Russell Crowe was born in New Zealand.
Many people have thought Bruce Springsteen is Jewish because of his last name.
Many assume that Tim Roth is Jewish, but unbelievably, his original name was actually Tim Smith. His father changed the family name when they traveled to a foreign country that hated the English (not sure which one.)
Well, it’s pretty well known that Vin Diesel is part black and part Italian. But Vin hasn’t gone out of his way to claim any ethnicity. In a magazine article I once read, an anonymous friend of Vin’s told a reporter (I’m paraphrasing, but this is essentially what he said), “Look, you have to understand how it is for an actor. Vin IS Italian, but he’s lost out on lots of Italian roles because casting directors thought he looked too black. And he IS black, but he’s lost out on lots of black roles because casting directors didn’t think he looked black enough. For now, Vin’s ambiguous ethnicity seems to be working FOR him, for a change. So, why would you expect him to mess with a good thing?”
IF that’s really Diesel’s thinking, can you blame him for being coy about what his “real” ethnicity is?
I might be Jewish, but I’m not sure. I’m not a celebrity but this thread seemed relevant.
I’m kind of in an ethnic limbo. I am of German descendency on my Mother’s side but while the family name is German, it is also a common Jewish name. Frankly, I don’t know if we are German-Jews or not. I am of the impression that we have always claimed to be German, but that would make sense and be a smart move on an immigrant’s part to avoid anti-semitism.
We don’t have a Jewish religous tradition, but there are some physical traits on my Mom’s side that make me less certain of my ethnicity. I say this half-jokingly and don’t mean to imply a stereotype but me and my mom are neurotic worriers, as well! I don’t mean to sound like some kind of junior eugenicist, but I really do wonder.
My story does have a celebrity connection that I didn’t really mention in my first post, sorry about the double post but I always forget to mention important things.
I had never really considered that I might have Jewish origins and took it on faith that I was German until several years ago when I saw a documentary about Lenny Bruce. I learned of Lenny’s real, birth name and well, that’s when I realized we shared something in common as well as the realization that the name is also Jewish.
I also had to consider that I might actually be be directly related to Lenny. I was struck by the resemblence between him and pictures of my Grandfather that I had seen as well as other family members. The chin is what got me… that strong, cleft or dimpled chin runs in the males in that side of the family. Not to mention dark hair and dark features.
Pretty weird realization to come about from Lenny Bruce, hunh? Felt like it was a joke he composed especially for me from beyond!!
Actor Hank Azaria is of Greek Sephardic Jewish heritage; his family hails from Salonika. As my mother-in-law’s parents were also from that formerly vibrant Jewish community (most of which died in the Holocaust), she is happy to accept him as a potential long-lost relative. She also thinks he’s really cute.
Anglo-Indians and their huge shnozzes rock! (Sez me, who is one). 
Merle Oberon - now no-one seems to be completely clear as to what her ancestry is. Was she Burmese, Anglo(Welsh)-Indian, Eurasian…? During the 1930s and 1940s the studios publicised various romantic versions of her antecedents, but were they actually true? Even Tasmania tried to claim her (Was she born in Tas as a result of an affair between an English businessman and a Burmese chambermaid? Etc.)
She is obviously of exotic, , swirly ancestry, , but which is swirling with which?
Same here. My father’s father’s family was from Salonika as well. I’m surprised there’s another Romaniote on this board. One of the rarer ethnicities out there. Wasn’t it former UN head Kurt Waldheim’s troops that massacred the Jewish community there? (Along with thousands of Serbs?)
Interestingly, Nargis, the Audrey Hepburn of her day in India, was always thought to be Muslim on the basis of her name but it turns out that she was a Romanian of Romany (is that the word now used for gypsy?) origin and she escaped to India where she managed to learn Hindi and get into movies. At least, this is what my father excitedly told me one day.
Carol Channing writes in her autobiography that her paternal grandfather was black. Her father was light skinned and always “passed” for white.
Devilsknew My paternal grandfather’s name was Wright. I was confused how a German family came by that name. Mom told me that it was originally Rubinstein. He changed it to avoid antisemitism. Jack Ruby shortened his name from Rubinstein for the same reason. Names also got changed by the immigration people working at Ellis Island. Any name that was too dificult to spell or pronounce was changed. I have a friend whose last name is Kine. He’s not happy about the word since it means cattle. Originally, the family name was ‘Hchin-uh’ (it starts with the same phlegm raising noise challeh, Hannukah, etc). The American immigration worker couldn’t pronounce that, and changed it to Kine. So, it’s very possible that you’re of Jewish descent.
Re Hank Azaria
I did not know that.
Back To The OP
For Judaism, Adam Sandler’s Hannukah song gave us a long list. Some most of us had known for a long time, and some surprises.
Moe, Curly and Shemp Howard were really the Horowitz brothers. Larry Fine was Larry Fineberg. Harry Houdini was born Erich Weiss. Again, they changed their names to avoid antisemitism.
Not Italian, But Jewish
(Though, of course, you can be both) James Caan, Abe Vigoda, and Rodney Dangerfield.
I have yet to meet a Jew who wasn’t proud that Sammy Davis Jr was one of us. I remember the way my bubby’s face used to light up when she told me of the conversion of the Candy Man.
Judaism has always placed a great value on learning and inteligence. So, many lists of famous Jews include Sigmund Freud. Freud was an atheist. ‘I’ve never understood why I’m hailed as some triumph of Judaism when the only thing I’ve done is not to deny that I am Jewish.’
AFAIK Mandy Patinkin is Jewish. Whenever the subject comes up, somebody mentions that they hope he’ll record an album of cantorial music (prayers sung in Hebrew). Everybody else immediately agrees that this would be great.
When claiming Jewish celebrities, we do have to be careful for Italians, and nonJewish Germans.
[QUOTE=DocCathode
AFAIK Mandy Patinkin is Jewish. Whenever the subject comes up, somebody mentions that they hope he’ll record an album of cantorial music (prayers sung in Hebrew). Everybody else immediately agrees that this would be great.
When claiming Jewish celebrities, we do have to be careful for Italians, and nonJewish Germans.[/QUOTE]
Will Yiddish do?
There is a fine line, isn’t there? Re: Sophia in the Golden Girls.
It will indeed. Unfortunately, I don’t have a sound card in this machine at the moment and can’t listen to the clips.
[Hijack]
Who are these shmendricks who wrote those bad reviews? Yiddish songs are supposed to be melodramatic. They can wail with anguish. They can laugh with joy. There is no middleground. And translating popular English songs is assimilationist? When did a prophet appear and say it was no longer acceptable to translate songs into Yiddish? And you want a reason to sing the hokey pokey in Yiddish? It helps teach kids Yiddish and to associate a song and fun memories with Judaism.[/Hijack]
Re Caroll Channing
Caroll Channing? She’s one of the palest people I’ve ever seen. Caroll Channing?
Estelle Getty is another case of a Jew (in her case a first generation American born to Polish parents) playing Italian (in her case Sicilian). A quick look at her official website http://www.estellegetty.com/faq.html confirms her Jewness.
I thought he was Australian because of his first name
Well, I read most of Merle Oberon’s biography, and IIRC, she was born in India, the daughter of an Indian maidservant and a British or Irish worker. I believe the studios made up the story that she was born in New Zealand or Tasmania. When she started acting in Hollywood movies, she learned to lose her Indian accent and used makeup to look paler, although she was already very light-skinned. It has been three years or so since I read the book, so I hope I’m remembering correctly. Regardless, she was a great beauty and a good actress.
I dunno, the IMDB pictures are better and I don’t really see it. Not that I’m a good judge
I was trying to be cryptic and never really revealed my Maternal family’s name, but I guess if you realize that Lenny Bruce was born Lenny Schneider then you know the name we share. The problem is that according to the limited research I have done it is both a German name and a Jewish name, hence my uncertainty. The name means “tailor” and apparently that occupation had a tradition within German Jewery, much like the occupation of Jeweler. I unfortunately know very little geneologically about that side of my family so my roots remain largely unknown.
They are, however not exactly blonde haired and blue eyed Germans, hence my suspicion–although that really doesn’t mean anything, ostensibly. Unfortunately, I kind of keep it to myself as I don’t know how well the revelation would go over. Wouldn’t you know it we’re all self loathing! :smack: