Scott Caan

68th Annual Golden Globe Awards - Arrivals

Caan in 2011, photo by Prphotos.com

Birth Name: Scott Andrew Caan

Place of Birth: Los Angeles, California, United States

Date of Birth: August 23, 1976

Ethnicity:
*father – Ashkenazi Jewish
*mother – Irish, possibly other

Scott Caan is an American actor, director, photographer, writer, and rapper. He began his music career in hip-hop group The Whooliganz, under the name Mad Skillz, along with The Alchemist. He is also known as Scotty Caan. His roles include A Boy Called Hate, Bongwater, Enemy of the State, Varsity Blues, Black and White, Boiler Room, Ready to Rumble, Gone in 60 Seconds, American Outlaws, Ocean’s Eleven, Into the Blue, Sonny, Dallas 362, and Hawaii Five-0.

He is the son of actor James Caan and model Sheila Ryan. He has two children with his partner Kacy Byxbee.

Scott’s paternal grandparents were German Jewish immigrants. Scott’s mother had Irish ancestry.

Scott’s paternal grandfather was Arthur Caan (the son of Alex Caan and Bertha Mayer). Alex was born in Giesenkirchen, Mönchengladbach, Düsseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany, the son of Edmo. Caan and Sophia Seligman. Bertha was born in Bad Kreuznach, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.

Scott’s paternal grandmother was Sophie Falkenstein (the daughter of Moses Falkenstein and Regina Niedermann/Neiderman/Niederman). Sophie came to the U.S. in 1934. Regina was the daughter of Simon Niedermann/Neiderman/Niederman and Rose.

Sources: Genealogy of Scott Caan – https://www.geni.com

Scott’s father on the 1940 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org

7 Responses

  1. jackson9 says:

    His maternal grandparents were Frank Joseph Ryan and Alice Jane Smith (the daughter of Gerald John Smith and Marion Griffin. Gerald was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of John George Smith and Jenny Ahern. Jenny was Irish. Marion was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Robert N Griffin and Mayme Mary Dodds. Robert was the son of Irish parents Martin Griffin and Johnna Scanlan.
    Source/Reference of maternal grandparents: U.S. Newspapers.com obituary Index 1800-current Sheila M. Ryan (ancestry.com)

  2. cdonorab says:

    Correction. He is German as well. It looks like his mom was the daughter of Gordon Henry Ryan and Ardeth Arlene Bitner.

    https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/1647403/family?cfpid=-485248002

  3. andrew says:

    he played Casey Affleck’s brother in Ocean’s 11

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