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. His roles include the films Grandma’s Boy, Accepted, Evan Almighty, Rocket Science, Superbad, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Just Add Water, The Invention of Lying, Cyrus, Get Him to the Greek, Moneyball, The Sitter, 21 Jump Street, and its sequel; The Watch (2012), This Is the End, The Wolf of Wall Street, True Story, War Dogs, Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot; The Beach Bum, Don’t Look Up, You People, and, in voice-performance, Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!, How to Train Your Dragon, and its sequels; Megamind, and The Lego Movie, and its follow-ups; and the show Maniac. He wrote and directed the film mid90s, co-wrote You People, directed the documentary Stutz; and co-created, wrote for, and had a voice role on, the show Allen Gregory.

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, Austrian Jewish, and Ukrainian 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 has one child with his partner Olivia Millar.

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 Daniel “Danny” Feldstein (the son of Herman Harvey Feldstein and Eva Raskin). Daniel was born in New York. Herman was born in Russia/Belarus, to Jewish parents, Isaac Feldstein and Dinah/Dina Resnick/Resick. Eva was born in New York, to Ukrainian Jewish parents, Jacob Raskin and Annie/Anna Balsam/Nassof.

Jonah’s paternal grandmother was Claire M. Rafkin (the daughter of Victor Rafkin and Tillie Bernstein). Claire was born in New York, to Russian Jewish parents. Claire’s brother, Jonah’s great-uncle, was actor, director, and producer Alan Rafkin (born Alfred Irwin Rafkin). 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). Irving was born in New York, to Russian Jewish parents, Isidore/Isador/Isidor Chalkin and Rose/Rosie Berkowitz/Bencong/Berckovitz. 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

Marriage announcement of Jonah’s paternal grandparents, Daniel “Danny” Feldstein and Claire M. Rafkin – https://www.newspapers.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