12 Celebrities You Didn't Know Were Latino Javascript must be enabled to use this site. Please enable Javascript in your browser and try again. × Search search POPULAR SEARCHES SUGGESTED LINKS Join AARP for just $9 per year when you sign up for a 5-year term. Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. Leaving AARP.org Website You are now leaving AARP.org and going to a website that is not operated by AARP. A different privacy policy and terms of service will apply. Close

12 Celebrities With Surprising Latino Roots

From South America to Spain these famous names share Hispanic heritage

Actor Benjamin Bratt and singer Mariah Carey Christopher Willard/ABC; Todd Williamson/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images Jump to Section

Fred Armisen 53 actor comedian

oe Scarnici/Getty Images for New York Magazine Fereydun Robert Armisen, a Saturday Night Live cast member from 2002 to 2013 and star of Portlandia, is half Venezuelan, a quarter German and a quarter Korean. His mother, the former Hildegardt Mirabal Level, was born in San Fernando de Apure, Venezuela, but met his father when both were students at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, where Fred Armisen was born. The first character he played on SNL, Fericito, was inspired by his mother and grandmother's nickname for him.

Benjamin Bratt 56 actor producer

Christopher Willard/ABC Known for his recurring role on TV's Law and Order and supporting roles in Miss Congeniality and Traffic, Benjamin Bratt is the son of the former Eldy Banda, a Native American activist. Banda, born in Peru of Quechuan ethnicity, moved to San Francisco as a teen. In 1969 after fire had destroyed the city's American Indian Center, the divorced mom of three took her 5-year-old son and his siblings to help occupy Alcatraz, claiming the then-shuttered federal prison for all the tribes of North America. Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine.

Bobby Cannavale 50 actor

Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic Bobby Cannavale has won Emmys for his work in comedy Will & Grace and drama Boardwalk Empire. His mother, Isabel, left Cuba in 1960 for Union City, New Jersey, and fell in love with the boy across the street, Sal Cannavale. When the future actor was 5 years old, his parents divorced and he spent time shuttling between two households, including living in Puerto Rico.

Helena Bonham Carter 54 actress

Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images The British actress most recently known for portraying Britain's Princess Margaret on The Crown has high-society ancestry on her father's side; she's the great-granddaughter of a prime minister. Her maternal grandfather, Eduardo Propper de Callejón, was a member of Spain's diplomatic corps and helped arrange for the escape of thousands of Jews from France during .

Mariah Carey 50 singer songwriter

Todd Williamson/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images Though Mariah Carey has Irish roots on her mother's side, her paternal grandfather, Francisco Roberto Núñez, emigrated from Venezuela. When he came to the United States, he decided to anglicize his first and middle names and chose an English/Irish surname, becoming Frank Robert Carey. Although she has recorded Spanish language versions of some songs in the past, this month she released an extended-play album, , with seven hits from the 1990s.

Lynda Carter 69 actress singer

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Michael Kors Known best for her role as Wonder Woman in the 1970s, Lynda Carter was born Linda Jean Cordova Carter in Phoenix. Her mother, the former Juana Córdova, was born in Chihuahua, Mexico. Since her superhero days, Carter has played the president of the United States, President Olivia Marsdin on CW's Supergirl; released three albums, including 2018's Red Rock N’ Blues (plus another one while she was on Wonder Woman); and been honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. AARP NEWSLETTERS %{ newsLetterPromoText }% %{ description }% Subscribe Entertainment Access curated AARP entertainment articles, essays, videos, films and more See more Entertainment offers >

Martin Sheen 80 actor

Paul Morigi/Getty Images Born Ramón Gerardo Antonio Estévez in Dayton, Ohio, Martin Sheen adopted a stage name after experiencing discrimination as he tried to break into show business in 1959 in New York. He combined the surnames of the CBS casting director who gave him his first big break, Robert Dale Martin, and Catholic Bishop Fulton Sheen. Martin Sheen went on to star in hundreds of roles, including in and The West Wing but never changed his name officially. In 2003, Sheen told Inside the Actors Studio that his assuming a stage name had bothered his dad, Spanish immigrant Francisco Estévez.

Lee Trevino 80 golfer

Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images The legendary golfer published his autobiography in 1982, They Call Me Super Mex, and Lee Trevino's last name has Spanish roots as Treviño. But many fans think of him as a Texan who vaulted himself from poverty through his mastery of a sport known for its elite air.

Christy Turlington Burns 51 model

Rick Kern/Getty Images for Town & Country Christy Turlington Burns was a California girl who visited relatives in Central America during the summer before she became a 1990s supermodel based in New York City. Her mother, the former María Elizabeth Parker Infante, was born in San Salvador, emigrated to Los Angeles as a young girl, worked as a flight attendant and married pilot Dwain Turlington. In 2003, after Turlington Burns retired from modeling, she married actor and director Ed Burns and added his surname to her own.

Raquel Welch 80 actress

Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images Born Jo-Raquel Tejada in Chicago, Welch didn't learn Spanish as a child because her father, Armando Carlos Tejada Urquizo, wanted his family to assimilate. When she decided to pursue acting, she took the surname of her first husband, James Welch, and kept it for her career. When she had her breakthrough part in the 1966 British fantasy film One Million Years B.C., filmmakers dyed her hair blonde and didn't mention her Latina background. In 2002, about 40 years after she first appeared on TV, she told the New York Times that she wanted to embrace her ethnic identity.

Vanna White 63 game show cohost

Michael Tullberg/Getty Images and letter-turner of 38 years was born Vanna Marie Rosich in Conway, South Carolina. Her father, Miguel Angel Rosich, left the family when she was young, and stepfather Herbert White adopted her. Linda Dono contributed to this story. Sherlyn Freeman is a trainer with AARP-affiliated Senior Planet, which specializes in teaching technology skills to older adults through virtual and in-person classes. MORE on Entertainment AARP Membership — $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. AARP VALUE & MEMBER BENEFITS See more Restaurants offers > See more Travel Planning offers > See more Flowers & Gifts offers > See more Groceries offers > SAVE MONEY WITH THESE LIMITED-TIME OFFERS