Joseph Gordon-Levitt — actor with roots in the Russian Empire
Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Actor and filmmaker; grandson of the director Michael Gordon. He describes himself as of 100% Ashkenazi Jewish descent; his maternal grandfather was the Hollywood director Michael Gordon (1909-1993), born in Baltimore. A census-based genealogy lists Russian-born parents on both his father's and his mother's lines, but no town, and no authoritative source confirms it.
Tracing the roots — Ashkenazi Jewish (Russia per census-based genealogy only; town not documented)
He describes himself as of 100% Ashkenazi Jewish descent; his maternal grandfather was the Hollywood director Michael Gordon (1909-1993), born in Baltimore. A census-based genealogy lists Russian-born parents on both his father's and his mother's lines, but no town, and no authoritative source confirms it.
Ashkenazi Jewish (Russia per census-based genealogy only; town not documented). At the time, this region lay within the Russian Empire, which spanned from Poland to the Pacific.