Penélope Cruz
Cruz in 2009, Featureflash / Shutterstock.com
Birth Name: Penélope Cruz Sánchez
Place of Birth: Alcobendas, Madrid, Spain
Date of Birth: 28 April, 1974
Ethnicity: Spanish
Penélope Cruz is a Spanish actress and model. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008). She has appeared in many Spanish and Hollywood films, also including Jamón Jamón, Belle Époque (1992), Open Your Eyes, Live Flesh, The Girl of Your Dreams, The Hi-Lo Country, Don Juan (1998), All About My Mother, Woman on Top, All the Pretty Horses, Blow, Vanilla Sky (2001), Gothika, Volver, Broken Embraces, Nine (2009), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, I’m So Excited!, The Counselor, Murder on the Orient Express (2017), Everybody Knows, Pain and Glory (2019), Parallel Mothers (Madres paralelas), Official Competition, and Ferrari, and on television’s The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story. She has often collaborated with director Pedro Almodóvar. She has modeled for Mango, Ralph Lauren, and L’Oréal, and has been a house ambassador for Chanel.
Penélope was born in Alcobendas, Madrid, Spain, the daughter of Eduardo Cruz, a retailer and auto mechanic, from Alonchel, Extremadura, and Encarna Sanchez, a hairdresser and personal manager, from Andalusia. She is the sister of actress Mónica Cruz, and Eduardo, a singer. Penélope and Monica have designed clothing for Mango. Penélope has volunteered in Uganda and India.
She is married to actor Javier Bardem, with whom she has two children.
One article stated that Penélope has some Romani ancestry:
[Penélope] was the oldest of three siblings… by her grandmother she had Gypsy [Romani] blood… She wanted to became ballerina like her grandmother. And although her family wasn’t rich, the mother decided to invest in the future of her daughter.
It is not clear if this Romani ancestry has been verified/documented.
Penélope’s paternal grandfather was named Manolo Cruz.
Penélope’s paternal grandmother was named Modesta.
Penélope’s maternal grandmother was named Isabel Sánchez.
Source: Genealogy of Penélope Cruz (focusing on her father’s side) – https://www.geni.com
Cruz is a Spaniard & Spaniards are Caucasian, so she is Caucasian. Caucasians are generally considered white, although some see Southern Europeans (Italians, Spaniards, Portugeuse, Greeks, etc) as not being white, but that’s not the typical way of categorizing people racially.
Sure, some Spaniards have a little Moorish (Northern African, appearance is similar to Arabs) or Sephardic blood (Spanish Jews), but the vast majority are shown to be genetically descended from the Iberian peoples (European Caucasians who settled in what is now Spain).
Cruz is a little darker than the average Spaniard though, true, and I’m not surprised to hear she is part Gypsy (which means Romani, a people related to East Indians).
While most Spaniards are not very fair like Scandinavians, they do tend to have light skin, brown eyes & brown hair. They are not nearly as dark as the typical Mexican, or person from another Latin American Spanish-speaking country (who are usually Mestizo: a mix of Spanish & Amerindian, & sometimes Black). You also would not confuse a Spaniard with an Arab in person, although you might confuse one with one of the other Southern European peoples.
“Hispanic” is a cultural designation, not a racial one. Anyone from a Spanish speaking country is “Hispanic”, but that does not mean all Hispanics are the same race. Similarly, the UK, US & Australia are all English speaking countries, but their citizens can be of any racial makeup & ethnic heritage.
Only Germans are white
Too many angry hispanics on this website intent on spreading disinformation.
hmmm not really. White people on here are racist & hate it when Hispanics reach fame & fortune & are succesful. So in anyway possible they try to make Hispanics seem white. I know this is no lie because I had white people admit this. They were completely honest that it bothered them. Besides my information isnt false I got from a good friend whos from Spain & visits there every summer. They say Spain people are Hispanic. For the reason that Hispanic refers to a race from a spanish speaking country. So I beleive a Spain person would know more about there culture then a person who isnt from Spain. My Spain friend told me to in anyway possible to spread that people from Spain are Hispanic. So I am not angry I am just doing what my friend from Spain told me to do. It seems more rational to me that I would trust what my friend told me who is actually from Spain is true then i would trust to beleive strangers that actually arent from Spain.
Whaaaaatttttttt? tu eres un puto maricón negro de mierda! Penelope Cruz nació en una familia de Madrid!!
Penelope Cruz is native of Madrid!
Madrid – Spain – Europa! She is a white european woman! Come here and tell to people in the street that Penelope Cruz is a indian mestiza! Hijo de puta!
correcto, lol your right
Selena Garcia-Martinez, you are the most ignorant and dumbest person I have ever encountered on the Internet! Hispanic is not a fucking race and people from Spain are white! My grandmother migrated to Argentina from Spain and then to America. She is white. I am a 1/4 Spanish and I have family in Spain, Argentina, and Brazil. I am white.
White people are not trying to “claim” us, nor are they jealous of our success. We are European in ancestry and white.
The fact that you and your friend both believe Hispanic to be a race only proves that you are both uneducated and ignorant.
Goodbye.
So shes latina & what the hell is Gypsy? lol
Ummmmm just because Spains in Europe doesnt make it White, like Brazil is in South America but its not latin its portugese.
Same with Austrailia its next to many Asian countries but its white! So just because Spain is by white countries doesnt make it white its what ethnic background it has NOT by placement. If it wasnt for Spain none of the hispanic/latino countries would exist because when the concistodores(excuse horrible spelling) came 2 the present hispanic countries & conquered those present hispanic countries thats what made mexico,cuba,puerto rica,the americas, lots of South America Hispanic/latino today so techniclly speaking Spain is more latin/hispanic then any other latin/hispanic country where did you get they were white?
This makes no sense. Why are you guys comparing a race to a ethnic group and a culture? Do people have trouble distinguishing from race, nationality, and ethnicity? You must. White is a race. Hispanic/Latino is not and has absolutely nothing to do with race. You can be of any race and come from a spanish-speaking country, which is what Hispanic means.
what do you think the conquistadors were? they were white! They were the first white people to come to the new world, they were rollin with christopher columbus, now souther spain had some color because of the moore invasion, but for the most part people from spain are white and still are, unless they decide to mix!
They are white Stupid, The reason all the other countries are not white is becasue they are all Indian first…Mixed with spanish blood…. So that makes then not white they are mostly Indian, Americans are so obessed with saying who is white and who is not. My Mom is from Madrid Spain and my grandfather is from Galica Spain. My mom and my grandfather both have blue eyes and lite hair color. all my mom’s family is whiter then most people. Im so tried of hearing that people cannot be white because they compare them to all the Hispanic countries. Mexicans were Indian’s first that is why they are dark and have different features on their face. You wll not hear people from spain call themselves Hispanic, becasue they are not hispanic, The world hispanic was only introduced when so many people from Mexico,Cuba, ect were immagrating to America prior to that They were no listed as a race… Unless you have been to Spain and seen a true person from Spain dont think you know how they look, Im very white skin with light brown hair and brown eyes only cuz my dad has brown eye and he has german blood…..
So shes latina & what the hell is Gypsy? lol
I have always thought that P.Cruz looks Arabic, & she may well middle eastern ancestry who knows, considering the history of Islam in Spain – http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/history/spain_1.shtml
As it is said, she would be a quarter, don’t know how much Arab, most of Spanish people, not all of them, are a little Arabs, not such as people say, 10% at about. Though a few have even more, maybe her case.