a natural-born Australian. (That is, her Australian citizenship began at her birth, not at the point her family moved back to Australia.) ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-became-notable-citizens-of-another-country/198770/23 "2003-09-01T05:10:19Z")
According to [this site](http://www.citizenship.gov.au/faq.htm), children born to Australian parents overseas can be registered as Australian citizens, which is not quite the same thing as being Australian citizens from birth, I think. But I see your point. ---
**Author:** ![KenGr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecc23a/32.png) [@KenGr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KenGr)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-became-notable-citizens-of-another-country/198770/24 "2003-09-01T06:25:34Z")
Children born abroad always gain the citizenship of their parents automatically. Interestingly enough the USA is one of the few countries to automatically provide rights to citizenship to those born in a country but to non-citizen parents. This has led to the well publicized rush by Mexican mothers to conveniently be in the US at the time of birth and the less well publicized rush from other countries, notably South Korea. There are large numbers of US citizens who reside permanently in foreign countries, but they seldom actually give up their US citizenship since it provides many benefits and imposes very few penalties (i.e. taxes). France is, of course, a popular home for many of the well known Hollywood types, Robert Altman and Johnny Depp coming to mind immediately. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-became-notable-citizens-of-another-country/198770/25 "2003-09-01T07:38:08Z")
There are a few American “TV talents” in Japan, like Dave Spector, Kent Gilbert and Kent Derricott. (Actually I think one of them is Canadian but I forget which…) They speak fluent but accented Japanese, and get used as token foreigners in TV game shows and talk shows. They’re not Japanese citizens though. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-became-notable-citizens-of-another-country/198770/26 "2003-09-01T10:20:16Z")
In the UK media there are quite a few successful Americans who came over briefly or for education, and have stayed. Off the top of my head I can think of Ruby Wax (comedienne), Greg Proops (comedian), Lloyd Grossman (food critic/raconteur). ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-became-notable-citizens-of-another-country/198770/27 "2003-09-01T10:24:27Z")
Oh and of course mustn’t forget Connie Booth, co-writer of, and “Polly” in Fawlty Towers. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-became-notable-citizens-of-another-country/198770/28 "2003-09-01T10:26:58Z")
The UK-based oen that surprised me when I found out was [Zoë Wanamaker](http://uk.imdb.com/name/nm0910738/), the daughter of the aformentioned Sam Wanamaker. She sounds for all the world like a Brit, yet was born in New York and holds a US passport. ---
**Author:** ![refusal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac91a4/32.png) [@refusal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/refusal)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-became-notable-citizens-of-another-country/198770/29 "2003-09-01T11:10:13Z")
A bit less distinguished than Henry James, Brian Molko of rock group Placebo was raised in America to American parents (although born in Belgium while his parents were working overseas), and moved to London aged 17 to go to college, where he has been based since then. Fan bio: [http://membres.lycos.fr/brianmolko/brianmolko.html](http://membres.lycos.fr/brianmolko/brianmolko.html) Gertrude Stein spent most of her adult life in France, from 1904 to her death: [http://ellensplace.net/gstein2.html](http://ellensplace.net/gstein2.html) ---
**Author:** ![hammos1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba8739/32.png) [@hammos1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hammos1)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-became-notable-citizens-of-another-country/198770/30 "2003-09-01T11:21:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jjimm \* > \*\*Lloyd Grossman (food critic/raconteur) \*\* Also, interior design expert and pasta sauce magnate. Is there no end to the man’s talents? By the way, America, you can have him back _any time you like_. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-became-notable-citizens-of-another-country/198770/31 "2003-09-01T13:00:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hammos1 \* > **Also, interior design expert and pasta sauce magnate. Is there no end to the man’s talents?** I forgot TV Presenter. “What sorrrrrrrrrt of purrrrrrrrson would own a hauyse like thiuuus? Let’s go threew the keyheewl and find ouut.” ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-became-notable-citizens-of-another-country/198770/32 "2003-09-01T13:34:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KenGr \* > **Children born abroad always gain the citizenship of their parents automatically.** This is not true. Some countries follow the principle of _jus soli_ (citizenship by place of birth), some of _jus sanguinis_ (citizenship by descent), some by a combination. Those countries which allow citizenship by descent may differentiate between children born to natural-born citizens and children born to naturalised citizens. Others may differentiate by **which** parent is a citizen. There simply isn’t an across-the-board rule. ---
**Author:** ![hammerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hammerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hammerbach)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-became-notable-citizens-of-another-country/198770/33 "2003-09-01T13:51:42Z")
How about my favourite,from just down the road in Sangerville, Maine… [Sir Hiram Maxim.](http://www.firstworldwar.com/bio/maxim.htm) One of the great 19c inventors. Up until recently, we had an annual machine gun shoot in his honor. (No one was ever killed at this event, to my knowledge). ---
**Author:** ![Capt\_B.Phart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Capt\_B.Phart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt_B.Phart)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-became-notable-citizens-of-another-country/198770/34 "2003-09-01T16:48:32Z")
Hiram Maxim moved to London in the early 1880’s from Maine. There he produced the Maxim Gun, one of the first WMDs. ---
**Author:** ![Iteki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/eada6e/32.png) [@Iteki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iteki)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-became-notable-citizens-of-another-country/198770/35 "2003-09-01T16:58:26Z")
Eamon DeValera (former “president” of Ireland) was born in New York, moved to Ireland at the age of two and a half. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-became-notable-citizens-of-another-country/198770/36 "2003-09-01T17:15:40Z")
Let us not, of course, forget the astonishingly successful [Astor family](http://www.ketupa.net/astors.htm). Nor Madonna. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-became-notable-citizens-of-another-country/198770/37 "2003-09-01T17:22:13Z")
[William Joyce](http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Joyce) AKA Lord Haw Haw ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-became-notable-citizens-of-another-country/198770/38 "2003-09-01T17:29:04Z")
[William Joyce](http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Joyce) AKA Lord Haw Haw ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-became-notable-citizens-of-another-country/198770/39 "2003-09-01T18:13:10Z")
This thread was supposed to be about people who changed citizenship, but a lot of the posts are about expatriates, which isn’t the same thing. I know for a fact that W. E. B. Du Bois, T. S. Eliot (one l, one t), Henry James, and Ira Aldridge changed citizenship. I haven’t made sure whether Josephine Baker actually became a French citizen. I think she did, but I haven’t confirmed this. ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-became-notable-citizens-of-another-country/198770/40 "2003-09-01T23:53:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hammerbach \* > How about my favourite,from just down the road in Sangerville, Maine… [Sir Hiram Maxim.](http://www.firstworldwar.com/bio/maxim.htm) One of the great 19c inventors. There are several, almost exact, contemporaries of Maxim who had similar careers: they had relatively modest success in the US, but then moved to the UK to exploit a business opportunity that made them famous. For example, the pharmaceutical baron [Sir Henry Wellcome](http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/en/1/pinpubactexhbri.html#) was born in a log cabin in the Midwest, but moved to London in 1880, which is where he became famous as a businessman, a social figure and a benefactor over the next half century. Similarly, Harry Gordon Selfridge hailed from Wisconsin and had owned a store in Chicago, but he moved to London and opened one on Oxford Street in 1909. I don’t know whether he adopted UK citizenship (in fact, I’d be surprised), but the relocation immortalised his name as a British institution. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-became-notable-citizens-of-another-country/198770.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-became-notable-citizens-of-another-country/198770.md?page=3)