List of Lebanese Americans

Lebanese Americans

Total population
504,000 (ancestry unknown) 0.16% of total population (2007) [1]
Regions with significant populations
Michigan, California, New York, Florida, Ohio, Massachusetts, Texas, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Arizona, New Jersey, Washington
Languages
American English, Arabic, Aramaic, French, and Armenian
Religion
Predominantly Christianity (mostly Catholic), with minorities of Islam and Judaism

This is a list of notable individuals born in the United States of Lebanese ancestry and/or people of Lebanese and American dual nationality who live or lived in the United States.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Arts and entertainment

Artists

• Etel Adnan – painter, poet
• Margot Douaihy – writer
• Chawky Frenn – painter and art professor
• Kahlil Gibran – aka Kahlil G. Gibran, artist, sculptor
• Nabil Kanso – painter
• Sam Maloof – woodworker ^[2]
• Juman Malouf – costume designer, artist, illustrator, writer, and the romantic partner of film director Wes Anderson.

Beauty pageant contestants

• Rima Fakih – Miss USA 2010 ^[3]

Entertainment personalities

• Alexander Koch – actor of Lebanese, Italian and German descent
• Alyssa Farah Griffin - co-host of ABC’s The View
• Amy Yasbeck – actress (father was of Lebanese descent) ^[4]
• Anissa Jones – child actor (mother was of Lebanese descent)
• Callie Khouri – Oscar-winning screenwriter ^[5]
• Casey Kasem – radio personality, American Top 40 franchise; voiceover actor (cartoon series Scooby-Doo , Transformers ) ^[6]
• Catherine Keener – actress, mother of Lebanese descent ^[7]
• Celeste Thorson – actress, model, activist, screenwriter
• Chris Romano – actor, producer, director (father of Lebanese heritage, born Shaheen)
• Cristina Vee – singer and voice actor
• Demián Bichir – Mexican-American film actor of Lebanese heritage
• Dan Jbara – television and film producer
• Danny Thomas – actor
• David Yazbek – musician and composer famous for the Broadway musical The Full Monty
• Diane Rehm – host and executive producer of The Diane Rehm Show on National Public Radio
• Edy Ganem – actress (parents are of Lebanese descent)
• Elie Samaha – film producer
• Emeraude Toubia – actress (father is Lebanese)
• Emile Kuri – Mexican-born American Oscar-winning art director
• Frank Lackteen – actor
• Gregory Jbara – television and film actor
• George Nader – actor, uncle of Michael Nader
• George Noory – radio host (radio program Coast to Coast AM )
• Haaz Sleiman – actor (series Nurse Jackie ; film The Visitor )
• Hank the Angry Drunken Dwarf – radio and television personality
• James Stacy – film and television actor
• Jamie Farr – actor (sitcom M*A*S*H )
• Jamie Gray Hyder – actress, model (father of Lebanese descent)
• Jane Wiedlin – musician, actress (mother was of Lebanese descent)
• Jenna Dewan – actress (paternal grandfather was of Lebanese descent)
• Kristen Doute – television personality known for Vanderpump Rules
• Joan Alexander – actress known for her role as Lois Lane
• John A. Kuri – author and writer, film and television producer, and director
• John Leguizamo – actor (maternal grandfather was Lebanese)
• Kathy Najimy – actress
• Kerri Kasem – radio and television host; daughter of Casey Kasem
• Khrystyne Haje – actress (sitcom Head of the Class )
• Lili Estefan – Cuban-American television personality, niece of Emilio Estefan
• Marlo Thomas – actress (father was of Lebanese descent)
• Mario Kassar – filmmaker, founder of Carolco Pictures
• Mary Zilba – television personality and singer
• Mayssa Karaa – Grammy-nominated singer
• Mia Khalifa – pornographic actress and adult model
• Michael Ansara – stage, screen, and voice actor (Lebanese born American)
• Michael Nader – actor, All My Children and Dynasty ^[5]
• Mo Gallini – actor (father of Lebanese descent)
• Paola Turbay – Colombian-American actress, model, beauty queen and television presenter
• Paul Anka – singer-songwriter, actor, producer
• Peter Macdissi – film and television actor
• Raya Meddine – actress of Lebanese descent
• Robert Romanus – actor and musician
• Rose Abdoo – comedian, actress
• Rowan Blanchard – actress (father of Lebanese descent)
• Salma Hayek – Mexican-American actress (paternal grandfather was Lebanese) ^[8]
• Senta Moses – actress known for her role in Home Alone
• Shannon Elizabeth – actress (father of Lebanese descent)
• Terrence Malick – filmmaker, of part Lebanese descent
• Tom Shadyac – film director (of 3/4 Lebanese descent) ^[5]
• Tony Shalhoub – actor ( Monk ) ^[9]
• Tony Thomas – producer (father was of Lebanese descent)
• Vince Vaughn – actor (paternal grandmother was of Lebanese descent) ^[10]
• Wentworth Miller – actor, maternal great-grandmother of Lebanese descent
• Yasmeen Fletcher – actress and musician, mother of Lebanese descent
• Yasmine Al Massri – Lebanese-born American actress

Fashion designers

• Joseph Abboud – fashion designer
• Reem Acra – fashion designer
• Norma Kamali – fashion designer
• Elie Saab – fashioner designer

Musicians

• Andrew Bazzi – pop musician ^[11]
• Dick Dale – rock guitarist and surf music pioneer
• Emilio Estefan – Cuban-American musician and producer; husband of Gloria Estefan ^[12]
• G. E. Smith – lead guitarist in the band Hall & Oates; musical director of Saturday Night Live
• Hamed Sinno – Lebanese-American graphic designer, singer-songwriter of the band Mashrou'Leila
• Jack Barakat – guitarist of the band All Time Low
• Jane Wiedlin – musician, singer-songwriter, and actress; best known as a member of the all-female new wave band The Go-Go's
• John Dolmayan – Lebanese-American of Armenian descent, drummer of band System of a Down
• Kat Dahlia – singer-songwriter, rapper
• Mohammed El-Bakkar – tenor singer, oud player, and conductor
• Nadia Azzi – pianist
• Paul Anka – singer-songwriter (both parents of Lebanese descent)
• Paul Jabara – composer ^[5]
• Neil Sedaka – pop/rock singer, pianist, composer and record producer
• Ron Affif – jazz guitarist and musician
• Rosalind Elias – opera singer renowned for her time in the Metropolitan Opera
• Serj Tankian – Lebanese-American of Armenian descent, lead singer of band System of a Down
• Soraya – Colombian-American singer ^[13]
• Tiffany – singer ^[5]
• Tino Coury – singer-songwriter and producer
• Tiny Tim – folk singer ^[5]
• Tyler Joseph – lead singer of Twenty One Pilots ^[5]

Legal professionals

• Tom Ajamie - civil litigation attorney
• Eva M. Mack – attorney who worked on the California civil rights case Davis v. Carter
• Jeanine Pirro – former district attorney of Westchester County, New York

Business

• Alec Gores – entrepreneur
• Caroline Ghosn – entrepreneur
• Charles Elachi – director of Jet Propulsion Laboratory
• Clifford Antone – founder of Antone's blues club in Austin, Texas
• Debra Cafaro – CEO of Ventas Inc., a healthcare real estate investment trust
• Fares D. Noujaim – business executive
• Frédéric Fekkai – French-American hairdresser and founder of Frédéric Fekkai salons and hair products ^[14]
• George Joseph – founder of Mercury Insurance Group
• George J. Maloof Jr. – businessman and owner of the Sacramento Monarchs, Sacramento Kings and the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas
• George J. Maloof Sr. – businessman and former owner of the Houston Rockets
• Jacques Nasser – former CEO of Ford Motor Company
• Jean Succar Kuri – businessman
• Joe Jamail – attorney and businessman
• Joe Robbie – attorney and original owner of the Miami Dolphins
• John J. Mack – former CEO of investment bank Morgan Stanley (2005–2009)
• Joseph J. Jacobs – former chairman and founder of the Jacobs Engineering Group
• Madeleine A. Pickens – business executive
• Magid Abraham – market research expert and businessman
• Manuel Moroun – businessman and the owner of the Ambassador Bridge
• Michael Boulos – business executive and partner of Tiffany Trump
• Moose Scheib – founder and CEO of LoanMod.com
• Paul Orfalea – founder of Kinko's
• Richard Rainwater (1944–2015) – investor and philanthropist
• Richard Rashid – founder of Microsoft Research
• Robert Khuzami – former director of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
• Thomas J. Barrack Jr. – businessman and founder of Colony Capital
• Tony Fadell – product development manager at Apple Inc.
• Tony Tamer – founder and co-CEO of H.I.G. Capital
• Ziad Makkawi - investor and entrepreneur

Education and academics

• Charbel Farhat – Vivian Church Hoff Professor of Aircraft Structures in the School of Engineering and inaugural James and Anna Marie Spilker Chair of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, at Stanford University;
• Joseph E. Aoun – President of Northeastern University
• Nafe Katter – professor of theatre, University of Connecticut
• Robert Khayat – Chancellor of the University of Mississippi
• Eugene Nassar – author, literary critic and professor
• Donna Shalala – U.S. Representative from Florida, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services and former President of the University of Miami
• Phoebe Stanton – faculty at Johns Hopkins University from 1955 until 1982, art historian, urban planner for the city of Baltimore. ^[15]
• Gabriel Hawawini – emeritus professor of finance and former holder of the Henry Grunfeld Chair in Investment Banking at INSEAD

History

• Akram Fouad Khater – professor, author, expert on Lebanese-American studies
• Philip Khuri Hitti – historian of Arab culture and history ^[16]

Journalism

• Anthony Shadid – foreign correspondent for The New York Times and earlier The Boston Globe
• Brian Karem – journalist and White House correspondent
• Helen Thomas – journalist who covered every U.S. president from 1961 to 2010
• Jad Abumrad – radio host, composer, and producer, founder and co-host of the syndicated public radio program Radiolab
• Jim Avila – senior correspondent for ABC News
• Leila Fadel – journalist for National Public Radio
• Lucie Salhany – first woman to head a broadcast television network in 1993 in the position as Chairman of Fox Broadcasting Company
• Octavia Nasr – former television journalist for CNN
• Paula Faris – journalist (father was of Lebanese descent)
• Raghida Dergham – columnist and senior diplomatic correspondent for the London-based Al Hayat
• Sara Ganim – CNN journalist (father is of Lebanese descent)
• Serena Shim – journalist
• Tamsen Fadal – television journalist
• Walid Phares – security and anti-terrorism expert

Medicine

• Amin J. Barakat – physician, known for the diagnosis of Barakat syndrome
• Charles Sophy – psychiatrist
• Daniel Amen – psychiatrist and author
• George Hatem – "Ma Haide," a founder of the public health system in China
• M. Amin Arnaout – nephrologist and physician-scientist
• Michael DeBakey – heart surgeon, medical innovator
• Paul Nassif – facial plastic surgeon, co-star on the television series Botched

Military

• Alfred Naifeh – U.S. Navy lieutenant posthumously awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal in WWII and namesake of a U.S. Navy ship, USS Naifeh (DE-352)
• Ernest "Iron Mike" Massad – U.S. Army major general
• George Joulwan – retired U.S. Army general
• James Jabara – first American jet ace
• John Abizaid – retired general in the United States Army ^[17]
• Michael A. Monsoor – U.S. Navy SEAL awarded Medal of Honor after being killed during the Iraq War

Politics

Activists

• Jahaira DeAlto – domestic violence victims and LGBT community activist and advocate ^[18]
• Brigitte Gabriel – founder of non-profit political organizations American Congress For Truth and ACT! for America; author; formerly journalist in Israel working for World News ^[19]
• Candy Lightner – activist and founder of Mothers Against Drunk Drivers
• James Zogby – founder of the Arab-American Institute ^[20]
• Jill Kelley – international advocate, socialite, and former diplomat ^{[21] [22] [23]}
• John Zogby – pollster; founder of Zogby International

Politicians

• Abraham Kazen – former U.S. representative from Texas
• Alex Azar – former United States Secretary of Health and Human Services
• Charles Boustany – former U.S. representative from Louisiana
• Charlie Crist – U.S. representative from Florida and former governor of Florida
• Chris Greeley – former Maine state representative
• Chris John – former U.S. representative from Louisiana
• Chris Sununu – Governor of New Hampshire
• Darin LaHood – Republican representative from Illinois
• Darrell Issa – U.S. representative from California
• David Karem – member of Kentucky Senate from 1976 to 2004
• Debbie Mucarsel-Powell – U.S. representative from Florida
• Donna Shalala – U.S. representative from Florida and former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services
• Edward M. Gabriel – former U.S. ambassador to Morocco
• Francis Slay – former mayor of Saint Louis
• Garret Graves – U.S. representative from Louisiana
• George A. Kasem – former U.S. representative from California
• George J. Mitchell – former U.S. senator from Maine
• Gwen Graham – former U.S. representative from Florida
• James Abdnor – former U.S. senator and U.S. representative from South Dakota ^[24]
• James Abourezk – former U.S. senator from South Dakota
• Jeanine Pirro – politician, judge and television host
• John Baldacci – former governor of Maine
• John E. Sununu – former U.S. senator and U.S. representative from New Hampshire
• John H. Sununu – former White House Chief of Staff; former governor of New Hampshire
• Katcho Achadjian – former California State Assembly member, of Armenian descent
• Manuel Maloof – former U.S. government official and businessman
• Mary Rose Oakar – former U.S. representative from Ohio ^[25]
• Nick Rahall – former U.S. representative from West Virginia
• Nico LaHood – Bexar County district attorney, Texas
• Pat Danner – former U.S. representative from Missouri
• Philip Habib – former U.S. ambassador and envoy
• Ralph Abraham – U.S. representative from Louisiana
• Ralph Nader – political activist and former U.S. presidential candidate (Green Party) ^[26]
• Ray LaHood – former U.S. Transportation Secretary and former U.S. representative from Illinois
• Richard L. Hanna – former U.S. representative from New York
• Richard Ieyoub – former Attorney General of Louisiana
• Selwa Roosevelt – former U.S. government official
• Spencer Abraham – former U.S. senator from Michigan
• Suzanne Haik Terrell – former Louisiana elections commissioner
• Toby Moffett – former U.S. representative from Connecticut
• Victor G. Atiyeh – former governor of Oregon ^[27]
• Vincent Sheheen – member of the South Carolina senate
• Sam H. Zakhem – member of the Colorado State House of Representatives, Colorado state senator, former U.S. ambassador to Bahrain under Ronald Reagan

Other personalities

• Adele Khoury Graham – educator and former first lady of the State of Florida
• George Noory – radio host of Coast to Coast AM; author; entertainer
• Joseph Farah – author and journalist
• Nassim Nicholas Taleb – best-selling author, risk expert and statistician, university professor, and former trader and business person
• Robert Khuzami, U.S. deputy attorney for Southern District of New York
• Timothy Massad – U.S. Treasury Department official and corporate lawyer
• Jirair Ratevosian – acting chief of staff to the United States Global AIDS Coordinator (2022–23) ^[28]
• Victoria Reggie Kennedy – attorney and widow of U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy

Sciences

• Anthony Atala – director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine
• Charbel Farhat – director, Army High Performance Computing Research Center, Stanford University, and Member of National Academy of Engineering
• Charles Elachi – director of NASA Jet Propulsion Labs
• Doris Daou – NASA astronomer
• Elias Corey – 1990 Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry ^[29]
• Christa McAuliffe – teacher and astronaut who was killed on the Space Shuttle Challenger; mother was of partial Lebanese descent
• Hassan Kamel Al-Sabbah – technology innovator ^{[30] [31]}
• Michael Debakey – doctor and heart surgeon, medical innovator

Sports

Athletes

• Abe Mickal – football player for LSU
• Bobby Rahal – professional car racer and team owner
• Charley Zivic – professional boxer
• Damien Sandow – professional wrestler in the WWE
• David Azzi – professional football player
• Doug Flutie – former professional football player
• Fred Saigh – lawyer; real estate investor; owner of the American professional baseball franchise the St. Louis Cardinals
• Graham Rahal – professional car racer
• Jackson Vroman – former professional basketball player and member of Lebanon's national basketball team (naturalized Lebanese citizen)
• Jeff George – former NFL quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts
• Jim Harrick – former head coach of the University of Georgia Bull Dogs
• Joe Lahoud – former Major League Baseball outfielder
• Joe Vogel – professional basketball player and member of Lebanon's national basketball team
• John Elway – Hall of Fame NFL quarterback for the Denver Broncos
• John Grabow – former Major League Baseball pitcher
• John Jaha – former first baseman in Major League Baseball, played for the Milwaukee Brewers and Oakland Athletics
• Johnny Manziel – professional football player
• Jordyn Wieber – Olympic gymnast and gold medallist
• Liz Carmouche – mixed martial artist
• Matt Freije – ex-NBA player and member of Lebanon national basketball team
• Matt Kalil – professional football player
• Mikie Mahtook – Major League Baseball outfielder
• Mikie Mahtook – Major League Baseball outfielder
• Patrick Maroon – ice hockey player for the Edmonton Oilers in the NHL
• Paul Rabil – former professional lacrosse player
• Petey Sarron – former featherweight boxing champion
• Rich Kotite – former National Football League player and coach
• Robert Saleh – professional football coach and head coach of the New York Jets
• Robert Watkins – former professional football player; of African-American and Lebanese descent
• Rony Seikaly – former professional basketball player in the NBA and for both the U.S. and Lebanon's national basketball team
• Ryan Kalil – professional football player
• Sabu – professional wrestler, real name Terry Brunk
• Sage Karam – professional car racer
• Samir Bannout – former professional bodybuilder and winner of Mr. Olympia title in 1983
• Skandor Akbar – former professional wrestler
• Soony Saad – professional soccer forward player
• Steve Kerr – retired professional basketball player and current head coach of the Golden State Warriors
• Toni Breidinger – professional race car driver

World Series of Poker champions

• Ihsan "Sammy" Farha – three-time WSOP-bracelet winner
• Jennifer Shahade – two-time United States Women's champion; has the FIDE title of woman grandmaster
• Kassem "Freddy" Deeb – two-time WSOP-bracelet winner
• Joe Hachem – WSOP main event winner and a WPT championship winner (1 of 6 players in the world to win both)

Writers

• Ameen Rihani – author
• D. H. Melhem – poet, novelist, and editor
• Geoff Johns – comic book writer
• Khalil Gibran – author and philosopher ^[32]
• Lee Francis – poet
• Mikha'il Na'ima – author and poet
• Nassim Nicholas Taleb – essayist
• Paula Gunn Allen – Native American poet and activist
• Rabih Alameddine – author
• Raymond Khoury – novelist and screenwriter
• Saree Makdisi – author and literary critic
• Stephen Karam – playwright
• Vance Bourjaily – novelist
• William Peter Blatty – writer, screenwriter

See also

• Lebanese Americans
• Lebanon–United States relations
• List of Lebanese people
• List of Lebanese people (diaspora)
• Arab Americans
• Lebanese Canadian

References

1. "B04003. Total Ancestry Reported". 2007 American Community Survey. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved November 15, 2008.
2. Adamson, Jeremy; Sam Maloof (2001). The Furniture of Sam Maloof. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 2. ISBN   0-393-73080-8. |owned an orchard in Douma, Lebanon
3. Charles, David (May 27, 2010). "An Amazing Melting Pot of Religions and Faiths". Patheos.com . Retrieved June 23, 2010.
4. Lee, Linda (March 9, 2003). "A NIGHT OUT WITH: John Ritter and Amy Yasbeck; Clowning and Autographing" . The New York Times .
5. "Lebanese Americans". Lebanese Global Information Center. 2003–2005.
6. TY: Casey Kasem born as Kamal Amin Kasem
7. Being Catherine Keener from Entertainment Weekly , date 14 April 2006
8. Drawn From Life
9. ^ Tony Shalhoub at the Internet Movie Database
10. "Vince Vaughn: Company". Vincev.com. Archived from the original on March 23, 2006. Retrieved May 24, 2006.
11. bazzi (2018-01-31). "for all u askin... lol i know i look white but i am actually lebanese arab blood babbbbby". @bazzi. Retrieved 2020-01-07.
12. "Emilio Estefan". Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel. May 2009.
13. Soraya Survivor Archived 2011-07-13 at the Wayback Machine from Cuerpo Magazine 2005
14. Prominent Lebanese Americans Archived 2007-12-21 at the Wayback Machine
15. Kelly, Jacques (September 26, 2003). "Phoebe B. Stanton, 88, advised city for decades on design issues". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2021-03-08.
16. "20 Years Later...Remembering Lebanese American Astronaut Christa McAuliffe" (PDF). Lebanese Monthly Magazine. February 2006. p. 18, Volume 1, Issue 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2009. Retrieved January 12, 2009.
17. Anne Barnard and Neil Swidey (March 27, 2003). "Commander's background a strength". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on October 31, 2006. Retrieved December 3, 2008.
18. "Jahaira DeAlto Balenciaga, Local Ballroom Legend And Transgender Advocate, Murdered At 42". News. 2021-05-04. Retrieved 2023-02-07.
19. "Profile: ACT! for America" (PDF). Anti-Defamation League. Retrieved 2017-12-01.
20. Shain, Yossi (1999). Marketing the American Creed Abroad: Diasporas in the U.S. and Their Homelands. Cambridge University Press. p. 122. ISBN   052164531X.
21. Steinhauer, Jennifer (6 January 2014). "From Petraeus Scandal, an Apostle for Privacy". The New York Times.
22. "A booming trade". The Economist. 31 August 2013.
23. "Congressmen have questions for Holder in Jill Kelley leak | tbo.com". Archived from the original on 2018-09-12. Retrieved 2014-06-20.
24. Politics and Propaganda: Weapons of Mass Seduction
25. Women in Congress: Mary Roase Oakar Archived 2012-02-22 at the Wayback Machine
26. "Ralph Nader: An Unreasonable Man". Archived from the original on 2011-10-02. Retrieved 2010-01-10.
27. Embassy of Lebanon in Washington: Making a Difference Archived 2007-12-21 at the Wayback Machine from lebanonembassyus.org
28. Arakelian, Leeza (2021-08-30). "Jirair Ratevosian tapped for US State Department role". The Armenian Weekly. Retrieved 2023-05-28.
29. Elias James Corey – Autobiography
30. http://www.starsofscience.com/phase-2/temps/arab_inventors.asp%5B‍%5D
31. http://publicweb.unimap.edu.my/~ptrpi/v1/index2.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_view&gid=36&Itemid=248%5B‍%5D
32. "Kahlil Gibran (1883–1931)", biography at Cornell University library on-line site, retrieved December 3, 2008