This is a list of Norwegian Americans, or people born in the United States to Norwegian lineage. See also Norwegian-Americans.
The list is ordered by category of human endavour. Persons with significant contributions in two fields are listed in both of the pertinent categories, to facilitate easy lookup.
| Lists of Americans |
|---|
| By US state |
| By ethnicity or nationality |
List
Arts and entertainment
Actors
- Melanie Griffith
- Priscilla Presley
- Richard Dean Anderson
- James Arness [1]
- James Cagney *Jennifer Connelly
- Arlene Dahl [2]
- Linda Evans
- Peter Graves [3]
- Sigrid Gurie [4]
- Lance Henriksen [5]
- Jon-Erik Hexum [6]
- David Soul [15]
- Celeste Holm [7]
- Lorenzo Lamas [8]
- Carole Landis [9]
- Kristanna Loken [10]
- E. G. Marshall [11]
- Robert Mitchum [12]
- Marilyn Monroe [13]
- Harry Morgan [14]
- Piper Perabo [15]
- Evan Ross
- Kevin Sorbo [16]
- Renée Zellweger (Norwegian-Sami mother)
- John Qualen
- Dominic Purcell
Dancers and choreographers
Humorists
- Matt Groening - "The Simpsons" cartoonist/creator[17]
- Pat Paulsen (Comedian, Emmy winner)
Musicians
- Andrews Sisters - singers[18]
- Blossom Dearie - singer[19]
- Linda Eder - singer[20]
- Leif Garrett - Musician/actor
- David Ellefson Legendary heavy metal bass guitarist most notably in Megadeth
- Josh Homme - singer, guitarist
- Peggy Lee - singer, composer, arranger (born Norma Eggstrom)
- Trine Rein - Singer, Songwriter
- Matt Sorum - drummer. Also of English descent.
- Peter Tork - (Actor/Musician, "The Monkees". Born Peter Halsten Thorkelson. Father of Norwegian Descent.)
- Tom Waits - (Actor/Musician, His father Frank was of Scottish-Irish descent and his mother of Norwegian descent.)
- Renee Olstead - Singer
- Josh Groban - Singer
Models
Playboy Playmates
Adult movie performers
Business and commerce
- Arthur Andersen, founder of Arthur Andersen LLP
- Conrad Hilton, Founder of the Hilton Hotel chain and great grandfather of Paris Hilton & Nicky Hilton
- Richard Hilton, Businessman and father of Paris Hilton & Nicky Hilton
- Sig Hansen, Captain of commercial fishing vessel F/V Northwestern featured in Discovery Channel's Deadliest catch.
- Barron Hilton,
- Capt. Phil Harris, Captian of commercial fishing vessel F/V Cornelia Marie featured on Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch
Literature, journalism
- Rasmus B. Anderson - witer/historian/professor[21]
- Robert Bly - poet/author[22]
- Carl Hiaasen - author[23]
- Siri Hustvedt - author
- Eric Sevareid - newspaper reporter/TV news commentator[24], one of The Murrow boys.
Military and exploration
- Fred J. Christensen, high-scoring U.S. Army Air Forces flying ace of World War II
- Gail Halvorsen, the "Candy Bomber" of the Berlin airlift
- Knut Haukelid - Norwegian Army Officer born in the U.S.[25]
- Lauris Norstad - soldier, served as Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe[26]
- Karen L Nyberg - astronaut[27]
- Sally Ride - astronaut[28]
Politics and leadership
- Gene Amondson (Prohibition Party's 2004 Presidential candidate)
- Elmer L. Andersen - 30th State Governor of Minnesota, Norwegian immigrant father and Swedish-American mother
- Orville Freeman - 29th Governor of Minnesota
- Holm O. Bursum (Senator of New Mexico, cousin of Conrad Hilton)
- Joe Foss, Governor from South Dakota
- John Ashcroft, 79th Attorney General of the United States
- Steve Gunderson, openly gay former Congressman
- Mark S. Hanson [16] (Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America & President of the Lutheran World Federation)
- Hubert H. Humphrey (Served as Vice President under President Lyndon Johnson, and was the Democratic party's nominee for president in 1968)
- Henry "Scoop" Jackson (US senator)
- Coya Knutson (first woman elected to Congress from Minnesota)
- Walter Mondale (42nd Vice President of the USA. Served as a senator for 12 years and as an ambassador to Japan. Democratic nominee for Presidency in 1984)
- Eliot Ness (Law Enforcer. Nemesis of the notorious Al Capone; see the Hollywood movie The Untouchables.)
- Floyd B. Olson (former governor of Minnesota. Leader of the Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party, which later merged with Minnesota's Democratic Party)
- Karl Rolvaag (Former Governor of Minnesota, and former US ambassador to Iceland)
- Karl Rove (1950 - ) Deputy Chief of Staff to President George W. Bush[29]
- Martin Sabo [17](Congressman (D) from Minnesota 1979 – 2007)
- William Skylstad (Bishop Catholic Diocese of Spokane, WA)
- John Thune (Senator of South Dakota)
- Andrew Volstead (Politician. Author of the Volstead Act, which provided for the enforcement of Prohibition)
- Earl Warren (Supreme Court Justice, Governor of California, & the 1948 Republican Party nominee for Vice President. Norwegian father, Swedish mother)
- Jon Wefald (President of Kansas State University, Minnesota Secretary of Agriculture)
Science and engineering
- Gene Amdahl (Computer Pioneer & High-Tech Entrepreneur; Architect of IBM's System/360)
- Christian Anfinsen (Chemist & Nobel Prize Laureate)
- Norman Borlaug (Agronomist & Nobel Prize Laureate. Responsible for helping hundreds of millions of people in third-world countries survive by improving methods of food production. The "Father of the Green Revolution")
- Robert A. Dahl (political scientist)
- Douglas Engelbart (Computer pioneer; inventor of the Computer mouse; co-inventor of hypertext)
- Ole Evinrude (Inventor of the outboard motor)
- Ernest O. Lawrence (Inventor & Nobel Prize Laureate)
- Robert C. Michelson (Progenitor of the field of "Aerial Robotics")
- Ted Nelson (Co-inventor of hypertext)
- Ken Olsen (founder of Digital Equipment Corporation. Norwegian father, Swedish mother.)
- Oswald Veblen (Mathematician)
- Thorstein Veblen (Economist, Professor, & Social Commentator. Coined the term "Conspicuous Consumption")
- Edward Tufte Professor and pioneer of informational graphics.
Sports and adventuring
- Babe Zaharias (Olympic athlete, LPGA golfer)
- Eric Heiden (Olympic gold medal winning speed skater)
- Beth Heiden (Olympic speed skater)
- Jon Jansen (Football player)
- Sonny Jurgensen (Football player & Broadcaster)
- Lute Olson (men's basketball coach, The University of Arizona)
- Sarah Reinertsen (triathlete)
- Knut Rockne (football coach, University of Notre Dame)
- John Zimmerman (figure skater)
Church leaders
Other
- Jon-Erik Beckjord (Paranormal investigator and photographer)
- Egil Krogh (Lawyer imprisoned for his role in Watergate)
- Caridee English (winner of America's Next Top Model Cycle 7
See also
References
- ^ James Arness - Norwegian American
- ^ Arlene Dahl: Norwegian American
- ^ Peter Graves - Norwegian American
- ^ Sigrid Gurie: Norwegian American Actress
- ^ NNDB Search - Lance Henriksen
- ^ [1][2]
- ^ Ellis Island exhibit to mark 175th anniversary (Norway - the official site in the United States)
- ^ [3] "I'm half Norwegian and half Argentine"
- ^ Carole Landis, Norwegian American
- ^ (1979 - ) film/television actress (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines)Loken - [4] "Norwegian model-turned-actress Kristanna Loken"
- ^ [5] "Norwegian American Actor" [6] "E. G. Marshall was born Everett Gunnar Marshall, on June 18, 1910, to Norwegian American parents"
- ^ Half Norwegian (on the Mothers Side) American Bar Assn. Homepage - Links
- ^ Marilyn Monroe - Biography
- ^ [7] "His father was Norwegian... Through the years, Morgan appeared opposite many hundreds, probably thousands, of actors, including, of course, fellow Norwegian Americans"
- ^ [8] "Ethnic : Portuguese and Norwegian"
- ^ Kevin Sorbo Linkpage
- ^ [9] "My background is Norwegian and German, two of the unfunniest ethnic groups in the history of the world."
- ^ [10] "Called upon to help support their Greek-Norwegian family when their father's business was wiped out by the Depression"
- ^ Norwegian American Hall of Fame
- ^ Linda Eder, Norwegian American - a Linkpage
- ^ [11] "A prominent Norwegian-American remembers his life in Wisconsin"
- ^ Short Biography of Robert Bly
- ^ [12] "He's this clean-cut Norwegian guy, and he couldn't be nicer, more courteous or more gracious"
- ^ [13] "It could be said that just as Eric Sevareid was a Norwegian-American"
- ^ Knut Haukelid & THE REAL HEROES OF TELEMARK - slideshow
- ^ General Lauris Norstad, Norwegian American; a Linkpage
- ^ Astronaut from Minnesota town will soon be in space
- ^ Sally Ride - Norwegian American Space Pioneer
- ^ Rove - [14] "Oslo, Norway: In "Plan of Attack", Bob Woodward describes Karl Rove's attitude toward Swedes: "Rove saw that the president was "wired up" about Blix. The president knew Rove's attitude toward the Swedes. As the highest-ranking Norwegian-American in the White House -- and perhaps the only one -- Rove was convinced of the historical duplicity of the Swedes, who had invaded Norway in 1814 and ruled the country until 1905. There was a long-standing grudge and it was a running joke between the president and Rove.""