List of Swedish Americans

The following is a list of notable Swedish Americans who have made significant contributions to the United States, or have appeared in the news numerous times:

List

Entertainment

Actors

* Maud Adams, Bond girl.
* Louie Anderson, stand-up comedian, actor, and former "Family Feud" game show host
* Malin Akerman, Actor and singer
* Candice Bergen, actress and former fashion model' [Swedish immigrant paternal grandparents. Bergen is a Swedish-American according to [http://www.nordicway.com/search/Famous%20Swedish%20Americans.htm] ; she is Swedish on her father's side [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F03EFD91E39F93BA35757C0A962948260] ]
* Edgar Bergen, actor and radio performer [Swedish immigrant parents [http://www.otrcat.com/bergenmccarthy.htm] , NY Times bio calls him a Swedish-American [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F03EFD91E39F93BA35757C0A962948260] ]
* Ingrid Bergman (Swedish-born), film actress
* Nadia Bjorlin, soap opera actress [Swedish father. [http://boards.sonypictures.com/soaps/showthread.php?t=7325] "Swedish-Persian", born in the U.S. to a Swedish father, composer/conductor Ulf Björlin, and a Persian mother]
* Andrew Bryniarski, actor and former bodybuilderFact|date=April 2007
* Linda Carlson, actressFact|date=April 2007
* Kirsten Dunst, film actressFact|date=May 2007
* Richard Dean Anderson, actor, grandfather from Sweden.
* Caridee English, Winner of America's Next Top Model cycle 7
* Robert Englund, film, television and voice actor [http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/feature/213]
* Edie Falco, television, film and stage actress [Swedish mother. [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2002/07/13/bfedie.xml] "half Swedish"; her mother, Judith Anderson, is Swedish]
* James Franco, film actor [ [http://www.latinoreview.com/news.php?id=217] "Franco is Portuguese. I'm one quarter through my grandfather. My grandfather and then I'm also Russian and Swedish."]
* Greta Garbo (Swedish-born), film actress [ [http://www.sweden.se/templates/cs/Article____11120.aspx] [http://www.nordicway.com/search/Famous%20Swedish%20Americans.htm] Swedish-born, became U.S. citizen]
* Melanie Griffith, film actress [Daughter of Tippi Hedren. Listed as one of 24 Swedish-Americans at [http://www.genlineshop.com/c226616p16521373.2.html] ; her maternal grandfather was Swedish]
* Jake Gyllenhaal, film actor [his father is of Swedish heritage [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0350453/bio] ]
* Maggie Gyllenhaal, film actress [her father is of Swedish heritage [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0350454/bio] ]
* Garrett Hedlund, film actor
* Tippi Hedren, film actressFact|date=May 2007
* Mark Hamill, film actorFact|date=May 2007
* Signe Hasso, film actress [ [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20020610/ai_n12619438] [http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/filmography.html?p_id=30946] Swedish born, became U.S. citizen]
* Susan Hayward, film actress [Swedish immigrant maternal grandparents. Listed as one of 24 Swedish-Americans at [http://www.genlineshop.com/c226616p16521373.2.html] ]
* Liza Huber, soap opera, television and stage actressFact|date=May 2007
* Gunilla Hutton, film actressFact|date=May 2007
* Tor Johnson, actor and wrestler [Swedish-born. [http://www.lethargiclad.com/tor/bio.html] Swedish-born, became U.S. citizen]
* Van Johnson (Swedish-born father), film and television actor [ [http://www.tomfolio.com/autographimg.asp?sigid=306&ret=AGIni TomFolio.com: Van Johnson, Author Autograph Sample, Book List Link, Search Books Available ] ]
* Kayla Kleevage, stripper and pornographic actressFact|date=May 2007
* Kris Kristofferson, country music songwriter, singer and actor [Swedish immigrant grandfather. Listed as one of several "Famous Swedish Americans" at [http://www.nordicway.com/search/Famous%20Swedish%20Americans.htm] ]
* Caroline Lagerfelt, stage, film, and television actressFact|date=May 2007
* Eric Linden, film actorFact|date=April 2007
* Viveca Lindfors, stage and film actress [Swedish-born [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9112188/Lindfors-Viveca] ]
* Susan Lucci (Swedish-born mother; Liza Huber), soap opera actressFact|date=May 2007
* Ann-Margret (Swedish-born), actress and singer [ [http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/profile.php?id=4043] ; named the Swedish American of the Year, has performed for the King and Queen of Sweden]
* Anna Q. Nilsson (Swedish-born), silent film actress
* Warner Oland, film actor, perhaps best known for playing Charlie Chan [Listed as one of several Swedish-Americans at [http://www.nordicway.com/search/Famous%20Swedish%20Americans.htm] ; Swedish-born]
* Peter Stormare (Swedish-born), film and television actor
* Inger Stevens (Swedish-born), film and television actress
* Erik Per Sullivan (1991 - ) "Malcolm in the Middle" actor [Sullivan - Referred to as a Swedish-American at [http://shopping.yahoo.com/p:Erik%20Per%20Sullivan:1804503863:page=biography;_ylt=Ag2aXzk6VR6X1i._vVvykQdDR60B;_ylu=X3oDMTBucmVlNmdkBF9zAzI4MTMzMTg3BHNlYwNhY3RmZWF0] ; mother is from Sweden and Per Sullivan speaks Swedish [http://www.wvah.com/programs/malcolminthemiddle/erikpersullivan.shtml] ]
* Gloria Swanson, silent film actress [Listed as one of several Swedish-Americans at [http://www.nordicway.com/search/Famous%20Swedish%20Americans.htm] ]
* Kristy Swanson, film/television actress [Swanson has referred to herself as "Swedish" here - [http://www.maximonline.com/articles/index.aspx?a_id=3331] ; nothing else known on her ancestry]
* Zack Samuelsson(Swedish Born) , stage/screen actor.
* Uma Thurman, Academy Award-nominated film actress and former fashion model [Director Susan Stroman noted that Thurman is "really Swedish", citing Thurman's Swedish maternal grandmother [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/6/story.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10367707] ]
* Mamie Van Doren, stage, film and television actressFact|date=May 2007
* Donnie Wahlberg, film actor and producer (brother of Robert and Mark Wahlberg)
* Mark Wahlberg, Academy Award-nominated film actor (brother of Robert and Donnie Wahlberg) [ [http://www.wargs.com/other/wahlberg.html Ancestry of Mark Wahlberg ] ]
* Robert Wahlberg, film actor (brother of Donnie and Mark Wahlberg)
* Kari Wahlgren, English dubbing anime voice actress

Other

* Gretchen Carlson, co-host of "Fox & Friends" on Fox News Channel
* Steve Dahl, longtime Chicago radio disc jockey and talk personality, an influential early "shock jock"
* Stephen Gyllenhaal, director [Gyllenhaal is referred to as a "Swedish-American" at [http://www.artistsnetwork.org/artists/maggiegyllenhaal.html] , he has one Swedish great-grandfather; family tree can be viewed at [http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=arc150&id=I098841] ]
* Mitch Hedberg, comedian
* Sofia Lidskog (Swedish-born), television personality
* Ozzie Nelson (Swedish immigrant parents), entertainer, radio and television actor
* Steven Soderbergh, film producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor and Oscar-winning director [ [http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=7899] Noted "I'm Swedish" regarding his ethnicity]

Art

* Magnus Colcord Heurlin (Swedish-born), artist and painter
* Bud Grace, cartoonist [Named one of "24 Famous Swedish Americans" at [http://www.genlineshop.com/c226616p16521373.2.html] ]
* Karl Larsson (Swedish-born), painter, engraver and sculptor
* Hope Larson, illustrator and cartoonist
* Birger Sandzén, painter [ [http://www.kshs.org/portraits/sandzen_birger.htm] Swedish born, immigrated to the United States]
* Haddon Sundblom, creator of Santa Claus images for the Coca-Cola Company [ [http://www.simpletoremember.com/vitals/Christmas_TheRealStory.htm] Swedish-American; parents were Swedish]
* John August Swanson (Swedish father), visual artist, painter
* Gustaf Tenggren (Swedish-born), illustrator

Engineers

* Buzz Aldrin, pilot and astronaut who was the Lunar Module Pilot on Apollo 11, the first lunar landing [ [http://www.carlson.com/press_releases/07_28_03.cfm] was named "Swedish-American of the Year"]
* Ernst Alexanderson, electrical engineer [ [http://www.bookrags.com/sciences/earthscience/alexanderson-ernst-frederik-werner--mee-01.html] born in Uppsala, Sweden, immigrated to the U.S.]
* Carl David Anderson, physicist [Second generation Swedish-American, according to [http://www.supremecourtus.gov/publicinfo/speeches/sp_04-09-01.html] ]
* Chester Carlson, physicist, inventor, and patent attorney [Referred to as Swedish-American at [http://www.nordicway.com/search/Chester%20Carlson.htm] ]
* John Ericsson, inventor and mechanical engineer [ [http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/ericsson.html] born at Långbanshyttan in Värmland, Sweden, primarily active in the U.S.]
* Markus Jakobsson (Swedish-born), computer security researcher and entrepreneur
* Clarence Johnson (Swedish-born parents), aircraft engineer and aeronautical innovator
* John B. Johnson (Swedish-born), electrical engineer and physicist
* Kelly Johnson, widely considered one of the most talented and prolific aircraft design-engineers [ [http://www.nap.edu/html/biomems/cjohnson.html] The seventh of nine children of impoverished Swedish immigrants]
* Harry Nyquist, engineer, important contributor to information theory [ [http://www.bath.ac.uk/news/articles/archive/nyquistsuite.html] ; immigrant, born in Nilsby, Sweden]
* John W. Nystrom, engineer [Referred to as "Swedish-American" at [http://www.intuitor.com/hex/hexclock.html] ]
* Glenn T. Seaborg, Nobel Prize laureate, chemist prominent in the discovery and isolation of ten transuranic elements including plutonium, americium, curium, berkelium, californium, einsteinium, fermium, mendelevium, nobelium and seaborgium, which was named in his honor [ [http://nobelprize.org/chemistry/laureates/1951/seaborg-bio.html] named Swedish American of the Year by Vasa Order of America]

Entrepreneurs and businesspeople

* Gene Amdahl, computer architect and entrepreneur
* Curt Carlson, founder of the Carlson Companies
* J. Erik Jonsson (Swedish immigrant parents [ [http://www.ti.com/corp/docs/company/history/timeline/key/1990/images/65012-1.pdf A tribute to Erik Jonsson ] ] ), co-founder and former president of Texas Instruments Incorporated, mayor of Dallas and philanthropist
* Arvid Emanuel Kallen (Swedish-born), General Motors executive
* John W. Nordstrom (Swedish-born), co-founder of the Nordstrom department store chain
* J. P. Seeburg, jukebox magnate and founder of the Seeburg Corporation
* Cristina Stenbeck (Swedish father, American mother), businesswoman
* Carl Strandlund, inventor and entrepreneur [ [http://www.wosu.org/tv/lustron/strandlund.php] Swedish-born]
* Gideon Sundback, inventor, commercialized the zipper, son-in-law of colleague Peter Aronson
* David Sundstrand, inventor of the 10 key mechanical adding machine in 1914, also with brother Oscar, founder of Sundstand Corporation (now Hamilton Sundstrand)

Military

* Arleigh Burke, U.S. Navy admiral
* John A. Dahlgren, Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy
* Eric G. Gibson, U.S. Army soldier and Medal of Honor recipient
* Roger Hanson, Confederate States Army general
* Ivor Thord-Gray, mercenary soldier

Music

* Leroy Anderson (Swedish immigrant parents), composer
* Theresa Andersson, Singer-songwriter
* Herbert Blomstedt, orchestral conductor
* Howard Hanson, composer, conductor, educator and music theorist [Referred to as Swedish-American at [http://www.everyculture.com/multi/Sr-Z/Swedish-Americans.html] ; Swedish parents]
* Joe Hill, songwriter, labor activist and member of the Industrial Workers of the World [ [http://mysongbook.de/msb/songs/j/joehill.html] immigrant from Gästrikland, Sweden]
* Quincy Jones III (Swedish-born mother), composer, music producer, film producer and author
* Ben Jorgensen, writer and singer for Armor For Sleep
* Kris Kristofferson, influential country music songwriter, singer and actor [Listed as one of several "Famous Swedish Americans" at [http://www.nordicway.com/search/Famous%20Swedish%20Americans.htm] ]
* MC Lars, rapper
* Amy Lee, lead singer of Evanescence
* Peggy Lee (Swedish/Norwegian grandparents), [ [http://www.jazzprofessional.com/interviews/Peggy%20Lee_2.htm Peggy Lee Tribute ] ] jazz singer and songwriter
* Neil Levang, musician
* Jim Lindberg, singer-songwriter for the American punk rock band Pennywise
* Nils Lofgren, singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band
* Freddy Moore, singer-songwirter
* Harry Nilsson, singer-songwriter [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0632223/bio]
* Hughie Thomasson, singer and guitarist
* Theodor Uppman (Swedish parents), opera singer
* Cal Tjader (Swedish parents), jazz musician
* Astrid Varnay (Swedish-born), opera singer
* Henry Vestine, guitarist, son of Ernest Harry Vestine
* Eskil Wetterqvist, Rock drummer

Politics

* Elmer L. Andersen, 30th Governor of Minnesota [ [http://www.mnhs.org/people/governors/gov/gov_32.htm MNHS.ORG : Governors of Minnesota | Elmer L. (Lee) Andersen ] ]
* C. Elmer Anderson, 28th Governor of Minnesota [ [http://www.mnhs.org/people/governors/gov/gov_30.htm MNHS.ORG : Governors of Minnesota | C. (Clyde) Elmer Anderson ] ]
* John B. Anderson, U.S. Representative from Illinois and an Independent candidate in the 1980 presidential election
* Wendell Anderson, 33rd Governor of Minnesota, from January 4, 1971 to December 29, 1976 [ [http://www.mnaflcio.org/humanrts.htm] is "Swedish Consul Emeritus"]
* August H. Andresen, U.S. Representative from Minnesota
* Robert Bergland, U.S. Representative from Minnesota, 20th United States Secretary of Agriculture
* Joseph A. A. Burnquist, 19th Governor of Minnesota [ [http://www.mnhs.org/people/governors/gov/gov_21.htm MNHS.ORG : Governors of Minnesota | J. A. A. (Joseph Alfred Arner) Burnquist ] ]
* Arne Carlson, 37th Governor of Minnesota. [Described as a "Swedish-American" at [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1:62570342/Ann-Margret+is+surprise+speaker+at+event+honoring+Gov~R~+Carlson~R~(NEWS).html?refid=SEO] ]
* Adolph Olson Eberhart, 17th Governor of Minnesota
* Mamie Eisenhower, wife of Dwight D. Eisenhower and First Lady of the United States from 1953 to 1961 [Named as one of "FAMOUS SWEDISH AMERICANS" at [http://www.nordicway.com/search/Famous%20Swedish%20Americans.htm] ]
* Thomas Frankson, 22nd Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota
* Orville Freeman, 29th Governor of Minnesota, 16th United States Secretary of Agriculture, 47th Governor of Michigan [ [http://www.mnhs.org/people/governors/gov/gov_31.htm MNHS.ORG : Governors of Minnesota | Orville L. (Lothrop) Freeman ] ]
* Jennifer Granholm [Is of Finnish-Swedish ancestry. [http://www.loffe.net/] ]
* Johnny Isakson (2nd generation) - Republican Senator from Georgia since 2005. [ [http://isakson.senate.gov/floor/2005/041305immigration.htm Johnny Isakson, United States Senator from Georgia ] ]
* John Albert Johnson, 16th Governor of Minnesota [named as one of "24 Famous Swedish Americans" at [http://www.genlineshop.com/c226616p16521373.2.html] ]
* Joseph B. Johnson (Swedish-born), 70th Governor of Vermont
* Magnus Johnson (Swedish-born), U.S. Senator from Minnesota
* Harold LeVander, 32nd Governor of Minnesota [ [http://www.mnhs.org/people/governors/gov/gov_34.htm MNHS.ORG : Governors of Minnesota: Harold (Karl Harold Phillip) LeVander ] ]
* John Lind, politician [ [http://www.mnhs.org/people/governors/gov/gov_16.htm] "ethnic background: Swedish"]
* Charles August Lindbergh, Congressman for 6th District of Minnesota from 1907 to 1917 [ [http://www.mnhs.org/library/findaids/P1675.html] born in Stockholm, Sweden]
* Gottfrid Lindsten, 32nd Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota
* Zoe Lofgren, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California
* Ernest Lundeen, U.S. Senator from Minnesota
* Dan Lungren, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California
* Warren G. Magnuson, United States Senator from Washington
* Albin Walter Norblad, Sr (Swedish-born), 19th Governor of Oregon (father of Albin Walter Norblad, Jr, grandfather of Albin Walter Norblad III)
* Albin Walter Norblad, Jr, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Oregon (son of Albin Walter Norblad, Sr, father of Albin Walter Norblad III)
* Albin Walter Norblad III, attorney, judge of the Oregon Circuit Court (son of Albin Walter Norblad, Jr, grandson of Albin Walter Norblad, Sr)
* Grover Norquist, conservative activist, president of Americans for Tax Reform
* Culbert Olson, 29th Governor of California
* Floyd B. Olson (Swedish mother), 22nd Governor of Minnesota
* Lyndon Lowell Olson, Jr., politician and diplomat] Appointed "The Swedish-American of 2002" by the Vasa Order of America. [http://www.saccny.org/main/scholarship/donors/olson/] ]
* William Rehnquist, lawyer, jurist and a political figure, who served as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States and later as the Chief Justice of the United States [Named "Swedish-American of the Year" [http://www.media.rice.edu/media/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=2775&SnID=60986] ]
* Carl Skoglund, socialist [ [http://www.ilwu19.com/history/loss.htm] Swedish immigrant]
* Charles Stenholm, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas
* Don Sundquist, 47th Governor of Tennessee
* Monrad Wallgren, 13th Governor of Washington, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senator from Washington
* Earl Warren, California district attorney of Alameda County, the 30th Governor of California, and the 14th Chief Justice of the United States (from 1953 to 1969)Listed as one of "FAMOUS SWEDISH AMERICANS" at [http://www.nordicway.com/search/Famous%20Swedish%20Americans.htm] ]
* Luther Youngdahl, [ [http://www.mnhs.org/people/governors/gov/gov_29.htm MNHS.ORG : Governors of Minnesota | Luther W. (Wallace) Youngdahl ] ] 27th Governor of Minnesota
* Oscar Youngdahl, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Minnesota

Religious personalities

* Marcus Borg, religious author
* Paul Carlson, medical missionary of the Evangelical Covenant Church
* Eric Jansson (Swedish-born), pietist leader
* Andrew Nelson (Swedish immigrant parents), missionary, linguist and lexicographer associated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church
* Eric Norelius, clergyman and writer [ [http://www.worldcatlibraries.org/wcpa/top3mset/63a11d35f35bbdae.html] Swedish-born]
* David Nyvall, immigrant and church leader who helped shape the Evangelical Covenant Church and establish North Park University [ [http://www.swedishamericanhist.org/quart86-97.html Swedish American Historical Quarterly - 1986-1997 ] ]

cience

* David R. Lindberg, malacologist, professor of integrative biology at the University of California, Berkeley
* Ernest Harry Vestine (Swedish immigrant parents), geophysicist and meteorologist
* Kerstin Lindblad-Toh, Co-Director of Genome Sequencing and Analysis Program, Broad Institute

ports

* Bob Burnquist, skateboarder
* Swede Carlstrom, Major League shortstop for the Boston Red Sox
* Dick Enberg, sportscaster
* Nancy Faust, stadium organist for the Chicago White Sox franchise in Major League Baseball
* Walter Hellman, draughts player
* Mike Holmgren, head coach of the Seattle Seahawks [ [http://www.thegoal.com/players/coaching/holmgren_mike/holmgran_mike.html] Raised in a Swedish-American family]
* Walter Johnson, pitcher and three time triple crown winner for the Washington Nationals/Senators from 1907-1927 [http://history.enotes.com/1910-sports-american-decades/johnson-walter] . Johnson was sometimes called "Swede," having been born of Swedish emigrant farmers.
* Ewa Mataya Laurance, professional pool player
* Edward Lindberg, athlete
* Freddie Lindstrom, baseball player
* Matthew Lindstrom, baseball player
* Greg Louganis, diver
* Joakim Noah, basketball player
* Bob Nystrom, icehockey player
* Bobo Olson (Swedish father), boxer
* Swede Risberg, baseball player
* Ulf Samuelsson (Swedish-born), ice hockey player
* Ted Sundquist, bobsledder and football manager
* Ulf Sterner, icehockey player

Writers

* Nelson Algren, writer
* Ray Bradbury, science fiction and fantasy [ [http://www.nordicway.com/search/Famous%20Swedish%20Americans.htm] listed as one of "FAMOUS SWEDISH AMERICANS"]
* Victor Davis Hanson, military historian, columnist, political essayist and former classics professorsusan
* Gustavo A. Mellander, historian, columnist, political commentator, university administrator, college president. Honored by the United States House of Representatives, 1985.
* Edita Morris, writer [referred to as a Swedish-American at [http://tmp136.vokrug.info/news.html] ]
* Sigurd Olson, writer and environmentalist
* Carl Sandburg, poet, historian, novelist, balladeer and folklorist
* Gerald Vizenor, novelist and literary critic. ["The son of a Chippewa house painter and a Swedish-American mother [http://ls.berkeley.edu/art-hum/framing/old/chapter3/vizenor.html] "]

Other

* George Akerlof, economist
* Leroy J. Alexanderson, sailor, last captain of the SS United States
* Alfred O. Andersson, publisher
* Jack Anderson, journalist
* Måns Andersson (Swedish-born), ancestor of the Bush family
* Lillian Asplund, "Titanic" survivor
* Arnold Barton, historian
* Jonas Bronck (Swedish-born), Swedish settler after whom the New York City borough of the Bronx was named
* Leticia Cline, model
* Abraham Fornander, journalist, judge and ethnologist
* Franklin S. Forsberg, publisher and diplomat
* Charles Lindbergh, pioneering United States aviator famous for piloting the first solo non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927 [Named as one of "24 Famous Swedish Americans" at [http://www.genlineshop.com/c226616p16521373.2.html] ]
* Erik Lindbergh, aviator, grandson of Charles Lindbergh (see above

See also

*List of Swedes

References