List of famous Jews

Note that "Jewishness" has the meanings both of "adherence to the religion of Judaism" and "membership in the ethnic group 'Jews'". People of both groups are listed here.

Table of contents

1 List of noted Jews 1.1 Business 1.2 Entertainment 1.3 Music 1.4 Philosophy, Literature, and Psychology 1.5 Politics 1.6 Rabbis 1.7 Religion (non-rabbis) 1.8 Science and Mathematics 1.9 Sports 1.10 The Visual Arts 1.11 War 1.12 Miscellaneous 2 External links

List of noted Jews

Business

• Roman Abramovich, Russian billionaire
• Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft
• Boris Berezovsky, Russian billionaire
• Michael Bloomberg (born 1943), founder of Bloomberg Financial Markets, Mayor of New York City (2002-)
• Andre Citroen, French automaker
• Mark Cuban, billionaire owner of Dallas Mavericks
• Michael Dell (born 1965), founder of Dell Computer Corporation
• Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle Corporation
• Mikhail Friedman, Russian billionaire
• Alan Greenspan (born 1926), economist, chairman of the American Federal Reserve
• Milton Hershey, Hershey Chocolate founder
• Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Russian oligarch
• Roy Neuberger, financier (Neuberger & Berman) who uses money to buy and publicize rare art (staunchly atheistic Jew, hates Judaism)
• Ron Popeil, US inventor
• Sumner Redstone (born Murray Rothstein), CEO of Viacom
• Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1743-1812), German banker, first of the Rothschild family
• David Sarnoff, General Manager of RCA corporation
• Ron Sommer, CEO of Deutsche Telekom
• George Soros, Hungarian millionaire
• Victor Vekselberg, Russian billionaire
• Max Warburg (1867-1946), German banker
• Paul Warburg (1868-1932), American banker, Federal Reserve founder and board member

Entertainment

• Anouk Aimee, French actress
• Woody Allen (born 1935), United States comedian, film director
• Jason Alexander, US actor, known from Seinfeld
• Patricia Arquette, US actress
• Bea Arthur, US actress, known from Maude and Golden Girls
• Ed Asner, US actor
• Lauren Bacall, US actress
• Barbara Bain, US actress, known from Mission Impossible
• Theda Bara, US actress
• Rosanne Barr, US actress
• Richard Belzer, US actor and comedian
• Jack Benny, US comedian
• Milton Berle, US comedian
• Sandra Bernhard, US actress
• Sarah Bernhardt, French actress
• Joey Bishop, US comedian and actor, member of the Rat Pack
• Jack Black, US actor and rock musician
• Mel Blanc, US cartoon voice actor
• David Blaine (born 1973), US illusionist
• Lisa Bonet, US actress, known from the Cosby Show
• Ernest Borgnine, US actor
• Tom Bosley, US actor
• Fanny Brice, US comedienne
• Albert Brooks, US actor
• Mel Brooks (b. 1926) US comedian, filmmaker
• Lenny Bruce, US satirist
• George Burns, US comedian
• James Caan, US actor
• Sid Caesar, US comedian
• Dyan Cannon, US actress
• Eddie Cantor US comedian, singer, entertainer
• Al Capp, US cartoonist
• Kate Capshaw, US actress
• Kitty Carlisle, US game show panelist
• Nell Carter, US actress
• Jill Clayburgh, US Oscar-nominated actress
• Sacha Baron Cohen, UK comedian best known for his fictional character, Ali G
• Joan Collins, British actress, known from Dynasty
• David Copperfield, US illusionist
• Billy Crystal, US actor and comedian
• Jamie Lee Curtis, US actress
• Tony Curtis, US actor
• Rodney Dangerfield, US comedian
• Larry David, US actor and comedy writer
• Sammy Davis Jr, American actor and performer
• Kirk Douglas, US actor
• Richard Dreyfuss, US actor
• Peter Falk, US actor
• Corey Feldman, US actor
• Marty Feldman, British comedian
• Norman Fell, US actor
• Harvey Fierstein, US actor
• Larry Fine, US actor, one of the Three Stooges
• Carrie Fischer, US actress, star of Star Wars movies
• Max Fleischer, US animated cartoonist
• Al Franken, US actor and comedy writer
• Bonnie Franklin, US actress, known from One Day at a Time
• Allen Funt, candid camera tv show creator
• Eva Gabor, Hungarian-American actress
• Zsazsa Gabor, Hungarian-American actress
• Uri Geller, Israeli spoon bending magician
• Estelle Getty, US actress, known from Golden Girls
• Melissa Gilbert, US actress, known from Little House on the Prairie
• Jeff Goldblum, US actor
• Gilbert Gottfried, US comedian
• Seth Green, US actor
• Jennifer Grey, US actress
• Joel Grey, US actor
• Charles Grodin, US actor
• Steve Guttenberg, US actor
• Buddy Hackett, US comedian
• Monty Hall, Canadian game show host
• Goldie Hawn, US actress
• Judd Hirsch, US actor
• Dustin Hoffman, US actor
• Judy Holliday, US Oscar-winning actress
• Harry Houdini (1874-1926), US illusionist
• Curly Howard , US actor, one of the Three Stooges
• Moe Howard, US actor, one of the Three Stooges
• Shemp Howard, US actor, one of the Three Stooges
• Kate Hudson, US actress, daughter of Goldie Hawn
• Amy Irving, US actress
• Ricky Jay, US magician and actor
• Ron Jeremy, US pornstar
• Al Jolson, US singer, actor, early sound film star
• Carolyn Jones, US actress, known from The Addams Family
• Madeline Kahn, US actress
• Gabriel Kaplan, US actor
• Andy Kaufman, US actor and comedian
• Danny Kaye, US actor, dancer, and singer
• Harvey Keitel, US actor
• Jack Klugman, US actor
• Stanley Kubrick, US director
• Lisa Kudrow, US actress
• Rikki Lake, US talk show hostess
• Hedy Lamarr, Austrian-US actress
• Martin Landau, US actor
• Piper Laurie, US actress
• Linda Lavin, US actress
• Stan Lee (born 1922), US comic book creator
• Jennifer Jason Leigh, US actress
• Eugene Levy, US actor
• Al Lewis, US actor, Grandpa on The Munsters
• Richard Lewis, US comedian
• Jerry Lewis, US actor and comedian
• Shari Lewis, US actress, known as companion of Lambchop
• Hal Linden, US actor
• Jonathan Lipnicki, US child actor
• Peggy Lipton, US actress, known from the Mod Squad
• Peter Lorre, US actor
• Tina Louise, US actress
• Jon Lovitz, US actor and comedian
• Ali MacGraw, US actress
• Howie Mandel, Canadian comedian
• Marx Brothers, US actors
• Marlee Matlin, US Oscar-winning deaf actress
• Walter Matthau, US actor
• Anne Meara, US comedienne and actress
• Bette Midler, US singer and actress
• Marilyn Monroe, US actress
• Rick Moranis, Canadian actor
• Judd Nelson, US actor, member of the Brat Pack
• Laraine Newman, US actress, known from Saturday Night Live
• Sharon Osbourne, actress wife of Ozzy Osbourne
• Gwyneth Paltrow, US actress
• Sara Jessica Parker, US actress
• S.J. Perelman, US writer
• Rhea Perlman, US actress
• Suzanne Pleshette, US actress
• Kevin Pollak, US actor
• Tracy Pollan, US actress wife of Michael J. Fox
• Roman Polanski, director
• Gilda Radner, US actress, known from Saturday Night Live
• Harold Ramis, US actor
• Joan Rivers, US comedian
• Winona Ryder, US actress
• Emma Samms, British actress, known from Dynasty
• Laura Schlessinger, US radio personality
• Jerry Seinfeld, US comedian
• Ally Sheedy, US actress
• Dinah Shore, US actress
• Simone Signoret, French actress
• Jaclyn Smith, US actress, original Charlie's Angels
• Steven Spielberg, US director
• Howard Stern, US radio personality
• Ben Stiller, US actor and comedian
• David Suchet, British actor, cited as the definitive Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot
• Elizabeth Taylor, British actress
• Ruth Westheimer, sex expert
• Billy Wilder (1906-2002), director

Music

• Irving Berlin US songwriter, composer
• Dan Bern, US songwriter, singer
• Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990), US conductor, composer
• Ernest Bloch, Swiss-born composer
• Leonard Cohen, Canadian singer (converted to Buddhism)
• Aaron Copland, US composer
• Neil Diamond, US singer
• Paul Dukas, French composer
• Bob Dylan (b. 1941), US singer, songwriter
• Perry Farrell, US musician, bandleader
• Benny Goodman, US musician, bandleader
• Billy Joel, US singer
• Jascha Heifetz, US violinist
• Otto Klemperer, German-born conductor
• Ted Lewis, musician, entertainer
• György Ligeti, Hungarian composer
• Gustav Mahler, composer (converted to Catholicism)
• Barry Manilow (born 1946), US entertainer
• Felix Mendelssohn, Romantic composer (converted to Christianity)
• Yehudi Menuhin, US/British violinist, conductor, educator
• Giacomo Meyerbeer, Opera composer
• Mezz Mezzrow, US jazz musician
• Darius Milhaud, French composer
• Nathan Milstein, US violinist
• Randy Newman, US singer
• Jacques Offenbach, French composer
• Itzhak Perlman, US violinist
• Anton Rubinstein, Russian pianist and composer
• Curt Sachs, musicologist
• Artur Schnabel, pianist
• Arnold Schoenberg, Austrian composer
• Artie Shaw, US musician, bandleader
• Gene Simmons, bass player for KISS
• Slash, lead guitarist for Guns 'n Roses
• Georg Solti, Hungarian/US conductor
• Isaac Stern, US violinist
• Willie "The Lion" Smith, US pianist
• Paul Stanley, guitar player for KISS
• Sophie Tucker, Russian born US singer and entertainer
• Kurt Weill, German/US composer
• John Zorn, American saxophonist and composer

Philosophy, Literature, and Psychology

• Sholem Aleichem, Yiddish writer
• Theodor Adorno, German philosopher, sociologist, composer, music theorist, essayist
• Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Israeli writer, Nobel Prize winner
• Isaac Asimov, American science fiction author
• Saul Bellow, American writer
• Walter Benjamin, German philosopher, critic, essayist
• Noam Chomsky (born 1928), American linguist, political writer
• Jacques Derrida (born 1930), French philosopher
• Anne Frank (1929-1945), Holocaust victim, diarist
• Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), Austrian psychologist
• Max Horkheimer, German philosopher, sociologist
• Edmund Husserl (1859-1938), German philosopher and holocaust victim
• Franz Kafka German-Bohemian writer
• Maimonides (1135-1204), Philosopher, doctor, rabbi
• Herbert Marcuse, German/American philosopher, sociologist, political scientist
• Bernard Malamud (1914-1986), American writer
• Erich Mühsam (1878-1934), German poet and revolutionary
• Nachmanides Philosopher, mystic, rabbi
• Amos Oz (born 1937), Israeli writer
• Daniel Pearl (1963-2002), Wall Street Journal journalist, kidnapped and killed.
• I. L. Peretz, Yiddish writer
• Ayn Rand (1905-1982), writer
• Philip Roth (b.1933), American writer
• Robert Silverberg, American science fiction author
• Isaac Bashevis Singer, (1904-1991), Yiddish writer
• Baruch Spinoza, (1632-1677) philosopher
• Elie Wiesel, writer
• Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951), Austrian philosopher
• Stefan Zweig, (1881-1942), Austrian writer

Politics

• Madeleine Albright (born 1937), US Secretary of State (1997-2001)
• Ehud Barak (b.1942), Israeli prime minister (1999-2001)
• Menachem Begin (1913-1992), Prime Minister of Israel (1977-1983)
• David Ben-Gurion (1886-1973), founder of Israel, Prime Minister of Israel (1948-1953 and 1955-1963)
• Judah P. Benjamin (1811-1884), Secretary of State for the Confederate States of America
• Michael Bloomberg (born 1943), founder of Bloomberg Financial Markets, Mayor of New York City (2002-)
• Barbara Boxer, US Senator from California
• Norm Coleman, US Senator from Minnesota
• Moshe Dayan (1915-1981), Israeli politician and general. Directed the 1956 Suez War and Six-Day War
• Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881), British Prime Minister (1868 and 1874-1880), raised as an Anglican
• Kurt Eisner (1867-1919), German politician (socialist), first prime minister of Bavaria
• Dianne Feinstein, US Senator from California
• Russ Feingold, US Senator from Wisconsin
• Ruth Bader Ginsburg US Supreme Court Justice
• Emma Goldman (1869-1940), feminist and anarchist
• Theodor Herzl (1860-1904), founder of Zionism
• Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading (1860-1935), British politician and Viceroy of India
• Zeev Jabotinski, Israeli politician, writer, philosopher, Zionist leader
• Henry Kissinger (born 1923), US Secretary of State (1973-1977), winner of 1973 Nobel Peace Prize
• Herb Kohl, US Senator from Wisconsin
• Ferdinand Lassal, German Socialist revolutioner
• Joe Lieberman, Vice President candidate and US Senator from Connecticut
• Rosa Luxemburg (1870-1919), German Communist leader
• Karl Marx (1818-1883), founder of Marxism, raised as a Lutheran
• Golda Meir (1898-1978), Prime Minister of Israel (1969-1974)
• Ludwig von Mises, Austrian economist
• Benjamin Netanyahu (born 1949), Prime Minister of Israel (1996-1999)
• Shimon Peres (born 1923), Prime Minister of Israel (1977, 1984-1986, and 1995-1996), shared winner of Nobel Peace Prize in 1994
• Yitzhak Rabin (1922-1995), Prime Minister of Israel (1974-1977 and 1992-1995), shared 1994 Nobel Peace Prize, assassinated in 1995
• Walther Rathenau (1867-1922), German industrialist and statesman
• Jack Ruby (1911-1965) US assassin of assassin
• Herbert Samuel (1870-1963), British politician and High Commissioner of Palestine
• Charles Schumer, US Senator from New York
• Ariel Sharon (b. 1928), Israeli general and prime minister
• Leon Trotsky (1879-1940), Russian Bolshevik
• Chaim Weizmann (1874-1952), leading Zionist and first President of Israel
• Paul Wellstone former US Senator from Minnesota
• Ron Wyden, US Senator from Oregon
• Grigory Zinoviev (1883-1936), Russian Bolshevik

Rabbis

• Hillel
• Shammai
• Judah haNasi (Judah the Prince, redactor of the Mishnah)
• Abba Mari
• Asher ben Jehiel
• Abraham ibn Ezra
• Bahya ibn Paquda 11th century Spanish Jewish philosopher
• Abraham ibn Daud
• Gersonides, Levi ben Gershom, the Ralbag
• Maimonides Moshe Ben Maimon, aka the Rambam
• Nahmanides Moshe ben Nahman of Gerondi, aka the Ramban
• Yair Bacharach
• Israel ben Eliezer, the Baal Shem Tov, founder of Hasidic Judaism
• Dovber of Mezeritch
• Shneur Zalman
• Jacob Abendana
• Jacob Ettlinger
• Nosson Zvi Finkel
• Zecharias Frankel - Founder of the positive-historical school of Judaism
• Samuel Holdheim A founder of classic German Reform Judaism
• Samson Raphael Hirsch - Founder of neo-Orthodox Judaism
• Abraham Isaac Kook - First chief rabbi of pre-State Israel in Palestine.
• Moses Chaim Luzzato - Kabbalist, mystic
• Solomon Schechter - Founder of Conservative Judaism as a distinct movement
• Elliot N. Dorff - Bioethicist
• Nosson Zvi Finkel
• Louis Finkelstein - Talmud scholar
• Robert Gordis - Leader in Conservative Judaism
• Abraham Joshua Heschel - Hasidic, Conservative
• Jules Harlow - Liturgist
• Yitzchok Hutner
• Meir Kahane - Extremist
• Mordecai Kaplan - Founder of the Reconstructionist movement
• Isaac Klein
• Harold Kushner
• Jacob Neusner - Prolific writer
• Joel Roth
• Zalman Schachter-Shalomi - Jewish Renewal
• Menachem Mendel Schneerson Last Rebbe of Lubavitch (Chabad) Hasidic Judaism
• Joseph Soloveitchik - Leading figure in American Modern Orthodoxy
• Adin Steinsaltz - Talmud scholar

Religion (non-rabbis)

• Abraham (approx. 1980 BC - 1890 BC), first patriarch of Judaism
• Moses (approx. 1530 BC - 1470 BC) leader of Jewish exodus from Egypt and receiver of Jewish law
• Jesus Christ (4 BC - 29 AD), Messianist and central figure of Christianity
• Saul of Tarsus (approx. 2 BC - 67 AD), later known as Saint Paul
• David, king of ancient Israel

Science and Mathematics

• Niels Henrik Bohr (1885-1962), Danish physicist, winner of 1922 Nobel Prize
• Albert Einstein (1879-1955), scientist, winner of 1921 Nobel Physics Prize
• Paul Erdös, prolific mathematician
• Richard Feynman (1918-1988), US physicist
• Rosalind Franklin, British chemist
• Murray Gell-Mann, US physicist
• Stephen Jay Gould, US paleontologist and author of popular science
• Fritz Haber, German chemist
• Roald Hoffmann, theoretical chemist
• Karl Gustav Jacobi, German mathematician
• Hans Krebs biologist, discovered Krebs Cycle
• Benoit Mandelbrot (born 1924), Mathematician, creator of fractal geometry
• Lise Meitner, Austrian physicist
• Herman Minkowski, German mathematician
• Gregory Pincus (1906-1969), Biologist, inventor of the birth control pill
• Steven Pinker, Canadian psychologist
• Lionel Rothschild, 2nd Lord Rothschild (1868-1937), British zoologist, businessman, and politician
• Oliver Sacks (born 1933), neurologist and author
• Carl Sagan, US astronomer
• Jonas Salk polio vaccine
• Leo Szilard physicist, worked on the Manhattan Project
• Edward Teller, physicist, worked on the hydrogen bomb
• Stanislaw Ulam, mathematician, worked on the hydrogen bomb, descendant of Joseph Caro
• John Von Neumann, mathematician and computer scientist
• Robert Oppenheimer, US physicist, leader of the Manhattan Project
• Andre Weil, French mathematician
• Steven Weinberg Nobel prize winning physicist

Sports

• Moe Berg, American spy and baseball player
• Marty Friedman, defensive basketball player in early basketball history
• Bill Goldberg, U.S. professional wrestler
• Hank Greenberg, baseball player
• Sandy Koufax, Major League Baseball pitcher

The Visual Arts

• Richard Avedon, U.S. photographer
• Marc Chagall, Russian/French painter and stained glass artist
• Judy Chicago, U.S. feminist painter and artist
• Al Hirschfeld, U.S. caricaturist
• Peter Max, artist
• Amedeo Modigliani, Italian painter
• Helmut Newton, German photographer
• Jules Pascin, French artist
• Camille Pissarro, French impressionist painter
• William Steig, U.S. cartoonist and illustrator

War

• Sarah Aaronsohn (1890-1917), head of Nili, a Jewish spy-ring in Palestine assisting the British during WWI.
• David Ben-Ishay or King David, biblical Jewish king (tribe of Judah), the conquerer of Yevus and the builder of Jerusalem
• Denise Bloch (1915-1945), SOE agent, decorated WW II heroine
• Eli Cohen, Israeli spy and hero
• Moshe Dayan (1915-1981), Israeli politician and general. Directed the 1956 Suez War and Six-Day War
• Simon bar Kokhba leader of the second Jewish revolt
• Yoni Netanyahu (1946-1976), Israeli war hero
• Ilan Ramon ((1955-2003), Israeli pilot, Israel's first astronaut
• Julius (1918-1953) & Ethel Rosenberg (1915-1953), American spies who sold nuclear information to the USSR
• Samson, biblical judge (Shofet) with super-human strength
• Ariel Sharon, Israeli general and war-hero, Prime Minister of Israel (2001-?)
• Krystyna Skarbek (1915-1952), SOE agent
• Hannah Szenes (1921-1944), SOE agent
• Yosef Trumpeldor, Israeli war-hero (WW1, Galipoly, Tel-Chai)

Miscellaneous

• David Berkowitz, US serial killer, Son of Sam murders
• Louis Brandeis, US Supreme Court Justice
• Alan Dershowitz, US lawyer
• Alfred Dreyfus, French army officer falsely accused of treason
• Bobby Fischer , US chess player
• Ruth Bader Ginsburg, US Supreme Court Justice
• Meyer Lansky, US gangster
• Leopold and Loeb, US killers
• Monica Lewinsky, US intern to President Bill Clinton, involved in a scandal
• Bess Myerson, Miss America, tv entertainer
• Kevin Mitnick, US hacker
• Bugsy Siegel, US gangster
• Simon Wiesenthal, Nazi hunter

See also: List of people by belief, List of Biblical figures

External links

• for more on this topic see http://www.jewhoo.com/