half-spanish

List of Spanish Americans

Spanish Americans are European Americans who have predominately Spanish (European) ancestry. Also, people who claim "Spanish" or "Spaniard" as one of their two ethnic ancestries will be included in this list..eg: Martin Sheen
There are also many people of other Hispanic "national" origin, eg: Cuban Americans, Mexican Americans and Puerto Rican Americans who ultimatly trace their roots to Spain and form part of the Spanish American population..eg: Marquita Rivera, Héctor Elizondo, Joanna García or Rita Moreno. This article includes Isleños or Canary Islanders and Belearic Islanders.

This is a list of notable Spanish Americans, ordered by surname within section.

List

Artists and Designers

Mabel Alvarez - Prominent American artist.
Fred Castellon, or Federico Castellón - Painter and sculptor born in Almeria, Spain
Marisol Deluna - American fashion designer, family lineage traces to Spanish-Basque and Castilian origin.

Business

John Arrillaga - real estate businessman.
John Casablancas - Founder and Chairman of Elite Modeling Agency and the world's largest modeling school. Spanish parents.
Frank Lorenzo - Airline executive who founded Continental Airlines.
Don Prudencio Unanue Ortiz - and Doña Carolina Casal Unanue, founders of Goya Foods
Andy Unanue - Former vice president of Goya Foods
Joseph A. Unanue - Served 27-year tenure as president of Goya Foods, the largest Hispanic-owned food company in the United States.
Vicente Martinez Ybor (September 7, 1818 - December, 1896) was a Spanish-American industrialist and Cuban cigar manufacturer.
Andres Soriano III - former Chairman of San Miguel Corporation, the leading food and beverage conglomerate in the Philippines.

Entertainment

Actors and Actresses

Trini Alvarado - American Actress, Spanish father.
Stella del Carmen Banderas - actress, Daughter of Antonio Banderas.
Lynda Carter - Actress best known as the title character in popular 1970 television series Wonder Woman. Born Linda Jean Córdova Carter.
Héctor Elizondo - born in New York City, the son of Spanish (Basque)-Puerto Rican parents.
Emilio Estévez - American actor, director, writer. Spanish father from Galicia, Spain.
Mel Ferrer - Cuban father of Spanish descent.
Joanna García - Cuban parents of Spanish descent.
Leo Carrillo - actor, vaudevillian, political cartoonist, and conservationist.
Greg Giraldo American Stand-up comic
Cork Graham - actor, war correspondent, and author. Mother Spanish (m.n.: Troncoso) originally from Valencia.
Rita Hayworth - American actress and icon. Spanish father born in Seville, Spain.
Lainie Kazan (born May 15, 1940) is an American actress and singer of half Spanish ancestry.
Adele Mara - is an American actress, active in the mid 20th-century.
Kyndra Mayo- actor on Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County (part Hispanic)
Antonio Moreno - Spanish born ,American educated actor; he was a leading silent film star of the 1920s.
Margaret O'Brien - Renowned child actress, Spanish mother.
Joaquin Phoenix - American actor, 1/4 Spanish from father's side
River Phoenix - American actor, father of Spanish/Irish descent.
Nathalia Ramos - American Actress & Singer. Spanish father. Played the leading role of Yasmin in Bratz: The Movie.
Nicole Richie - American actress, author, and celebutante.
Marquita Rivera - Puerto Rican American Hollywood actress of Spanish descent.
Sarah Shahi - is an American actress, model has Spanish mother.
Martin Sheen - Born 'Ramón Gerardo Antonio Estévez', father from Galicia, Spain.
Charlie Sheen - American actor, Spanish grandfather.
Raquel Welch - Born 'Jo Raquel Tejada', American actress of Spanish-Bolivian descent.
Elena Verdugo - 1940s Spanish-American actress.

Models

Alley Baggett- American model and presenter, Half Spanish.
Jo Collins - Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for December 1964 and Playmate of the Year for 1965. Half Spanish.
Danielle Gamba - is an American model and dancer of Italian and Spanish descent.
Paulina James - is an American pornographic actress of Spanish and Portuguese ancestry.
Ali Landry - a former Miss USA (1996), model and actress. French and Spanish (Cajun) descent.
Pilar Lastra - American model and presenter, Spanish father.
Dillan Lauren - American Pornographic actress with Spanish heritage.
Nina Mercedez American Pornographic actress with Spanish heritage.
Nadia Styles - American Pornographic actress of Spanish ancestry.

Music

Julian Casablancas - The vocalist and songwriter of the New York band The Strokes.
Nichole Cordova - is a singer and dancer. Cordova is a member of the musical group Girlicious.
David Archuleta - father of Spanish (Basque) descent.
Jerry Garcia - Guitarist and singer for the Grateful Dead. Father was born in La Coruña, Spain.
Kaci - (prounounced Kah-chee), is a singer, dancer and occasional actress.
Irvan Perez - Isleño Singer
Val Ramos - Nuevo Flamenco guitarist, Puerto Rican American of Spanish descent.
Joey Vilchez Nardone- Singer, Songwriter and Actor, Mothers family from Malaga, Spain.

Government and Military

Terry de la Mesa Allen, Sr. - Major General, U.S. Army. Decorated World War II Division commander.
Terry de la Mesa Allen, Jr. - Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army. Killed in Vietnam War.
Juan José Carrillo - the first mayor of Santa Monica, California
David Farragut - First senior officer of the U.S. Navy during the Civil War. Coined phrase "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!"
Joseph Montoya - Democratic U.S. Senator from the State of New Mexico.
Bob Martinez - Former and first Hispanic Governor of Florida, grandson of Spanish immigrants.
Sammy Nunez - Louisiana politician of Canarian, or Isleño descent.
Leander Perez - Louisiana judge and politician of Isleño descent.
Pío Pico - was the last Mexican Governor of Alta California.
Junior Rodriguez - Politician from St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, of Isleño descent.
Manuel Lujan Jr. - Republican Congressman from New Mexico & Secretary of Interior.
Fernando C. De Baca - First Assistant to the President of the US (Nixon/Ford) of Hispanic descent.
Esequiel C. De Baca - Second Governor of New Mexico after statehood (1915-17)
Jerry Apodaca - Democratic Governor of New Mexico (1974-78).
Dennis Chavez - Democratic U.S. Senator from the State of New Mexico.

Inventors, Engineers and Academics

Luis F. Alvarez - Developed diagnosis for macular leprosy.
Luis W. Alvarez - Nobel Prize-winning physicist and key participant in the Manhattan Project.
Walter Alvarez - Geologist who first proposed the asteroid-impact theory to explain the extinction of the dinosaurs.
Walter C. Alvarez - Referred to as "America’s Family Doctor" for his syndicated medical column in hundreds of newspapers.
Severo Ochoa - Nobel Prize-winning biochemist who worked on the synthesis of RNA

Sports

Mary Joe Fernández - Professional tennis player and two-time Olympic gold medal winner. Father from Spain.
Lefty Gomez - Born Vernon Louis Gomez, New York Yankees Hall of Fame pitcher.
Keith Hernandez - MVP-winning baseball player, grandfather from Malaga, Spain.
Manuel Hernandez - Spanish-US soccer player. Born in Spain.
Al Lopez - Hall-of-Fame baseball player and manager. Spanish parents.
Lou Piniella - Baseball player and manager, Asturian grandparents

Writers

Mercedes de Acosta - Poet and playwright, also known for her lesbian affairs with Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich.
George Santayana- Spanish born, philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist.

Other

Michael Lopez-Alegria - American astronaut. Holds American record for most EVA hours (spacewalks or moonwalks) Born in Madrid.
Wenceslao Moreno - Known to his American fans as "Senor Wences," Moreno was for decades a top ventriloquist in Spain, elsewhere in Europe, as well as in Latin America and the United States. In the US, he was a favorite in vaudeville and, later, television, especially on "The Ed Sullivan Show." He was born in Salamanca and died at the age of 103 in New York City.