F. Murray Abraham
Abraham in 2008, photo by PrPhotos
Birth Name: Murray Abraham
Place of Birth: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Date of Birth: October 24, 1939
Ethnicity:
*Syrian (father)
*Italian (mother)
F. Murray Abraham is an American actor. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for Amadeus (1984).
Born Murray Abraham, he later added the initial F. to his stage name.
He is the son of Josephine (Stello) and Fred T. Abraham. His father was born into the Antiochian Orthodox Christian faith in Myklos/Muqlus, Syria, a small village in the Valley of the Christians/Wadi al-Nasara. His mother was born in Pennsylvania, to Italian parents; she became a member of the Orthodox Christian religion. His family’s surname was evidently originally Ibrahim. F. Murray was raised in El Paso, Texas, near the Mexican border. F. Murray is the first Arab-American to have won a Best Actor Academy Award.
F. Murray is married to Kate Hannan, with whom he has two children.
F. Murray’s paternal grandfather was named Murray/Murry Abraham (the son of Abe Abraham and Anna). F. Murray’s grandfather was a chanter or priest in the Orthodox church.
F. Murray’s paternal grandmother was Hilda/Fadia/Foda Albert/Barkett (the daughter of Abdulla/Albert Barkett and Hanney Saad).
F. Murray’s maternal grandfather was named Bruno Stello. Bruno, a coal miner, was from the Province of Reggio Calabria.
F. Murray’s maternal grandmother was Catherine/Caterina Casmano/Cosmano (the daughter of Joseph/Giuseppe Casmano/Cosmano and Domenica Parisi).
Sources: http://www.calabriansmostfamous.com
https://www.elpasotimes.com
https://www.theamerican.co.uk
F. Murray Abraham (“Murry Abraham”) on the 1940 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Death record of F. Murray’s paternal grandfather, Murray/Murry Abraham – https://www.findagrave.com
Death record of F. Murray’s paternal grandmother, Hilda/Fadia/Foda (Albert/Barkett) Abraham – https://www.findagrave.com
F. Murray’s mother on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Obituary of F. Murray’s maternal grandfather, Bruno Stello – http://www.newspapers.com
Obituary of F. Murray’s maternal grandmother, Catherine/Caterina (Casmano/Cosmano) Stello – http://www.newspapers.com
Murray Abraham’s father Fred came from Myklos/Muqlus, Syria, a small village in the Valley of the Christians (Wadi al-Nasara) whose population is made of immigrants from Lebanon’s northern villages who settled there in the mid-19th century escaping the Mount Lebanon War of 1860.
Fred Tony Abraham (b. 1916-1920 in Ford City) settled in El Paso, Texas https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K5WK-F8F and died in Texas in 1995
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/106807003/fred-t-abraham
In his WWII draft of 1940 it can be seen he was born in Miklos, Syria https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=2238&h=6910133&tid=&pid=&queryId=8f322267c21ddd4f2b3d2d27377c88eb&usePUB=true&_phsrc=bVu429&_phstart=successSource (requires subscription)
Obituary of Adele Hendricks (nee Abraham) (1923-2019), aunt of Murray Abraham, who settled in Fullerton, California where it says she, three of her sisters and her brother Fred Abraham were born in Myklos, in todays Syria, https://obits.ocregister.com/obituaries/orangecounty/obituary.aspx?n=adele-hendricks-bobbie&pid=194874159
Death certificate and obituary of Marion Abraham Unsell (1914-1998), aunt of Murray Abraham, who died in El Paso in 1988 where it says she was born in Myklos in today’s Syria https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVS1-JH4Y
https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:yzB8XaGnM5YJ:https://oklahoman.com/article/2239025/marion-abraham-unsell+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=se
Murray Abraham’s paternal grandfather priest Murray Abraham (1877-1933) grave in Ford City, Armstrong, Pennsylvania https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/131741317/murray-abraham
He was born 10 Feb 1887 and his parents were Abe Abraham and Anna Abraham according to his death certificate in Pennsylvania https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=5164&h=4877205&tid=&pid=&queryId=d79fc98c41b0471e8398d4026a747132&usePUB=true&_phsrc=bVu194&_phstart=successSource (requires subscription).
Murray Abraham’s paternal grandmother Hilda (Fadia/Foda) Barkett/Albert Abraham (1890-1979) died and his buried in El Paso, Texas
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/106807002/hilda-abraham Her parents were Abdulla/Albert Barkett and Hanney Saad
Name of parents here as well https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/1458014:2272 (requires subscription)
In this social security application of her husband, Hilda Abraham appears as Hilda Albert https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/625104459:60901 (requires subscription)
Unfortunately in neither of their death certificates it says where Murray’s paternal grandparents were born. But knowing the history of the Valley of the Christians they were likely born in one of Lebanon’s northern villages and fled there around 1900.
By 1880-1900 the Valley of the Christians was still part of the Tripoli Eyalet, and only became a part of Syria after 1925.
All of Murray’s ancestors were Greek Orthodox Christians of Syrian-Lebanese descent not of Assyrian descent like he clearly states in his interviews and is clearly stated in the obituaries.
https://web.archive.org/web/20070304121511/http://www.backstage.com/bso/news_reviews/features/feature_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003546469
https://eu.elpasotimes.com/story/news/history/blogs/tales-from-the-morgue/2008/07/10/mom-recalls-boyhood-of-st/31510153/
https://www.theamerican.co.uk/pr/rev-int-F-Murray-Abraham.php
I didn’t know that Assyrian was a race
It’s an ethnicity.
They’re similar to Lebanese, Jews, Kurds and Armenians.
“F” stands for Fahrid, and the name Abraham is an Anglicization of Ibrahim.
http://web.archive.org/web/20070304121511/http://www.backstage.com/bso/news_reviews/features/feature_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003546469
“My father, Fred Abraham, who came over from Syria not knowing a word of English, was a mechanic”
http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_316/playingaboss.html
F. Murray’s maternal grandfather was from the Province of Reggio Calabria, Italy: “My grandfather Bruno Stello was a coal miner.. He worked on his hands and knees 14 hours a day, seven days a week for $12”
http://www.calabriansmostfamous.com/f-murray-abraham/
His father was born in the U.S., according to the census.
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KQQ8-SJF?cc=2000219
And he didn’t have “F” in his birth name: “Murray Abraham just doesn’t seem to say anything. It just is another name, so I thought I’d frame it.”
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2012-10-15/academy-award-winning-actor-f-murray-abraham
One of the few people in the spotlight, after Andre Agassi and Terrence Howard to have an Assyrian ancestry.
So proud of them. :)
*Terrence Malick
I think this website should give us the ability to EDIT our posts…. -_-
it isn’t called antiochian orthodox christian. it is called syrian orthodox religion (but don’t mix it with syrian nationality). in israel their religion is also called syrian orthodox. antiochia is just the name of the head of their religious community.