Joel Kinnaman
Kinnaman in 2012, image via kathclick/Bigstock.com
Birth Name: Charles Joel Nordström Kinnaman
Place of Birth: Stockholm, Sweden
Date of Birth: 25 November, 1979
Ethnicity:
*father – German, English, Scottish, Irish
*maternal grandfather – Swedish
*maternal grandmother – Ashkenazi Jewish
Joel Kinnaman is a Swedish-born actor, with dual Swedish and American citizenship. He is known for his roles on the series The Killing, House of Cards, Altered Carbon, Hanna, For All Mankind, and In Treatment; in the Swedish-language films The Invisible (2002), Hannah med H, Tjenare kungen, Arn – The Kingdom at Road’s End, In Your Veins, and the Johan Falk and Easy Money franchises; and in the English-language films The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Darkest Hour (2011), Safe House, Lola Versus, RoboCop (2014), Knight of Cups, Run All Night, Child 44, Suicide Squad, and its sequel; Edge of Winter, The Informer (2019), Brothers by Blood, The Secrets We Keep, Sympathy for the Devil, and Silent Night (2023).
Joel’s father, Steve Kinnaman (born David Kinnaman), is an American, of German, English, Scottish, and Irish descent. Joel’s mother, Brittmari Paulin Nordström, was born in Sweden. Joel has described her as Jewish (here and here). Joel’s maternal grandfather was of Swedish descent. Joel’s maternal grandmother was Ashkenazi Jewish, descended from Jewish emigrants from Poland, Latvia, and the Ukraine. His half-sister is actress Melinda Kinnaman. Joel spent a year in Del Valle, Texas, as a high school exchange student.
He has said:
I speak English with my dad and Swedish with my mom; it’s quite schizophrenic… I always identified myself as non-Swedish. I was never discriminated against, because I looked Swedish and speak without an accent. But I had an outsider’s perspective.
Joel’s paternal grandfather was David H. Kinnaman (the son of Porter Kinnaman and Lillian Shute). David was born in Perry Township, Marion County, Indiana, to a father from Indiana and a mother from Illinois. Porter was the son of Joseph Kinnaman and Ruth P. McCoy. Lillian was the daughter of Hezekiah Shute and Laura R./Kansas McQueen.
Joel’s paternal grandmother was Rosalie Louise Mitchell (the daughter of Joseph R. Mitchell and Theoda Louise Royer). Rosalie was born in Kansas City, Kansas, to a father from Missouri and a mother from Michigan. Joseph was the son of William Wiley Mitchell and Julia Maude/Maud Finn. Theoda was the daughter of James Calvin Royer and Ida Dell Andrus.
Joel’s maternal grandfather was Charles Joel Arvid Arne Nordström (the son of Bror Karl Nordström and Ellen Elisabet/Elisabeth Jonsson). Charles was born in Stockholm. Bror was the son of Emilia Lovisa Pettersson. Ellen was the daughter of Joel Jonsson and Helena Sofia Johansdotter.
Joel’s maternal grandmother was Rhea Rut Seiden (the daughter of Herman Seiden and Pauline Grün). Rhea was born in Stockholm. Herman was the son of Jewish emigrants, David Seiden, from Szczucin, Poland, and Hanna Heyman, from Liepāja, Latvia. Pauline was the daughter of Polish Jewish parents, Ernst Grün and Ernestina Caspar, who were from Gdańsk.
Sources: Joel mentions his Jewish background – http://blogs.forward.com
Genealogy of Joel Kinnaman – https://www.geni.com
Genealogies of Joel’s paternal grandparents, David H. Kinnaman and Rosalie Louise (Mitchell) Kinnaman Kreger – http://www.findagrave.com
Genealogy of Joel’s paternal grandfather, David H. Kinnaman (focusing on his own father’s side) – http://www.birkenhoerdt.net
Genealogy of Joel Kinnaman (focusing on his mother’s side) – https://forum.rotter.se
Genealogy of Joel’s maternal grandfather, Charles Joel Arvid Arne Nordström – http://www.anarkiv.se
Genealogies of Joel’s maternal great-grandparents, Herman Seiden and Pauline Grün – https://www.wikitree.com
Jews have been around and been allowed to settle legally in Sweden since the early 18 century (although they werent allowed full citizenship until 1870)
As suspected, only his maternal grandmother was Jewish.
Joel’s maternal grandfather was Charles Joel Arvid Arne Nordström (the son of Bror Karl Nordström and Ellen Elisabet Jonsson). Ellen was the daughter of Joel Jonsson and Helena Sofia Johansdotter.
Joel’s maternal grandmother was Rhea Rut Seiden (the daughter of Herman Seiden and Pauline Grün). Herman was the son of Jewish parents, David Seiden, from Szczucin, Poland, and Hanna Heyman, from Liepāja, Latvia. Pauline was the daughter of Polish Jewish parents from Gdańsk, Poland, Ernst Grün and Ernestina Caspar.
That’s interesting, I thought his mother could have been of fully Jewish descent or had a Jewish great-grandfather like Taika Waititi. But Joel having a Jewish matrilineal grandmother explains his various comments pretty well.
Nice find, madman. But “only” his maternal grandmother being Jewish literally makes him Jewish by their culture.
With “only”, I was referring to whether both his maternal grandparents were Jewish or not. He and his mother were Jewish by birth, his grandfather wasn’t.
*Jewish-Swedish
Manila?