Gilbert Gottfried
Gottfried in 2008, Joe Seer / Shutterstock.com
Date of Birth: February 28, 1955
Place of Birth: Brooklyn, New York City, New York, U.S.
Date of Death: April 12, 2022
Place of Death: New York City, New York, U.S.
Ethnicity: Ashkenazi Jewish
Gilbert Gottfried was an American stand-up comedian and actor. Known for his distinctive voice, his work included the film Problem Child, voice roles in Aladdin (1992), as Iago, the series Cyberchase and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and as the Aflac Duck, and the podcast Gilbert Gottfried’s Amazing Colossal Podcast. He was a cast member on the show Saturday Night Live.
Gilbert was the son of Lillian and Max Gottfried. His father was a Polish Jewish emigrant, from Galicia, who came to the U.S. in 1912. His mother was born in New York, to Russian Jewish parents. His sister was New York Street photographer Arlene Gottfried.
Gilbert was married to Dara Kravitz, until his death, with whom he had two children. Dara is also Jewish.
Gilbert’s paternal grandfather was named Abraham Gottfried.
Gilbert’s paternal grandmother was named Esther Frey.
Gilbert’s maternal grandfather was Charles Zimmerman (the son of Louis Zimmerman and Minnie Vert).
Gilbert’s maternal grandmother was Minnie Worthman (the daughter of Fischel/Fishel “Philip” Worthman and Anya/Amiel Needleman/Nudleman). Minnie was born in Odessa.
Sources: Interviews about Gilbert’s Jewish upbringing – http://www.jewishjournal.com
https://www.jta.org
Information about Gilbert’s family history (mentioning Gilbert’s sister, Arlene) – http://www.seniorsmatter.com
Genealogy of Gilbert Gottfried (focusing on his mother’s side) – https://www.geni.com
Gilbert’s mother on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Gilbert’s mother on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Marriage record of Gilbert’s maternal grandparents, Charles Zimmerman and Minnie Worthman – https://www.familysearch.org
Was such a funny guy. Had funniest and craziest voice of any comedian. He was also a savage roaster! Interestingly when he wasn’t doing he comedic voice, his natural voice was nice and soothing and he spoke very eloquently. I will always think of him as the hilarious Iago in one of my favorite movies Aladdin. Rest In Peace.
Paternal grandparents = Abraham Gottfried (1872) and Esther (Frey) Gottfried. According to ancestry public records they were Austrian (Jewish).
Sources: Esther Gottfried in the 1940 United States Federal Census (ancestry.com)
Abraham Gottfried in the 1940 United States Federal Census (ancestry.com)
Ashkenazi Jews are a Levantine-Middle Eastern diaspora population. That’s why Gilbert Gottfried, and many other Ashkenazi Jews, look Middle Eastern. Because they ARE Middle Eastern.
He looks VERY North African. I’ve never seen an Ashkenazi with this look.
NORTH African? I’m guessing you’ve never seen one. They have much bigger noses. He looks mixed with black and European.
Dear Hill, I use to see loads of North African people everyday, mostly Moroccans. I think Gottfried looks more Algerian/Tunisian, though. Does he look mixed with black and European to you? North Africans have some Sub-Sarahan African admixture after all.
Why North African? People usually see him as part Asian, like Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Roseanne, Danielle Harris, or Ezra Miller.
part Asian…really??
which “people” usually see him as “part Asian”?
The man is incredibly North African looking, but I guess Americans have no idea how North Africans look.
a Hindu user on Twitter: https://twitter.com/realgilbert/status/1092575517637857280
“you look like a North African grandmother”
Right
I personally know a Moroccan guy, and he doesn’t look much like Gottfried. As for Algerians/Tunisians, I don’t know any personally, but judging by crowd photos, I guess Gottfried could pass vaguely. Plenty of older Jews look like Mr. Gottfried. He’s not atypical.
Jewish is a religion not a race
ummm it’s actually both…lol.
Yeah, actually it’s an ethnicity and a religion. It can’t be a race. White, black, and brown skinned people all comprise the Jewish ethnicity.
There are several subgroups of Jews with different culture and traditions:
Ashkenazic: Descendants of Jews from France, Germany and Eastern Europe
Sephardic: Descendants of Jews from Spain, Portugal, North Africa and the Middle East
Mizrachi: Descendants of Jews from North Africa and the Middle East
Other subgroups are Yemenite, Ethiopian and Oriental
http://www.jewfaq.org/ashkseph.htm
damn….. I hate when somebody is writing something like you “EASTERN EUROPE” – this part of Europe isn’t the same so call these countries by name, ok?! Like Poland, Ukraine, Latvia and many many more…
Ashkenazi, Sephardi, and Mizrahi Jews make up almost 100% of the world’s Jews, and all three trace the majority of their ancestry to ancient Israel.
So, yeah. We are, for all intents and purposes, an indigenous Middle Eastern ethnic group.
Then it don’t give races because people never look like the same! Not even if they’re from same “race”
Actually, it is an ethnicity. A Middle Eastern one. It’s also a national religion, but the vast majority of the world’s Jews are ethnic Jews. We are not converts.
Ashkenazi Jews, like Gilbert, are descendants of Israelite men (and some women) who were exiled into Europe and took Greek and Italian spouses. They’re a Levantine-Middle Eastern diaspora population with 30-40% Greek/Italian admixture.
Sephardi Jews are about the same. Ditto for Mizrahi Jews, although they have Assyrian (Iraqi Jews), Persian (Persian Jews), and Arab (Yemenites) ancestry on the maternal line. 99% of the world’s Jews are either Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Mizrahi, or some mixture of the three. This means 99% of us are ethnic Levantines (with some foreign admixture acquired in diaspora).
Ethiopian and East/South Asian Jews tend to resemble their host populations more closely, but they do have Israelite ancestry (just significantly less of it). Recent converts have zero Israelite ancestry.
However, these groups are all incredibly tiny and amount to less than 1% of the overall Jewish population. The vast majority of the world’s Jews are ethnically/racially Middle Eastern. Hence why Gilbert Gottfried looks the way he does.
You’re mostly correct. But there is a small amount of East Asian admixture in Ashkenazi Jews. If I recall correctly, around 1-2%.
Here’s an interesting analysis of the subject by geneticist Kevin Brook: http://www.khazaria.com/genetics/aj-east-asian-admixture.html
Thanks for sharing. Very interesting site.
There’s also a small (but significant) proportion of East European dna in Ashkenazi Jews, but I didn’t want to upset “Yeravam” by telling him that.
Here is the article if you’re interested: http://www.khazaria.com/genetics/aj-east-european-admixture.html