People that are in some way of ex-Yugoslavian descent (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia)
by snitchgrovel | created - 01 Oct 2020 | updated - 8 months ago | Public
1. Ami Dolenz
Actress | Can't Buy Me Love
Ami Dolenz was born on January 8, 1969 in Burbank, California, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for Can't Buy Me Love (1987), Rescue Me (1992) and Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings (1993). She has been married to Jerry Trimble since August 10, 2002.
paternal grandfather was Slovene actor George Dolenz
2. George Dolenz
Actor | Scared Stiff
George Dolenz was born in Italy in 1908 to a large family. He left Italy in the 1920s to start a new life and it seemed that he didn't want to look back on his old one. He arrived in Los Angeles in the 1940s and it was there that he somehow met up with Howard Hughes. Hughes signed him up as a ...
American film actor born in Trieste, in the city's Slovene community
3. Mira Furlan
Actress | Babylon 5
A leading actress of theatre, film and TV in the former Yugoslavia, Mira Furlan emigrated to the U.S. with her husband, Goran Gajic, in November 1991, due to the intolerable political circumstances in her homeland. Ms. Furlan starred in the Warner Brothers TV series Babylon 5 (1993) as "Ambassador ...
she was born to a Croatian-Jewish mother and a father of Slovene-Croat heritage
4. Frank Gorshin
Actor | Twelve Monkeys
Frank John Gorshin, Jr. was born on April 5, 1933 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His father was a railroad worker and his mother, Frances (Preseren), was a seamstress. His family was originally from Novo Mesto, Slovenia. While in high school, young Frank worked as an usher at the Sheridan Square ...
hs father was a second-generation Slovenian-American whose parents emigrated to America from Slovenia. His mother came to the United States as a young girl from Regrča Vas, near Novo Mesto, the main city of Lower Carniola, in Slovenia
5. Melissa Joan Hart
Actress | Sabrina the Teenage Witch
Melissa grew up in Sayville, New York. Her acting career started at the age of four, when she did a commercial for a bathtub toy called Splashy. Her mother, Paula Hart, has been her agent from the beginning. Melissa is the oldest of eight children, some from her mother's second marriage. Six ...
her maternal grandfather's parents were Slovenian
6. Zeljko Ivanek
Actor | Seven Psychopaths
Zeljko Ivanek was born on August 15, 1957 in Ljubljana, Slovenia. He is an actor and producer, known for Seven Psychopaths (2012), Argo (2012) and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017).
born in Ljubljana, PR Slovenia, FPR Yugoslavia
7. Audrey Totter
Actress | The Unsuspected
One is certainly hard-pressed to think of another true "bad girl" representative so closely identifiable with film noir than hard-looking blonde actress Audrey Totter. While she remained a "B"-tier actress for most her career, she was an "A" quality actress and one of filmdom's most intriguing ...
her father was of Austro-Slovenian descent
8. Patrick Warburton
Actor | The Emperor's New Groove
Patrick Warburton is known to many for the role of "Puddy" in the hit NBC comedy "Seinfeld," the laconic, enigmatic, quirky Saab salesman and Elaine's boyfriend. Warburton starred for 7 seasons on the hit CBS comedy "Rules of Engagement" with David Spade, Oliver Hudson, and Megyn Price about two ...
his father is of Slovenian ancestry
9. David Boreanaz
Actor | Angel
David was born in Buffalo, New York and grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is the son of Patti, a travel agent, and weatherman Dave Roberts (Boreanaz). His father is of Italian descent and his mother is of half Slovak ancestry. At the age of seven he decide to be an actor, which eventually ...
he is of Italian and Slovenian descent on his father's side (the surname Boreanaz is of Slovenian origin and was originally spelled "Borjanac"
10. Anthony Jeselnik
Writer | Anthony Jeselnik: Thoughts and Prayers
Anthony Jeselnik was born on December 22, 1978 in Upper St. Clair, Pennsylvania, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Anthony Jeselnik: Thoughts and Prayers (2015), Anthony Jeselnik: Fire in the Maternity Ward (2019) and Night of Too Many Stars: An Overbooked Concert for Autism Education (...
the son of Stephanie and Anthony F. Jeselnik, whose surname and ancestry originates from Slovenia
11. Frankie Yankovic
Soundtrack | Groundhog Day
Frankie Yankovic was born on July 28, 1915 in Davis, West Virginia, USA. He died on October 14, 1998 in New Port Richey, Florida, USA.
born to Slovene immigrant parents
12. Melania Trump
Self | ESPN College Football
Melania Knauss was born Melanija Knavs on April 26, 1970 in Novo Mesto, Slovenia and raised in Sevnica, Slovenia to Amalija Knavs, a patternmaker & Viktor Knavs, a car dealer.
She attended the Secondary School of Design and Photography in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. She then studied ...
Melanija Knavs was born in Novo Mesto, SR Slovenia (then part of Yugoslavia)
13. Amy Klobuchar
Self | Summoned: Frances Perkins and the General Welfare
Amy Klobuchar was born on May 25, 1960 in Plymouth, Minnesota, USA. She has been married to John Bessler since July 10, 1993. They have one child.
her father Jim is of Slovene descent; his grandparents were immigrants from Slovenia's White Carniola region
14. Barron Trump
Self | The Apprentice
Barron Trump was born on March 20, 2006 in New York City as Barron William Trump. He's the son of the 45th U.S. President Donald Trump & his 3rd wife Melania Trump, a former fashion model.
He has 4 older half-siblings: Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump & Tiffany Trump.
He was raised in New ...
he is of Slovenian descent on his mother's side
15. Eric Bana
Actor | Dirty John
Eric Bana was born Eric Banadinovic on August 9, 1968, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. He is the younger of two brothers. His father, named Ivan Banadinovic, came from Zagreb, Croatia, and worked as a manager for Caterpillar Inc. His mother, named Eleanor Banadinovic, came from a German family ...
his father Ivan was Croatian
16. Anna Chlumsky
Actress | My Girl
Anna Maria Chlumsky is an American actress. She began her career as a child actress, best known playing the lead role of Vada Sultenfuss in My Girl (1991) and its 1994 sequel. Between 1999 and 2005, Chlumsky's career entered a hiatus while she attended college. She returned to acting with roles in ...
is of Czech and Croatian descent
17. Claire Du Brey
Actress | The Bishop's Wife
Lovely brown-eyed, brunette Claire Du Brey enjoyed a rich, four-decade film career in all. Born Clara Violet Dubrey on August 31, 1892, in Bonner's Ferry Idaho, her family traveled the rugged Sierra Madre terrain by covered wagon in their move to California when she was 13.
Educated in a convent ...
born to ethnic Croat father from Dalmatia (who anglicized his name to Matthew Dubrey before his marriage)
18. Jenna Elfman
Actress | Dharma & Greg
Jenna Elfman began her career as a professional dancer, appearing in music videos by Depeche Mode and Anthrax, and danced on the 1991 Academy Awards live broadcast, choreographed by Debbie Allen.
She ultimately transitioned to acting, best known for her role as Dharma in the hit television series "...
she is of Croatian ancestry on her father's side
19. John Malkovich
Actor | Being John Malkovich
John Gavin Malkovich was born in Christopher, Illinois, to Joe Anne (Choisser), who owned a local newspaper, and Daniel Leon Malkovich, a state conservation director. His paternal grandparents were Croatian. In 1976, Malkovich joined Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre, newly founded by his friend Gary ...
his paternal grandparents were Croatian immigrants
20. Joe Manganiello
Actor | True Blood
Joe Manganiello is an American actor, producer, director, and author. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Susan (Brachanow) and Charles John Manganiello, and has a younger brother, Nicholas who is also his producing partner. His ancestry includes Sicilian, Irish, Croatian, Armenian, German,...
his mother is of Armenian, Austrian, and Croatian ancestry
21. Ivana Milicevic
Actress | Just Like Heaven
Ivana Milicevic (pronounced Ee-vah-nah Mee-lee-cheh-veech) was born on April 26, 1974, in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (part of Yugoslavia at the time), into a Croat family. She is the daughter of Tonka and Damir Milicevic, and has a younger brother, Tomo. The family emigrated to the United ...
born in Sarajevo, SFR Yugoslavia (modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina), to Croatian parents
22. Patrick Muldoon
Actor | Starship Troopers
William Patrick Muldoon III was born and raised in the Los Angeles waterfront town of San Pedro, California, the son of Deanna and William Patrick Muldoon II, a personal injury and maritime attorney. He has Irish and Croatian ancestry. His parents' artistic backgrounds, in painting, writing, and ...
is of Croatian descent on his mother's side
23. Goran Visnjic
Actor | The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Goran Visnjic is a Croatian American actor and producer, born in Sibenik, Croatia. He is married to Eva Visnjic (formerly Ivana Vrdoljak) with whom has three children. From an early age Visnjic started appearing in various theater plays. At the age of 16, he had his screen debut in the film Braca ...
Croatian, born in Sibenik, Croatia
24. Michael Bublé
Soundtrack | Spider-Man 2
Multi-platinum artist Michael Bublé grew up near Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He was introduced to swing music and old standards by his grandfather, who offered his services for free as a professional plumber to musicians who were willing to let Michael sing a couple of songs with them on ...
was born to Lewis Bublé (originally Buble), a fisherman from Trogir of Croatian ethnicity
25. Krist Novoselic
Soundtrack | Black Widow
Krist Novoselic is an American musician, political activist, best known as the bassist and a founding member of the rock band Nirvana. Nirvana achieved massive success, earning multiple gold and platinum awards and touring around the world at sold-out shows.
After Nirvana disbanded following the ...
son of Croatian immigrants
26. Karl Malden
Actor | A Streetcar Named Desire
Born to a Czech mother and a Serbian father in Chicago as Mladen Sekulovich, on March 22, 1912, Karl Malden did not speak English until he was in kindergarten. After graduating from high school in the nearby steel town of Gary, Indiana, Malden worked in the industry for three years until 1934, when...
Bosnian Serb father
27. Marina Abramovic
Director | Destricted
Marina Abramovic was born on November 30, 1946 in Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia [now Serbia]. She is a director and producer, known for Destricted (2006), At the Waterfall (2003) and The Hunt (1998). She was previously married to Paolo Canevari and Nesa Paripovic.
born in Belgrade, Serbia, former Yugoslavia
28. Peter Bogdanovich
Director | The Last Picture Show
Peter Bogdanovich was conceived in Europe but born in Kingston, New York. He is the son of immigrants fleeing the Nazis, Herma (Robinson) and Borislav Bogdanovich, a painter and pianist. His father was a Serbian Orthodox Christian, and his mother was from a wealthy Austrian Jewish family. Peter ...
his father was a Serbian Orthodox Christian
29. Sasha Alexander
Actress | Shameless
Sasha Alexander began acting by the time she was in the seventh grade when she found herself cast as the lead female in her school's production of "Baby". What she didn't know was that her male co-star would chicken out on her only a few hours before opening night. Determined to let the show go on,...
is of Serbian descent,was born Suzana Drobnjakovic
30. Lolita Davidovich
Actress | Hollywood Homicide
Lolita Davidovich was born on July 15, 1961 in London, Ontario, Canada. She is an actress, known for Hollywood Homicide (2003), Blaze (1989) and Adventures in Babysitting (1987). She has been married to Ron Shelton since 1997. They have one child.
her father was from Belgrade (the capital of Serbia), and her mother was from Slovenia
31. Milla Jovovich
Actress | Le Cinquième Élément
Milla Jovovich is a Ukrainian-American actress, supermodel, fashion designer, singer and public figure, who was on the cover of more than a hundred magazines, and starred in such films as The Fifth Element (1997), Ultraviolet (2006), and the Resident Evil (2002) franchise.
Milica Bogdanovna Jovovich...
Serbian father
32. Stana Katic
Actress | Castle
Stana Katic recently starred in the TV series, Absentia, streaming on Amazon. It's a thriller-drama produced by Sony Pictures Television. Upon debut it was one of Amazon's top-ten most popular programs.
Stana's feature film work includes, CBGB, Big Sur, The Spirit, Feast of Love, The Double and Bond...
parents are Serbs from Croatia
33. Bojana Novakovic
Actress | Edge of Darkness
Novakovic was born on 17 November 1981 in Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia. She moved to Australia in 1988, at the age of seven. Novakovic was initially interested in becoming a social worker or doctor, but after a significant set of events, she changed her mind and decided to pursue the performing ...
born in Belgrade, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia, to Serbian parents
34. Andreja Pejic
Actress | The Girl in the Spider's Web
Andreja Pejic was born on August 28, 1991 in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina. She is an actress, known for The Girl in the Spider's Web (2018), Habit (2021) and The Other Me (2022).
mother is a Bosnian Serb, and father is a Bosnian Croat
35. Sarah Sokolovic
Actress | Big Little Lies
Sarah Sokolovic was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. She is an actress, known for Big Little Lies (2017), Homeland (2011) and Every Secret Thing (2014).
father is Dimso "Dan" Sokolovic, of Serbian descent
36. Coco Austin
Actress | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Nicole Austin was born in 1979 in Palos Verdes, California. Austin later lived in Albequerque, New Mexico at the age of 10. She began dancing and acting during her childhood and teenage years. Once becoming an adult, Austin began to modeling in swimsuit competitions, calendars, catalogs and videos....
she has Serbian ancestry through maternal grandparents born in Serbia
37. Michael Bellisario
Michael Bellisario was born on April 7, 1980 in Los Angeles County, California, USA. He is an actor, known for Grandma's Boy (2006), NCIS (2003) and JAG (1995).
38. Troian Bellisario
Actress | Pretty Little Liars
Troian Bellisario, daughter of producers Donald P. Bellisario and Deborah Pratt, made her film debut at the age of 3 in Last Rites (1988). She made several TV and movie appearances in her teens (most of the TV appearances were in shows produced by her father) before attending the University of ...
her father is of Italian and Serbian descent
39. Divine
Actor | Pink Flamingos
Originally born Harris Glen Milstead just after the end of WWII, Baltimore's most outrageous resident eventually became the international icon of bad taste cinema, as the always shocking and highly entertaining transvestite performer, Divine.
Milstead met maverick film director & good friend, John ...
Divine's mother was one of fifteen children born to an impoverished Serb immigrant couple who had grown up near Zagreb (in today's Croatia)
40. Milena Govich
Director | FBI
Milena Govich is a director, actor, and musician who has helmed many episodes of TV, including The Equalizer (2021), Chicago Med (2015), FBI: Most Wanted (2020), Chicago Fire (2012), among others. She also served as Co-EP/Producing Director on Dick Wolf's CBS series FBI (2018), and is attached to ...
father was Serbian
41. Rade Serbedzija
Actor | The Saint
Rade Serbedzija was born in Bunic (Korenica) in 1946. Graduated from the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb. Still a student, he started to play the leading roles in films and theater productions. He is remembered as an outstanding Peer Gynt, Don Juan, Georgij, Melkior, Oedipus, Hamlet, Leon and ...
was born into an ethnic Serb family in the village of Bunic in the Lika region of Croatia, then part of Yugoslavia
42. Rod Blagojevich
Self | Pontiac's Rebellion
Rod Blagojevich is an American politician who served as the 40th Governor of Illinois from 2003 until his impeachment in 2009.
A Democrat, Rod Blagojevich was a state representative before being elected to the United States House of Representatives representing parts of Chicago. He was elected ...
his parents were immigrants from Yugoslavia. His father was an immigrant from a village near Kragujevac, Serbia.His mother was a Bosnian Serb
43. Rita Ora
Actress | Fifty Shades of Grey
Rita Ora is a British singer-songwriter. She was born Rita Sahatçiu Ora in 1990 in Pristina, Kosovo, to Vera (Bajraktari) and Besnik Sahatçiu. She is a granddaughter of director Besim Sahatçiu. At age one, her family decided to move to the United Kingdom. She grew up in West London and attended St ...
born in Prishtina, Yugoslavia (present-day Kosovo)
44. Lorde
Soundtrack | The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1
Born on November 7, 1996, Lorde (Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor) is a singer/songwriter born in the Auckland suburb of Takapuna and raised in neighboring Devonport, New Zealand. She is of Irish and Croatian descent. She became an international crossover hit in 2013 with her debut studio album, ...
her mother was born to Croatian immigrants
45. Nikola Karabatic
Actor | La Dream Team
Nikola Karabatic was born on April 11, 1984 in Nis, SR Serbia, Yugoslavia [now Serbia]. He is an actor, known for La Dream Team (2016), Bad Mood (2012) and London 2012: Games of the XXX Olympiad (2012). He has been married to Géraldine Pillet since 2010. They have two children.
father was Croatian and his mother was Serbian
46. Bill Rancic
Self | The Apprentice
Bill Rancic was born on May 16, 1971 in Orland Park, Illinois, USA. He is a producer, known for The Apprentice (2004), Airplane Repo (2010) and America Now (2010). He has been married to Giuliana Rancic since September 1, 2007. They have one child.
Croatian heritage
47. Gabriela Spanic
Actress | Soy tu dueña
Gabriela studied psychology, but she knew all the time that her real passion is acting. In 1992, she participated in a beauty pageant, and won the title of "Miss Venezuela International". Gabriela first appeared as an extra, which brought her the opportunity to earn bigger parts in the future. She ...
Croatian father
48. Paul Salamunovich
Music_department | Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
Acclaimed Grammy®-nominated choral conductor and Los Angeles Master Chorale (LAMC) Music Director Emeritus Paul Salamunovich, whose artistry touched millions of people around the world through recordings, live performances, college and university clinics, and the numerous film scores on which he ...
The youngest of five sons born to immigrant parents from what is now Croatia
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