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:
*German, English, Scottish, Irish (father)
*Swedish Jewish (mother)
Joel Kinnaman is a Swedish-born actor, with dual Swedish and American citizenship.
Joel’s father, Steve Kinnaman (born David Kinnaman), is an American, of German, English, Scottish, and Irish descent. Joel’s mother, Brittmari Paulin Nordström, is a Swedish Jew. She is descended from Jewish emigrants from 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. 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.
Sources: Joel mentions his Jewish background – http://archive.is
http://blogs.forward.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’s paternal great-great-grandmother, Ida Dell Andrus (focusing on her mother’s side) – http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com
Genealogy of Joel’s paternal great-great-great-great-grandmother, Elizabeth Welch (focusing on her mother’s side) – http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com
Manila?
“Nordström” is a very Swedish surname. Maybe only Joel’s maternal grandmother was Jewish. I’d write:
*Ashkenazi Jewish, possibly Swedish (mother)
Eh, name changes. Having said that, I wrote “Swedish Jewish” because of the uncertainty, as opposed to the usually simple “Ashkenazi Jewish”.
Interestingly, his wife also has a Swedish surname, “Wattenström”, but evidently no Swedish ancestry.
It is possible that the name was changed, and with no evidence but his statements, I guess it’s good as it is.
There were not much information about his wife, but there are possible explanations for her name, such as adoption.
I can’t find anyone named “Nordström” on his relatives’ Facebook pages’ lists of friends, so that didn’t help much.
I wonder if anyone can do Swedish genealogy?
BTW, an inconclusive, but interesting quote:
“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”
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/09/movies/joel-kinnaman-jumps-from-the-killing-to-robocop.html