Though it was a comedy, the 1966 movie “The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming” is full of irony and would be more aptly named “The Russians Are Here“. Now what started me on this?

In preparing for my post of last March about the Oprah Winfrey Network Lisa Ling production of “Online Brides”, I came across a statement on a web site that I mistakenly interpreted as saying that Oprah Winfrey has Russian ancestry. My mistake probably occurred because Oprah has many references to Russia on her show both in regards to Russian guests and discussions of Russian literature. Certainly I thought it strange that she would have Russian ancestry but I did not pursue it at the time.

But the other day I came across another famous American who was claimed to have Russian ancestry and the Oprah thing came to mind. So I looked up Oprah on Wikipedia and that pretty much settled the issue permanently. On Wikipedia there’s a DNA analysis of Oprah’s ancestral heritage which states she is 89% African and 9% to probably 11% Native American.

Now Oprah is lots of things including smart, talented, wealthy, generous, etc.. But one thing Oprah is not is part Russian. That’s “not” as in zero, zilch, nada, nyet.
But my curiosity was still with me. I still had this other famous American to look into. Back to Wikipedia. Whoa! A gold mine. This is a list of Americans who are either Russian or have Russian ancestry.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Russian_Americans

This Wikipedia list has some incredible names on it. I extracted just a few and listed them below. My extract is close to the Wikipedia contents except that I shortened some items and abbreviated some too. I added to the citations only in the case of Michael Bloomberg. For him I did a separate lookup to confirm his relevance to the list, because in fact, he is the other famous American that got me started on this quest.

One thing about the list that is unsettling is that specific ancestral heritage is not documented for all people on the list. I have not taken the time to independently research these people. If it strikes your fancy to do so for any particular person, then have at it.  

  Here’s my “short” list

Pamela Anderson - actress -  mother is of Russian ancestry.
Mikhail Baryshnikov - dancer/actor - Russian-born
Yul Brynner - Academy Award actor - Russian-born
Eddie Cantor - actor/dancer 
Jennifer Connelly - actress - mother is Russian/Polish
Alexis Denisof - actor
Leonardo DiCaprio - actor - mother is half Russian
Kirk Douglas - actor - born to Russian parents.
Michael Douglas - actor - son of Kirk Douglas
Robert Downey Jr - actor 
Robert Downey Sr - actor  
Michael Dudikoff - actor 
Peter Falk - actor - father Polish - mother Russian
Harrison Ford - actor - mother was of Russian descent
Samuel Goldwyn - movie producer/director 
Jon Bon Jovi - musician - mother is part Russian 
Lila Kedrova - Academy Award actress - Russian-born
Walter Matthau - actor/comedian 
Sean Penn - Academy Award actor - paternal grandparents   Russian and Lithuanian                    
Joaquin Phoenix - actor  
River Phoenix - actor 
Don Rickles  - actor/comedian 
Natalie Wood  - actress
David Copperfield  - magician 
Isaac Asimov - science fiction writer  
Joseph Brodsky - Nobel Prize (literature)
Ayn Rand - philosopher/novelist
Alexei A. Abrikosov - theoretical physicist 
George Gamow - astrophysicist  
Wassily Leontief - Nobel Prize (economics) 
Igor Sikorsky - helicopter designer
Otto Struve - astrophysicist 
Leon Theremin - physicist 
Vladimir Kosma Zworykin - part inventor of TV 
Benjamin Agosto - ice dancer
Fred Biletnikoff - football player/coach
Shirley Babashoff - Olympic swimming gold/silver medalist 
Alex Bogomolov, Jr. - professional tennis player.
Nathan Bor - boxer 
Maxim Dlugy - chess grand master 
Rod Dyachenko - football player 
Irving Jaffee - speed skater
Anna Kotchneva - gymnast 
Evgeni Nabokov - ice hockey 
Andy Seminick - baseball player
Kerri Strug - gymnast 
Ted Williams - baseball player 
Sergey Brin - Google co-founder 
Jim Talent - U.S. Senator - Russian paternal grandparents

                and last but certainly not least

Michael Bloomberg - Mayor of New York City/businessman -          maternal grandfather from Russia   

Well this is great stuff to know if you want to prep for a game of Trivia Pursuit. But other than that, So What?

For one thing, note this: Alla is very aware of successful/famous Russian Americans. It’s a point of pride for her, being proud of “Mother Russia”, her heritage. When I told her I was preparing this post she responded “don’t forget so and so, and so and so,” some of whom are not on Wikipedia’s list. I’m not familiar with the people she mentioned and have not, to her chagrin, included them in my abbreviated list. But knowing her as I do, these unmentioned Russian Americans are no doubt people of note, perhaps not billionaires or world-changers, but contributors to a stronger, better America nonetheless.

So this list of Russian Americans can mean zero or bunches depending on your perspective.

Personally, I wonder if certain of the people on the list whose Russian ancestry is immediate (such as for parents or grandparents ) reflect on their success and attribute some of it to their Russian heritage. I’ve written before that Russians are resourceful, resolute, and resilient. It seems to me that those qualities, combined with the American spirit of independence, entrepreneurship, and opportunity could result in a very potent combination leading to success and achievement.

I mentioned the game of Trivia Pursuit. Well here’s a real-life non-game for you to engage in: meet a Russian woman and find out if she or any of her family are related to any of the people listed above or on Wikipedia. She may not know directly. But Russian families are much closer than American families, so maybe her “babushka” (grandmother) or aunt, or whoever in her family knows of a family member that immigrated to America. If the answer is yes, they can be traced through immigration papers, etc. to present time and circumstances.

If the answer is no, then you’ve at least met a Russian woman and engaged her in a discussion about her family, a very safe and appreciated way to relate to Russian women.

see my post at
http://russianbridefacts.com/blog/2011/06/24/a-foreign-affair-review-plus-russian-women-what-to-talk-about/

Or,if you’re a more than curious and committed kind of guy, here’s another  real-life thing to do. Meet and marry one of the Russian women on  either the A Foreign Affair site or Elenas Models site and let Russian women’s family values run their course in your life. Perhaps one of your children will end up on some future Wikipedia famous people list.

Happiness and Success to you,

Gary.

Here are 5 of roughly 19,000 Russian women on the A Foreign Affair site. Click the pics for profiles and to find more.

And here are 5 of roughly 15,000 Russian women on the Elenas Models site. Again, click the pics for profiles and to find more.