Gwyneth Paltrow

Paltrow in 2008, Entertainment Press / Shutterstock.com

Birth Name: Gwyneth Kate Paltrow

Place of Birth: Los Angeles, California, United States

Date of Birth: September 27, 1972

Ethnicity:
*father – Ashkenazi Jewish
*mother – German, with smaller amounts of Swiss-German, English, Irish

Gwyneth Paltrow is an American actress, singer, food writer, and businessperson. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for Shakespeare in Love (1998). Her films also include Hook, Malice, Flesh and Bone, Se7en, Hard Eight, The Pallbearer, Emma (1996), Sliding Doors, Great Expectations (1998), Hush, A Perfect Murder, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Duets, Bounce, The Anniversary Party, The Royal Tenenbaums, Shallow Hal, Possession, Sylvia, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Proof, Infamous, Running with Scissors, Two Lovers, Country Strong, Contagion, and Iron Man and the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

She is the daughter of director Bruce Paltrow and actress Blythe Danner. Her father was from a Jewish family. They emigrated from Poland, Lithuania, Russia, and Belarus. Her mother, who attended a Quaker school, is of mostly Pennsylvania Dutch [German], with some Swiss-German, Alsatian German, English, and Irish, descent, including a few ancestors who lived in Barbados. Gwyneth was raised around both Judaism and Christianity. Her brother had a Bar Mitzvah ceremony. In recent years, she appears to have embraced the Jewish faith.

Gwyneth’s brother is writer and director Jake Paltrow. Gwyneth is married to producer Brad Falchuk. She has two children with her former husband, English musician Chris Martin. For a time, she was known as Gwyenth Paltrow Martin.

Her father’s family can be traced back to 17th century Russia, and includes many rabbis. She has stated, “I am the result of generations and generations of rabbis back in Minsk.” Gwyneth is a second cousin of Gabby Giffords, who served as a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona, from January 3, 2007 to January 25, 2012, and is married to politician and astronaut Mark Kelly. Gwyneth’s paternal great-grandparents Meyir Paltrowitz and Ida W. Hyman were also Gabby’s paternal great-grandparents. Gwyneth is also a paternal first cousin of entrepreneur Rebekah Paltrow Neumann, who is married to Israeli businessperson Adam Neumann, co-founder of WeWork.

On her mother’s side, Gwyneth is a cousin of actress Katherine Moennig. Her mother is a half-sister of Katherine’s father. She is also a niece of opera singer and actor Harry Danner and performer and director Dorothy “Dottie” Danner, and a half-niece of violin maker William Moennig.

Gwyneth’s paternal grandfather was Arnold P. Paltrow (the son of Myer/Meyir/Mike Paltrowitz and Ida W. Hyman). Arnold was born in New York. Myer was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Simcha “Simon” Paltrowicz/Paltrovitch, a Polish Jew, and of Tsipora/Zipporah “Sophia” Levitansky, a Lithuanian Jew; Myer’s ancestry can be traced back to Paltieyl Pelterowicz, who was born, c. 1775, in Poland. Ida was born in Gmina Suwałki, Poland, the daughter of Jewish parents, Yoseyf/Joseph Heyman/Hyman and Rivka/Rebecca Epshtein/Epstein.

Gwyneth’s paternal grandmother was Dorothy S. Weigert (the daughter of Irving Mortimer Weigert and Fruma “Frances”/Francis Plat). Dorothy was born in New York. Irving was born in New York, to Polish Jewish parents, Isidor Weigert and Emma Sharman. Fruma was a Polish Jewish immigrant, the daughter of Mordechai/Morris Plat/Plott and Reyza/Rose Silver.

Gwyneth’s maternal grandfather was Harry Earl Danner (the son of Harry/Henry Bollinger Danner and Ida May Yetter). Gwyneth’s grandfather Harry was born in Pennsylvania. Gwyneth’s great-grandfather Harry was the son of John Solomon/Shaffer Danner and Arabella Bollinger. Most of Gwyneth’s great-grandfather’s ancestry was Pennsylvania Dutch [German]; also, one of his own great-grandmothers, Sarah Daugherty, was Irish. Gwyneth’s great-grandmother Ida was the daughter of David T. Yetter, who had German ancestry, and of Rosamund/Rosamond Isabel Stoute/Stout, who was born on Barbados, and had English ancestry.

Gwyneth’s maternal grandmother was Katherine M. Kile (the daughter of Harry Frederick Kile and Pauline Friedericke Holzwarth/Holzworth). Katherine was born in Pennsylvania. Harry was the son of William Harry Kile, who was of German descent, and of Rosa Schlump, who was born in Pennsylvania, to German parents. Pauline was an emigrant from Oberweißbach, Germany, who came to the U.S., at the age of fourteen, as an indentured servant, in 1903.

Sources: Genealogies of Gwyneth Paltrow – https://www.geni.com
http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com
http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com

Information about Gwyneth’s appearance on Who Do You Think You Are?, 2011 – http://ancestraldiscoveries.blogspot.ca

Marriage record of Gwyneth’s paternal great-great-great-grandparents, Samuel Stoute/Stout and Sarah Frances Moore – https://www.familysearch.org

Gwyneth’s maternal great-grandfather, Harry Frederick Kile, on the 1900 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org

ethnic

Curious about ethnicity

59 Responses

  1. zuzanna says:

    so what now ethnic and Olga :D ??

    • Olga says:

      Not ALL Polish surnames have -vich- ending.

      Zuzanna, in Eastern Europe surnames with -vich- are mostly used among Belarusians. For Poles -ski-, -ek- and -yk- are typical (Piotr Wiwczarek of the death metal band VADER, Petrus T. Ratajczyk of TYPE O NEGATIVE).

      Again it’s a historical matter. A lot of Belarusians think that they are Poles because of the influence of Kingdom of Poland. There are another Belarusians who think that they are Russians because of the influence of Russian Empire. What’s more a lot of people suppose that The Rzeczpospolita = Poland. It’s a great mistake. Only those who don’t know history think like that. The Rzeczpospolita is a Union of The Grand Duchy of Lithuania (of which Belarus was a greater part) and Kingdom of Poland.

      -wicz- is just a Polish suffix as I said.

      Zuzanna, in this case you wanna tell me that I am a Pole? :) I have Polish roots as well. But my grandfather whose surname was Litvinovich (Litwinowicz) considered himself ONLY as Belarusian (Litvin).

      In fact, -vich- can also be used among Serbian and Croatian surnames. For example, Mila Jovovich.

      Returning to Polish and Belarusian names: who is a person with “…vich” surname just depends only on his/her point of view. Ones think they are Poles (as Paul Mazurkiewicz), others think they are Belarusians (for example, Edouard Radzukevich or Konstanty Kalinowski).

      Kalinowski is a national hero of Belarus, Poland and Lithuania. He did his best to promote the Greek-Catholic faith (typical for Belarusians) and Belarusian language in Russian Empire.

      In fact, I’m not to blame that today there are several countries in Eastern Europe with different names which once were under Russian Empire. People from these modern countries are equal in rights using surnames with -vich- endings no matter who they are, Belarusians, Poles or Ukrainians.

      If Gwyneth refers to herself as a Polish descendant, it’s her right. However she just doesn’t suppose that there were always a lot of Belarusians (Litvins) in Poland. No wonder that their descendants think they are Poles.

      • zuzanna says:

        hehe i am from Poland so you don’t need to explain me everything but if her gret-grandfather was PaltroWICZ not -vich and was a rabbi in Cracow which is Polish city on south exactly so she is also Polish-Jewish i am not saying not ONLY Polish-Jewish she is Belearusian and Polish – Jew too !

        and thanks Olga for explaining but i know everything what you wrote because i am living in Poland and people from Europe know history very well, i think better many than americans .

        But i just wanted to say that she is not only Belarusian-Jew, Polish too

  2. ethnic says:

    Olga I think you are right.

    ethnic

  3. Olga says:

    But Paltrowitch is a belarusian surname, not russian. It’s different things, so I guess she also has belarusian roots.

    • ann says:

      Paltrowitch is not belarusian, paltrowitch is Jewish name. So Russian Jewish also have same names.

      • Olga says:

        “Paltrowitch is not belarusian, paltrowitch is Jewish name. So Russian Jewish also have same names.”

        No, Ann. Paltrowitch or Paltrovich is a typical Belarusian surname. And the suffix “vich” is typical Belarusian suffix. My surname is LitvinoVICH and I am Belarusian.

        The point is that, in Belarus there were always a lot of Jewish people and, of course, they took Belarusian-like surnames.

        Sometimes, Belarusian or Polish Americans write their names in Polish manner like PaltroWICZ, LitWinoWiCZ. It’s Polish suffixes. For example, drummer for Cannibal Corpse Paul Mazurkiewicz has his surname in Polish manner, however this surname can be also considered as Belarusian one, i.e. Mazurkevich.

        • Olga says:

          Moreover, typical Russian or Russian Jewish surnames have -ov- or -ev- endings. For example, Abramov or Golubev. There is another matter, the matter of history. Belarusian lands were under Russian Empire and Soviet Union for 200 years that’s why some people consider Belarusians as Russians. That’s wrong!

          To sum up, the suffix -vich- (-wicz-) is Belarusian one (sometimes Polish, because of The Rzeczpospolita). You can find them among Jewish-Belarusians as well. So, you should believe me, because I’m of a Belarusian (Litvin) descent.

  4. ethnic says:

    thanks for the information Charli.

  5. charli says:

    Her mother is part Pennsylavia Dutch also. (German)

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