Adam Driver
Driver with Lena Dunham in 2013, photo by kathclick/Bigstock.com
Birth Name: Adam Douglas Driver
Place of Birth: San Bernardino, California, United States
Date of Birth: November 19, 1983
Ethnicity: English, one eighth Dutch/Frisian, German, Irish, Scottish, Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, more distant Welsh and French, remote Swedish
Adam Driver is an American actor. He is known for his roles in the films Not Waving but Drowning, Lincoln, Frances Ha, Bluebird, Inside Llewyn Davis, Tracks, The F Word, Hungry Hearts, This Is Where I Leave You, While We’re Young, the Star Wars universe, Midnight Special, Paterson, Silence, Logan Lucky, BlacKkKlansman, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, The Dead Don’t Die, The Report, Marriage Story, Annette, The Last Duel, House of Gucci, White Noise (2022), 65, and Ferrari; and on the series Girls; and for his acclaimed stage performances.
He is the son of Nancy (Needham) and Joe Douglas Driver. His father’s family is from Arkansas and his mother’s family is from Indiana, where Adam was raised from the age of seven, in Mishawaka. His stepfather is a Baptist minister, and Adam had a religious Baptist upbringing. He is married to actress Joanne Tucker, with whom he has two children.
After 9/11, Adam joined the United States Marine Corps, and served in Afghanistan. He later founded Arts in the Armed Forces, a non-profit foundation, which stages theatrical performances for military personnel and support staff. Adam is a Lance Corporal in the Marines.
His father has English, German, Scottish, Irish, Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, distant Welsh and French, and remote Swedish, ancestry. A picture of Adam’s father can be seen here. Adam’s mother has English, one fourth Dutch/Frisian, and some German and Irish, ancestry. Adam has said, perhaps facetiously, that he has Native American and “perhaps Russian” ancestry.
While Adam was cast as a Jewish character a few times, most notably in This Is Where I Leave You and BlacKkKlansman, he is not himself of Jewish heritage.
Adam’s patrilineal ancestry can be traced to John Driver, who was born, c. 1675, in Avening, England or Isle of Wight County, Virginia, to parents of English origin, Giles Driver and Olive Hardy.
Adam’s paternal grandfather was Kelly Potter Driver, Jr. (the son of Kelly Potter Driver, Sr. and Rosa/Rosie/Rose Bell Whiteside). Adam’s grandfather Kelly was born in Arkansas. Adam’s great-grandfather Kelly was the son of Miles/Milas Washington Driver and Sarah Elizabeth Johnson. Rosa was the daughter of Jacob Davis Whiteside and Eliza Ann Withers.
Adam’s paternal grandmother was Edith Mae Fisher (the daughter of Joe Guy Fisher, Sr. and Belva/Belvia/Belvie Yeager). Edith was born in Arkansas. Joe was the son of Walter S./W. Fisher and Mary Jane Quattlebaum. Belva was the daughter of Charles O. Yeager and Irene Almeda Favors.
Adam’s maternal grandfather was Ira Lee Needham (the son of Lester G. Needham and Gertrude Dykstra/Dexter). Ira Lee was born in Indiana. Lester was the son of Ira H. Needham and Flora Anna Harrington. Gertrude was born in Indiana, to Dutch parents, John H. Dykstra/Dexter and Jantje/Jennie F. Kuypers/Kipers. Gertrude had roots in Friesland.
Adam’s maternal grandmother was Dolores Lavone Pettit (the daughter of Theodore George Pettit and Florence Geneve/Geneva/Genieve Ullrich). Dolores was born in Lafayette, Indiana, and grew up on a farm in Battleground, Indiana. Theodore was the son of William Clayton Pettit and Cora Ethel Campbell. Florence was the daughter of Jacob Ullrich and Nellie Blanche Carpenter. Jacob was the son of a German father and an Irish mother.
Sources: Genealogies of Adam Driver – http://www.geni.com
https://www.geneastar.org
Adam’s paternal grandfather, Kelly Potter Driver, Jr., on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Obituary of Adam’s paternal grandfather, Kelly Potter Driver, Jr. – http://www.findagrave.com
Adam’s paternal grandmother, Edith Mae Fisher, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Obituary of Adam’s paternal grandmother, Edith Mae (Fisher) Driver – https://www.rollerfuneralhomes.com
Obituary of Adam’s aunt (mother’s sister) – http://www.findagrave.com
Adam’s maternal grandfather, Ira Lee Needham, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Adam’s maternal grandmother, Dolores Lavone Pettit, on the 1940 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Obituary of Adam’s maternal grandmother, Dolores Lavone (Pettit) Needham Riggs – https://www.palmerfuneralhomes.com
Adam’s maternal great-grandfather, Theodore George Pettit, on the 1910 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Adam’s maternal great-grandmother, Florence Geneve/Geneva/Genieve Ullrich, on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Adam Driver fans should be thrilled at this news.
https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/1211019-adam-driver-penelope-cruz-shailene-woodley-ferrari-biopic
He was awful in House Of Gucci. That movie in general was a hot mess. Al pacino was the only actor that was enjoyable. Gaga was too over the top and cringeworthy. Jared was painfully unfunny. The movie needed to be a 10 episode mini series. It’s a disjointed mess.
Well his family history is “obscure” to say the least. It’s quite obvius by now that this is not his whole background. My bet is that he must have some black and native ancestry from his southern roots, or maybe some iberian or even eastern european part that was buried due to some shady reason. The black part would be the most likely if a significant part of his family really was from Luisiana. His case is different from the ones of Taylor Lautner and Josh Brolin, for example, where even being true that they look indeed odd for their background, there are plausible explanations to why they look like that. It’s really highly unlikely that this is it, not to say Impossible. My strongest bet is that he actually have some distant (thing of 1/8th or a bit more than that) of either black or native. My dad has a picture of his maternal grandfather, who was most likely biracial (we never knew for sure), and he kinda looked like Adam. Anyway, great actor, im a fan of his work since Silence.
It is an obscure? It’s verifiable and genealogical websites. You can’t always get an answer for the way somebody looks in phenotype. A one drop nutcase like he was going to see “black“ and then sensible people are just going to see a European guy with dark hair.
He looks Native American.
not at all, you people need to quit drugs
I agree.
He looks Native American only to white people who have no Native American ancestry
He looks like he could be a mestizo Mexican from texas and this is the man playing Maurizio gucci? hollywood is weird.
Agree.
Mexican? Are you high? He doesn’t look remotely hispanic. He’s an ugly white dude.
There are hispanic men that look more european than him. He obviously has some native american ancestry. This man doesn’t look 100% european at all.
There are some North Europeans that look partal Asian and Arab influenced as well..
Rowan Atkinson, Catherine Zeta Jones and many others..
He is. Cry about his all European ancestry you wish you had. Lol
Yeah lol they use a North European mixed dude that looks like a Mexican mix to play the role of a South European\Tuscan that looked like a Wasp . LMAO:
He does look mixed with Mexican. It is hilarious. My cousins laughed when they watched the trailer.
@italiano90
and this “white” woman also mixed with native according to your stupidity, Right ??!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fniuCpPiL4Y&t=46s
He’s northern European, not sure why they got a northern European white dude to play a swarthy Italian, a mexican would be a better cast at least they’d have Mediterranean ancestry
How is this in any way appropriate, constructive or holds anything of any worth or value to this website?
This isn’t about someone having an unsavory opinion; this is about someone who is here to do nothing other than disrupt and sling ad hominem at anyone who bristles at his ugly personality.
Maybe it’s some sort of life lesson that there’s people in the word that still hold onto deep rooted antagonistic feelings towards “others”.
If I and/or you look at his words, do you truly feel offended? I do not, I pity him for being so stuck in a mindset that it won’t allow him to see anything beyond his own obstinacy that it stunts his growth as a person.
The guy on the street corner ranting doesn’t anger me, it just makes me feel bad for him.
passingtime, I do not have time for your constant blase attitude concerning districting trolling.
We are not at a public street corner. Whether you or I is personally offended is not the point.
The point seems to be that you want to be appeased. Keep calling for a ban, maybe it’ll help. Goad him into saying something really terrible, see if that helps give your request a warranted response.
While you’re at it, have every racist comment stricken from the 15000+ profiles on the site.
And you were on the Feedback page complaining about the quality of posts around here. You want to have your cake and eat it, too.
Whatever.You are not even a tenth as clever ore sophisticated as you believe yourself to be. What you are is an amoral, weak-willed person with no core guiding principles or beliefs.
The moderators are not stepping in until they feel like it, calling for help isn’t helping. All well can do is bear it for a while. We don’t have to read his posts.
Ad hominems, fun for everyone.
Internet trolls aren’t causing damage, they’re just annoying, I don’t think it warrants total sanction. I just had a conversation with a user that hopes that his people would send another people packing. He didn’t specify how, but the only way that would happen is through conflict, conflict that would without a doubt lead to bloodshed. He implied a wish/desire to a call to arms. The overall implications of that are much worse than what muricansrallmutts does. But I did not fault him, he’s just some guy on the internet with no power over anything.
Muricansrallmutts has no power and is just some ranting blabbermouth. I was upset at first but realized he doesn’t matter. I’ll try ever so slightly to interject some objectivity to his assertions, but it’s fairly clear he won’t change.
Go ahead insult him, fight him, call for help. You do what you think is right.
12/12/20 To me, he looks very similar to Keanu Reeves & a tiny bit like Jimmy Smits.
Interesting heritage of both dudes. From all the genealogy links & family photos shared here, we’re still all left to “play Columbo” bc Adam Driver “ain’t” talkin’. The photo of what I believe to be his grandfather holding Adam’s father as a baby is the most revealing. That man, IMO, is definitely of (mixed) African American ancestry. The women in the color photos shared all have very dark brown eyes. My deduction: having French & possibly Spanish ancestors from Louisiana – they are probably Creole – meaning mixed with African American slaves. His family is primarily Southern Caucasian & they, too, may have hidden, secret African American ancestors. Before the mid 1960s, it was not uncommon for light-skinned AAs & Native Americans to CHOOSE to “pass” for “White.” This was done for self-preservation, safety, economic stability, career opportunities & to avoid the violence & outright tortures from the legal racism once permitted in this country. Govt agencies weren’t as obsessed with birth certificates as they have been since the 1980s, so whatever a person CLAIMED as to birth place, race, etc, was “good enough.” Often, a “mixed” person was rejected by BOTH communities, so all those pesky & annoying family secrets flourished when ppl began to self-identity with whatever “group” they resembled the most. My maternal grandfather was Cherokee, born off the reservation. He was sort-of light-skinned & had blue eyes. HE WENT “PASSING” HIS ENTIRE LIFE (ca 1900 to 1960). I barely knew my grandpa but naturally love him very much. However, his decision … or perhaps HIS parent’s decision … to “go passing” has made it basically impossible for me & my 1st cousins (only have 3) to claim our rightful heritage & ancestry as descendants of the Cherokee (Tslagi) Nation. The key to unlocking the mystery of Driver’s heritage may be in the Census Records going back to his x3 Great Grandparents AND looking at each of their birth certificates. Census Records are a pain, but are accessible to the public. Birth Certs .. well, good luck with that. Those are pretty much off limits except to IMMEDIATE family members. As for Adam Driver himself unlocking the mystery, he either just doesn’t care, or he unable to clarify his family heritage bc all of his relatives have kept it a secret. Cant reveal details that you were never informed about. ~~~ Hopefully, & very soon, humankind will finally live in a world where “race” or ethnicity is not swept under a rug or hidden in a box in a closet, but is viewed as something to be proud of, cherished & celebrated … and… at the same time not matter one bit. ~~~ One world. One “race” – The Human Race.
It’s common sense Adam Driver is not (just) what it’s listed above, but are you suggesting he is part Louisiana Creole?
Apparently the only available material about his father is this:
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/30411186/joe-douglas-driver-engagement/
https://bodyheightweight.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/adam-driver-family-father-Joe-Douglas-Driver.jpg
Adam seems reluctant about his father
Because he’s not evidently his biological one.
Also mainstream bios say he was raised by a “baptist minister stepfather”, that is quite loose about his background
Are you saying the picture you posted of Joe Douglas Driver shows a guy who is not his biological father?
Nope, that would be his biological father’s pics (Joe D. Driver) indeed, taken from FB.
The man is from San Diego, CA, so who knows, maybe he is part Hispanic.
Then why did you say:
“Adam seems reluctant about his father
Because he’s not evidently his biological one.”
In any case, yeah, Joe Driver is definitely not only of European ancestry.
You need to keep your story straight, Andrew. First, you said his father isn’t his biological one. Then you said his father must be a mestizo after seeing a picture of him where he looked just like Adam. Now you are back to saying that he isn’t his father. Which is it?
Adam really isn’t “exotic-looking.” I don’t understand the obsession.
His biological father has unlikely such NW European background. It’s simply common sense.
I did not actually use the word “mestizo”.
Anyway “Adam Driver parents photos/nationality” use to pop out in Google search results, because of his unusual/odd look for an European person.
He does not look like he has African American background at all. In terms of the White people from the South, you would think that they have a high African American background but they actually do not, based on genetic testings. He also does not have family members from Louisiana, where if White people are mixed, that is where they are from.
But there is a chance he might be of South American background.
Very likely he has indigenous blood. His father was likely mestizo. Even the white people in Latin America would look at him odd if he fully identified as white. His eyes and some of his facial features give it away. Go to Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Venezuela etc you will see some people who look 100% European unlike Adam Driver who looks racially ambiguous.
He could have indigenous blood, that makes sense. Adam Driver does not really look that racially ambiguous seeing as he clearly shows European background as well. He just looks a bit odd (not in an offensive way), but his features can be strange. I do believe he is mestizo since many mestizo can look like him.
He’s clearly white. Stop being ridiculous. He doesn’t look mixed at all.
@Yesterday He is not “clearly white”.
I don’t know what planet you’re on but Johnny Candy, Clint Black and most very white whites from the South have verifiable Black ancestry
Jimmy Smits has ancestry from Suriname which was racially fluid and Tri racial even quad racial overa century ago.