Is Natasha Lyonne Jewish?

Natasha Lyonne is Jewish. Born Natasha Lyonne Braunstein on April 4, 1979, Lyonne is an American stage, film, and television actress, known for her roles in the American Pie series, as well as the films Everyone Says I Love You, Slums of Beverly Hills, But I'm a Cheerleader, and Blade: Trinity. She is a co-star on the Netflix series "Orange is the New Black" by Jenji Kohan of Weeds.

Lyonne was born in Manhattan, New York City, the daughter of Yvette and Aaron Braunstein, who worked as a boxing promoter and radio host. Her maternal grandparents were Holocaust survivors.

Source: Photo by Joe Mabel (wiki commons)

Lyonne grew up in an Orthodox Jewish household. Her parents moved to Israel, where Natasha spent a few years of her early childhood. After parents divorced and Natasha and her older brother Adam returned to the US with their mother. She attended Ramaz School, a private Jewish school. Her mother then moved to Miami, where Natasha attended and graduated from Miami Country Day School.

Natasha Lyonne had well-publicized battles with hard-drug substance abuse from 2001-2007 and was arrested several times. She almost died from a drug-related illness and in 2012, she underwent heart surgery, from which she quickly recovered.

Is Steven Weber Jewish?

Steven Weber, the actor known for his role in the 1990s sitcom Wings, is Jewish. Weber was born in Briarwood, Queens, New York. His mother, Fran, was a nightclub singer, and his father, Stuart Weber, was a nightclub performer and manager of Borscht Belt comedians. His family was Jewish.[4] Weber graduated from Manhattan's High School of Performing Arts (1979) and the State University of New York at Purchase.

Weber wrote about his Jewish upbringing in a 2011 personal essay in the Huffington Post:

Sometimes when there was a lull in the evening's festivities, the kids were allowed to sit among the assembled adults at the foot of a record player and listen to comedy records with a decidedly Jewish flavor: Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner's 2000 Year Old Man album being a favorite, guaranteed to swap the high-volume political arguments with high-volume hysterics. And the kids observed as the elders laughed uproariously at the record's joyously precise schtick, a celebration of the humor inherent in the mannerisms and quirks of modern Jewish culture. Even at my early age, I sensed that Jews could be both intensely serious and comfortably self-mocking, a combination which was somehow evolved, sophisticated, even humble.
In my teens I became aware of other aspects of Jewish life as I saw the orthodox Hasidim walking with their families to synagogue on Saturday mornings, clad in their alien black garb, their young sons sporting close-cropped hair flanked by swaying ringlets. And I began to question my connection to these particular people who also called themselves Jews, but who approached their identity with infinitely more effort and gravitas than I ever had, incredulous that we had anything in common at all.
My education of the events in Europe covering the period of 1933 to 1945 came in my 7th grade history class. The subject of Jewish persecution was a fairly common one among family and friends, usually referred to in a humorous context or obliquely referenced in one of the aforementioned family debates, its existence placed squarely in the dark ages where such virulence thrived, a phenomenon of the distant past -- a notion that my own antisemitism-free upbringing surely confirmed.
Until my class history concluded with a showing of the film "Night and Fog".
To actually see the things we had up till then only read or heard of wrenched our understanding of recent Jewish history out of the comfortably abstract and into the terrifyingly real. And the terrible images were of people who looked incredibly familiar to me: they were the oddly costumed Hasidim who walked with their families on Saturdays. They were the grandparents who made soup and kasha for me. They were the cousins who laughed and argued in my living room. They were the quiet husband and wife who sold me candy.
Armed with this new and sobering knowledge, I developed a solidarity with my Jewish identity which had not been present before. But it was combined with what was perhaps an unconscious refusal to connect the unchallenged, carefree Jewishness I had grown up with and the grave, imperiled Jewishness with which I had just become ineluctably identified, and I was now left with a feeling that was at once anxious and remote. A feeling that was to stay with me for many years.

Is Mandy Patinkin Jewish?

Mandy Patinkin is Jewish. The actor Patinkin was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Doris "Doralee" (Sinton), a homemaker, and Lester Patinkin, who worked for the People's Iron & Metal Company and the Scrap Corporation of America. His mother wrote Grandma Doralee Patinkin's Jewish Family Cookbook.

Mandy Patinkin grew up in a middle-class family, descended from Russian- and Polish- Jews, and was raised in Conservative Judaism, attending religious school daily "from the age of seven to 13 or 14" and singing in synagogue choirs, as well as attending the Camp Surah in Michigan.

He attended South Shore High School, Harvard St. George School, Kenwood Academy (1970 graduate), the University of Kansas, and Juilliard School. At Juilliard, he was a classmate of Kelsey Grammer. When the producers of the popular American sitcom Cheers were auditioning for the role of Dr. Frasier Crane, Patinkin put Grammer's name forward.

Patinkin is well known for his portrayal of Inigo Montoya in The Princess Bride in 1987. His other film credits include Alien Nation (1988), Yentl (1983), and Dick Tracy (1990). He has appeared in major roles in television series such as Chicago Hope, Dead Like Me, and Criminal Minds, and plays Saul Berenson in the Showtime series Homeland.

Is Cory Monteith Jewish?

Cory Monteith is not Jewish. The actor known for his role on Glee was born in Calgary, Alberta on May 11, 1982 and died on July 13, 2013.

He was the younger son of Ann McGregor, an interior decorator, and Joe Monteith, a military man who served in the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. He had an older brother named Shaun. Monteith's parents divorced when he was seven years old, and he and his older brother were raised by their mother in Victoria, British Columbia.

Before breaking into show business, Monteith worked various jobs, including Walmart people greeter, taxicab driver, school bus driver, and roofer.

Monteith was in a relationship with Lea Michele, his Glee costar who has stated she considers herself Jewish despite being raised in her mother's Catholic faith.

Is Adam Sandler Jewish?

Adam Sandler is Jewish. Adam Richard Sandler was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Stanley, an electrical engineer, and Judy Sandler, a nursery school teacher. His parents both descended from immigrants from Russia on both sides. He attended Manchester Central High School and graduated from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts in 1988.

Adam Sandler married actress Jacqueline Samantha Titone on June 22, 2003. She converted to Judaism, in 2000. Sandler and Titone have two daughters: Sadie Madison Sandler (born 2006) and Sunny Madeline Sandler (born 2008). Sandler lives with his family in Los Angeles, but also owns homes in New York City and Florida.

In addition to an animated movie about Hanukkah called "8 Crazy Nights", Sandler also wrote and has performed several versions of "The Chanukah Song", a humorous song written by comedian Adam Sandler with Saturday Night Live writers Lewis Morton and Ian Maxtone-Graham and originally performed by Sandler on Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update on December 3, 1994. Sandler subsequently performed the song as part of his stand-up act, later updating it with new lyrics. All variations center on the theme of Jewish children feeling alienated during the Christmas season, and Sandler's listing of Jewish celebrities (both real and fictional) as a way of sympathizing with their situation.

The song begins with a few lines that rhyme with Harmonica and Hanukkah, and just before the listing begins a repeated theme of the song says: "Instead of one day of presents, we get eight crazy nights!". The end of that sentence - "eight crazy nights" is shouted together with the crowd.

Jewish Celebrities referenced in the versions of "The Chanukah Song":

Original Song:

David Lee Roth
James Caan
Kirk Douglas
Dinah Shore (replaced in some performances with Pauly Shore)
The Carnegie Deli (noted for traditional Jewish fare)
Bowzer (Jon Bauman) from Sha Na Na
Arthur Fonzarelli (Henry Winkler)
Paul Newman (half-Jewish)
Goldie Hawn (half-Jewish)
Captain Kirk (William Shatner)
Spock (Leonard Nimoy)
The owner of the Seattle SuperSonics (Barry Ackerley)
O. J. Simpson described as "not a Jew!" to great applause from the audience.
Rod Carew (He converted) (*This is an error; Carew married a Jewish woman, but he did not convert to Judaism).
Ann Landers
"Dear Abby" (Pauline Phillips at the time.)
Harrison Ford (quarter-Jewish) (This is an error; Ford's mother is actually fully Jewish).[3]
Ebenezer Scrooge, described as not Jewish.
The Three Stooges
Tom Cruise's agent (Cruise is not Jewish).
During the final verse, performed originally on Saturday Night Live and on a radio cut, Sandler sings the line "Drink your gin and tonic-ah, but don't smoke marijuan-icah". On the uncut album version, and during various concert appearances, the line was changed to "Drink your gin and tonic-ah, and smoke your marijuan-icah". The uncut version, despite the reference to marijuana, receives most radio airplay today; another radio edit skips completely over the gin and tonic/marijuana line altogether.

Part II (1999)

The "The Chanukah Song, Part II" was recorded live at Brandeis University for Sandler's 1999 album Stan and Judy's Kid.

Persons referenced in "The Chanukah Song, Part II":

Winona Ryder (whose father is Jewish)
Ralph Lauren
Calvin Klein
Louise Post and Nina Gordon of Veruca Salt
Michael "Mike D" Diamond, Adam "MCA" Yauch, and Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz of the Beastie Boys (Diamond and Yauch are Jewish, and Horovitz's father was Jewish)
Lenny Kravitz (half-Jewish)
Courtney Love (half-Jewish) (an error; neither of her parents was Jewish).
Harvey Keitel
Jennifer Beals (an error; Beals says she once wanted to be Jewish, but is not).[4]
Yasmine Bleeth (her father was Jewish)
Dustin Hoffman (referred to as Dustin Hoffmanica)
O.J. Simpson, "still not a Jew"
Don Messick, voice actor of Scooby Doo (This is an error; Messick was not Jewish)
Bob Dylan, "was born a jew then he wasn't but now he's back"
Robert Levine, husband of Mary Tyler Moore
Tiger Woods ("No, I'm not talkin' 'bout Tiger Woods".)
Happy Gilmore, Sandler's title character in the 1996 film
Bruce Springsteen, who "isn't Jewish", but "[Sandler's] mother thinks he is".
Other pop culture references include: Manischewitz wine, Hooked on Phonics and Tijuana, Mexico.

Part III (2002)

Included on the Eight Crazy Nights soundtrack featuring vocals from actor Rob Schneider and the children's choir The Drei-Dels.

Persons referenced in "The Chanukah Song, Part III":

Ross (David Schwimmer) and Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) from Friends
David Lander (Squiggy) of Laverne & Shirley
Debra Messing
Melissa Gilbert (was adopted by a Jewish mother and raised in her faith)
Michael Landon (Landon's father was Jewish).
Jerry Lewis
Ben Stiller (Stiller's dad Jerry Stiller is Jewish, and mom Anne Meara, who is of Irish Catholic background, converted to Reform Judaism).
Jack Black (dad converted to Judaism, mom was born Jewish.)
Tom Arnold ("converted to Judaism, but you guys can have him back!")
Deuce Bigalow, Rob Schneider's title character of the 1999 film (Schneider is half-Jewish) he comes on stage an states I'm Jewish, stays for the chorus then sings- Mickey Raphael ("The guy in Willie Nelson's band who plays harmonica celebrates Hanukkah!") then Sandler says, "tiny Elvis, ladies and gentlemen tiny Elvis." Turning to Schneider, he says, "Schneider, I did not even know you were Jewish. He responds, "I'm a Filipino Jew; in fact, I got to run home and light the first pig," to which Sandler replies, "get going," and then continues the song.
Osama bin Laden, who is "not a big fan of the Jews".
Sarah Hughes (half-Jewish; "her mama's Jewish")
Harry Houdini
David Blaine (his mother was Jewish)
Gwyneth Paltrow (half-Jewish)
Jennifer Connelly (half-Jewish)
Lou Reed
Perry Farrell
Beck (maternal great-grandmother was Jewish)
Paula Abdul
Joey Ramone
Natalie Portman (as "Natalie Portmanika")

Is Jean Stapleton Jewish?

Jean Stapleton, who played Edith Bunker on TV's "All in the Family", was not Jewish. Stapleton was active in the Christian Science Church.

Jean Stapleton was born in New York City to Joseph E. Murray (a billboard advertising salesman) and Marie Stapleton Murray (an opera singer). She died at 90 on May 31, 2013 of natural causes.

Is Shiri Appleby Jewish

Shiri Appleby is Jewish. The actress who played roles in the final season of ER and in Charlie Wilson's War is currently playing a supporting role in HBO's Girls.

Appleby was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Dina Bouader, a Hebrew school teacher, and Jerry Appleby, a telecommunications executive. Her mother is Israeli-born and of Sephardic Moroccan Jewish background, and her father is an American Jew.

Is Seth Rogen Jewish?

Yes, Seth Rogen is a Jew. Rogen is a comedian and actor known for his roles in The 40-Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up and Funny People.

Rogen was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. His mother, Sandy, is a social worker and his father, Mark Rogen, worked for non-profit organizations and as an assistant director of a Workmen's Circle. He has described his parents, who met at an Israeli kibbutz, as radical Jewish socialists. He has one older sister, Danya. Rogen attended Vancouver Talmud Torah Elementary School and Point Grey Secondary School (although he never graduated). Rogen was known for the stand-up comedy he performed at Camp Miriam, a Habonim Dror camp.

Is Alan Arkin Jewish?

Yes, Alan Arkin is a Jew. Arkin is an actor, director, musician and singer known for his roles in Wait Until Dark, Catch-22, The In-Laws, Edward Scissorhands, Little Miss Sunshine, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and Argo.

Arkin was born in Brooklyn, New York City. He is the son of Beatrice, a teacher, and David I. Arkin, a painter and writer who mostly worked as a teacher. Arkin was raised in a Jewish family. His grandparents were immigrants from Odessa, Ukraine, Russia, and Germany. Arkin's family moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles when Arkin was 11 years old.

Arkin began taking acting lessons at age 10 and has been acting ever since. He is one of only a few actors to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for his first film appearance, The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming.

Is Robert De Niro Jewish?

Robert De Niro is not Jewish. The actor was born in Greenwich Village. His parents were Virginia Holton Admiral, a painter and poet, and Robert De Niro, Sr., an abstract expressionist painter and sculptor.

According to his Wikipedia listing, De Niro's father was of Italian and Irish descent, and his mother was of English, German, French, and Dutch ancestry. His Italian great-grandparents, Giovanni De Niro and Angelina Mercurio, emigrated from Ferrazzano, in the province of Campobasso, Molise, and his paternal grandmother, Helen O'Reilly, was the granddaughter of Edward O'Reilly, an immigrant from Ireland.

De Niro's parents, who had met at the painting classes of Hans Hofmann in Provincetown (Cape Cod), Massachusetts, divorced when he was three years old. De Niro was raised by his mother in the Little Italy neighborhood of Manhattan, and in Greenwich Village.

Is Ben Affleck Jewish?

The famous actor Ben Affleck is not Jewish. Born Benjamin Géza Affleck-Bold on August 15, 1972 in Berkeley, California, Affleck was raised mostly Episcopalian.

Affleck's mother, Christine Anne "Chris" Affleck, was a school district employee and teacher. His father, Timothy Byers Affleck, has held several jobs including as a drug counselor, social worker, janitor, and auto mechanic.

Affleck was married to Jennifer Garner in June 2005. They have two daughters, Violet and Seraphina, and a son, Samuel. He is now married to Jennifer Lopez.

Is Daniel Day-Lewis Jewish?

Daniel Day-Lewis is Jewish. The famous and well-accomplished actor Day-Lewis was born in London to a Jewish mother, the actress Jill Balcon. Daniel Day-Lewis's father, Cecil Day-Lewis, was of Anglo-Irish background.

Day-Lewis's Jewish mother's parents and their families emigrated to Britain from Latvia and Poland. His maternal grandfather, Sir Michael Balcon, was an important figure in the history of British cinema.

According to his Wikipedia entry, "Living in middle class Greenwich, Day-Lewis found himself among tough South London kids, and, being of part Jewish ancestry and 'posh', he was often bullied."

Daniel Day-Lewis is one of the most successful actors today, having won three Academy Awards, respectively for his portrayals of Christy Brown in My Left Foot (1989), Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood (2007) and Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg's Lincoln (2012). He is the only male actor in history to win three Oscars in the leading male actor category.

With French actress Isabelle Adjani, Day-Lewis has a son Gabriel-Kane Day-Lewis who was born in 1995 in New York, several months after the relationship ended.

Is Tina Fey Jewish?

No, Tina Fey is not a Jew. Fey is a comedian, writer and actress known for her roles on Saturday Night Live, Mean Girls and 30 Rock.

Fey was born in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, a township just west of Philadelphia. Her mother, Zenobia "Jeanne" is a brokerage employee of Greek descent and her father, Donald Fey, is a university grant-proposal writer of half German and half Scottish descent.

Fey performed with The Second City after graduating from the University of Virginia. While there she sent scripts to SNL and was hired as a writer. She began performing on the show in 2000 and left in 2006, when she began to develop and act in her sitcom, 30 Rock.

Is Steve Martin Jewish?

Steve Martin is not Jewish. The actor, comedian and novelist is married to the Jewish Anne Stringfield.  Their wedding ceremony incorporated Jewish and Christian elements.

The couple had a child together in December 2012.

Is Anne Stringfield Jewish?

Anne Stringfield is Jewish. She is the wife of actor and comedian Steve Martin.

Steve Martin divorced his first wife, actress Victoria Tennant, in 1994 after eight years of marriage. He quietly wed Anne Stringfield in July 2007. The wedding took place at Martin's L.A. home in a surprise ceremony officiated by former Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey. The wedding ceremony mixed both Jewish and Christian traditions.

Anne Stringfield is a writer and former New Yorker editor. The couple had their first baby in December 2012 although they kept it a secret for two months.

Is Neil Patrick Harris Jewish?

No, Neil Patrick Harris is not a Jew. Harris is best known for his roles as Barney Stinson on How I Met Your Mother and on Doogie Howser, M.D.

Harris was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His parents, Sheila and Ron Harris, ran a restaurant. He attended La Cueva High School, where he acted in school plays and musicals.

Harris was named as one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in 2010 and was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in September 2011.

Is Woody Allen Jewish?

Yes, Woody Allen is a Jew. Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, author, playwright, and musician. His career spans over half a century.

Allen was born Allan Stewart Konigsberg. He was born in the Bronx and raised in Brooklyn, NY. He is the son of Nettie (November 8, 1906 – January 27, 2002), a bookkeeper at her family's delicatessen, and Martin Konigsberg (December 25, 1900 – January 13, 2001), a jewelry engraver and waiter. His family was Ashkenazi Jewish; his grandparents were immigrants from Russia and Austria and spoke Yiddish, Hebrew, and German.

At the age of 17, he legally changed his name to Heywood Allen. He began writing jokes and publishing them and, at just 17, was already earning more than both of his parents combined.

Is Jessica Chastain Jewish?

No, Jessica Chastain is not a Jew. Chastain is known for her roles in Zero Dark Thirty, The Debt, Take Shelter and The Help.

Chastain was born and raised around Sonoma, California. She is one of five children. Her mother is a vegan chef, and her father is a firefighter. She grew up as Jessica Howard and later took her mother's maiden name as her stage name.

In the past few years Chastain's career has taken off. Chastain has won many awards for her roles in Take Shelter, Coriolanus, The Debt, Tree of Life, The Help and Zero Dark Thirty.

Is Claire Danes Jewish?

No, Claire Danes is not a Jew. Danes plays Carrie Mathison in Homeland and has had roles in Little Women, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, and My So-Called Life.

Danes was born in New York City. Her mother, Carla, is a day-care provider, painter, and textile designer. She later served as her daughter's manager. Her father, Christopher Danes, is a computer consultant and former architectural photographer. Danes has described her background as being WASP-like.

Is Marisa Tomei Jewish?

No, Marisa Tomei is not a Jew. Tomei is an actress known for her roles in What Women Want, Anger Management, In the Bedroom, The Wrestler and Parental Guidance.

Tomei was born in Brooklyn, New York. She is the daughter of Patricia Adelaide Tomei, an English teacher, and Gary A. Tomei, a trial lawyer. She has a younger brother, actor Adam Tomei. Both of Tomei's parents are of Italian descent.