Andrew Garfield

Garfield in 2011, photo by DFree/Bigstock.com

Birth Name: Andrew Russell Garfield

Place of Birth: Los Angeles, California, United States

Date of Birth: August 20, 1983

Ethnicity:
*Ashkenazi Jewish (father)
*English (mother)

Andrew Garfield is an American and British actor. He is known for playing Peter Parker / Spider-Man in the films The Amazing Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and Spider-Man: No Way Home. He has also starred in the films Boy A, Lions for Lambs, Red Riding, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Never Let Me Go, The Social Network, as Eduardo Saverin; 99 Homes, Hacksaw Ridge, Silence (2016), Breathe (2017), Under the Silver Lake, Mainstream, The Eyes of Tammy Faye, as Jonathan Larson in Tick, Tick… Boom!, and We Live in Time; on television’s Under the Banner of Heaven; and in stage roles.

Andrew was born in Los Angeles, to an American-born father, Richard Garfield, and an English-born mother, Lynn (Hillman). He moved with his parents to England when he was three, and was raised there, in Epsom, Surrey. He has both American and British citizenship. His parents ran an interior design business; his father was also a swimming coach and his mother a teaching assistant at a nursery school. Andrew was a gymnast and swimmer as a youth.

Andrew’s father is from an Ashkenazi Jewish family that had moved to England from Poland, Russia, and Romania. Andrew’s paternal grandparents, who were born in England, later moved to California, where Andrew’s father was born.

Talking about where his guilt complex comes from, Andrew has said:

Being Jewish and, yes, I’m sure it stems from being privileged. I was brought up in a middle class home. I went to private school. And I was always very aware of me not earning that. I got a very good lot in life – I have two very loving parents, and I have a loving older brother.

He has also specified:

My father is Jewish and that side of my family is Jewish, but he’s nonpracticing and left the faith as a young boy, of his own volition. My mom is a kind of pantheist, and my father became an atheist but I think he’s now coming around to some kind of higher power… I was raised with all this space around me, spiritually speaking. And that has really continued, but what it engendered in me is a great deep hunger for answers, and I’ve been a spiritual seeker since I was a kid.

Andrew has described himself as Jewish on several other occasions, i.e. here and here. He has also stated, when asked if he considers himself more American or English:

I identify more as Jewish than anything… I have a love-hate relationship with both countries and used to be very proud to have both passports. Today, I’m slightly less proud.

In terms of his religious beliefs, he has also said, “I would consider myself pantheist, agnostic and occasionally atheist and a little bit Jewish.”

Andrew’s paternal grandfather was named Samuel Garfield (born Samuel Garfinkel, the son of Harry Garfinkel and Sarah). Samuel was born in Westminster St. Margaret, London, England, and had changed his surname from Garfinkel to Garfield. His parents were Polish Jews, from Kielez.

Andrew’s paternal grandmother was Doris May Savage (the daughter of Lewis Savage and Rebecca “Becky” Thirer). Doris May was born in England, to a Russian Jewish father and a Romanian Jewish mother. Rebecca was the daughter of Simon Thirer and Rachel Stone.

Garfield in 2009, photo credit: csztova

Andrew’s maternal grandfather is named Peter Hillman.

Andrew’s maternal grandmother was Florence Alice Luckens (the daughter of Charles George/Thomas Luckens and Jane Catherine Polley/Colley). Florence was born in Lambeth, London, England. Charles likely was the son of Alfred Robert Luckens and Emily Jane Harding. Jane was the daughter of Thomas David Polley and Eleanor Knights.

Sources: Genealogy of Andrew Garfield – https://www.geni.com

Andrew’s paternal grandfather, Samuel Garfinkel, on the 1911 England and Wales Census – https://www.familysearch.org

Andrew’s paternal great-grandparents, Lewis Savage and Rebecca “Becky” Thirer, on the 1901 England and Wales Census – https://familysearch.org

Death record of Andrew’s paternal great-great-grandfather, Simon Thirer – https://familysearch.org