Jonah Hill

Hill in 2012, photo by PR Photos

Birth Name: Jonah Hill Feldstein

Place of Birth: Los Angeles, California, United States

Date of Birth: December 20, 1983

Ethnicity: Ashkenazi Jewish

Jonah Hill is an American actor, director, producer, screenwriter, and comedian.

Jonah is the son of Sharon, a costume designer and fashion stylist, and Richard Feldstein, an accountant. His parents are both Jewish. He is of Russian Jewish and Austrian Jewish descent. Jonah had a Bar Mitzvah ceremony in a Reform temple. He is the brother of music manager Jordan Feldstein and actress Beanie Feldstein (Elizabeth Greer Feldstein).

Jonah is the first male born in the 1980s to have received more than one Academy Award nomination for acting (Eddie Redmayne is the first to fit the criteria to have received two nominations for Best Actor).

Jonah’s paternal grandfather was named Daniel “Danny” Feldstein.

Jonah’s paternal grandmother was Claire M. Rafkin (the daughter of Victor Rafkin and Tillie Bernstein). Claire was born in New York. Claire’s brother, Jonah’s great-uncle, was actor, director, and producer Alan Rafkin (born Alfred Irwin Rafkin). Victor and Tillie were Russian Jewish immigrants. Victor was the son of Louis Rafkin and Freda Cureyon. Tillie was the daughter of Abraham Bernstein and Anna Sinaf/Senata.

Jonah’s maternal grandfather was Richard L. “Dick” Chalkin (the son of Irving Chalkin and Hannah Spitz). Hannah was born in New York, to Austrian Jewish parents from Galicia, Hyman Spitz and Jannie Wind.

Jonah’s maternal grandmother was Audrey M. Galin (the daughter of Herman Galin and Gertrude “Gertie” Ross). Audrey was born in New York, to Russian Jewish parents. Herman was the son of Jacob Galinsky and Eva Moskowitz.

Sources: Interview with Jonah Hill – http://www.nytimes.com

Genealogy of Jonah Hill – http://www.geni.com

Jonah’s paternal grandmother, Claire M. Rafkin, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org

Genealogy of Jonah Hill (focusing on his mother’s side) – http://levinsongenealogy.org