Is Sam Waley-Cohen Jewish?

Sam Bernard Waley-Cohen is Jewish. He was born April 15, 1982. He is known as an English National Hunt amateur jockey, businessman and royal matchmaker. Waley-Cohen married Annabel Ballin in 2012.

Waley-Cohen is the son of Felicity Ann (Samuel) and businessman, racehorse breeder and trainer Robert Waley-Cohen, nephew of the theatre owner and producer Sir Stephen Waley-Cohen Bt. and grandson of Lord Mayor of London, Bernard Waley-Cohen. His maternal grandfather was Marcus Samuel, 3rd Viscount Bearsted. He was educated at the Dragon School in Oxford, St Edward's School (also in Oxford), and the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

Waley-Cohen is a Celebrity Ambassador for The Bone Cancer Research Trust (BCRT) and was famously pictured with Katherine Middleton at the Roller Disco he organised to raise money for a ward in memory of his brother. When Prince Williams future wife fell over on her skates the pictures made news world wide. Sam again hit the press in 2011 when he was credited with being the matchmaker who brought the Duke and Duchess back together following their earlier split.

Is Amanda Bynes Jewish?

Amanda Bynes is Jewish. Born Amanda Laura Bynes on April 3, 1986, Bynes was raised in Thousand Oaks, California (part of the Greater Los Angeles Area), the youngest of three children of Lynn (née Organ), a dental assistant and office manager, and Rick Bynes, a dentist.

Bynes has two older siblings, Tommy (born 1973), a chiropractor, and Jillian (born 1983), who has a B.A. in History from UCLA and has also acted. Bynes' ancestors immigrated from Ireland, Poland, Russia, and Romania, and her maternal grandparents are from Toronto, Ontario. Her father is Catholic and her mother is Jewish. Bynes has described herself as Jewish.

Wiki Commons

In 2007, regarding her religious beliefs, Bynes stated: "As far as religion, I was raised both. I learned about both Judaism and Catholicism. My parents said it was up to me to decide [which faith to adhere to] when I grew up. I'm sort of a spiritual person anyway. I haven't decided yet on a religion. I don't know yet exactly what I believe."

Bynes rose to prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000s on the Nickelodeon series All That and The Amanda Show. From 2002 to 2006, she starred on the WB sitcom What I Like About You. Bynes has also starred in several films, including What a Girl Wants (2003), She's the Man (2006), Hairspray (2007), Sydney White (2007) and Easy A (2010).

Following several charges for vehicular crimes in 2012, Bynes was arrested in May 2013 for charges related to marijuana possession and was placed under an involuntary psychiatric hold two months later.

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 Helen Thomas Jewish

Helen Thomas was not Jewish. The American author and news service reporter was a member of the White House press corps and an opinion columnist.

Born in Winchester, Kentucky, Helen Thomas was the seventh of the ten children of George and Mary (Rowady) Thomas, immigrants from Tripoli, Lebanon. Thomas was raised mainly in Detroit, Michigan, where her family moved when she was four years old, and where her father ran a grocery store. She was raised as a Christian in the Greek Orthodox Church.

Helen Thomas worked for the United Press and United Press International (UPI) for 57 years, first as a correspondent, and later as White House bureau manager. She was a columnist for Hearst Newspapers from 2000 to 2010, writing on national affairs and the White House.

A rabbi on the White House grounds with his son and a teenage friend for a May 27, 2010 American Jewish Heritage Celebration Day, questioned Thomas as she was leaving the White House via the North Lawn driveway. When asked for comments on Israel, she replied: "Tell them to get the hell out of Palestine." and "Remember, these people are occupied and it's their land. It's not German, it's not Poland..." When asked where Israeli Jews should go, she replied they could "go home" to Poland or Germany or "America and everywhere else. Why push people out of there who have lived there for centuries?"

On June 4, Thomas posted the following response on her web site:
"I deeply regret my comments I made last week regarding the Israelis and the Palestinians. They do not reflect my heart-felt belief that peace will come to the Middle East only when all parties recognize the need for mutual respect and tolerance. May that day come soon."

Thomas died on July 20, 2013, at her home in Washington, D.C. at the age of 92, just two weeks short of her 93rd birthday.

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 Craig David Jewish?

Craig David is a Jew because his maternal grandmother is a convert to Judaism. David was born in Southampton, Hampshire, the son of Tina (née Loftus), a retail assistant at Superdrug, and George David, a carpenter, and grew up in the Holyrood estate. David's father is Grenadian and David's mother is English and related to the founders of the Accurist watch-making company; David's maternal grandfather was an Orthodox Jew and his maternal grandmother a convert to Judaism.

David's parents separated when he was eight and he was raised by his mother. He attended Bellemoor School and Southampton City College.

David's father played bass in a reggae band called Ebony Rockers. As a teen, David began accompanying his father to local dance clubs, where DJs let him take the microphone.

Craig David is an English singer-songwriter who rose to fame in 1999 featuring on the single "Re-Rewind" by Artful Dodger. David's debut album, Born to Do It, was released on 14 August 2000, after which he has since released five further studio albums and worked with a variety of artists such as Tinchy Stryder, Kano, Jay Sean, Rita Ora and Sting.

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 Matt Nosanchuk Jewish?

Matt Nosanchuk is Jewish. Nosanchuk was named the White House's Jewish Liaison by President Barack Obama in July 2013. His official title is associate director of the White House Office of Public Engagement for Jewish Outreach.

He grew up in the Detroit area. His cousin is a Reform rabbi in Cleveland. He was previously the Justice Department's Gay Liaison.

Nosanchuk received his undergraduate and law degree from Stanford University and joined the Obama administration in 2009 as a senior counselor in the Justice Department’s civil rights division, where, according to JTA, he “helped shape the Obama administration’s response to a challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act.” He was awarded the inaugural Stonewall Award by the American Bar Association in February.

He’s also a longtime member of Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation in Bethesda, Maryland, which seems as good a place for liaising as any.

Is Gary David Goldberg Jewish?

Gary David Goldberg was Jewish. Famous for being an American writer and producer for television and film, Goldberg was best known for his work on Family Ties (1982–89), Spin City (1996–2002), and his semi-autobiographical series Brooklyn Bridge (1991–93).

Gary David Goldberg was born on June 25, 1944, in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Anne (née Prossman) and George Goldberg, a postal worker. Goldberg attended and graduated from Lafayette High School in Brooklyn. He studied at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, and San Diego State University, ultimately deciding to become a writer. In 1969, he met the woman who would become his wife, Diana Meehan.

Gary David Goldberg died June 22, 2013 after a long battle with brain cancer in Moticedo, California. 

Is Marc Rich Jewish?

Billionaire Marc Rich was Jewish. Known recently as the billionaire who was pardoned by President Bill Clinton over what had once been the biggest tax evasion case in U.S. history, Marc Rich invented oil trading and was praised for busting sanctions with Iran

Rich was born in 1934 to a Jewish family in Antwerp, Belgium to working-class Jewish parents. The family emigrated to the United States in 1941 to escape the Nazis. Marc Rich attended high school at the Rhodes Preparatory School in the Manhattan borough of New York City and NYU but dropped out to go work.

Marc Rich first married Denise Eisenberg, a songwriter and heiress to a New England shoe manufacturing fortune, in 1966. They divorced in 1996, but she continues to use the name Denise Rich. They had three children, one of whom, Gabrielle Rich Aouad, predeceased her parents.

According to the Jewish Daily Forward, the Belgian born Marc Rich became "the most successful and controversial trader of his time and a fugitive from U.S. justice, enjoying decades of comfortable privacy at his sprawling Villa Rosa on Lake Lucerne."

Marc Rich died on Wednesday, June 26, 2013 from a stroke in Switzerland. He was 78.

Is Frank Lautenberg Jewish?

Frank Lautenberg was Jewish. The United States Senator from New Jersey, who died on June 3, 2013, was a practicing Jew.

Lautenberg was born in Paterson, New Jersey, to Mollie (née Bergen) and Sam Lautenberg, impoverished Jewish immigrants from Poland and Russia, who had arrived in the United States as infants.

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 Allen Neuharth Jewish?

Allen Neuharth was not Jewish. The founder of the USA Today national newspaper, Neuharth was born in Eureka, South Dakota to Daniel J. and Christina (who married on January 11, 1922).

Newharth was an American businessman, author, and columnist. He was the founder of USA Today, The Freedom Forum, and its Newseum.

Allen Neuharth died on April 19, 2013.

Is Margaret Thatcher Jewish?

Margaret Thatcher was not Jewish. Thatcher was the longest serving prime minister of the United Kingdom during the 20th century.

Margaret Thatcher was born Margaret Roberts in Grantham, Lincolnshire, on 13 October 1925. Her father was Alfred Roberts, originally from Northamptonshire, and her mother was Beatrice Ethel (née Stephenson) from Lincolnshire.

Thatcher died of a stroke on April 8, 2013. "It is with great sadness that Mark and Carol Thatcher announced that their mother Baroness Thatcher died peacefully following a stroke this morning," Lord Tim Bell said, according to Reuters.


According to the Jewish Chronicle:

Baroness Thatcher, was described as "a giant who had a transformative impact on Britain" by chief rabbi Lord Sacks. He added: "I first got to know her early on in my life when she was the local MP. She was loved and admired by many in the Jewish community who will miss her deeply. Few people in my lifetime have left such a personal imprint on British life. She was always extremely supportive and admiring of the ethos of the British Jewish community," said Vivian Wineman, president of the Board of Deputies. "This close relationship began when her family took in a young Austrian Jewish refugee from Nazism in the late 1930s. When she entered Parliament as MP for Finchley, a very Jewish constituency, her relationship with local Jewish institutions blossomed and continued throughout her illustrious career as Prime Minister.

Is Roger Ebert Jewish?

Roger Ebert was not Jewish. The famous film critic was one-half of the movie reviewing team of Siskel and Ebert with the late Gene Siskel, who was Jewish.

Roger Joseph Ebert was born in Urbana, Illinois, the son of Annabel (née Stumm) and Walter H. Ebert, an electrician. His paternal grandparents were German immigrants and his maternal ancestry is Dutch, Irish, and German.

Ebert died on April 4, 2013.

Is Chuck Todd Jewish?

Chuck Todd is Jewish. The NBC news correspondent and journalist was born in Miami, Florida, the son of Lois Cheri (née Bernstein) and Stephen Randolph Todd. He is Jewish on his mother's side, and was raised in a Jewish home.

Todd resides in Arlington, Virginia, with his wife, Kristian Denny Todd, daughter Margaret, and son Harrison.


During President Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's joint press conference in Jerusalem during Obama's March 2013 visit of the Jewish State, Chuck Todd asked several questions. That led to Obama joking with Chuck Todd that he was asking too many questions. Todd joked that Passover was approaching and he was entitled to ask four questions. Appearing later on the Today Show, Todd made several other Passover references asking Matt Lauer, "Why is this press conference different from all other press conferences?"

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 Joan Rivers Jewish?

Joan Rivers was Jewish. The comedian and celebrity fashion critic (mostly seen on the red carpet before and after award ceremonies), Joan Rivers was born Joan Alexandra Molinsky in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants Beatrice (née Grushman; January 6, 1906 – October 1975) and Meyer C. Molinsky (December 7, 1900 – January 1985). Joan Rivers died on September 4, 2014 after entering the hospital with heart failure and going into a coma.

Rivers was raised in Brooklyn, New York. She attended Connecticut College between 1950 and 1952 and graduated from Barnard College in 1954 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature and anthropology. Her agent Tony Rivers advised her to change her name, so she chose Joan Rivers as her stage name.

Rivers' first marriage was in 1955 to James Sanger, the son of a Bond Clothing Stores merchandise manager. The marriage lasted only six weeks and was annulled on the basis that Sanger did not want children and had not informed Rivers before the wedding.

Rivers then married Edgar Rosenberg in 1965. Rosenberg committed suicide in 1987. Their only child, Melissa Warburg Rosenberg (now known as Melissa Rivers), was born on January 20, 1968. She has one grandson, Melissa's son Cooper (born Edgar Cooper Endicott on December 1, 2000).

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 Charlize Theron Jewish?

No, Charlize Theron is not a member of the Jewish people and does not have a Jewish heritage. The actress, Theron, is a South African actress known for her roles in Mighty Joe Young, The Cider House Rules, Monster, Young Adult, Snow White & the Huntsman and Prometheus.

Theron was born in Benoni, South Africa. She is the only child of Gerda and Charles Theron. Her ancestry includes French, German, and Dutch and her French forebears were early settlers in South Africa.

Theron's career began at age 16 when she began modeling and moved to Milan, Italy. A year later she came to the US and after struggling in New York, moved to LA. A short time later she got her first role in a film in Children of the Corn III. Her career took off from there.

Although Theron is not a Jew, she has been spotted wearing a red string bracelet, a sign of her connection to Kabbalah.

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 C. Everett Koop Jewish?

No, C. Everett Koop was not a Jew. Koop served as the thirteenth Surgeon General of the United States under President Ronald Reagan from 1982 to 1989.

Koop was born in Brooklyn, New York. His parents, John Everett Koop (1883–1972) and Helen Koop (1894–1970), were both children of German immigrants, and Koop was their only child. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1937 and earned his MD degree from Cornell Medical College in 1941. During the 1940s and 1950s he rose in the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine to become professor of pediatric surgery and, later, professor of pediatrics. In February 1981, President Ronald Reagan appointed Koop as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health with the promise that he would be nominated as Surgeon General.

As Surgeon General, Koop brought frank talk about the AIDS pandemic into U.S. homes.

Koop died on February 25, 2013 at 96 years old.

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 Steven Spielberg Jewish?

Steven Spielberg is Jewish. Spielberg, the acclaimed movie director, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, to a Jewish family mother and father. Spielberg's mother, Leah Adler was a restaurateur and concert pianist, and his father, Arnold Spielberg was an electrical engineer involved in the development of computers. Spielberg was raised in Haddon Township, New Jersey. Spielberg has reflected on his childhood and recalls suffering from acts of anti-Semitism.


After his parents divorced, he moved to Saratoga, California with his father. His three sisters and mother remained in Arizona. Steven Spielberg went to Hebrew school from 1953 to 1957, in classes taught by Rabbi Albert L. Lewis, the main character in Mitch Albom's book Have a Little Faith.

Of his upbringing as a religious Jew Spielberg has explained, "It isn't something I enjoy admitting, but when I was seven, eight, nine years old, God forgive me, I was embarrassed because we were Orthodox Jews. I was embarrassed by the outward perception of my parents' Jewish practices. I was never really ashamed to be Jewish, but I was uneasy at times. My grandfather always wore a long black coat, black hat and long white beard. I was embarrassed to invite my friends over to the house, because he might be in a corner davening [praying], and I wouldn't know how to explain this to my WASP friends" (Parade Magazine. March 27, 1994).

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 Amy Poehler Jewish?

No, Amy Poehler is not a Jew. Poehler is an actress, writer, producer and comedian. She is best known for her roles on Saturday Night Live and Parks and Recreation.

Poehler was born in Newton, Massachusetts, and grew up in nearby Burlington. She is the daughter of Eileen Frances and William Grinstead Poehler, both teachers. Poehler is of English, German, Irish and Portuguese ancestry, and was raised Catholic.

Poehler joined the cast of SNL in 2001 and in 2004 began co-anchoring the sketch Weekend Update with Tina Fey. Poehler left SNL in 2008.

In 2009 Poehler began starring in her own TV series, Parks and Recreation. She is also known for her numerous roles on the big screen, including Wet Hot American Summer and Mean Girls.

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.