Andy Samberg

Samberg in 2014, photo by Prphotos

Birth Name: David Andrew J. Samberg

Place of Birth: Berkeley, Alameda, California, United States

Date of Birth: August 18, 1978

Ethnicity:
*75% Ashkenazi Jewish
*25% Sicilian/Italian

Andy Samberg is an American actor, comedian, musician, singer, rapper, writer, and producer. He is a member of comedy group The Lonely Island, along with Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone. He has starred in the films Hot Rod, I Love You, Man; That’s My Boy, Celeste and Jesse Forever, The To Do List, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, which he also co-wrote; Take the 10, Brigsby Bear, Palm Springs, and, in voice performance, Space Chimps, the Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and Hotel Transylvania franchises, Storks, America: The Motion Picture, Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse; and on television’s Saturday Night Live and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. He also co-wrote Extreme Movie, and wrote for Saturday Night Live, where he and The Lonely Island popularized the SNL Digital Shorts.

Andy is the son of Marjorie Isabel “Margie” Marrow, a teacher, and Joseph Samberg, a photographer. Andy is married to musician Joanna Newsom, with whom he has two children.

Andy’s father is from a Jewish family. Andy’s mother was adopted. Her adoptive parents were both Jewish.

On the show Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., 2019, Andy discovered the identities of his biological maternal grandparents, through a combination of DNA testing and genealogical research. Andy’s mother’s birth parents were a Sicilian (Catholic) father and a German Jewish/Polish Jewish mother, who had met around Berkeley in the mid 1940s.

A DNA test taken by the show stated that Andy’s genetic ancestry is approximately:

*75% Ashkenazi Jewish

Andy’s paternal grandfather was David Pelle/Paul Samberg (the son of Pincus/Philip/Phillip/Ephraim Zamberg/Samberg and Ruchla/Rose Rozenfeld). David was a Russian Jewish/Polish Jewish emigrant, from Utvosk. Pincus was born in Góra Puławska, Puławy County, Lublin Voivodeship, Poland, the son of Mayer Zamberg/Samberg and Esther Mitelman. Rose was born in Chodel, Opole Lubelskie, the daughter of Mayer Rozenfeld and Ruchla Grafstein.

Andy’s paternal grandmother was Sylvia Conviser (the daughter of Elias/Eli Conviser/Conweser and Fannie/Fanny Klukoff/Kluskoff/Klikoff). Sylvia was born in Manhattan, New York, to Russian Jewish parents. Elias was the son of Alexander Conweser and Debora Charnas. Fannie was born in Minsk, the daughter of Loui Klukoff and Ennie Roareer.

Andy’s mother was adopted, by Alfred J. Marrow (Alfred Josephon/Jay Marrow, the son of Isadore/Isidor Leo Marrow and Rebecca Green) and Monette “Monte” Courod (the daughter of Paul Courod and Henrietta Cutler). Alfred J. Marrow was born in New York, and was an industrial psychologist and philanthropist, who served as an executive chair of the American Jewish Congress. Monette was born in either Russia or Missouri. The name Marrow was Marovinski several generations back.

Andy’s biological maternal grandfather was Salvatore/Samuel “Sam” Maida (the son of Gaetano “Tomas” Maida and Calogera/Catherine Trapani). Salvatore was a Sicilian (Catholic), and was born in Villadoro or Nicosia, Enna, on the island of Sicily, Italy. His family was from Alimena. He was an artist. Gaetano was the son of Salvatore Maida and Vincenza Oddo. Calogera was the daughter of Antonino Trapani and Maria Antonia Nasello.

Andy’s biological maternal grandmother was Ellen Philipsborn (Ellen Lora Yolande Philipsborn, the daughter of Arthur/Artur Philipsborn and Regina Schöntal/Schönthal). Ellen was a German Jew, who was born in 1922, in Nowawes, Brandenburg, Germany. She was a painter and child psychologist. She moved to the U.S. in 1938, to escape the Nazi regime. Ellen’s aunt, father’s sister, Gerda Philipsborn, was a prominent singer in India, where she moved to. Andy’s biological great-grandfather Arthur was born in Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, the son of Jacob “Koppel” Philipsborn, who was born in Bentschen, now in Greater Poland Voivodeship, Poland, and of Ida Mond. Andy’s biological great-grandmother Regina was born in Berlin, Brandenburg, Germany, the daughter of Abraham Schöntal/Schönthal/Szajntal, from Działoszyce, Poland, and of Leonore “Lea” Deutscher, who herself was from Kraków, Poland.

Each of Andy’s biological grandparents was born in a different country, something that is fairly rare. Actors Remy Auberjonois, Hart Bochner, Raymond Cham, Jr., Noah Emmerich, Lily James, Stephen Lang, Jessica Lange, Logan Lerman, Robert Morley, Brett Pierce, Ben Rosenfield, and Wallace Shawn, filmmaker John G. Avildsen, musicians Tom Cochrane, Paula Cole, Alex Pall, and Jeff Stinco, politicians Nick Clegg and Ricardo Maduro, and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, are others whose grandparents were born in four individual countries.

Through his adoptive maternal family, Andy is a third cousin, twice over, of U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin, of Wisconsin. Andy’s adoptive maternal grandfather, Alfred J. Marrow, and Tammy’s maternal grandfather, biochemist David E. Green (David Ezra Green), were first cousins, twice over. Alfred’s paternal grandparents, Shimian/Simon Abraham/Alexander Marovinski/Marrow and Hannah Libba Routtenberg, were also the maternal grandparents of David Green. Alfred’s father, Isadore Leo Marrow, was the brother of David’s mother, Jennie Marrow. Alfred’s maternal grandparents, Hirshel Green and Minnie Janowsky, were also the paternal grandparents of David Green. Alfred’s mother, Rebecca Green, was the sister of David’s father, Hyman Levy Green.

Sources: Genealogy of Andy Samberg – http://www.geni.com

Andy’s paternal grandfather, David Pelle/Paul Samberg, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org

Andy’s paternal grandmother, Sylvia Conviser, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org

Marriage record of Andy’s paternal great-grandparents, Elias/Eli Conviser/Conweser and Fannie/Fanny Klukoff/Kluskoff/Klikoff – https://www.familysearch.org

Genealogy of Andy’s mother (focusing on her father’s side) – http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com

Andy’s maternal grandparents, Alfred J. Marrow and Monette “Monte” Courod, on the 1940 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org

Andy’s maternal grandfather, Alfred Josephon/Jay Marrow, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org

Genealogy of Andy’s biological maternal grandmother, Ellen Lora Yolande Philipsborn – https://www.geni.com

Information about Andy’s Philipsborn family – http://www.dannen.com