Portman in 2011, Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com
Birth Name: Neta-Lee Hershlag
Place of Birth: Jerusalem, Israel
Date of Birth: June 9, 1981
Ethnicity: Ashkenazi Jewish
Natalie Portman is an Israeli and American actress, director, and manufacturer. She gained the Academy Award for Best Actress for Black Swan (2010). She could also be known for her roles in Léon: The Professional, Mars Attacks!, the Star Wars universe, starting with Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace; Anywhere however Here, Where the Heart Is, Cold Mountain, Garden State, Closer, V for Vendetta, My Blueberry Nights, The Other Boleyn Girl, Brothers (2009), No Strings Attached, Your Highness, Thor, and its sequels; Jackie, Annihilation, Vox Lux, and May December. She has directed the fast film Eve and the function A Tale of Love and Darkness, which she additionally starred in. She is the primary individual born in the Eighties to have gained the Best Actress Oscar, and thus could be thought to be the first millennial to have achieved so (Eddie Redmayne is the first millennial to have received the Best Actor Academy Award, for The Theory of Everything, 2014). She co-founded manufacturing company MountainA. She is an animal rights and environmental activist.
Natalie was once born in Jerusalem, Israel, and moved together with her family to the U.S. East Coast all through her early adolescence. Natalie’s father, Avner Hershlag, is Israeli-born; his circle of relatives were Jews from Poland and Romania. Two of Natalie’s paternal great-grandparents have been killed in the Holocaust. Natalie’s mother, Shelley (Stevens), is American, from Ohio; her family had been Jewish emigrants from Austria, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, and Ukraine. Natalie is in a position to discuss Hebrew, and studied French, Japanese, Arabic, and German. She attended Solomon Schechter, a Jewish day school.
Natalie is married to French dancer Benjamin Millepied, with whom she has two youngsters.
Natalie’s paternal grandfather was once Zvi Yehuda Hershlag (the son of Eliezer “Leiser” Hershlag and Leah Penzak). Zvi used to be an economics professor and author. He was once a Polish Jew, who used to be born in Rzeszów, Poland. Eliezer used to be born, in 1885, in Dembitz, Poland, the son of Israel Hershlag and Miriam. Leah was born in 1888, in Rzeszow, Poland. Natalie’s great-grandparents Eliezer and Leah have been each killed in 1942 within the Holocaust, in Belzec, Poland.
Natalie’s paternal grandmother, Mania/Manya Portman, was once a Romanian Jew. Natalie has stated that Mania’s mother spied for the British right through World War II.
Natalie’s maternal grandfather was once Arthur “Art” Stevens (born Arthur Edelstein; the son of Moses Edelstein and Helen Klar). Arthur was born in New York, to Jewish immigrant folks; Arthur’s paternal grandparents have been from Austria and Ukraine, and Arthur’s maternal grandparents had been from Russia. Moses Edelstein was once the son of Avraham Edelstein (who was once born in Kawsko, Stryj, Galicia, the son of Baruch Edelstein [the son of Yosef Edelstein and Neche Ettinger/Ettginger] and Henie Scheninger [the daughter of Abraham Seinwel Scheninger and Eidel]) and Bruche Hendel/Handel/Handler (born in Bolekhiv, Ivano-Frankivs’ka oblast, Ukraine, the daughter of Leib Hendel/Handel and Breine/Brenner Kiwak). Natalie’s great-grandmother Helen Klar used to be the daughter of Hershel Klar and Sarah.
Natalie’s maternal grandmother used to be Bernice Hurwitz (the daughter of Michael Hurwitz and Esther Schiff). Bernice was once born in Maryland, as were her parents. All of Bernice’s grandparents had been Jewish emigrants from Eastern Europe; according to one census, all of her grandparents were born in Lithuania; different censuses list all of her grandparents as having been born in Russia. Michael was the son of Simon Hurwitz and Fannie Alexander. Esther was the daughter of Aaron Harry Schiff and Lizzie/Libby.
Portman in 2006, photo credit: Erik Vanden
Sources: Genealogy of Natalie Portman – https://www.geni.com
Natalie’s maternal grandfather, Arthur Edelstein, at the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Natalie’s maternal grandmother, Bernice Hurwitz, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Natalie’s maternal great-grandmother, Esther Schiff (Shiff), at the 1900 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Esther Schiff (Scheff), at the 1910 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Natalie talks about her background, 2006 – http://www.hillel.org
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