John Turturro
Turturro in 2008, photo by Prphotos
Birth Name: John Michael Turturro
Place of Birth: Brooklyn, New York City, New York, U.S.
Date of Birth: February 28, 1957
Ethnicity: Italian
John Turturro is an American actor, writer, director, and filmmaker. He is known for his roles in O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Clockers, the Transformers franchise, and Secret Window, among many other films.
His father, Nicola/Nicholas Turturro, was from Giovinazzo, Apulia, Italy. His mother, Katherine/Catherine Florence “Kate” (Incerella), was born in the U.S., to Italian parents, from Campania and Sicily. His father was with the D-Day fleet supporting the landing operations of Allied troops in Normandy in 1944.
His brother is actor Nicholas Turturro and his cousin is actress Aida Turturro. John is married to actress Katherine Borowitz, with whom he has two children.
John’s maternal grandfather, an Italian immigrant, re-married to a black woman, John’s step-grandmother Deborah M. L. Eld, in 1937. John did not know this until his appearance on the show Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (2017).
John’s paternal grandfather was Raffaelle/Ralph Turturro (the son of Nicola Turturro and Teresa Rutigliano). Raffaelle was born in Giovinazzo. Nicola was the son of Michele Turturro and Anna Stufano. Teresa was the daughter of Raffaele Rutigliano and Maria Trapani.
John’s paternal grandmother was Angela/Angelina Michela Cortese (the daughter of Antonio Cortese and Vincenza Decicco). Angela was born in Giovinazzo. Antonio was the son of Giuseppe Cortese and Serafina Piscitelli. Vincenza was the daughter of Domenico Decicco and Angela D’Agostino.
John’s maternal grandfather was Giovanni/John Incerella/Inzerillo/Inzirillo/Inserillo (the son of Antonio Incerella and Margareta Lafala). Giovanni was born in Naples, Campania, Italy.
John’s maternal grandmother was named Rosa/Rosina/Rose Terrasi. Rosa was from Aragona, Province of Agrigento, Sicily. John is an honorary citizen of Aragona.
Sources: http://www.starpulse.com
Genealogy of John Turturro (focusing on his father’s side) – http://geneasud.20minutes-blogs.fr
Marriage record of John’s maternal grandfather, Giovanni/John Incerella/Inzerillo/Inzirillo/Inserillo, to Deborah M. L. Eld – https://www.familysearch.org
He is one of those classic NYC italian white-but-not-really guys lol…
Tbh his only black feature is his hair and maybe his eye colour. His hair is clearly the result of mixing the italian-hellenic curly hair and the black afro hair. Outside of that there isn’t much to point out, he used to tan a lot but when you look at him today he’s pretty fair-skinned.
There are Irish people or other North/NW Europeans with curly hair so you never know.
He does not look like Anthony Weiner to me.
How do you know Giovanni Inzerillo was born in Naples? John has often stated that he was from Palermo
…from the marriage record cited in sources.
Thanks for the reply. He might have been born in Naples, but the surname “Inzerillo” is definitely from Palermo. I think John was right. This makes him half Apulian and at least 1/4 Sicilian (or likely half)