Dennis Franz
Franz in 2012, photo by kathclick/Bigstock.com
Birth Name: Dennis Franz Schlachta
Place of Birth: Maywood, Illinois, U.S.
Date of Birth: October 28, 1944
Ethnicity:
*father – German, Polish
*mother – Ashkenazi Jewish
Dennis Franz is an American actor. He has starred on the series NYPD Blue, as well as films such as Dressed to Kill and Body Double.
His father, Franz Ferdinand Schlachta, was born in Wattenshield, Germany, and had Polish and German ancestry.
His mother, Elinor/Elenore/Elenora/Eleanor (Mueller), was born in Chicago, Illinois, to an Ashkenazi Jewish family. It appears that Dennis’s mother or some of her family, converted to Christianity at some point, perhaps after 1943; that year, Dennis’s maternal grandmother died, and was buried from a Jewish funeral home.
Dennis is married to Joanie Zeck.
Dennis’s paternal grandfather was Jakob/Jacob Schlachta (the son of Landwirt Gottlieb Schlachta and Charlotte Buczko). Jakob was born in Kreis Lyck.
Dennis’s paternal grandmother was Regina Katharina Dolinga (the daughter of Adam Dolinga and Luise/Louise Brodovski/Brodowski). Regina was born in Kreis Lyck. Luise was the daughter of Jacob Brodowski and Charlotte Louise Manke.
Dennis’s maternal grandfather was Ismar Mueller/Miller (the son of Haufmann Benno Mueller/Mueler/Muller and Adelheid “Adele”/Adair Epstein). Ismar was born in Dyhernfurth/Dzhernfurth, Silesia, Germany, now Brzeg Dolny, in Poland.
Dennis’s maternal grandmother was named Martha Hecht (the daughter of Szmuel/Samuel/Sam Lajb Hecht and Igmar). Martha was born in Prague, Bohemia. Szmuel was the son of Dawid Hecht and Estera Hana Frydman.
Franz in 1994, photo credit: Alan Light
Sources: Dennis Franz on the 1950 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Dennis’s parents on the 1940 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Birth record of Dennis’s mother – https://www.familysearch.org
Dennis’s mother on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Death record of Dennis’s mother – https://www.findagrave.com
Marriage record of Dennis’s maternal grandparents, Ismar Mueller/Miller and Martha Hecht – https://www.familysearch.org
Dennis’s maternal grandparents, Ismar Mueller/Miller and Martha Hecht, on the 1940 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Death record of Dennis’s maternal grandfather, Ismar Mueller/Miller – https://www.familysearch.org
Death record of Dennis’s maternal grandmother, Martha (Hecht) Mueller – https://www.familysearch.org
Does he actually have any German ancestry?
His father was probably fully Polish. Schlachta (Szlachta) is a Polish surname. The thing that makes it a little doubtful is the first name Gottlieb.
If the family trees of his mother are accurate, and I believe they are, then her parents were both Jewish. His mother may have converted to Christianity.
With the surnames Dolinga and Brodovski, his paternal grandmother was probably Polish or Jewish. Dolinga appears to be Jewish in many cases:
https://familysearch.org/search/record/results?count=20&query=%2Bsurname%3ADolinga~
He could have Jewish ancestry, I think.
Not from the “Dolinga” line, though. For the life of me, I don’t think I’ve ever seen an Eastern European Jew with the first name “Adam” born before a certain point. Lots of non-Jewish Germans and Polish people, though. Maybe German Jews.
Strange, I thought a lot of Ashkenazi Jews have been giving their children biblical names for a long time now?
Well, one has to be the first.
Where do you think his possible Jewish ancestry comes from?
“Epstein” and “Hecht”, that side seems somewhat Jewish, at least without knowing more information.
I don’t think any of the “Dollinga”s on that FamilySearch page were Jewish.
>I don’t think any of the “Dollinga”s on that FamilySearch page were Jewish.
They most certainly aren’t, it’s just a bunch of Polish people. I’m not getting why everybody from Eastern Europe is Jewish to some people. Jews were always a minority. Even in America number of all Jews is etimated to be 8,300,000, while the number of Polish-Americans alone is 9,500,000.