Arnold Vosloo

"G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra" Los Angeles Premiere - Arrivals

Vosloo in 2009, photo by PrPhotos

Place of Birth: Pretoria, South Africa

Date of Birth: 16 June, 1962

Ethnicity: Afrikaner [Dutch, some German and Swiss-German, Belgian Flemish, distant Danish, remote French, Norwegian, Indonesian, Indian, Malagasy, and Angolan]

Arnold Vosloo is a South African and American actor. He is known for playing the fictional pharaoh Imhotep in The Mummy (1999) and The Mummy Returns (2001), as well as for his roles in the Darkman sequels and Blood Diamond, among many other films.

He is the son of stage actors Johanna Petronella Vorster and Johannes J. Daniel Vosloo. He became a U.S. citizen in 1988. Arnold is married to marketing director Silvia Ahí.

He is an Afrikaner, of Dutch descent, with a small amount of German and Swiss-German roots, as well as distant Danish, and even more distant French, Norwegian, Indonesian, Indian, Malagasy, and Angolan, ancestry. His family has lived in South Africa for many generations.

Arnold’s great-uncle is B. J. Vorster, who was the 8th Prime Minister of South Africa, from 1966 to 1978, and the 4th State President of South Africa, from 1978 to 1979. Arnold’s maternal grandfather, Johannes Wagenaar Vorster, was B. J.’s brother.

Arnold’s patrilineal line can be traced back to Johannes Vosloo, who was born, c. 1649, in Lippstadt, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and to his wife, Helena Maria, a slave from Malabar, India.

Arnold’s paternal grandfather was Arnoldus Francois Vosloo (the son of Arnoldus Francois Vosloo and Christina Jacoba Clasina Dorfling). Arnold’s grandfather Arnoldus was born in Willowmore, Eastern Cape. Arnold’s great-grandfather Arnoldus was the son of Adolf Daniel Vosloo and Elizabeth Johanna Oosthuizen. Christina was the daughter of Johannes Michael Hendrik Dorfling and Alberta Susanna Jacoba Dorfling.

Arnold’s paternal grandmother was Maria Petronella van der Mescht (the daughter of Marthinus Johannes van der Mescht and Johanna Helena van Staden). Maria was born in Willowmore, Cape Province, South Africa. Marthinus was the son of Johannes Willem Frederik van der Mescht, whose father was from Ghent, Flanders, Belgium, and of Johanna Charlotte Jacoba Deysel.

Arnold’s maternal grandfather was Johannes Wagenaar Vorster (the son of Willem Carel Vorster and Elisabeth Sophia Wagenaar). Johannes was born in Spitskop, Jamestown. Willem was the son of Olof Abraham Vorster and Anna Catharina Elisabeth/Elizabeth van der Merwe. Arnold’s great-grandmother Elisabeth was the daughter of Johannes Jacobus “Jan” Wagenaar and Johanna Maria Elisabeth Wepener.

Arnold’s maternal grandmother was named Johanna Catharina Nel.

Sources: Genealogy of Arnold Vosloo – https://www.geni.com

Genealogy of Arnold Vosloo (focusing on his father’s side) – http://www.geni.com

Genealogy of Arnold’s paternal great-great-grandfather, Adolf Daniel Vosloo (through Adolf’s brother) (focusing on his own father’s side) – https://www.wikitree.com

Genealogy of Arnold’s mother (focusing on her father’s side) – http://www.vorster.net

Genealogy of Arnold’s maternal great-great-grandfather, Olof Abraham Vorster – https://www.wikitree.com

Genealogy of Arnold’s maternal great-great-grandfather, Johannes Jacobus “Jan” Wagenaar – https://www.wikitree.com

21 Responses

  1. Capricious says:

    I thought he was Greek or Italian. He is Mediterranean looking and also resembles Billy Zane.

    (No wonder he played an Egyptian in The Mummy)

  2. Freerk says:

    He has a typical Dutch face with French (?) eyes – there are not so many (indigenious) people with (partly) brown eyes in the Netherlands/North Germany/Denmark

    • J.J. says:

      his eyes aren’t brown, they’re blue with central heterochromia (brown around the pupil), but the true colour of the iris is always the outer colour, however generally eyes that are blue with scattering gold/brown pigment often look green as do his, so you could define his eyes as green

  3. andrew says:

    Afrikaner just, that’a a mix of all

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