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:
*Assyrian (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 Frederick Abraham. Both of his parents were born in Pennsylvania. His father was of Assyrian descent (from Syria), and born into the Orthodox Christian faith. His mother was of Italian descent, and 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 married to Kate Hannan, with whom he has two children.
F. Murray’s maternal grandfather was named Bruno Stello. Bruno, a coal miner, was from the Province of Reggio Calabria, Italy.
F. Murray’s maternal grandmother was Catherine/Caterina Casmano/Cosmano (the daughter of Joseph Casmano and Domenica Parisi). Catherine was Italian.
Sources: http://www.calabriansmostfamous.com
F. Murray Abraham (“Murry Abraham”) on the 1940 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
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
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.