20 Famous Jewish Celebrities (Steven Spielberg?)

20 Famous Jewish Celebrities

#1 Marilyn Monroe

Monroe converted to Judaism in 1956 when she married Arthur Miller. She studied with Miller’s rabbi, Robert Goldburg, before her wedding.

Though Marilyn and Miller divorced five years later, the actress said she would not abandon her new faith.

#2 Michael Douglas

Douglas stated in 2015 that he identifies as a Reform Jew.

”My father, Kirk Douglas, born Issur Danielovitch, is Jewish,” Michael wrote for LA Times. He added: ”My mother, Diana, is not. I had no formal religious upbringing from either of them, and the two kids I have with Catherine Zeta-Jones are like me, growing up with one parent who is Jewish and one who is not.”

#3 Mila Kunis

Kunis has stated that her parents “raised [her] Jewish as much as they could.” She also said in an interview with the Sun: ”I’m pretty Jewish, I’ve got to say. I go ‘Oy’ and people are like, ‘Oh, you’re very Jewish.’”

#4 Jake Gyllenhaal

His mother is Jewish and was born in NYC to a Jewish family from Poland and Russia. Jake is also a descendant of the Swedish noble Gyllenhaal family.

#5 Patricia Arquette

Her mother was Jewish, and her ancestors emigrated from Russia and Poland.

She tweeted in 2019: ”As a Jew, I will tell you now – a lot of people think Netanyahu’s policies have created much hostility and pain.”

#6 Dustin Hoffman

The actor is Jewish, from an Ashkenazi Jewish family of immigrants from Iași, Romania and Kiev, Ukraine.

#7 Harrison Ford

His mother was the daughter of Belarusian immigrants from Minsk and an Ashkenazi Jew, while his father was a Catholic of Irish and German descent.

Ford said that he feels “Irish as a person but Jewish as an actor.”

#8 Zac Efron

Efron was raised in an agnostic household and did not practice religion as a child. But now he identifies as Jewish.

His surname, “Efron,” is Jewish in origin, taken from a Biblical place name. 

#9 Jack Klugman

Klugman’s parents were Russian-Jewish immigrants.

#10 Elizabeth Taylor

She has converted to Judaism in 1959, shortly before marrying her 3rd husband, Mike Todd. Before the wedding, Taylor has studied Judaism religious texts for nine months under the supervision of Reform Rabbi Max Nussbaum.

#11 Daveed Diggs

His parents named him “Daveed”, the Hebrew pronunciation of David.

”I went to Hebrew school, but opted out of a bar mitzvah,” Daveed said in an interview. ”My mom is a white Jewish lady and my dad is black… When I was young, I identified with being Jewish, but I embraced my dad’s side too.”

#12 Beck

Beck Hansen is an American musician who gained fame with the release of the single “Loser” in 1994.

Hansen has said that he considers himself Jewish and that he was “raised celebrating Jewish holidays.”

#13 Rashida Jones

Jones was raised in Reform Judaism by her mother who was Ashkenazi Jewish.

”In this day and age, you can choose how you practice and what is your relationship with God,” Rashida said in an interview. ”I feel pretty strongly about my connection, definitely through the Jewish traditions.”

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#14 Natalie Portman

The actress was born on June 9, 1981, in Jerusalem. Her paternal ancestors were Jews who moved to Israel from Romania and Poland, while her maternal ancestors were Jewish immigrants from Russia and Austria.

Her husband, Benjamin Millepied, also converted to Judaism.

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#15 Matthew Broderick

Broderick is a Jewish American actor who played in WarGames, Daybreak, Godzilla, Timon and Pumbaa at the Movies, At Home with Amy Sedaris, A Christmas Story Live!, and Diminished Capacity.

His father, James, was a Catholic and has an Irish and English descent. His grandparents on his mother’s side were Jewish immigrants. 

Broderick married actress Sarah Jessica Parker in a civil ceremony in a historic deconsecrated synagogue in New York.

#16 Barbra Streisand

Her maternal grandparents were from the Russian Empire, while her paternal grandparents emigrated from Galicia.

From 1946 to 1949, Barbra attended the ultra-Orthodox girls’ Yeshiva of Brooklyn.

”I was raised in a religious home,” Streisand said for Refinery29. She continued: ”My grandfather went to synagogue every Saturday and he would take me along, when I was about 5.”

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#17 Ben Foster

He was raised Jewish, and had a Bar Mitzvah ceremony.

#18 Pink

She has described her heritage as Irish-German-Lithuanian-Jew. Pink said that she is teaching her children about their Jewish heritage.

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#19 Steven Spielberg

His family was Orthodox Jewish. Spielberg’s second wife, Kate Capshaw, converted to Judaism.

Before the release of Schindler’s List, the film director has spoken openly about his Jewish roots.

#20 Ben Stiller

Stiller’s father was from a Jewish family that emigrated from Galicia and Poland.

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