This is a list of notable Russian Americans, including both original immigrants who obtained American citizenship and their American descendants.
To be included in this list, the person must have a Wikipedia article showing they are Russian American or must have references showing they are Russian American and are notable.
Woody Allen, actor, writer, director, and musician, his mother was of Russian Jewish ancestry
Dianna Agron, actress, father is of Russian Jewish ancestry
Pamela Anderson, Canadian-American actress, sex symbol, activist known for her roles on the television series Baywatch, mother is of Russian ancestry
René Auberjonois, Tony Award-winning character actor (and grandson of the painter), best known for his early 1980s role as Clayton Endicott III on the television show Benson and his role as Odo on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Olga Baclanova, actress
Eric Balfour, actor, portraying Milo Pressman in 24, is of Russian Jewish descent
Sasha Barrese, actress of Irish, Dutch, American Indian, and Russian descent
Mikhail Baryshnikov, dancer and actor, immigrant from Russia
Michael Bay, American film director and producer (Bay's grandfather was Russian)
Irving Berlin, Russian-born, considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history, nominated eight times for Academy Awards
Jack Black, actor, comedian, musician, his mother is of Russian Jewish descent
Michael Bolton, singer, all of his grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Russia [6]
Agnes Bruckner, actress, mother is Russian background
Yul Brynner, Russian-born American actor, won Academy Award
Cheryl Burke, professional dancer is well known for starring on the television series Dancing with the Stars, father is Russian and Irish descent
Amanda Bynes, actress, mother of Russian Jewish descent
Eddie Cantor, actor and dancer, parents were Jewish immigrants from Russia
Michael Chekhov, actor and dancer, immigrant from Russia
Jennifer Connelly, actress, mother is of Russian Jewish and Polish Jewish descent
David Copperfield, illusionist and stage magician, paternal grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Russia.
Gavin DeGraw, musician, mother is of Russian Jewish descent.
Alexis Denisof, actor, father is of mostly Russian ancestry
Leonardo DiCaprio, actor, Golden Globe and a Silver Bear Award winner, maternal grandmother was Russian
Jim Downey, comedy writer.
Michael Dudikoff, actor, father was an immigrant from Russia
Ansel Elgort, actor, his father is of Russian-Jewish descent
Val Emmich, singer-songwriter and actor of Italian, Russian, and German ancestry
Michael Perretta, American hip hop musician, better known as Evidence, Russian mother
Peter Falk, born to a Polish Jewish father and a Russian Jewish mother.
Carrie Fisher, actress, father was of Russian Jewish descent
Harrison Ford, actor, mother was of Russian Jewish descent
Dave Franco, actor, mother of Russian Jewish descent
James Franco, actor, mother of Russian Jewish descent
Isabelle Fuhrman, actress (Mother, Elena Fuhrman, is a Russian-Jewish immigrant, father is of Russian Jewish descent)
Drew Fuller, actor of Russian, Scottish and English heritage
Edward Furlong, actor, the star of such film as Terminator 2: Judgment Day and American History X, his father is of Russian origin
Galen Gering, actor of Russian Jewish (father) and Basque Spanish (mother) descent
Katerina Graham, actress, singer, record producer, dancer, and model, mother of Russian Jewish ancestry
Seth Green, actor, part Russian Jewish ancestry
Jake Gyllenhaal, his mother Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal is of Russian Jewish descent
Maggie Gyllenhaal, her mother Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal is of Russian Jewish descent
Armie Hammer, actor, father of part Russian Jewish/Russian descent
Juliana Harkavy, actress, has Russian ancestors.
Ben Harper, singer-songwriter, Jewish mother of Russian and Lithuanian ancestry [7]
David Homyk, singer-songwriter, record producer, actor, and commercial model, is of Egyptian, Ukrainian, Russian, English, Welsh, Scottish-Irish ancestry.
Kidada Jones, actress, model, and fashion designer, daughter of actress Peggy Lipton and musician Quincy Jones; her mother is of Russian Jewish descent
Rashida Jones, actress, model, and musician, daughter of actress Peggy Lipton, mother is of Russian Jewish descent
Milla Jovovich, actress and model, born in Kiev to a Russian mother and a Serbian father
Stacy Kamano, actress of German, Russian, Polish and Japanese descent
Lila Kedrova, Russian-born French-American actress, won Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Olga Kern, Russian-born classical pianist, won the 11th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, direct family ties to both Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky
Justin Kirk, stage and film actor, mother is of Russian Jewish descent [8]
Charles Klapow, American choreographer and dance instructor, Emmy Award winner, father of Russian origin
Zoë Kravitz, American actress, singer and model daughter of Lenny Kravitz, both parents of half Russian Jewish descent
Lenny Kravitz, American singer, father of Russian Jewish descent
Mila Kunis, Russian Jewish immigrant (born in Ukrainian SSR)
Joe Lando, film actor
Maria Lark, Russian-born television actress
Logan Lerman, of Russian Jewish, Polish Jewish, and Lithuanian Jewish descent
Margarita Levieva, Russian-born American actress. Born in the Soviet Union, she was a professional gymnast before going on to star in the films The Invisible, Adventureland and Spread
Peggy Lipton, actress, of Russian Jewish ancestry
Karina Lombard, actress and singer of Lakota Sioux, Russian, Italian and Swiss descent
Marlee Matlin, actress who starred in Children of a Lesser God, of Russian Jewish descent
Walter Matthau, actor and comedian, parents were Jewish immigrants from Russia
Taylor Momsen, actress, musician and model, she fronts the rock band The Pretty Reckless
Sarah Natochenny, actress
Pat O'Brien, guitarist, half Russian
Larisa Oleynik, actress (Mad Men, 3rd Rock from the Sun), father of Russian descent
Mandy Patinkin, actor and singer, of Russian Jewish descent
Sean Penn, two-time Academy Award winning actor, paternal grandparents Jewish immigrants from Russia and Lithuania
Joaquin Phoenix, actor, Jewish mother of Russian and Hungarian ancestry [9]
River Phoenix (1970–1993), actor, Jewish mother of Russian and Hungarian ancestry
Bronson Pinchot, actor, father is of Russian ancestry
Natalie Portman, actress, of Russian Jewish, Polish Jewish, Romanian Jewish, and Austrian Jewish ancestry
Princess Superstar, musician, father is of Russian Jewish descent
Sergei Rachmaninoff, Russian-born composer who immigrated to the US in 1918 and lived there until his death in 1943. He acquired U.S. citizenship in 1943.
Sam Raimi, Jewish American film, producer, actor and writer, whose parents came from Russia and Hungary
Ted Raimi, actor and brother of San Raimi, star of Xena: Warrior Princess
Raven, drag queen and reality-television star
Joan Rivers, comedian, parents were Russian Jewish immigrants
Natalya Rudakova, actress
Olesya Rulin, actress and singer, immigrant from Russia
Melanie Safka-Schekeryk, folk singer, father is of Russian and Ukrainian ancestry
Steven Seagal actor, father was of Russian Jewish descent
Regina Spektor, Russian born American singer-songwriter and pianist, born in Moscow
Gene Stupnitsky, screenwriter, born in Kiev, now Ukraine
Michelle Trachtenberg, television and film actress, mother is an immigrant from Russia [10]
Lana Wood, actress, parents were immigrants from Russia
Natalie Wood (1938–1981), Academy Award-nominated actress, won a Golden Globe, parents were immigrants from Russia
Anton Yelchin (1989–2016), actor, Jewish immigrant from Russia
Elena Zoubareva, opera singer, immigrant from Russia
Michel Fokine, dancer and choreographer
Alexander Godunov, dancer and choreographer
Theodore Kosloff, dancer and choreographer
Alla Nazimova, theater and film actress, Jewish immigrant from Russia
Igor Stravinsky, composer and pianist
Louis Lozowick was an American painter and printmaker. He was born in the Russian Empire, came to the United States in 1906
Israel Tsvaygenbaum, Russian-American Painter and Russian Jewish descent
Irwin Chanin, architect and builder whose skyline signature was formed of jazzy Art Deco towers and six elegant Broadway theaters
Ernst Neizvestny, renowned sculptor and painter
Alexander Golitzen, TV and theater art director
Isaac Asimov, science fiction writer
Reginald Bretnor, science fiction and fantasy writer
Joseph Brodsky, Nobel Prize in Literature 1987
Michael Dorfman, writer
Natalia Duxbury, poet, novelist, planetary/space scientist, mathematician, professor, ref: Marquis Whio is Who in the World
Sergei Dovlatov, short story writer and novelist
Vladimir Nabokov, writer
Jacob Gordin, playwright
Chuck Palahniuk, novelist & freelance journalist, most known for the award-winning novel Fight Club
Ayn Rand, philosopher and novelist
Alexander Genis, writer and journalist, emigrated from Russian in 1977
Daniel Genis, writer and journalist, parents emigrated from Russian in 1977
Michael Rostovtzeff, writer
David Shrayer-Petrov, Moscow-born author, medical scientist, and former refusenik
Maxim D. Shrayer, Moscow-born bilingual author, literary scholar and translator
Gary Shteyngart, Russian-born writer
Michelle Izmaylov, Russian-American science fiction and fantasy writer
Ivan Raimi, Doctor of Medicine, osteopathic
Alexei A. Abrikosov, theoretical physicist
Viktor Belenko, aerospace engineer, former Soviet Air Force pilot
Lera Boroditsky, cognitive scientist
George Gamow, astrophysicist
Albert Michelson, Prussian-born, winner of the 1907 Nobel Prize in Physics
Natalia Duxbury, Earth and planetary/space scientist, mathematician, professor, writer, ref.: Marquis Whio is Who in the World
Vladimir Nikolayevich Ipatieff, chemist
Sergei Khrushchev, professor & son of former Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev
Alexander Nikolayevich Lodygin, electrical engineer and inventor, one of inventors of the incandescent light bulb
Wassily Leontief, economist, Nobel Prize 1973
Abraham Maslow, psychologist
Andrei Okounkov, the winner of the Fields Medal (2006)
Alexey Pajitnov, inventor of Tetris
Tatiana Proskouriakoff, Russian-American Mayanist
Anatol Rapoport, American mathematical psychologist
Peter Turchin, biologist and the father of "cliodynamics"
David Shrayer-Petrov, medical scientist, microbiologist, immunologist, biophage specialist
Alexander Shulgin, pharmacologist, chemist and drug developer
Igor Sikorsky, helicopter designer
Otto Struve, astrophysicist
Leon Theremin, physicist, inventor of Theremin
Petr Ufimtsev, Russian-American mathematician and physicist
Vladimir Voevodsky, the winner of the Fields Medal (2002)
Efim Zelmanov, winner of the Fields Medal (1994), professor at the University of California, San Diego
Vladimir Kosma Zworykin, one of the inventors of television
Vladimir Rojansky, physicist
Benjamin Agosto, ice dancer.
Jack Babashoff, Olympic Swimmer - Silver medalist
Shirley Babashoff, Olympic Swimmer - Gold/Silver medalist
Mohini Bhardwaj, gymnast.
Fred Biletnikoff, football wide receiver and coach.
Sue Bird, professional women's basketball player.
Alex Bogomolov, Jr., professional tennis player.
Nathan Bor, boxer.
Maxim Dlugy, grandmaster of chess.
Rod Dyachenko, footballer.
Bill Goldberg, former professional wrestler.
Jon Robert Holden, basketball player for the Russian national team that gave FIBA Eurobasket 2007 to Russia with a buzzer beater
Red Holzman, basketball player and coach.
Irving Jaffee, speed skater.
Anna Kotchneva, gymnast.
Vladimir Kozlov, professional wrestler.
Andrei Kirilenko, Basketball player.
Varvara Lepchenko, professional tennis player.
Valeri Liukin, artistic gymnast.
Nastia Liukin, gymnast.
Frank Mir, American mixed martial artist.
Evgeni Nabokov, San Jose Sharks' former Goalie.
Patrick O'Neal (sportscaster), studio host and reporter.
Denis Petukhov, figure skater.
Sergei Raad, soccer player.
Andy Seminick, professional baseball player.
Maria Sharapova, famous tennis player
Kerri Strug, gymnast.
Nikolai Volkoff, professional wrestler.
Ted Williams, American Major League Baseball left fielder.
Anna Kournikova, tennis player and model
Anya Monzikova, model and actress born in Vologda
Kaitlyn Hall,
Michele Merkin, model and television host, also of Swedish and Russian Jewish descent
Josie Maran, model of Russian descent
Erika Harold, Miss America 2003, mother is Native-American, African-American and Russian descent.*
Angelika Kallio, model born in Riga
Irina Pantaeva, model and actress born in Ulan-Ude
Sasha Pivovarova, model born in Moscow
Natasha Poly, model born in Perm
Vlada Roslyakova, model born in Omsk
Tatiana Sorokko, model and fashion writer born in Arzamas-16
Valentina Zelyaeva, model born in Moscow
Eugenia Volodina, model born in Kazan
Anne Vyalitsyna, model and actress
Tatiana Kovylina, model born in Kazan
Daria Strokous, model born in Moscow
Igor Sikorsky, helicopter designer and inventor
John Basil Turchin, Union army general in the American Civil War
Boris Pash, Colonel of the US Army
Marc Benioff, founder of Salesforce
Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York City, founder of Bloomberg business empire
Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google
Boris Chaikovsky, founder of Tele-King International
Alexander Poniatoff, founder of Ampex Corporation
Alexander P. de Seversky, founder of the Seversky Aircraft Corporation, founder and trustee of the New York Institute of Technology
Igor Sikorsky, founder of the Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, a leading US helicopter manufacturer
Serge Sorokko, art dealer, publisher and patron
Michael Stroukoff, President of the Chase Aircraft Company, founder of the Stroukoff Aircraft Corporation
André Tchelistcheff, America's most influential post-Prohibition winemaker
Ben Cardin, politician of Russian Jewish descent
William Cohen, father of Russian Jewish descent
Russ Feingold, partial Russian Jewish descent
Al Franken, maternal grandmother of Russian Jewish descent
Bernie Sanders, mother of partial Russian Jewish descent
Antuan Bronshtein, convicted murderer; Russian immigrant
Peter Demens, is one of the founders of the U.S. city of Saint Petersburg, Florida.
Anatoli Efimoff, artist
Betty Freeman, art philanthropist, father was a Russian immigrant
John A. Gotti, leader of the Gambino Crime Family of the Cosa Nostra. Mother is of Russian descent
Oleg Kalugin, former head of KGB operations in the United States
Loren Leman, former lieutenant governor of Alaska, one of his ancestors was a Russian settler who married an indigenous Alutiiq woman in Kodiak while Russia claimed and colonized Alaska centuries ago
Pitirim Sorokin, founded Harvard Sociology Dept 1930
Jim Talent, former U.S. Senator, paternal grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Russia
List of Russian Americans Wikipedia (Text) CC BY-SA