Rachel Zegler

Place of Birth: Hackensack, New Jersey, U.S.

Date of Birth: May 3, 2001

Ethnicity:
*father – three quarters Polish, smaller amounts of German and Italian
*mother – Colombian

Rachel Zegler is an American actress, singer, and YouTuber. She has starred in Steven Spielberg’s version of West Side Story, as the lead Maria; and in the films Shazam! Fury of the Gods and The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.

Her character Maria is Hispanic, of Puerto Rican descent. She was previously played by Natalie Wood. In the film, Maria romances Tony, who is of Polish descent. Rachel’s parents have similar backgrounds to Tony and Maria, respectively. Her father Craig is of three quarters Polish ancestry, with the remainder being German and Italian. Rachel’s mother Gina is of Colombian origin. A picture of Rachel with her parents can be seen here. Rachel was raised in Clifton, New Jersey.

Rachel has stated:

West Side Story was the first musical I encountered with a Latina lead character. As a Colombian-American, I am humbled by the opportunity to play a role that means so much to the Hispanic community.

While her name sounds like it could be of Jewish origin, she is not Jewish.

Rachel’s paternal grandfather is Chester Joseph Zegler (the son of Chester John Ziegler/Zegler and Stefanie/Stephanie Marie Zimnicki). Rachel’s grandfather Chester was born in New Jersey. Rachel’s great-grandfather Chester was born in New Jersey, to Polish parents, John Ziegler and Sophia/Sophie. Stephanie was also of Polish origin.

Rachel’s paternal grandmother is Maureen Teresa Porowski/Cahill (the daughter of Martin Porowski and Ruth F. Thielbar/Linskey). Maureen was born in New Jersey. Martin was the son of Polish parents, Frank Porowski and Agnes Lakowski. Ruth was the daughter of John Thielbar, whose mother was German, and of Frances/Rose Cafiero/Cofiers, whose parents were Italian. Her stepfather was named Terrance/Terrence Linskey.

Sources: https://mobile.twitter.com

Rachel’s paternal great-grandfather, Chester John Ziegler/Zegler, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org

Rachel’s maternal grandmother, Maureen Teresa Porowski/Cahill, on the 1940 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org

Marriage record of Rachel’s paternal great-grandparents, Martin Porowski and Ruth F. Thielbar/Linskey – https://www.familysearch.org

Rachel’s paternal great-grandmother, Ruth F. Thielbar, on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Rachel’s paternal great-grandmother, Ruth F. Thielbar/Linskey, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org

21 Responses

  1. italiano90 says:

    Tri-racial.

  2. hannah_8208 says:

    Is there any more on her mum’s family?

  3. italiano90 says:

    She looks triracial.

  4. Deutschland9France says:

    She’s a narcissist, entitled, snobby little brat. Glad she got fired

    • jonasbsjr says:

      i dont think they would spent more money recasting the lead actress since the movie is already shot, however Disney is gonna poop this movie on D+ and just move on, if they commit to a wide realease, it will flop, since nobody wanted this movie to begin with and Rachel is a known box office poison

  5. Blahby says:

    I also saw a tiktok of a woman who is completely genetically European–but she looks SO Asian! She gets bullied by white people because they assume she is Asian. I don’t remember her name. Someone in the comments thought it was hilarious, but she was crying about the discrimination she has faced.

    • frank5079 says:

      “Northeast Asia” includes the Japanese Archipelago, the Korean Peninsula, the Mongolian Plateau, the Northeast China Plain, and the mountainous regions of the Russian Far East, stretching from the Lena River in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. People from the regions of the Russian Far East look very white!

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