Maria Dizzia
Dizzia in 2010, photo by prphotos.com
Birth Name: Maria Teresa Dizzia
Place of Birth: Cranford, New Jersey, U.S.
Date of Birth: December 29, 1974
Ethnicity: Italian, Lithuanian, possibly other
Maria Dizzia is an American actress. She is the daughter of Lorraine and John Dizzia. She is married to playwright Will Eno, and has one child.
Maria’s maternal grandfather was Albert A. Bladis (who likely was the son of Felix Joseph Bladis and Mary Markowitz). Felix and Mary were Lithuanian, and Catholic by religion.
Maria’s maternal grandmother was named Virginia Ruggiero. Virginia was born in Newark, New Jersey.
Sources: http://blog.roundabouttheatre.org
Likely Maria’s maternal great-grandparents, Felix Joseph Bladis and Mary Markowitz, on the 1910 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Felix Joseph Bladis and Mary Markowitz on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Obituary of Maria’s maternal grandmother, Virginia (Ruggiero) Bladis – http://obits.nj.com
Markowitz = Jewish?
I doubt Felix was Jewish, so Mary probably wasn’t, either. They named their son “Felix”, after the father (unusual among Eastern European Jewish immigrants of the time), and another son “Vincent” (which I think Jews generally avoid to this day), and their religion was Catholic.
I think “Markowitz” is just “Markowicz”. It’s really the same name.
Dizzia -> from “D’Izzia”, a Sicilian surname from Ragusa.
Couldn’t find Albert nor Virginia on census, but I did find a Bladis family in Newark, NJ, and they were Lithuanian.
Greek and Lithuanian surnames often sound similar.
This pretty much solves it.
http://www.digifind-it.com/woodbridge/DATA/Fordbeacon/1947/1947-12-11.pdf
I think Albert Bladdis is mislabeled as “daughter” on the 1920 U.S. Census.