Jurnee Smollett
Smollett-Bell in 2011, photo by s_bukley / Shutterstock.com
Birth Name: Jurnee Diana Smollett
Place of Birth: New York City, New York, U.S.
Date of Birth: October 1, 1986
Ethnicity:
*father – Ashkenazi Jewish
*mother – African-American, possibly other
Jurnee Smollett, also credited by her former married name Jurnee Smollett-Bell, is an American actress. She is known for starring as Samantha Booke in the film The Great Debaters.
She is the daughter of Janet (Harris) and Joel Smollett. Her siblings include Jojo Smollett, Jazz Smollett, Jussie Smollett, Jake Smollett, and Jocqui Smollett, all of whom have been involved in the entertainment business.
Jurnee’s father, who was white, was Ashkenazi Jewish, from a family from Romania, Russia, and Poland. The family surname was Smolovitz several generations back. Jurnee’s mother is black. Jurnee stated in an interview that, aside from African-American, their mother has Native American, Louisiana Creole, and Irish ancestry. It is not clear if this is accurate.
Jurnee has a son with her former husband, musician Josiah Bell.
Jurnee’s paternal grandfather was Peter Smollett (the son of David Lewis Smolovitz/Smollett and Dawley/Dawlly Levy). Peter was born in New York. David was a Romanian Jewish emigrant, born in Iași, Iași County, the son of Jacob Smolovitz/Smilowitz/Smollett and Rebecca Moscowitz. Dawley was born in New York, to Polish Jewish parents, Charles D. Levy and Esty/Betsy Cohen.
Jurnee’s paternal grandmother is Molly/Mollie Hirschenson (the son of Irving I. Hirschenson and Gertrude Horowitz). Molly was born in New York. Irving was the son of Jeremiah Hirschenson and Sarah Heller. Gertrude was the daughter of Louis Horowitz and Anna Lupin.
Jurnee’s maternal grandfather was named John Harris.
Jurnee’s maternal grandmother was named Grace/Raphel Smith.
Sources: Interview where Jurnee mentions her background – http://www.tsdmemphis.com
Genealogies of Jurnee Smollett-Bell – https://www.geni.com
https://1.bp.blogspot.com
Jurnee’s paternal grandfather, Peter Smollett, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Obituary of Jurnee’s paternal grandfather, Peter Smollett – https://www.genealogiequebec.com
Marriage record of Jurnee’s paternal great-grandparents, David Lewis Smolovitz/Smollett and Dawley/Dawlly Levy – https://www.familysearch.org
Jurnee’s paternal great-grandfather, David Lewis Smolovitz/Smollett, on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
she is mixed
She looks like Alicia Keys.
According to Wikipedia she’s black and white.
Jurnee is white. She is not black or biracial.
she looks birracial to me
Um… she is multiracial moron. It id posted unless you can’t read.
She isn’t just white, she’s multiracial lol
Wtf?! I didn’t even know she had any white blood, stop acting so damn ignorant, you moron!
It’s pretty obvious she has white blood …
she is mixed lol
Mixed tf