Gwyneth Paltrow

Paltrow in 2008, Entertainment Press / Shutterstock.com

Birth Name: Gwyneth Kate Paltrow

Place of Birth: Los Angeles, California, United States

Date of Birth: September 27, 1972

Ethnicity:
*father – Ashkenazi Jewish
*mother – German, with smaller amounts of Swiss-German, English, Irish

Gwyneth Paltrow is an American actress, singer, food writer, and businessperson. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for Shakespeare in Love (1998). Her films also include Hook, Malice, Flesh and Bone, Se7en, Hard Eight, The Pallbearer, Emma (1996), Sliding Doors, Great Expectations (1998), Hush, A Perfect Murder, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Duets, Bounce, The Anniversary Party, The Royal Tenenbaums, Shallow Hal, Possession, Sylvia, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Proof, Infamous, Running with Scissors, Two Lovers, Country Strong, Contagion, and Iron Man and the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

She is the daughter of director Bruce Paltrow and actress Blythe Danner. Her father was from a Jewish family. They emigrated from Poland, Lithuania, Russia, and Belarus. Her mother, who attended a Quaker school, is of mostly Pennsylvania Dutch [German], with some Swiss-German, Alsatian German, English, and Irish, descent, including a few ancestors who lived in Barbados. Gwyneth was raised around both Judaism and Christianity. Her brother had a Bar Mitzvah ceremony. In recent years, she appears to have embraced the Jewish faith.

Gwyneth’s brother is writer and director Jake Paltrow. Gwyneth is married to producer Brad Falchuk. She has two children with her former husband, English musician Chris Martin. For a time, she was known as Gwyenth Paltrow Martin.

Her father’s family can be traced back to 17th century Russia, and includes many rabbis. She has stated, “I am the result of generations and generations of rabbis back in Minsk.” Gwyneth is a second cousin of Gabby Giffords, who served as a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona, from January 3, 2007 to January 25, 2012, and is married to politician and astronaut Mark Kelly. Gwyneth’s paternal great-grandparents Meyir Paltrowitz and Ida W. Hyman were also Gabby’s paternal great-grandparents. Gwyneth is also a paternal first cousin of entrepreneur Rebekah Paltrow Neumann, who is married to Israeli businessperson Adam Neumann, co-founder of WeWork.

On her mother’s side, Gwyneth is a cousin of actress Katherine Moennig. Her mother is a half-sister of Katherine’s father. She is also a niece of opera singer and actor Harry Danner and performer and director Dorothy “Dottie” Danner, and a half-niece of violin maker William Moennig.

Gwyneth’s paternal grandfather was Arnold P. Paltrow (the son of Myer/Meyir/Mike Paltrowitz and Ida W. Hyman). Arnold was born in New York. Myer was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Simcha “Simon” Paltrowicz/Paltrovitch, a Polish Jew, and of Tsipora/Zipporah “Sophia” Levitansky, a Lithuanian Jew; Myer’s ancestry can be traced back to Paltieyl Pelterowicz, who was born, c. 1775, in Poland. Ida was born in Gmina Suwałki, Poland, the daughter of Jewish parents, Yoseyf/Joseph Heyman/Hyman and Rivka/Rebecca Epshtein/Epstein.

Gwyneth’s paternal grandmother was Dorothy S. Weigert (the daughter of Irving Mortimer Weigert and Fruma “Frances”/Francis Plat). Dorothy was born in New York. Irving was born in New York, to Polish Jewish parents, Isidor Weigert and Emma Sharman. Fruma was a Polish Jewish immigrant, the daughter of Mordechai/Morris Plat/Plott and Reyza/Rose Silver.

Gwyneth’s maternal grandfather was Harry Earl Danner (the son of Harry/Henry Bollinger Danner and Ida May Yetter). Gwyneth’s grandfather Harry was born in Pennsylvania. Gwyneth’s great-grandfather Harry was the son of John Solomon/Shaffer Danner and Arabella Bollinger. Most of Gwyneth’s great-grandfather’s ancestry was Pennsylvania Dutch [German]; also, one of his own great-grandmothers, Sarah Daugherty, was Irish. Gwyneth’s great-grandmother Ida was the daughter of David T. Yetter, who had German ancestry, and of Rosamund/Rosamond Isabel Stoute/Stout, who was born on Barbados, and had English ancestry.

Gwyneth’s maternal grandmother was Katherine M. Kile (the daughter of Harry Frederick Kile and Pauline Friedericke Holzwarth/Holzworth). Katherine was born in Pennsylvania. Harry was the son of William Harry Kile, who was of German descent, and of Rosa Schlump, who was born in Pennsylvania, to German parents. Pauline was an emigrant from Oberweißbach, Germany, who came to the U.S., at the age of fourteen, as an indentured servant, in 1903.

Sources: Genealogies of Gwyneth Paltrow – https://www.geni.com
http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com
http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com

Information about Gwyneth’s appearance on Who Do You Think You Are?, 2011 – http://ancestraldiscoveries.blogspot.ca

Marriage record of Gwyneth’s paternal great-great-great-grandparents, Samuel Stoute/Stout and Sarah Frances Moore – https://www.familysearch.org

Gwyneth’s maternal great-grandfather, Harry Frederick Kile, on the 1900 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org