Tony Shalhoub
Shalhoub in 2013, photo by Prphotos
Birth Name: Anthony Marc Shalhoub
Place of Birth: Green Bay, Wisconsin, U.S.
Date of Birth: October 9, 1953
Ethnicity: Lebanese
Tony Shalhoub is an American actor. He is known for playing Adrian Monk on the television series Monk, and for his roles in the films Paulie and Galaxy Quest, among others.
His father, Joseph Shalhoub, was a Lebanese emigrant, from Mount Lebanon, who came to the U.S. after his parents died during WWI. His mother, Helen (Seroogy), was born in Wisconsin, to Lebanese parents. Tony’s father was taken in to live with Tony’s mother’s family as a child, meeting her there.
Tony is married to actress Brooke Adams, with whom he has two children, who are adopted.
Tony’s paternal grandfather was named Milhelm Shalhoub. Milhelm was conscripted to fight in World War I by the Ottoman Empire, and was killed during the war.
Tony’s paternal grandmother was named Mariam. Mariam died in January 1918, possibly due to causes of disease or poverty. Half of the population of Mount Lebanon died between 1915 and 1918.
Tony’s maternal grandfather was Joseph Rouks Seroogy (the son of Rookus/Rucas Seroogy and Anastasia/Anastatia Shalhoub). Joseph’s family had roots in Mount Lebanon as well.
Tony’s maternal grandmother was named Elizabeth A. Neimy. Elizabeth’s grandfather, Abdul Neimy, was an ethnic Arab who lived most of his live in Armenia and Turkey. He was killed by the Ottoman forces in 1895 in Armenia as part of their massacres of Armenians, the Hamidian massacres, committed between 1894 and 1896.
A DNA test whose results were displayed on the show Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (2021) stated that Tony’s genetic ancestry is:
*100% Middle Eastern
Genetically, he was found to have a common ancestor with actress and writer Tina Fey, through her mother’s side.
Source: Tony’s mother on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Lebanese are not even remotely conected to Gulf Arabs. Most of them don’t even consider themselves Arabs, just Lebanese as Lebanon is NOT an Arab repulic and until the 17/18th centuries they used to speak Aramaic, and it still is the liturgical language of the Maronites.
They spoke both Arabic and Aramaic, what are you talking about?
Lebanese, Syrians and Assyrians generally don’t look typically Middle Eastern. They could all pass as Italians or Greeks, and vice versa.
Btw, his hair is curly even for Middle Eastern standards. It looks nappy rather. Not really a Middle Eastern feature in general.
that is not true. They look a lot more like Turks or Armenians.
Turks are a mixed bunch, you stupid simpleton. Some look Eastern Europeans (Slavic), some look very Mediterranean (in fact, many do) and others look Asian. Only a few have an Arabic/Semitic look.
You can’t pigeon hole that diverse ethnicity. But then again, you have proved yourself to be very asinine. So I’m not surprised.
Armenians are also rather mixed. They look like Italians, and like Russians, but then they’d also be swarthy like Arabs. No different to your pizza-making short peoples (Italians) – Who can be diverse.
Assyrians are not that diverse (as Armenians and Turks). And they’d generally all look like Lebanese people – Olive skinned, dark eyes. I am married to an Assyrian family, so maybe I’ll know better than an ignoramus people such as yourself.
I think no more than 10% than Lebanese/Syrians could “pass” in Southern Europe, or better in the Balkans. Just pick a random crowd picture from the Levant, there are many people who really look mixed, from almost South Asian types to clearly SSA influenced people (in Palestina expecially). The whitewashed depiction of Levantines is popular in anthropology forums but it’s debunked by reality.
I do know some white passing Levantines, Iranians, Afghans, Indians, and others.
Also, your comment is racist.
The same can go for Afghans, Iranians, Indians, etc.
The Arab presence in the Levant predates Islam by hundreds of years. The Nabateans among others all thrived in the Levant – most notably in historic Jordan and Palestine.
The Arab conquests did not result in any widespread displacement of the pre-Islamic populations. The vast majority of Arabs today are the descendants of the native inhabitants of their lands who were Arabized hundreds of years after the Arab conquests.
You’re right that Arab Christians may have a different background.
However, the Islamic invasions did ethnically change the region, at least somewhat. A genetic study found that “a pre-Islamic expansion Levant was more genetically similar to Europeans than to Middle Easterners”.
http://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgen.1003316
If it’s European, it’s most likely Greek due to the influence.
Maybe Italian due to the Romans.
And other studies show that Kevantines are mainly indigenous.
Thought he was Italian honestly…
he played an Italian role in “Big Night”. That is the reason.
He’s one of those Arabs who look white, he could pass as an ethnic Brit.
Lebanese use to look White..
no he just avoids sun bathing…
lol, during winter times I also used to look whiter than white, while spending holidays in miami I used to look almost black…
I meant white/caucasian.
Tony’s mother Census said “”white”, not much to debat
sorry, reply was meant for Check7t…
What do you mean?
That’s a bit of a postulation to make tbh.
Obviously they have Arabic admixture nowadays, but preceding Arab times who know…
I don’t know if he could pass for an ethnic Brit. He looks Middle-Eastern.
He doesn’t strike me as really typical Middle Eastern looking, then again most Syrians and Lebanese don’t. Compare Tony to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, or someone like this Moroccan Prime Minister:
http://www.theblaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/abdelilah-benkirane-1.png
They strike me as MENA unequivocally, Tony does not and he could def pass for Italian.
Even Persians, Kurds, Pashtuns and some South Asians such as Indians and Pakistanis can pass for White.
And North Africans/ people in the Caucasus
Because Lebanese people descend from the Phoenicians, not Arabs.
Not really