Celebrities of Portuguese descent
by Jadeleana | created - 01 Aug 2011 | updated - 01 Aug 2011 | PublicActors, Actresses, Singers who were born in Portugal or have one parent, or grandparent who descended from Portugal.
1. Tom Hanks
Producer | Cast Away
Thomas Jeffrey Hanks was born in Concord, California, to Janet Marylyn (Frager), a hospital worker, and Amos Mefford Hanks, an itinerant cook. His mother's family, originally surnamed "Fraga", was entirely Portuguese, while his father was of mostly English ancestry. Tom grew up in what he has ...
2. James Franco
Actor | Spring Breakers
Known for his breakthrough starring role on Freaks and Geeks (1999), James Franco was born April 19, 1978 in Palo Alto, California, to Betsy Franco, a writer, artist, and actress, and Douglas Eugene "Doug" Franco, who ran a Silicon Valley business. His mother is Jewish and his father was of ...
3. Keanu Reeves
Actor | The Matrix
Keanu Charles Reeves, whose first name means "cool breeze over the mountains" in Hawaiian, was born September 2, 1964 in Beirut, Lebanon. He is the son of Patric Reeves, a showgirl and costume designer, and Samuel Nowlin Reeves, a geologist. Keanu's father was born in Hawaii, of British, Portuguese...
4. Cristiano Ronaldo
Producer | Untitled Teen Soccer Project
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro was born on February 5, 1985, in Madeira, Portugal to Maria Dolores dos Santos Aveiro and José Diniz Aveiro. Cristiano has an elder brother, Hugo and two elder sisters, Elma and Liliana Cátia. His name was inspired by the former US-president, Ronald Reagan, whom ...
5. Nelly Furtado
Actress | Max Payne
Nelly Kim Furtado was born on December 2, 1978 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada to Maria Manuela Furtado (née Neto), a motel cleaner & António José Furtado, a stonemason. She first gained fame with her trip hop inspired debut album, Whoa, Nelly! (2000), which was a critical and commercial ...
6. Katy Perry
Actress | The Smurfs
Katy Perry was born Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson on October 25, 1984 in Santa Barbara, California to Mary Christine Hudson (née Perry) & Maurice Keith Hudson. She has a big sister named Angela & a little brother named David, and has English, Portuguese, German, Irish, and Scottish ancestry. Her ...
7. Meredith Vieira
Actress | Get Him to the Greek
Meredith Vieira was born on December 30, 1953 in Providence, Rhode Island, USA. She is a producer and actress, known for Get Him to the Greek (2010), The Stepford Wives (2004) and Shrek Forever After (2010). She has been married to Richard M. Cohen since June 14, 1986. They have three children.
8. Carmen Miranda
Soundtrack | Greenwich Village
Carmen Miranda was born Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha on February 9, 1909, near Porto, Portugal, in the town of Marco de Canavezes. Not long after her birth her family moved to Brazil, where her father was involved in the produce business. The family settled in the then-capital city of Rio de ...
9. Shanna Moakler
Actress | The Wedding Singer
Shanna Moakler was born on March 28, 1975 in Providence, Rhode Island, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for The Wedding Singer (1998), Back Stabber (2016) and Big Momma's House 2 (2006). She was previously married to Travis Barker.
10. Brooke Burke
Actress | Melissa & Joey
Brooke Burke holds many titles, including: mother, television host, fitness guru, pod-caster, author, social media mogul (with almost 4 million followers), and cancer survivor. Forbes recognized Brooke's work by listing her as one of America's top ten moms to follow.
Brooke wrote her first biography...
11. Piper Perabo
Actress | Coyote Ugly
Piper Perabo is a Golden Globe nominated film, stage and TV actor. Born in Dallas, Texas, and raised in New Jersey, she graduated summa cum Laude from Ohio University. In 2000 she was cast in a breakout role in Coyote Ugly. Since then she has been seen in such films as Christopher Nolan's "The ...
12. Al Santos
Actor | Jeepers Creepers 2
Al was born and raised in NY. He jumped in the entertainment biz at the age of fifteen. Having booked the very first casting he went on, (a Gushers Fruit Snack's commercial), he dove in head first.
Later that year FORD models signed him. His first job with FORD brought him to become the face of ...
13. Jesse Metcalfe
Actor | Desperate Housewives
Award-winning actor and producer Jesse Metcalfe was born in Northern California's Carmel Valley.
Raised in Waterford, Connecticut, as an only child, Jesse's family relocated time and again. He attended three different elementary schools: Cohanzie, Quaker Hill and Oswegatchie Schools as well as Clark...
14. Cerina da Graca
Actress | Love Is an Elevator
Cerina da Graca is known for Love Is an Elevator (2012), Sapphire Strange (2013) and Into the Game (2011).
15. Vanessa Marcil
Actress | The Rock
Vanessa Marcil was born Vanessa Sally Ortiz on October 15, 1968 in Indio, California to Patricia Irene Marcil-Ortiz (née Marcil), an herbalist and Pete Ortiz, a contractor. She grew up in Indio with her parents, big brother: Pete Samuel "Sam" Ortiz Jr. (November 16, 1958 - November 7, 2019) and big...
16. Lyndsy Fonseca
Actress | Kick-Ass
Lyndsy Marie Fonseca was born in Oakland, California, and was raised first in Alameda and then Moraga, California. Lyndsy competed in the International Modeling & Talent Association, where she was recognized as the second runner-up for "Young Miss Dancer of the Year" and was the first runner-up for...
17. Paula Labaredas
Actress | Selfie Girl a Barbie Girl Parody
Paula is a Portuguese American Actress and Producer, whose birth name is Paula Maria Esteves Labaredas. She was born in a small town in Portugal in her Grandmother's home. At the age of two her family migrated to America for a better life. When Paula arrived in America and was going through customs...
18. David Lee Roth
Actor | David Lee Roth: Just a Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody
David Lee Roth was born in Bloomington Indiana in 1954. A few years later, his father Nathan, a doctor, moved the family to sunny California. The move proved to be a good one because while attending Pasadena Community College, David teamed up with the Van Halen brothers and Michael Anthony to form ...
19. Jonathan Taylor Thomas
Actor | The Lion King
Jonathan Taylor Thomas was born Jonathan Taylor Weiss on September 8, 1981 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, to Claudine (Gonsalves) and Stephen Weiss. He has an older brother, Joel, and has Pennsylvania Dutch (German) and Portuguese ancestry. Growing up, he liked the music group Boyz II Men, and his ...
20. Louis Ferreira
Actor | Bad Blood
Louis Ferreira has spent more than 30 years performing recognizable roles in award-winning film and television productions, garnering him countless accolades along the way.
Ferreira had a recurring role on the TV series Shōgun (2024) for Amazon Studios. Prior to that, he was in the highly ...
21. Danica McKellar
Actress | The Wonder Years
Together with her younger sister, Crystal McKellar, she began acting at a young age in her mother's dance studio. In 1982 the family moved to Los Angeles and a few years later she appeared in her first commercial. A few guest appearances in The Twilight Zone (1985) was followed by her breakthrough ...
22. Sean Paul
Soundtrack | Black Widow
Sean Paul Francis Henriques (born 9 January 1973), known professionally as Sean Paul, is a Jamaican dancehall rapper, singer and record producer. Sean Paul was born in Kingston, Jamaica to parents Garth and Frances. His mother is a well-known painter. His paternal grandfather is from a Jewish ...
23. Linda Perry
Soundtrack | Dumplin'
Linda Perry was born on April 15, 1965 in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA. She is a music artist and composer, known for Dumplin' (2018), Luckiest Girl Alive (2022) and Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021). She was previously married to Sara Gilbert.
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