Celebrities of Arab descent
by anasyaseen | created - 29 Jul 2011 | updated - 25 Oct 2011 | Public
1. Omar Sharif
Actor | Lawrence of Arabia
Omar Sharif, the Egyptian actor best known for playing Sherif Ali in Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and the title role in Doctor Zhivago (1965), was born Michel Demitri Shalhoub on April 10, 1932 in Alexandria, Egypt to Joseph Shalhoub, a lumber merchant, and his wife, Claire (Saada). Of Lebanese and ...
2. Salma Hayek
Actress | Frida
Salma Hayek was born on September 2, 1966 in Coatzacoalcos, Mexico. Her father is of Lebanese descent and her mother is of Mexican/Spanish ancestry. After having seen Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) in a local movie theater, she decided she wanted to become an actress. At age 12, she...
One of Hollywood's most dazzling leading actresses, Salma Hayek was born in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico, on 2nd September, 1966. Her Lebanese-Mexican father was a rich businessman and her mother was an opera singer.
3. Hiam Abbass
Actress | Blade Runner 2049
Hiam Abbass also Hiyam Abbas, is a Palestinian actress and film director. Abbass was born in Nazareth, Israel, to a Muslim Arab family. She was raised in the village of Deir Hanna. Since the late 1980s, she has lived in Paris and holds French citizenship. During the filming of the Steven Spielberg ...
Is Palestinian with an Israeli and French passport.
4. Kosai Khauli
Actor | Eastern Bed: Takht Sharqi
Kosai Khauli is an award winning critically acclaimed popular Syrian actor born on April 1, 1976 in Tartus, Syria. Kosai studied Law for two years but decided to pursue acting studies at the prestigious Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts from which he graduated in 1999. His debut role was a leading ...
April 1, 1976 in Damascus, Syria
5. 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...
September 2, 1964 in Beirut, Lebanon
6. Shakira
Soundtrack | Zootopia
Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll was born on February 2, 1977 in Barranquilla, Colombia to Nidia del Carmen Mebarak (née Ripoll Torrado) & William Alberto Mebarak Chadid. She is of Lebanese, Spanish & Italian descent. Shakira began her musical career at the age of 12 and quickly captured fans around ...
7. Moustapha Akkad
Producer | The Message
The creativity of Moustapha Akkad came in such movies as Lion of the Desert (1980) and The Message (1976), where he directed and showed some really creative amazing view on the history of Islam. As an Arabic Muslim it was really hard for him to make it in Hollywood but no one could deny his talent ...
The creativity of Moustapha Akkad came in such movies as Lion of the Desert and The Message, where he directed and showed some really creative amazing view on the history of Islam. As an Arabic Muslim it was really hard for him to make it in Hollywood but no one could deny his talent as a director and a producer.
8. Husam Chadat
Husam Chadat was born on May 15, 1966 in Damascus, Syria. He is an actor and director, known for Resident Evil (2002), 13 Hours (2016) and Die Hochzeit (1997).
9. Ali Suliman
Actor | The Kingdom
Ali Suliman is one of the most prominent Arab actors in the international film industry. This is evidenced by his dominant presence across the 2021's international festivals with a slew of remarkable works, including Amira (2021) by director Mohamed Diab at the Venice International Film Festival, ...
10. Tony Shalhoub
Actor | Monk
Anthony Marc Shalhoub was born and raised in Green Bay, Wisconsin. His father, Joseph Shalhoub, who owned a grocery chain, emigrated from Lebanon to the United States as an orphan at age ten, later marrying Shalhoub's mother, Helen (Seroogy), who herself was born in Wisconsin, to Lebanese parents. ...
11. Steve Jobs
Producer | Toy Story
Steven Paul Jobs was born on 24 February 1955 in San Francisco, California, to students Abdul Fattah Jandali and Joanne Carole Schieble who were unmarried at the time and gave him up for adoption. He was taken in by a working class couple, Paul and Clara Jobs, and grew up with them in Mountain View...
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