#jewish actors
Canadian rapper and actor Drake, born Aubrey Drake Graham, known for his role as Jimmy Brooks on Degrassi: The Next Generation, has a Grammy and a number of other awards under his belt to attest to his talent. He’s also Jewish! Here’s how we know:
-Drake was born to a Jewish Canadian woman and an African American man in Toronto. [x]
-Drake was raised in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood in Toronto and celebrated Jewish High Holidays and Chanukkah with his mother. At the age of thirteen, he had a bar mitzvah. [x]
-Drake has been very open about his Jewish background and identity, and even addressed his Jewish, black, and Canadian identity in his Saturday Night Live monologue while hosting an episode of the comedy show. He has also been seen wearing a necklace with the Hebrew characters for ‘life’ or 'living’ (chai, חַי). [x] [x]
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Best known for his role as the cultural icon Captain James T. Kirk, William Shatner is not simply an actor, author, director, singer, and comedian. This prolific entertainer is Jewish, and here’s how we know:
-William’s grandparents were Jewish immigrants hailing from countries in Central and Eastern Europe, such as Austria-Hungary, Poland, and the Ukraine.. [x]
-William was raised in Conservative Judaism, and his family held long seders during Passover. [x]
-William grew up attending a Canadian Jewish Federation camp during the summer. He also attended Hebrew school, and had the unfortunate experience of dealing with antisemitic bullies on the way there. [x]
-After the death of his third wife, William began planning to produce a film called “The Shiva Club,” in which a group of people crash a shiva in the hopes of getting in the good graces of a Jewish Hollywood exec. This project appears to have fallen through. [x]
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Best known for her performances in the original Broadway run of Rent, the television series Glee, and the Disney animated film Frozen, Idina Menzel is an amazing actress and singer and Jewish to boot. Here’s how we know:
-Idina’s family is of Russian and Eastern European Jewish background. [x]
-Idina attended Hebrew school, but ultimately dropped out before she finished prepping for her bat mitzvah (but not before getting her haftarah down!). [x]
-Idina has been known to sing in Hebrew, often in the form of her haftarah portion, at her concerts. [x]
-On raising her son and any possible future children, Idina says that she plans on raising them Jewish and with an awareness of Jewish history. She says that she feels a strong connection to Jewish culture. [x]
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Actress, activist, and author Marlee Matlin, best known for her roles in films and television series such as Children of a Lesser God,The L Word, and Switched at Birth, became the first deaf performer to receive the Academy Award for Best Actress. She was 21 years old when she received the award, and holds the record for being the youngest person to receive this prestigious award. This amazing actress is also Jewish, and here’s how we know:
-Marlee’s family is of Russian and Polish Jewish background, and Marlee grew up attending the Jewish Temple for the Deaf, Bene Shalom, in Skokie, Illinois. [x]
-Marlee had a bat mitzvah and was later interviewed about her bat mitzvah experience for the book Mazel Tov: Celebrities’ Bar and Bat Mitzvah Memories. [x]
-Marlee has said that her Jewish background has been part of the driving force for the large amount of charity work she has done, including her work for the Starkey Hearing Foundation, which gives free hearing aids to children who cannot afford them. [x]
-Marlee has participated in advertising for the Jewish Federations of North America, which does philanthropic work to benefit Jewish causes. [x]
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British actor Jason Isaacs, best known for his role as Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter films as well as his work in the film The Patriot and the television series Brotherhood, is Jewish. Here’s how we know:
-Jason’s parents are Jews of Eastern European background, and raised him in a tight-knit Jewish community in Liverpool, England. His parents later made aliyah to Israel. [x]
-Jason describes himself as not particularly religious, but very Jewish. During his childhood, he attended a cheder twice-weekly and had very strong cultural Jewish influences. [x]
-After his family moved to London, Jason witnessed antisemitic attacks on their synagogue and a wave of violence in the 1970s caused by the antisemitic rhetoric of the National Front, a white supremacist, fascist political party. [x]
-On raising his two children, Jason has stated he intends for them to be proud of their Jewish background and with Jewish some observances and customs, while also giving them an environment that allows them to question teachings instead of accepting them blindly. [x]
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Actress Mila Kunis, known for her roles in television series such as That 70s ShowandFamily Guy and films such as Black SwanandJupiter Ascending, is as Jewish as she is stunning in both acting and good looks. Here’s how we know:
-Mila’s family consists of Soviet Jews, and Mila identifies as Jewish, though she is not practicing. [x]
-When Mila was seven, her family immigrated to the United States from the then-Ukrainian SSR, partially to escape the antisemitism they experienced there. [x]
-Mila has been the target of an antisemitic diatribe by a Ukrainian politician. [x]
Got a Jewish fave you want us to spotlight? Suggest it through our askorsubmit box!
