List of Danish Americans

Updated on Oct 06, 2024

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This is a list of notable Danish Americans, including both original immigrants who obtained American citizenship and their American-born descendants.

To be included in this list, the person must have a Wikipedia article showing they are Danish American or must have references showing they are Danish American and are notable.

Actors

Jessica Alba, actress, mother is of part Danish descent

Bridgette Andersen, actress

Robert Anderson, actor, make-up artist and director

Gwili Andre, actress, immigrant from Denmark

Rowan Blanchard, American actress

Alexis Bledel, actress, paternal grandfather of Danish descent

Erika Christensen, actress, father is of part Danish descent

Hayden Christensen, actor, father is part Danish

Tove Christensen, producer and actor, father is part Danish

Ellen Corby, actress, maiden name was Hansen

Jamie Lee Curtis, actress, maternal grandmother was born to Danish immigrants

Kelly Curtis, actress, sister of actress Jamie Lee Curtis

Karl Dane, comedian and actor

Eliza Dushku, actress, mother is of mostly Danish descent

Buddy Ebsen, actor, father was of Danish ancestry

Ann Forrest, actress, immigrant from Denmark

Lilie Hayward, actress and screenwriter, sister of Danish American actress Seena Owen

Jean Hersholt, actor, immigrant from Denmark

Maren Jensen, actress and model, father was of Danish ancestry

Scarlett Johansson, actress, father is an immigrant from Denmark

Janet Leigh, actress, her mother, (Helen Westergaard), was born to Danish immigrants

Deanna Lund, actress

Michael Madsen, actor, father was of Danish ancestry

Virginia Madsen, actress, father was of Danish ancestry

John Melendez, entertainer

Viggo Mortensen, actor, father is from Denmark

Brigitte Nielsen, Danish-born actress

Connie Nielsen, actress

Leslie Nielsen, actor, father was an immigrant from Denmark

Nica Noelle, pornographic film actress/director (father)

William Orlamond, actor, immigrant from Denmark

Heather O'Rourke (b. 1975 - d. 1988), child actress, her mother is of Danish descent.

Seena Owen, actress, parents were immigrants from Denmark

William Petersen, actor, paternal grandfather was of Danish ancestry

Anders Randolf, actor, immigrant from Denmark

AnnaSophia Robb, actress, one or two of her great-grandmothers were Danes

Peter Sarsgaard, actor, paternal great-great-grandparents were born in Denmark

Gale Sondergaard, actress

Sven-Ole Thorsen, actor and stuntman, immigrant from Denmark

Uma Thurman, actress, mother is of partial Danish descent

Elijah Wood, American actor, maternal great-grandmother was of Danish ancestry

Architects

Jens Jensen, landscape architect

Artists

Gutzon Borglum, sculptor of Mount Rushmore

Solon Borglum, sculptor of the American West

Carl Christian Anton Christensen, painter

Christian Gullager, painter

Antonio Jacobsen, maritime painter

Eric Larson, animator

Ferdinand Richardt, landscape painter

Ib Penick, paper engineer

Athletics

Chris "Birdman" Andersen, NBA player, father was a Danish immigrant

Morten Andersen, NFL Kicker

Thomas William Asmussen, Major League Baseball catcher.

Jay DeMerit, professional soccer player

Vern Mikkelsen, basketball player

Colonel Thomas Hoyer Monstery, fencing and boxing master

Anton Peterlin, soccer player

Battling Nelson, professional boxing world lightweight champion 1905-06, 1908-10

Noah Syndergaard, current MLB pitcher for the New York Mets.

Kid Williams, professional boxing world bantamweight champion 1914-17

Alan Voskuil, basketball player for the Danish national team

Julia Boserup, tennis player of Danish parents

Religious personalities

Anton Marius Andersen, Founding President of Trinity Seminary at Dana College

Kristian Anker, First president of the combined Trinity Seminary and Dana College.

Gottlieb Bender Christiansen, Founding President of the United Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church

Claus Lauritz Clausen, First President of the Conference of the Norwegian-Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America

Theodore Marcus Hansen, President of Dana College and Trinity Seminary

Kristian Ostergaard, Lutheran pastor, educator and author

Peter Sørensen Vig, President and Professor of Theology at Trinity Seminary at Dana College

Russel M. Nelson, renown heart surgeon and President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

D. Todd Christofferson, member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Neil L. Andersen, member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Ronald A Rasband, member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Journalism

Jack Anderson, Journalist

Chris Hansen, television journalist

Sophus Frederik Neble - (Danish born) Editor of Den Danske Pioneer

Jacob Riis, (Danish born) Journalist

Music

Victor Borge, musician and comedian

Julian Casablancas, The Strokes vocalist

Mose Christensen, symphony conductor

Alf Clausen, film and television composer

King Diamond, King Diamond lead vocalist

Lars Frederiksen, Rancid vocalist and guitarist

Dinah Jane Hansen, member of fifth harmony

Taylor Hanson, musician

Zac Hanson, musician

Morten Lauridsen, composer

Lauritz Melchior, opera singer

M. P. Møller, pipe organ builder

Rick Nielsen, Cheap Trick guitarist

Oh Land (Nanna Øland), singer and songwriter

Iggy Pop, singer and songwriter

Matthew Santos, rock and folk singer-songwriter, musician and painter, mother Danish-born

Mike Tramp, singer and songwriter

Lars Ulrich, Metallica drummer

Eddie Vedder, Pearl Jam singer and songwriter

Politics and law

Lloyd Bentsen, former Democratic senator from Texas, Treasury Secretary, and vice presidential nominee

Marius Dueholm, Danish born American farmer and politic.

Hans Peter Mareus Neilsen Gammel, author of The Laws of Texas 1822-1897

Steny Hoyer, House Minority Whip and former House Majority Leader

Roger Jepsen, former Republican senator from Iowa

Chris Madsen, United States Marshal

Janet Reno, Attorney General

Ted Sorensen, speechwriter and president advisor

Lis Wiehl, Fox News Channel legal analyst and author

Science

Jens Clausen, evolutionary biologist

Erik Erikson, psychologist

Niels Ebbesen Hansen, Head of the Horticultural Department at South Dakota State University

William Webster Hansen, physicist and one of the founders of microwave electronics technology

Max Henius, Biochemist and founder of the Rebild National Park in Denmark

Theo Holm, botanist

Christine Korsgaard, philosopher

Otto Larsen (sociology), sociologist known for academic work in mass hysteria and public positions on obscenity and pornography

Holger Thiele, astronomer

Dale T. Mortensen, Economist

Writers

Poul Anderson, Science Fiction writer

Erik Christian Haugaard, author of children's books

Axel Madsen, writer

Ib Melchior, Danish born film director and screenwriter

Joel Skousen, American author

Mark Skousen, American economist and author

Royal Skousen, American professor

W. Cleon Skousen, American author

Sophus Keith Winther, professor and novelist

Other

Arthur Nielsen, American market analyst of Danish descent who founded the ACNielsen company and Nielsen Media Research, best known for the Nielsen ratings.

Alma de Bretteville Spreckels, philanthropist

William S. Knudsen, Executive with Ford Motor Company and General Motors

Semon Knudsen, Executive with Ford Motor Company and General Motors

Charles E. Sorensen, Production engineer and executive with Ford Motor Company

Christian Mortensen, Danish-born supercentenarian, was longest-lived man on record at the time of his death

Claus Von Bulow, Danish-born socialite accused of killing his wife Sunny.

Peter L. Jensen, engineer, inventor and entrepreneur and co-creator of the first moving-coil loudspeaker.

References

List of Danish Americans Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA

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