LAHORE (Staff Report) – Some Jews are easy to spot. Take Woody Allen, for instance. You don’t need a Jewish radar (Jewdar?) or some clever website to tell you he is Jewish.
But some are not very easy to be identified. Yet all of these celebrities have publicly acknowledged their Jewish ancestry.
Scarlett Johansson
Scarlett Johansson’s name on the list of people whose Jewishness first totally surprises us, but is quickly accepted and celebrated. She does call herself a “New York Jew”, after all.
Scarlett’s father, Danish Johanssons married a Jewish women.
Johansson is considered one of Hollywood’s modern sex symbols, and has frequently appeared in published lists of the sexiest women in the world, including when she was named the “Sexiest Woman Alive” by Esquire magazine in both 2006 and 2013 (the only woman to be chosen for the title twice), and the “Sexiest Celebrity” by Playboy magazine in 2007.
Her subsequent films included Woody Allen’s Match Point (2005), The Island (2005), The Prestige (2006), The Other Boleyn Girl (2008), Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008), Don Jon (2013), and Lucy (2014). The sultry actress has portrayed the Marvel Comics character Black Widow / Natasha Romanoff in the Marvel Cinematic Universe; appearing in Iron Man 2 (2010), The Avengers (2012), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), and in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015).
David Beckham
The legendary English footballer was born in London, England. Beckham’s maternal grandfather was Jewish, making him one-quarter Jewish. However, Beckham says that he’s half Jewish.
He indicates that he relates quite a bit to Judaism, saying: “I’ve probably had more contact with Judaism than with any other religion. I used to wear the traditional Jewish skullcaps when I was younger, and I also went along to some Jewish weddings with my grandfather.”
Furthermore, Beckham is nearly covered with Christian-themed tattoos, such as a rendering of Jesus sitting on a cross on his side, an angel on his back, and a cross with wings on his neck. All in all, the issue of David Beckham and religion is somewhat confused with the only clear designation one could draw being that Beckham identifies with the Judeo/Christian tradition.
Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford is considered as one of the world’s most popular movie stars. Since Ford’s mother is Jewish, and in Judaism one’s religion is based on one’s mother’s religion, then that makes him also Jewish. His father is not Jewish.
Ford is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. His career has spanned six decades and includes roles in several Hollywood blockbusters, including Apocalypse Now, Presumed Innocent, The Fugitive, Air Force One, and What Lies Beneath.
At one point, four of the top six box-office hits of all time included one of his roles.
Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Paltrow has long been considered a Jewish actress by her fans and those in Hollywood who know that her father was Jewish. Paltrow’s mother is Blythe Danner, the actress known most notably for her roles in television’s Will and Grace and the movie Meet the Parents.
Now, Paltrow has announced that she has been in the process of a conversion to Judaism since discovering her ancestors were famous rabbis. This has led to confusion among many who thought Gwyneth Paltrow was already Jewish. The Hollywood actress, 41, chose to embrace the faith more closely following the break-up of her marriage to British singer Chris Martin this year.
According to The New York Post, Miss Paltrow was already raising her daughter Apple, ten, and son Moses, eight, in a Jewish setting after learning about her family history on the US version of the genealogy programme Who Do You Think You Are?.
Natalie Portman
Natalie Portman is Jewish. The 34-year-old actress was born and rsied in Jerusalem. She told the Independent: “I think a really big question the Jewish community needs to ask itself, is how much at the forefront we put Holocaust education…which is, of course, an important question to remember and to respect, but not over other things.
“We need to be reminded that hatred exists at all times and reminds us to be empathetic to other people that have experienced hatred also.”
Portman is best known for her roles in The Other Boleyn Girl (2008), and Thor (2011) and its 2013 sequel. In 2010, Portman starred in the psychological horror film Black Swan. Her performance received widespread critical acclaim and she earned her first Academy Award for Best Actress.
Shia LaBeouf
Shia LaBeouf told Indie London, “Yeah, my dad’s Cajun. I have a cool lineage, a good group of people. I’m Jewish so I was named after my grandfather. Shia means “gift from God” and LaBeouf means “the beef” so my name means “thank God for beef!”
LeBeouf made his film debut in Holes (2003), based on the novel of the same name by Louis Sachar. He rose to fame after appearing in Transformers series, huge box office successes.
Mila Kunis
Milena “Mila” Markovna Kunis was born to a Jewish family in Chernivtsi, Ukraine, USSR (now independent Ukraine). Her mother, Elvira, is a physics teacher and her father, Mark Kunis, is a mechanical engineer.
Her first gig was in 1995, in which she played a character named Melinda in Make a Wish, Molly (1995). From there, her career skyrocketed into big-budget films. Although she is mostly known for playing Jackie Burkhart in That ’70s Show (1998). Her breakthrough film was Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008), in which she played a free-spirited character named Rachel Jensen.
She has since starred or co-starred in the films The Book of Eli (2010), Black Swan (2010), Friends with Benefits (2011) and Ted (2012).
Drake
Aubrey Drake Graham’s father is an African-American and his mother is a Jewish Canadian. He attended a Jewish day school and also had a bar mitzvah.
“The racism I experienced was being Jewish. Jewish kids didn’t understand how I could be black and Jewish, because we’re all young. It was just stupid, annoying rich kids that were closed-minded and mean, so I dealt with that more than anything. But it had everything to do with being Jewish, not being black,” Drake told Vibe.
Drake is a rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. He first garnered recognition for his role as Jimmy Brooks on the television series Degrassi: The Next Generation.
Adam Sandler
Adam Richard Sandler is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, film producer, and musician. He is best known for his comedic roles, such as in the films The Waterboy (1998), Mr. Deeds (2002), and voicing Dracula in Hotel Transylvania (2012) and Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015).
Sandler grew up in a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York. Don’t forget he also made that Hanukkah song in that cartoon movie.
Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart, born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz, is an American comedian, writer, producer, director, actor, media critic, and former television host. From 1999 to 2015, he was the host of The Daily Show, a satirical news program that airs on Comedy Central.
Stewart announced on February 10, 2015, during a taping of The Daily Show, that he would leave the show before the end of 2015. His final show aired on August 6, 2015.
Stewart also had Jewish jokes earlier this year to talk about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress. “The prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, addressed Congress today in observance of the sacred Jewish holiday of Suuk-on-it-Mr.-President,” said Stewart on “The Daily Show.”
