Jeremy Renner
Renner in 2012, image via kathclick/bigstock.com
Birth Name: Jeremy Lee Renner
Place of Birth: Modesto, Stanislaus, California, United States
Date of Birth: January 7, 1971
Ethnicity: German, English, Swedish, Scottish, Irish, Panamanian/Jamaican/African-Caribbean, remote French
Jeremy Renner is an American actor and producer. His roles include the films National Lampoon’s Senior Trip, Dahmer, S.W.A.T., North Country, 12 and Holding, Take, 28 Weeks Later, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, The Hurt Locker, The Town, the fourth and fifth Mission: Impossible films, The Bourne Legacy, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, The Immigrant, American Hustle, Kill the Messenger, Arrival, The House, Wind River, and Tag, the series Mayor of Kingstown, and Clint Barton / Hawkeye in the Marvel Universe.
Jeremy is the son of Valerie and Lee Renner, who ran a bowling alley. He has German, English, Swedish, Scottish, Irish, Panamanian/Jamaican/African-Caribbean, and remote French, ancestry. His maternal grandmother was born in Panama, with roots in Jamaica, and was of at least part black ancestry. He has a daughter with his former wife, Canadian model Sonni Pacheco. A picture of Jeremy with his mother can be seen here.
Jeremy’s paternal grandfather was Oscar Harrison “Art” Renner (the son of Levi/Lee Renner and Lucy/Lucille Edna Horner). Oscar was born in New Jersey. Levi was the son of John F. Renner and Cecelia C. Godfrey. Lucy was the daughter of Charles H. Horner and Elizabeth Trainer.
Jeremy’s paternal grandmother was Ruth Ann Simpson (the daughter of John Shapley Simpson and Lillian/Lillie Mae Scheflen/Sheflen/Schleflen). Ruth was born in Merchantville, Camden, New Jersey. John was the son of John Simpson and Anne/Anna/Annie F. Rough. Lillian was born in Pennsylvania, to German parents, Sebastian Scheflen/Schoepflin/Sheflen and Mary/Marie Ponser/Poinzar/Poncer/Ponsar.
Jeremy’s maternal grandfather was Elmer Edward Tague (the son of Elbridge/Elmer A. Tague and Ruth Eva Peterson). Jeremy’s grandfather Elmer was born in Seattle, King, Washington. Elbridge was the son of George Washington Tague, Jr. and Eliza/Elisa Ann/Anne Cuppy, and had English, Scottish, and German ancestry. Ruth was born in Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota, to Swedish parents, Peter Person Peterson, from Hoerby, Skane, and Amanda Josephina Carlson, from Velinge, Vastergotland Province.
Jeremy’s maternal grandmother was Eleanor Adele Warren, later Warnock (the daughter of Frank Warren and Mavis Eleanore/Eleanor Hawkins). Jeremy’s grandmother Eleanor was born in New York, to a father born in either New York City or Panama, and to a mother born in Colón, Panama. Jeremy’s great-grandfather Frank appears to have his “race” described as “Panama” in one record. Jeremy’s great-grandmother Mavis was the daughter of Frederick George Hawkins/Hawting and Alrilla/Alzilla Alice Davis, who were from Jamaica. The 1920 U.S. Census taken in Cristobal, Panama Canal Zone lists Mavis and her parents as “black.” Mavis re-married to Samuel A. Warnock.
Jeremy is a fifth cousin, once removed, of actress Jennifer Lawrence. Jeremy’s four times great-grandparents, Robert Tague and Sarah/Sallie Caplinger, were also Jennifer’s five times great-grandparents.
Sources: Family history of Jeremy Renner (focusing mostly on his father’s side) – http://stanislausgenealogy.blogspot.ca
Jeremy Renner’s and Jennifer Lawrence’s genealogical relation – http://blogs.ancestry.com
Genealogies of Jeremy Renner – https://famouskin.com
https://www.geni.com
Jeremy’s paternal grandfather, Oscar Harrison “Art” Renner, on the 1910 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Jeremy’s paternal grandmother, Ruth Ann Simpson, on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Immigration record of likely Jeremy’s maternal great-grandfather, Frank Warren – https://www.familysearch.org
Jeremy’s maternal great-grandmother, Mavis Eleanore/Eleanor Hawkins, on the 1920 U.S. Census taken in Cristobal, Panama Canal Zone [Mavis is the tenth person listed] – https://www.familysearch.org
Immigration record of Jeremy’s maternal great-grandmother, Mavis Eleanore/Eleanor (Hawkins) Warnock – https://www.familysearch.org
Marriage record of Jeremy’s maternal great-great-grandparents, Frederick George Hawkins/Hawting and Alrilla/Alzilla Alice Davis – https://www.familysearch.org
https://www.familysearch.org
I think you’d found the wrong Eleanor Adele. The Eleanor Adele Warren born in Panama died 29 Dec 1926, at age 9 months: National Archives at College Park; College Park, Maryland, U.S.A.; NAI Number: 302021; Record Group Title: General Records of the Department of State; Record Group Number: Record Group 59; Series Number: Publication A1 205; Box Number: 3868; Box Description: 1910-1929 Panama T – Z
Eleanor Warnock who became Jeremy’s grandmother seems to be identical to the 12-year-old of that name living at the San Diego Children’s Home in 1940. This Eleanor was born in New York.
Yes that’s right, Renner’s grandmother was born in New York. Eleanor, who was born in Panama, died in 1926. Then her parents had another daughter in November 1927, who they evidently named after their deceased daughter. Eleanor, Renner’s grandmother, appears with her parents in a 1933 travel record in California.
So are we assuming that he is about 1/8th black because he has ancestors in Jamaica? There are white people in Jamaica too LOL, and back then with all the racism and shit like that mixing was supressed, btw his jamaican ancestors could be slave owners, so we don’t really know if these jamaican part is BLACK or not, his mom looks pretty white to me, if she has black blood in her, must be distant.
Not sure of the point of this comment, it’s already been established that his grandmother’s family had African ancestry. It’s on census records, and mentioned in the text.
The point of this comment – and all his others – is to enter this place like a bull in a china shop, being unnecessarily aggressive and defensive at the same time.
“oaken”, i did a good dipiction of yourself, nice. Btw, thanks for the atention, you read all my comments here? How sweet.
*you did
follers, you must know racial categorization was very blurry back then. Documments can lie, are not reflect the reality accurately, pappers can be lost, rewritted, or even be fake, in places like Jamaica and Panama, pretty much everything is a hot mess, and things get lost or get blurry with time. Take Hayley Bennett for exemple, one of her great-grandmothers was black, and her biracial son was listed as “white” in the census, If we losted the pappers of her, we would never know that Hayley is 1/8th black, see, sometimes, the categorization reflects the overall apperience of the person, her biracial grandfather probably had a prevalence of european features in him, therefore he was “white-passing”. We don’t know if these “black” great-great-grandparent was really black, he could have been biracial with a prevalence of black features, or he could be white as well and was listed black by a mis-interpretation or paper messing. Only thought genetic testing we would know for sure, but i think is highly unlikely that he has black blood that is these recent, literally nothing in his mother is non-european. I think it would be reasonable to change the “Panamanian/Jamaican/African-Caribbean” part to just “possibly distant african”, given the fact that Jamaican is a nationality and he almost surely has no native panamanian ancestry at all.
I just don’t understand why people have such a hard time accepting Jeremy Renner as a black man.
It’s a common practice among some users on this site to diminish the African ancestry of famous African-American actors, Renner being one of them.
This is a whole lot of words to basically say nothing. Why you don’t want to acknowledge his not-terribly distant black African ancestry is very telling, but not at all surprising.
I have distant black ancestry, my dad is 1/8 black, he overall all looks pretty white, but he has dark features and his lips are a bit broad, just like Hayley Bennett’s. So judging by his features, is very unlikely he has recent black ancestry, that’s all im saying. And really, am i really the troll on this site? You guys are unironically calling him african-american? Hahahah Jim Crow lives on your hearts right, the one drop rule is still going strong. Even if he had a full black grandparent, if the vast majority of his features were european and his skin was fair, he would still be white, what is telling is the hipocrisy of americans in this racial matter, your census is pure BS, the categories that you guys use are a joke. So a person that is clearly white as snow, like Rebeca Hall, because she got some black blood from her mother, makes her african-american/part black? Wow, you guys need to know the concept of white people having distant black ancestry and STILL BEING white, but in Jeremy case being probably very distant black ancestry, and there is a diference to someone who is clearly mixed with recent black blood but with fair skin, like Mariah Carey. Jeremy’s features are all european, he got light hair, light eyes, pale skin, thin lips, yeah his nose is big but not african-like at all, european can have big noses too.
Y’all need to be more aware of hyperbole and sarcasm for the sake of comedy and levity.
@Oaken05
I agree with him, until a genetic testing is done we can’t be sure about that.
What do mean by “really black”? You do know the term ” Black” is only a social political term of identity. Back during slavery it didn’t matter if you looked European, if you had any African ancestry you were socially caste as “Black”. The majority of ” Black” Americans have a degree of mixed ancestry and genes are funny and what you inherit from one parent is random. Most “Black” Americans can easily tell if a light skinned person has black blood. Depeche Mode’s Martin Gore’s father was a “high yella black person” from Alabama… You look good at his old pictures and you can tell. Previous post had Jeremy Renner having Romani ancestry but now there are actually records in the census as “black” back in a time nobody wanted to even be “black”. It never ceases to amaze me how people always get triggered on sites like about any ” White” person possibly having any African ancestry. First it was Johnny Dell who is probably around 1-2% African and Renner who probably has a 4x grandparent of some African descent. It doesn’t make him less German or Irish just that he has a distant “Black” ancestry.
Jonas, I don’t think anyone thinks Jeremy’s grandmother was fully of African descent, only that she definitely had some African ancestry. Black in the U.S. at least never meant “fully of African descent.” Anyway, all Afrikaners have African ancestry, so do some Americans like Ty Burrell, Shailene Woodley, Tom Sizemore, Haley Bennett, Penn Badgley, Liv Tyler, Steve Tyler, etc. Why so hard to believe that Jeremy has African ancestry as well?
Excuse me my friend, i don’t think i said that it’s impossible for him to have black ancestry somewhere down the line, as far as i remember i only pointed out that it’s unlikely this ancestry is as recent as it appears, if i said he is 100% no doubt fully white then im sorry. But it’s indeed unlikely he has any recent (or even relatively recent i risk saying) black ancestry. Both him and his mom don’t look like people with substantial non-white descent at all. Bye see you in other discussions, maybe, take care!
“all Afrikaners have African ancestry´”
absolute horsecrap
some do some dont
That is some very distant. Anyhow since they are all inbred, it’s in their genome (alongside South Asian).
If they descend from the Dutch colonialists, then they have African ancestry. It is very distant but still apart of their genome because of inbreeding. The only way they wouldn’t is if both parents are of recent European immigrant ancestry, in which case they wouldn’t be Afrikaner (the ethnicity).
What are you talking about? We’re all aware that Jeremy is still systematically a white man but you should know that looks can be deceiving too. I have a friend from Idaho who is Danish, English and Swedish American but is 4.5% Sub Saharan African when his mother found documents about her great great grandmother who was an African American slave. If you look at my friend you would never even guess he has a drop of SSA dna since he looks classic scandinavian. There are quadroons and octoroons who look 100% European phenotypically. There are latinos who also look 100% European but very well may have distant indigenous or african dna. Not everyone with distant african genes has visible mixed phenotype.
I’ve always been very dubious about his ethnicity. I’m mixed, so maybe I notice it more than other people, but I never thought he was solely Caucasian.
Sorry I did not address your point, you’re correct some people are mixed and you’d be extremely hard pressed to see it, or not be able to see it at all, I cannot tell Haley Bennett is mixed at all. I don’t believe Jeremy is on of those people however.
one* of those
@passingtime
So you found Renner ambiguous looking before the Panamagate?
Yes. First time I ever saw him on the TV series Angel, late nineties/early two thousands, I thought he had a very unique look, that I wasn’t familiar with. Didn’t immediately jump to mixed, but I was wondering where his family was from.
He had longer hair but the look is about the same. Passable as German, Danish, Dutch etc
Just looked strange to me, I couldn’t place him on my head canon world map.
Side note though, he had one of the coolest most memorable character guest roles that series ever had.
Uh, the census records from Cristobol her AND both of her parents as “black”… I’m pretty sure at that time & the way things were – if they could pass as white, it would probably have them listed as such (another common thing in those horribly repressuve days)… so I’d say you’re guestimate is incorrect
Uh, the census records from Cristobol state her (his great grandmother – not as distant as you claim) AND both of her parents as “black”… I’m pretty sure at that time & the way things were – if they could pass as white, it would probably have them listed as such (another common thing in those horribly repressuve days)… so I’d say you’re guestimate is incorrect. Back then, it was more beneficial overall for anyone if mixed race to be able to pull off listing yourself as white (if you could) vs black – so some of your related comments don’t make much sense…. but you should loosen up a bit more & stop being so iverly defensive. ALSO, being part black but having lighter or white skin is NOT representative of how distant those roots are. I’ve seen some ‘mixed’ women have children with 2 COMPLETELY OPPOSITE complexions (meaning they had at least 1 fully black grandparent – not too distant, as far as I’m concerned). Then we have the opposite example of a ‘can’t get any whiter than Swedish’ example of Alicia Vikander – so it’s anyone’s guess sometimes….
Also have to note – what’s your peob w Americans exactly? We’re not quite as hung up on African roots, as much as we are most curious about all of our roots, seeing that we’re probably the biggest melting pot on the map. It is of interest ro us, because of the fact that we’re soooo diverse. Many physical features may be defined by thise ancestral roots, but more often than not, our little quirks, behavior, personalities are also representarive of the type of people we all come from. (Myself, for example – while very distant, I do possess quite the Sicilian temper on occasion, but probably my more private side that some people mistake for being aloof – I can tie back to maybe my Swedish and/or Swiss German ancestry. My almond shaped eyes that I was teased relentlessly about as a kid, may come from my very distant original French/ Acadia-Canadian Native American ancestry).
Btw this record lists Mavis Hawkins Warnock and Eleanor Warren’s “race or people” as “Spanish American”, with Mavis able to read Spanish and English.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-95GW-RY1?i=109&cc=1916078&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AKXH3-39R
Probably because Spanish is the official language of Panama. Their names don’t sound very Spanish.
Agree, they do not sound Spanish, but..
Is there any remote chance these people are related to Renner’s ancestors: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QG6X-SR47
thanks for the quick reply
At most he is 5 to 8% SSA. His mother looks 100% European.
I think Will Ferrell can explain Renner’s grandmother’s background better than I can:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQ_mHQt88ls
Jeremy Renner is 1/8th black.
That’s interesting
He’s black.
@ashash
It depends how much actual Sub-Sarahan African ancestry there’s in that 1/8
I think it should be specified “Afro-Caribbean (great-grandmother or grandmother)”
because as it is now, it looks pretty much ridiculous.
@follers He is not black nor does he look black. You need a black mom and a black dad to be black. He’s not even quadroon or biracial. That One Drop Rule isn’t active anymore. Only delusional people use it. Jeremy Renner is scientifically and systematically a white man.
Lol. You guys get your panties in a bunch about some clearly sarcastic comments.
Renner’s great-grandfather Frank Warren was also likely of Panamanian background, and so there’s a very good chance he was black, as well.
Panama has a sizeable American Indian population too, the world isn’t split between just black or white.
It’s very unlikely Frank Warren was “black” too or a person of color anyway. You don’t easily get rid of all those non Euro-genes to produce a phenotype like Jeremy’s mother.
You’re still sticking to stereotypes, about what a black person is suppose to look like.You have no idea what those Afro members of his family looked like. Two of my brothers, my nephew that over here playing video games right now, and at least Half the members of my extended family have Caucasoid phenotype. The rest have mixed phenotypes
To have “Caucasoid” phenotype does not mean to look European.