Odessa grandmothers of Hollywood stars: 5 celebrities whose ancestors were immigrants

Many world-famous Hollywood actors, directors and producers were born to immigrant families from the Russian Empire or the USSR. Edition “Culturology”Collected a list of those who in the family were Odessa grandmothers.

Leonardo DiCaprio

Leo never hid the fact that his grandmother, Helen Indenbirken, nee was known as Elena Stepanovna Smirnova. Most sources call it the birthplace of Odessa, but some indicate the Kherson region of Ukraine. After the revolution, his grandmother and her family emigrated to Germany, where she remained during the Second World War.

The mother of the future star of Hollywood was born in a bomb shelter during an airstrike. Leo inherited his last name from his father with Italian-German roots.

After the war, Elena Stepanovna and her husband moved to the United States. When she got a grandson in 1974, she became the closest person for him and was constantly with him. Leonardo DiCaprio always talked about his grandmother with great love and respect and often appeared in front of the cameras with her. The actor admired her willpower and was confident that her character was tempered by the trials experienced in her youth: “For me, my grandmother is the embodiment of inner strength and integrity. She went through poverty, war and emigration. Grandmother, grandfather and other relatives on their part are people with a difficult fate that did not break them. ”

In an interview with DiCaprio, he repeatedly stated that it was her upbringing that in many ways shaped him as a person. He was very sad when his beloved grandmother passed away at 2008 years in 93.

Sydney Pollack

Фото: Depositphotos

Actor, director and producer Sidney Pollack, who received an Oscar for the film Out of Africa and a nomination for the comedy Tutsi, was also born into an emigrant family - his grandparents and parents were Odessa-based Jews. But Sidney Pollack himself was born in Indiana and considered himself a 100% American.

“For me, the long-time emigration of parents from Odessa is exclusively from the field of family traditions,” he said.

Whoopi Goldberg

Фото: Depositphotos

It’s hard to suspect the Odessa roots, because this is Whoopi Goldberg, but this is true. Her maternal grandmother was also from Odessa, where she lived half of her life. After emigrating to the United States, she settled in New York. The actress always stressed that she owes her character to her ancestors: “All women in my family were strong personalities. They never called themselves feminists, did not utter loud words, but everything that happened within the family happened on their initiative. From them I inherited the habit of treating all troubles with humor. ”

Steven Spielberg

Фото: Depositphotos

The director of the cult films "Schindler's List", "Indiana Jones" and "Back to the Future" does not like to talk about their ancestors and their homeland - because of the dramatic circumstances that led them to emigrate. The grandmother of the maternal director is a woman from Odessa. Together with her family, she left the country during the Holocaust. Although Spielberg does not like to remember these tragic events, he does not deny his roots, and he admits that borscht has been a favorite dish in their family for many years.

Sylvester Stallone

Фото: Depositphotos

According to his father, the actor is Sicilian, but his mother was of Franco-Jewish origin with Odessa roots. The family of his grandmother Rosa owned a jewelry store in Odessa. After the revolution, they emigrated first to France and then to the USA. In the middle of 1980, Stallone’s mother, with the help of Mikhail Gorbachev, sought out her Odessa relatives and visited her homeland.

The actor admitted: "I suddenly felt that I had a lot more maternal than Italian father genes."

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