Many celebrities around the world trace their roots back to Lebanon!
Shakira
Shakira is an award-winning singer and songwriter. Her paternal grandparents emigrated from Lebanon to New York. When her father was five years old, the family moved to Colombia. Shakira first visited Lebanon in 2011 and dedicated her concert to her father.
Salma Hayek
Salma Hayek is a Mexican-American actress and movie producer of Lebanese descent. She produced the award-winning movie “Frida” which is about the renowned Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. The movie won two Oscars and earned over 56 million dollars. Hayek also co-produced “Khalil Gibran’s The Prophet” which was an international success.
William Peter Blatty
Blatty was an American writer and filmmaker who is best known for his novel The Exorcist. The film adaptation won the following awards: Best Picture (Golden Globes), Best Screenplay (Golden Globes), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Academy Awards). He was the son of Lebanese immigrants.
Rima Fakih
@rimafakihRima Fakih is a Lebanese-American actress, model, and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss USA 2010. Her parents escaped the Lebanese Civil War and settled in New York in 1993.
Mika
@mikainstagramMika is an award-winning singer and songwriter. He was born in Beirut to an American father and a Lebanese mother. His family moved to Paris to escape the Lebanese Civil War.
Tony Sal
@salxoSal is the CEO of SAL&CO/Maverick and XO Records. He also manages The Weeknd, French Montana, Belly, Massari among others. The Weeknd’s “Starboy” was No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for five weeks!
Emile Kuri
Emile Kuri was a Mexican-American set decorator of Lebanese heritage. He won two Academy Awards for The Heiress (1949) and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) and was nominated for six more in the category of Best Art Direction.
René Angélil
Angélil was a music producer, talent manager, and singer. He was the manager and husband of Céline Dion. His mother, Alice Sara, was Canadian of Lebanese descent.
Danny Thomas
Danny Thomas was a Lebanese-American comedian and the founder of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. This pediatric treatment and research facility treats children who have cancer for free. Thanks to this hospital, the overall survival rate for childhood cancers has risen from 20 percent to 80 percent. Read more.
Tony Shalhoub
Tony Shalhoub is an award-winning actor who played Antonio Scarpacci in Wings and detective Adrian Monk in Monk. His father was from Lebanon and emigrated to the United States as an orphan.
Marlo Thomas
Marlo Thomas is an actress, producer, author, and the daughter of Danny Thomas. You might know her from the sitcom Friends since she played Sandra Green who is Rachel’s mother.
Casey Kasem
Casey Kasem was a Lebanese-American voice actor and radio host. He voiced Scooby Doo’s Shaggy from 1969 until 1997, and from 2002 until 2009. He was the co-founder of the American Top 40 franchise, and he was the host of Casey’s top 40. Read more.
