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Post by Polako on Jan 12, 2006 9:45:55 GMT -5
Been looking up famous people with Polish ancestry. Some of these may really surprise you...
Pat Benatar aka Patricia Andrzejewski - Love is a Battlefield
Gene Krupa - Pioneering drummer
Ray Manzarek - Keyboardist for The Doors
Richie Sambora - Bon Jovi
Loretta Swit - Hot Lips on M*A*S*H
Eric Szmanda - Greg Sanders on CSI
Steve Wozniak - Co-founder, Apple Computer
King Canute - Medieval King of England, Denmark, Norway
Xuxa - Brazilian Pornstar turned children's TV host
Add your own!
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Post by dukeofpain on Jan 12, 2006 10:01:49 GMT -5
Been looking up famous people with Polish ancestry. Some of these may really surprise you... Pat Benatar aka Patricia Andrzejewski - Love is a Battlefield Gene Krupa - Pioneering drummer Ray Manzarek - Keyboardist for The Doors Richie Sambora - Bon Jovi Loretta Swit - Hot Lips on M*A*S*H Eric Szmanda - Greg Sanders on CSI Steve Wozniak - Co-founder, Apple Computer King Canute - Medieval King of England, Denmark, Norway Xuxa - Brazilian Pornstar turned children's TV host Add your own! Completely polish or only polish roots? Martha Stewart is Completly polish [Kostyra] Even though she looks extremely WASP'y. Axel Rose is part Polish Also, Leelee Sobieski, she also claims to be decended from Jan III, Even though he had no great-grandchildren that carried on the family name. Oh yes, and Charles Bukowski, who I think comes from a "Germanized" polish background, though whom is American.
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Post by nordicyouth on Jan 12, 2006 17:19:08 GMT -5
General Jaruzelski - although he's Polish
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Post by Josh on Jan 12, 2006 17:48:37 GMT -5
Isn't Charles Bronson (Buchinski) at least part Polish? I've heard that he's Polish, Ukrainian, and/or Lithuanian, but I don't know what the truth is exactly.
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Post by buddy on Jan 12, 2006 18:04:26 GMT -5
^I've heard Bronson is Polish as well. Plenty of people here in western Pennsylvania are of Polish extraction. In fact, many of my neighbors are Polish-Americans, and several more are at least of some other Slavic background (Slovak and Croatian mostly).
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Post by Polako on Jan 12, 2006 18:18:43 GMT -5
Charles Brosnon is Lithuanian, but also part Polish. I've read somewhere he's also part Lithuanian Tatar.
Iggy Pop is German-Polish.
Janice Dickenson is Polish-Irish
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Post by buddy on Jan 12, 2006 18:24:01 GMT -5
Charles Brosnon is Lithuanian, but also part Polish. I've read somewhere he's also part Lithuanian Tatar. Iggy Pop is German-Polish. Janice Dickenson is Polish-Irish Bronson part Tatar? Judging from his appearance, I could definitely see that actually.
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Post by dukeofpain on Jan 12, 2006 20:41:35 GMT -5
Charles Brosnon is Lithuanian, but also part Polish. I've read somewhere he's also part Lithuanian Tatar. Iggy Pop is German-Polish. Janice Dickenson is Polish-Irish \ He has to be atleast half tartar. I've seen 100% crimean tartars that look less asiatic. I'd imagine leftover tartars from lithuania/Poland commonwealth would look even less asiatic than the crimeans. Though I could be wrong.
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Post by wendland on Jan 12, 2006 23:27:33 GMT -5
Charles Bronson is descended from Poles of the Wilno region, that's the Lithuanian connection, so I don't think he's ethnically a Lithuanian. And, maybe the Tartar ancestry was a long time ago, a lot of people with no knowledge of rather recent Tartar descent look like that. More of Polish ancestry: Bonnie Prince Charlie (from his mother), Otto von Bismark (what irony), Michael Landon (Little House on the Prarie), Stephanie Powers (changed name for carreer), Feliks Dzierzynski (founder of KGB, russianized Pole), Hildegard Knef (German actress of the 50s and 60s, Kashubian grandmother), Pola Negri (prewar actress), Judy Tenuta (half Polish comedienne), Ted Knight (actor on Mary Tyler Moore Show), Bobby Vinton (schlocky singer), THAT'S ALL I CAN THINK OF FOR NOW...
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Post by nordicyouth on Jan 13, 2006 2:06:45 GMT -5
Bismarck was Polish? Whole? Did he know it?
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Post by henerte on Jan 13, 2006 7:55:31 GMT -5
Quoting kings and aristocrats doesn't really make much sense as all nobles and their families in Europe were intermarried with each other since ancient times. King Canute's mother was "sort of" polish and she is worth mentioning only because she appeared in Viking's sagas as Gunhild. She was a daughter of Mieszko I and his wife Dabrowka who in turn was a daughter of a czech ruler and his english(?) wife etc....
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Post by henerte on Jan 13, 2006 8:09:08 GMT -5
Tadeusz Kosciuszko - (1746-1817) was a Polish national hero, general and a leader of that nation's uprising against Russia in 1794. He fought in the American Revolutionary War as a colonel in the Continental Army on the side of Washington. In recognition of his dedicated a faithful service he was brevetted by the Continental Congress to the rank of Brigadier General in 1783. Koœciuszko was recruited in France by Silas Deane and Benjamin Franklin and in August 1776 he arrived in America. He initially served as a volunteer but Congress later commissioned him a Colonel of Engineers in the Continental Army on October 18, 1776. Due to recommendation of Prince Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski and General Charles Lee Koœciuszko was named head engineer of the Continental Army. His first task in America was the fortification of Philadelphia. On September 24, 1776, Koœciuszko was ordered to fortify the banks of the Delaware River against a possible British crossing. In the Spring of 1777 he was attached to the Northern Army under General Horatio Gates. As the chief engineer of the army he commanded the construction of several forts and fortified military camps along the Canadian border. His work made significant contributions to the American successful retreat from the battle of Ticonderoga and victory at Saratoga in 1777. After the battle Koœciuszko, then regarded as one of the best engineers in American service, was put in charge by George Washington of military engineering works at the stronghold in West Point on the Hudson River. Then he asked to be transferred to the Southern Army, where he also made significant contributions to the American victories. After seven years of service, on October 13, 1783, Koœciuszko was promoted by the Congress to the rank of Brigadier General. He was also granted American citizenship, 2.5 square kilometres of land in America, and a large sum of money. He used the money to help some black slaves gain their freedom. He was also admitted to the prestigious Society of the Cincinnati, one of only three foreigners allowed to join, and to the American Philosophical Society. As a national hero of both Poland and the USA, Koœciuszko became the namesake of numerous places in the world. The Polish explorer Count Pawe³ Edmund Strzelecki named the highest mountain on the Australian continent, Mount Kosciuszko, for him. Nowadays the mountain is the central point of the Kosciuszko National Park. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KosciuszkoKazimierz Pulaski - (in the USA referred to as Casimir Pulaski) (March 6, 1745 – October 11/15, 1779), born near Warsaw (Winiary-Warka area), Poland, was a Polish nobleman (szlachcic) of Œlepowron Coat of Arms, soldier and military commander who fought against the Russian (tsarist) Empire in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. From 1768 to 1772, he took part in a confederation against the Russians called the Confederation of Bar (Konfederacja barska). Kazimierz Pu³aski monument at Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC.From 1777 to 1779, he fought for independence of the United States in the American Revolution under the command of George Washington. Pulaski was a noted cavalryman and played a large role in training Revolutionary troops, creating Pulaski's Legion, one of the few cavalry regiments in the contemporary US army. He took part in the Siege of Charleston (Charleston, South Carolina) and siege of Savannah (Savannah, Georgia). During a cavalry charge, on October 9, 1779, while probing for a weak point in the British lines at the battle of Savannah, Pulaski was mortally wounded by grapeshot. He was carried from the field of battle by several comrades, including Colonel John C. Cooper. He was wounded in the thigh and was taken aboard the privateer merchant brigantine Wasp. Two days later, on October 11, 1779, he died of wounds without regaining consciousness. Perhaps one of the first tributes was paid by George Washington, who on 17 November 1779 issued an order to identify friends and foes when crossing military lines: "Query: Pulaski, Response: Poland." Fort Pulaski National Monument of the American Civil War is named so in honor of Kazimierz Pulaski. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazimierz_Pu%C5%82aski
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Post by nockwasright on Jan 13, 2006 10:42:02 GMT -5
Charles Bukowski sounds very Polish, but he always claimed to be German. In his autobiography "Ham on rye", he tells once in hospital a doctor asked him if he was Polish and he ansewred no, German. So the doctor said, mmm, no one ever wants to be Polish.
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Post by gambin on Jan 13, 2006 10:57:41 GMT -5
Roman Polanski is Franco-Polish Jewish.
Oh, I forgot his name, but he is the lead singer of the Goo Goo Dolls...he's Polish-American.
Mike Ditka, coach of the Chicago Bears is Polish-American.
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Post by henerte on Jan 13, 2006 11:05:50 GMT -5
Roman Polanski is Franco-Polish Jewish. I think he was born in France but his family were polish Jews. But his surname actually violates rules of polish orthography.
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