Jessica Lange
Lange in 2013, photo by Prphotos
Birth Name: Jesse Phyllis Lange
Place of Birth: Cloquet, Carlton, Minnesota, United States
Date of Birth: April 20, 1949
Ethnicity:
*50% Finnish
*25% Dutch
*25% German
Jessica Lange is an American actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Tootsie (1982), and the Academy Award for Best Actress for Blue Sky (1994).
Her father was of half German and half Dutch descent. Her mother was of Finnish descent.
Jessica has a daughter, dancer and choreographer Shura Baryshnikov, with her former partner, Russian dancer and actor Mikhail Baryshnikov; and two children with her former partner, actor and playwright Sam Shepard. Jessica is a cousin of Nancy Ann Lange, who is married to politician Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, the President of Peru.
Jessica’s paternal grandfather was George Oscar Alexander Lange (the son of Friedrick Lange and Pauline Jung). George was German, born in Sagan, Schlesien, Preussen.
Jessica’s paternal grandmother was Tena Trientje Eitens (the daughter of Aldert John Eitens and Janetha/Jacobje Kamps). Trientje was Dutch, born in Peize, Drenthe, Netherlands. Albert was the son of Jan Eitens and Trientien Ottens. Janetha was the daughter of Egbert Kamps and Roelofje Estell/Stel.
Jessica’s maternal grandfather was George Ilmar Sahlman (the son of John Sahlman and Eva Raisanen). George was born in Finland.
Jessica’s maternal grandmother was Lillian Elvira Buskala (the daughter of John Buskala and Annie Joula). Lillian was born in Minnesota, to Finnish parents.
Each of Jessica’s grandparents was born in a different country, something that is fairly rare. Actors Remy Auberjonois, Hart Bochner, Raymond Cham, Jr., Noah Emmerich, Lily James, Stephen Lang, Logan Lerman, Robert Morley, Brett Pierce, Ben Rosenfield, Andy Samberg, and Wallace Shawn, filmmaker John G. Avildsen, musicians Tom Cochrane, Paula Cole, Alex Pall, and Jeff Stinco, politicians Nick Clegg and Ricardo Maduro, and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, are others whose grandparents were born in four individual countries.
Sources: Genealogies of Jessica Lange – http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com
https://www.geni.com
https://www.wikitree.com
Jessica’s father on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Jessica’s mother on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Most famous american person of mostly finnish ancestry ever? Is Matt Damon more finnish than her? He is the only high profile actor that i can think of that has recent finnish ancestry…
David Lynch and Pamela Anderson.
Well Lynch is not really a proper actor he is a director who sometimes plays a exagerated version of himself in his own movies. And i would not call Pamela Anderson exatly “high profile”, maybe in the US because of Baywatch, but worldwide?…
You asked about famous American person of Finnish descent first, then went to actors, Andrew wasn’t mistaken in offering Lynch as a candidate.
Baywatch, on a global scale, was one of the most successful shows ever. At the height of its fame, a billion people were watching weekly.
Ok, let me refrase then : Who is the most famous american actor/actress of recent finnish ancestry? I would count Anderson of, it’s true she was very famous back in the day, but only really in the US. So i guess we are left with Lange and Damon i supose… Btw is it really necessary to turn everything in this site into a salty argument?
I literally don’t know any one here ok Brazil who watched Baywatch, i think it was successful in other english speaking countries, but not very much in others, so i think “global scale” is quite a stratch…
*in Brazil
Ok i guess Pamela Anderson is high profile in most countries, well she is not exatly finnish leval of class and beauty, but she is the most famous american star with recent finn ancestry ever, so they will have to take her then LOL… And yes, Baywatch was never huge here, as much as some people around their 40s are a bit aware of its existence. The (remake?) With The Rock and Zac Efron made some decent success here, brazillians LOVE a goof ass comedy, given the fact that White Chicks is a classic for us, we actually think the Wayans brothers are movie Gods hahahahah….
@jonas
In Italy Baywatch was a massive hit back then and Pamela the most known actress. A friend of mine wbo worked as lifeguard was even nicknamed “Mitch” because of a resemblance with the real one.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1219668.stm
“The Californian lifeguard drama is a telling indicator of how far-reaching TV shows can be – it is the most widely viewed TV series in the world, pulling an estimated weekly audience of more than 1.1 billion viewers in 142 countries.
In fact, since June 1996, it has been broadcast on every continent except Antarctica.”
I’m not sure how old you are @jonasbttencourt, but Pamela Anderson was one of the most famous women in the planet during the 90s. During the middle of its international syndication though, around 1995, it had been dubbed in 15 languages. I do not know if Brazil/Portuguese was among them however at that time. The only thing I can guarantee is that in 2006 Brazil finally received a DVD release. So you may be correct, that you weren’t exposed to her fame the way, for instance, Spanish speakers were.
I’m not trying to argue, I was just offering some objectivity.
Probably Baywatch was not big in Brazil because watching sexy girls in bikini was not a big deal for them.
That does make sense, however aren’t the beaches of Europe, especially Southern Europe, filled with scantily clad women and topless beaches? If so what’s the explanation for popularity in say, Italy for instance?
Genealogy of Jessica Lange – https://www.wikitree.com/genealogy/Lange-Family-Tree-881
Jessica’s father on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org/search/pal:/MM9.1.1/MWBG-NZB
Jessica’s mother on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org/search/pal:/MM9.1.1/M4M7-N4Y
Brown eyes allele is the dominant one. It’s not rare. There are people of all eye colours in the nord, hazel, green, grey, blue-grey, blue, brown… If one parent has brown eyes it usually overrides the other colours.