Thomas McDonell

McDonell in 2011, image via DFree / Shutterstock.com

Place of Birth: New York, U.S.

Date of Birth: May 2, 1986

Ethnicity:
*Scottish, Swedish, English, German, Irish (father)
*Ashkenazi Jewish (mother)

Thomas McDonell is an American actor, artist, and musician.

His father is of one half Swedish, three eighths British Isles [Scottish, Irish, English], and one eighth German, descent. His maternal grandparents were Jewish emigrants, from Poland and Lithuania.

Thomas’s paternal grandfather was Robert Meinrad McDonell (the son of Meinrad/Meinrod/Minrad Willard McDonell and Elsie J.). Robert was born in Minnesota. Meinrad was of Scottish descent, and was the son of John Andrew/Allan McDonell, who was born in Saint Andrews, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada; and of Margaret “Maggie” Campbell, who was born in Minnesota, to a Canadian father of Scottish descent, and to an Irish mother. Thomas’s great-grandmother Elsie’s parents, Carl John and Augusta, were Swedish.

Thomas’s paternal grandmother was Irma Sophronia Nelson (the daughter of John Robert Nelson and Laura Sophronia/Fronie Pinney). John was born in Minnesota, to Swedish parents. Laura was the daughter of Henry Fordyce Pinney, who was of English and Irish descent, and of Elizabeth/Elise M. Boortz, who was German.

Thomas’s maternal grandfather was Albert Raffeld (the son of Isaac Meyer Halevi). Albert was a Jewish emigrant, from Warsaw, Poland.

Thomas’s maternal grandmother was Libby S. Gutfarb (the daughter of Baruch Gutfarb and Hannah Alperin). Libby was a Jewish emigrant, from Butrimonys, Lithuania.

Sources: Thomas’s paternal grandfather, Robert Meinrad McDonell, on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org

Genealogy of Thomas’s paternal great-grandfather, Meinrad Willard McDonell – http://records.ancestry.co.uk

Thomas’s maternal grandmother, Libby S. Gutfarb, on the 1940 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org