Shane Black

Black in 2018, photo by kathclick/Bigstock.com

Birth Name: Shane Val Black

Place of Birth: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.

Date of Birth: December 16, 1961

Ethnicity: English, Irish, German, one quarter Slovak, possibly other

Shane Black is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He has written and directed the films Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Iron Man 3, The Nice Guys, and The Predator.

Among his siblings is film writer Terry Black. His father was in the printing business. He was raised in Lower Burrell and Mount Lebanon, Pennsylvania, and then Fullerton, California.

Shane’s maternal grandfather was Russel Howard James (the son of Jesse/Jessie Edward James and Nellie A. Robinson). Russel was born in Pennsylvania. Jesse was born in Pennsylvania, the son of Peter James and Ellen Ann Hall. Nellie was born in Pennsylvania, to parents from England.

Shane’s maternal grandmother was Bernice Veronika Kristoff (the daughter of Joseph Kristoff and Mary Cambella). Bernice was born in Pennsylvania, to parents from either Austria or Czechoslovakia, who were Slovak speakers.

Sources: Obituary of Shane’s father – http://www.familysearch.org

Shane’s mother on the 1940 U.S. Census – http://www.familysearch.org