Steve Carell
Carell in 2007; Joe Seer / Shutterstock.com
Birth Name: Steven John Carell
Place of Birth: Concord, Massachusetts, U.S.
Date of Birth: August 16, 1962
Ethnicity:
*father – Italian, German
*mother – Polish
Steve Carell is an American actor, comedian, writer, director, and producer. His roles include The Office, Anchorman, and its sequel, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Little Miss Sunshine, Over the Hedge, Evan Almighty, Horton Hears a Who!, Date Night, Dinner for Schmucks, Crazy, Stupid, Love; The Way, Way Back; Foxcatcher, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day; Beautiful Boy, and Vice, among many others.
Steve was born in Concord, and raised nearby in Acton, Massachusetts. He is the son of Harriet Theresa (Koch), a psychiatric nurse, and Edwin A. Carell, an electrical engineer. His uncle Stanley Koch worked with scientist Allen B. DuMont to invent cathode ray tubes. His father’s original surname, Caroselli, was shortened to Carell. On his father’s side, Steve is of Italian and German ancestry. On his mother’s side, Steve is of Polish descent. He was raised Catholic. Steve is married to actress, comedian, and writer Nancy Carell, with whom he has two children.
While Steve has played several Jewish characters (including in three consecutive major films, a rarity for a major star of any background), he is not of Jewish heritage.
Steve’s paternal grandfather was Ernest Caroselli (the son of Amanzio Caroselli and Marianna/Marsanina/Marcasciano Ricco). Ernest was an Italian emigrant, born in Bari, Apulia, Italy.
Steve’s paternal grandmother was Marie G. Egle (the daughter of August W. Egle and Mary A. Boullay). Steve’s grandmother Marie was born in New York. August was a German immigrant. Steve’s great-grandmother Mary Boullay was born in New York, the daughter of German immigrant parents, Nicholas Boullay and Jo Hanna.
Steve’s maternal grandfather was Zygmont/Zigmund/Zygmond/Sigmund Koch (the son of Joseph Koch and Mary/Crestene/Custene Porcheskey/Pascoff). Zygmont is listed as born in Russia in one record and in Vilnius, Lithuania in another record, and was possibly of ethnic Polish descent. The name Pascoff may have been misspelled on records.
Steve’s maternal grandmother was Frances Victoria Tolosky (the daughter of Tuffield/Tebfis/Tropin Theophilo/Theophile Tolosky and Mary/Martiana Brunnwyko/Burranaski/Burnak/Burnika). Frances was born in New York, to Polish parents.
Sources: Genealogies of Steve Carell – https://www.geni.com
http://www.wikitree.com
Marriage record of Steve’s paternal grandparents, Ernest Caroselli and Marie G. Egle – https://familysearch.org
Steve’s paternal grandfather, Ernest Caroselli, on the 1910 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Steve’s paternal grandmother, Marie G. Egle, on the 1900 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Steve’s mother on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Marriage records of Steve’s maternal grandparents, Zygmont/Zigmund/Zygmond/Sigmund Koch and Frances Victoria Tolosky – https://familysearch.org
https://www.wikitree.com
Steve’s maternal grandparents, Zygmont/Zigmund/Zygmond/Sigmund Koch and Frances Victoria Tolosky, on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Death record of Steve’s maternal grandfather, Zygmont/Zigmund/Zygmond/Sigmund Koch – https://www.wikitree.com
Steve’s maternal grandmother, Frances Victoria Tolosky, on the 1910 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Obituary of Steve’s maternal grandmother, Frances Victoria (Tolosky) Koch – http://209.212.22.88
Anglicized his name.
It’s more complex than the text’s surface: Koch is a German (and Ashenazi Jewish) name, while Boullay is a French name.
A German name of a person born in Russia or Lithuania means probably (but not necessarily) Jewish descent; Polish forenames don’t contradict that: it is typical for minorities in a country to chose names or name varieties of the country they live in, even (or the more) if they are not indigenious; so “ethnic Polish decent” may be (partly) wrong, but correct is: born in the state of Poland.
“Koch” could come from ethnic German ancestry, or it could simply be a different spelling of a more ethnically Polish surname. Given their names, occupations, and other things, it’s unlikely Steve’s mother’s family had Jewish ancestry (almost all Polish immigrants to the U.S. at the time were either just Jewish or just Catholic).
I don’t know anything else about Nicholas Boullay, except his German birthplace.
Obviously I haven’t read this text careful enough …
“Nicholas” is also French. The German form is “Nikolaus”. mostly in the short form of “Klaus”. So one can suppose Nicholas was French or the son of French people living in Germany (or he was only born in Germany – I don’t know your sources).
[/nerd mode]
Be sure “Koch” is no Polish name. Germans and Polish lived together (or at least in the same region) for a thousand years, so there are still many people of German descent in Poland (and of Polish descent in Germany). But the Polish usually hate the Germans (nearly as much as they hate the Russians), so no Polish would accept a German-sounding name if it’s not his or her given/family name.
Of course it’s different when a German with a Polish name or a Polish with a German name is successful in sports … than he is “one of us”!
he looks nothing like a italiano
Of course, he doesnt look like a stereotypical mobster..
He is very funny imo and cute for an older guy hehe
Being Jewish IS a religion but it’s also an ethnicity of people. Steve sort of looks like my dad who is exactly half Polish, half German.
And what about the first christians and Jesus himself? They were born jews and became christians.
By the way in Israel there is also christians and about 20% muslims living there who are israelis
RACE? Do you even KNOW what RACE is? You are extremely ignorant. It is a ethnic group. NOT A RACE.
I presume Brian is American and you are not … refering to my experience, Americans tend to state a different “race” in the case of any discernible difference – as colour of hair, shape of nose, number of eyes or shoe size …
But to be fair: I also read posts of Europeans who told about “the French race” and so on … :(