Jesse Eisenberg

Eisenberg in 2011, photo by PrPhotos.com

Birth Name: Jesse Adam Eisenberg

Place of Birth: Queens, New York City, New York, U.S.

Date of Birth: October 5, 1983

Ethnicity: Ashkenazi Jewish

Jesse Eisenberg is an American actor, author, playwright, and humourist. He has starred in the films Roger Dodger, The Emperor’s Club, The Village (2004), The Squid and the Whale, Cursed (2005), The Education of Charlie Banks, The Living Wake, The Hunting Party, Adventureland, Zombieland, and its sequel, Zombieland: Double Tap; Solitary Man, Holy Rollers, Camp Hell, The Social Network, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor, as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg; Rio (2011), and its sequel; 30 Minutes or Less, Why Stop Now, To Rome with Love, Free Samples, Now You See Me, and its sequel; Night Moves, The Double (2013), The End of the Tour, Louder Than Bombs, American Ultra, as Lex Luthor in the DC Cinematic Universe, beginning with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice; Café Society, The Hummingbird Project, The Art of Self-Defense, Vivarium, Resistance (2020), Wild Indian, Manodrome, and Sasquatch Sunset; and on the shows Get Real and Fleishman Is in Trouble. He has directed and written the films When You Finish Saving the World and A Real Pain, the latter of which he also starred in. He has been a contributor to The New Yorker and McSweeney’s. He wrote the plays Asuncion, The Revisionist, and The Spoils.

Jesse is the son of Amy, a professional clown, as well as high school director and choreographer, and Barry Eisenberg, a college professor and hospital worker. His parents are both Jewish. His sisters are Kerri Eisenberg/Kerry Lea, an actress and independent artist, and Hallie Eisenberg, an actress. Jesse is married to Anna Strout, with whom he has a son. Anna is also Jewish.

Jesse has said:

[while not raised in a religious home], I found my Judaism through cultural things like comedy, social justice work, stuff that I didn’t associate with the religion but is inherent in it and is practiced by Jewish people in modern life… Like many Jews, I found my own way to being Jewish. It’s a religion of curious, questioning people, and there are as many ways of practicing it as there are Jews.

One of Jesse’s paternal great-grandfathers was named Sam Eisenberg. Sam was from Poland.

Jesse’s maternal grandfather was Joseph “Joe” Fishman (the son of Isadore/Isador Fishman and Dora/”Nora” Greenblatt/Nesenblatt). Joseph was born in New York, to Russian Jewish parents.

Jesse’s maternal grandmother was Renee Mendelsohn (the daughter of Hyman “Herman” Mendelsohn and Yetta Tarkon). Renee was born in New York, to Jewish emigrant parents. The 1930 U.S. Census lists Hyman as born in Poland and Yetta as born in Russia, while the 1940 U.S. Census states that Hyman and Yetta were both born in Russia.

Sources: Genealogy of Jesse Eisenberg (focusing on his mother’s side) – http://www.geni.com

Jesse’s maternal grandfather, Joseph “Joe” Fishman, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org

Jesse’s maternal grandmother, Renee Mendelsohn, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Renee Mendelsohn on the 1940 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org