List of Lebanese Americans

This is a list of notable individuals born in the United States of Lebanese ancestry and/or people of Lebanese and American dual nationality who live or lived in the United States.

Artists

 * Etel Adnan – painter, poet
 * Margot Douaihy – writer
 * Chawky Frenn – painter and art professor
 * Kahlil Gibran – aka Kahlil G. Gibran, artist, sculptor
 * Nabil Kanso – painter
 * Sam Maloof – woodworker
 * Juman Malouf – costume designer, artist, illustrator, writer, and the romantic partner of film director Wes Anderson.

Beauty pageant contestants

 * Rima Fakih – Miss USA 2010

Entertainment personalities

 * Adam Amen – reality star, from TLC program All American Muslim
 * Alexander Koch – actor of Lebanese, Italian and German descent
 * Alyssa Farah Griffin - co-host of ABC’s The View
 * Amy Yasbeck – actress (father was of Lebanese descent)
 * Anissa Jones – child actor (mother was of Lebanese descent)
 * Callie Khouri – Oscar-winning screenwriter
 * Casey Kasem – radio personality, American Top 40 franchise; voiceover actor (cartoon series Scooby-Doo, Transformers)
 * Catherine Keener – actress, mother of Lebanese descent
 * Celeste Thorson – actress, model, activist, screenwriter
 * Chris Romano – actor, producer, director (father of Lebanese heritage, born Shaheen)
 * Cristina Vee – singer and voice actor
 * Demián Bichir – Mexican-American film actor of Lebanese heritage
 * Dan Jbara – television and film producer
 * Danny Thomas – actor
 * David Yazbek – musician and composer famous for the Broadway musical The Full Monty
 * Diane Rehm – host and executive producer of The Diane Rehm Show on National Public Radio
 * Edy Ganem – actress (parents are of Lebanese descent)
 * Elie Samaha – film producer
 * Emeraude Toubia – actress (father is Lebanese)
 * Emile Kuri – Mexican-born American Oscar-winning art director
 * Frank Lackteen – actor
 * Gregory Jbara – television and film actor
 * George Nader – actor, uncle of Michael Nader
 * George Noory – radio host (radio program Coast to Coast AM)
 * Haaz Sleiman – actor (series Nurse Jackie; film The Visitor)
 * Hank the Angry Drunken Dwarf – radio and television personality
 * James Stacy – film and television actor
 * Jamie Farr – actor (sitcom M*A*S*H)
 * Jamie Gray Hyder – actress, model (father of Lebanese descent)
 * Jane Wiedlin – musician, actress (mother was of Lebanese descent)
 * Jenna Dewan – actress (paternal grandfather was of Lebanese descent)
 * Kristen Doute – television personality known for Vanderpump Rules
 * Joan Alexander – actress known for her role as Lois Lane
 * John A. Kuri – author and writer, film and television producer, and director
 * John Leguizamo – actor (maternal grandfather was Lebanese)
 * Kathy Najimy – actress
 * Kerri Kasem – radio and television host; daughter of Casey Kasem
 * Khrystyne Haje – actress (sitcom Head of the Class)
 * Lili Estefan – Cuban-American television personality, niece of Emilio Estefan
 * Marlo Thomas – actress (father was of Lebanese descent)
 * Mario Kassar – filmmaker, founder of Carolco Pictures
 * Mary Zilba – television personality and singer
 * Mayssa Karaa – Grammy-nominated singer
 * Mia Khalifa – pornographic actress and adult model
 * Michael Ansara – stage, screen, and voice actor (Lebanese born American)
 * Michael Nader – actor, All My Children and Dynasty
 * Michael Nouri – actor, film Flashdance
 * Mo Gallini – actor (father of Lebanese descent)
 * Paola Turbay – Colombian-American actress, model, beauty queen and television presenter
 * Paul Anka – singer-songwriter, actor, producer
 * Peter Macdissi – film and television actor
 * Raya Meddine – actress of Lebanese descent
 * Robert Romanus – actor and musician
 * Rose Abdoo – comedian, actress
 * Rowan Blanchard – actress (father of Lebanese descent)
 * Salma Hayek – Mexican-American actress (paternal grandfather was Lebanese)
 * Senta Moses – actress known for her role in Home Alone
 * Shannon Elizabeth – actress (father of Lebanese descent)
 * Terrence Malick – filmmaker, of part Lebanese descent
 * Tom Shadyac – film director (of 3/4 Lebanese descent)
 * Tony Shalhoub – actor (Monk)
 * Tony Thomas – producer (father was of Lebanese descent)
 * Vince Vaughn – actor (paternal grandmother was of Lebanese descent)
 * Wentworth Miller – actor, maternal great-grandmother of Lebanese descent
 * Yasmeen Fletcher – actress and musician, mother of Lebanese descent
 * Yasmine Al Massri – Lebanese-born American actress

Fashion designers

 * Elie Saab – fashioner designer
 * Joseph Abboud – fashion designer
 * Reem Acra – fashion designer
 * Norma Kamali – fashion designer

Musicians

 * Andrew Bazzi – pop musician
 * Dick Dale – rock guitarist and surf music pioneer
 * Emilio Estefan – Cuban-American musician and producer; husband of Gloria Estefan
 * G. E. Smith – lead guitarist in the band Hall & Oates; musical director of Saturday Night Live
 * Hamed Sinno – Lebanese-American graphic designer, singer-songwriter of the band Mashrou'Leila
 * Jack Barakat – guitarist of the band All Time Low
 * Jane Wiedlin – musician, singer-songwriter, and actress; best known as a member of the all-female new wave band The Go-Go's
 * John Dolmayan – Lebanese-American of Armenian descent, drummer of band System of a Down
 * Kat Dahlia – singer-songwriter, rapper
 * Mohammed El-Bakkar – tenor singer, oud player, and conductor
 * Nadia Azzi – pianist
 * Paul Anka – singer-songwriter (both parents of Lebanese descent)
 * Paul Jabara – composer
 * Neil Sedaka – pop/rock singer, pianist, composer and record producer
 * Ron Affif – jazz guitarist and musician
 * Rosalind Elias – opera singer renowned for her time in the Metropolitan Opera
 * Serj Tankian – Lebanese-American of Armenian descent, lead singer of band System of a Down
 * Soraya – Colombian-American singer
 * Tiffany – singer
 * Tino Coury – singer-songwriter and producer
 * Tiny Tim – folk singer
 * Tyler Joseph – lead singer of Twenty One Pilots

Legal professionals

 * Jeanine Pirro – former district attorney of Westchester County, New York
 * Eva M. Mack – attorney who worked on the California civil rights case Davis v. Carter

Business

 * Alec Gores – entrepreneur
 * Caroline Ghosn – entrepreneur
 * Charles Elachi – director of Jet Propulsion Laboratory
 * Clifford Antone – founder of Antone's blues club in Austin, Texas
 * Debra Cafaro – CEO of Ventas Inc., a healthcare real estate investment trust
 * Fares D. Noujaim – business executive
 * Frédéric Fekkai – French-American hairdresser and founder of Frédéric Fekkai salons and hair products
 * George Joseph – founder of Mercury Insurance Group
 * George J. Maloof Jr. – businessman and owner of the Sacramento Monarchs, Sacramento Kings and the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas
 * George J. Maloof Sr. – businessman and former owner of the Houston Rockets
 * Jacques Nasser – former CEO of Ford Motor Company
 * Jean Succar Kuri – businessman
 * Joe Jamail – attorney and businessman
 * Joe Robbie – attorney and original owner of the Miami Dolphins
 * John J. Mack – former CEO of investment bank Morgan Stanley (2005–2009)
 * Joseph J. Jacobs – former chairman and founder of the Jacobs Engineering Group
 * Madeleine A. Pickens – business executive
 * Magid Abraham – market research expert and businessman
 * Manuel Moroun – businessman and the owner of the Ambassador Bridge
 * Michael Boulos – business executive and partner of Tiffany Trump
 * Moose Scheib – founder and CEO of LoanMod.com
 * Paul Orfalea – founder of Kinko's
 * Richard Rainwater (1944–2015) – investor and philanthropist
 * Richard Rashid – founder of Microsoft Research
 * Robert Khuzami – former director of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
 * Thomas J. Barrack Jr. – businessman and founder of Colony Capital
 * Tony Fadell – product development manager at Apple Inc.
 * Tony Tamer – founder and co-CEO of H.I.G. Capital

Education and academics

 * Charbel Farhat – Vivian Church Hoff Professor of Aircraft Structures in the School of Engineering and inaugural James and Anna Marie Spilker Chair of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, at Stanford University; Member of the National Academy of Engineering (US); Member of the Royal Academy of Engineering (UK); and Member of the Lebanese Academy of Sciences
 * Jacqueline S. Stephen – author, editor, Fulbright alumna, researcher, faculty at Mercer University, Atlanta Georgia USA
 * Joseph E. Aoun – President of Northeastern University
 * Nafe Katter – professor of theatre, University of Connecticut
 * Robert Khayat – Chancellor of the University of Mississippi
 * Eugene Nassar – author, literary critic and professor
 * Donna Shalala – U.S. Representative from Florida, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services and former President of the University of Miami
 * Phoebe Stanton – faculty at Johns Hopkins University from 1955 until 1982, art historian, urban planner for the city of Baltimore.
 * Gabriel Hawawini – emeritus professor of finance and former holder of the Henry Grunfeld Chair in Investment Banking at INSEAD

History

 * Akram Fouad Khater – professor, author, expert on Lebanese-American studies
 * Philip Khuri Hitti – historian of Arab culture and history

Journalism

 * Anthony Shadid – foreign correspondent for The New York Times and earlier The Boston Globe
 * Brian Karem – journalist and White House correspondent
 * Helen Thomas – journalist who covered every U.S. president from 1961 to 2010
 * Jad Abumrad – radio host, composer, and producer, founder and co-host of the syndicated public radio program Radiolab
 * Jim Avila – senior correspondent for ABC News
 * Leila Fadel – journalist for National Public Radio
 * Lucie Salhany – first woman to head a broadcast television network in 1993 in the position as Chairman of Fox Broadcasting Company
 * Octavia Nasr – former television journalist for CNN
 * Paula Faris – journalist (father was of Lebanese descent)
 * Raghida Dergham – columnist and senior diplomatic correspondent for the London-based Al Hayat
 * Sara Ganim – CNN journalist (father is of Lebanese descent)
 * Serena Shim – journalist
 * Tamsen Fadal – television journalist
 * Walid Phares – security and anti-terrorism expert

Medicine

 * Amin J. Barakat – physician, known for the diagnosis of Barakat syndrome
 * Charles Sophy – psychiatrist
 * Daniel Amen – psychiatrist and author
 * George Hatem – "Ma Haide," a founder of the public health system in China
 * M. Amin Arnaout – nephrologist and physician-scientist
 * Michael DeBakey – heart surgeon, medical innovator
 * Paul Nassif – facial plastic surgeon, co-star on the television series Botched

Military

 * Alfred Naifeh – U.S. Navy lieutenant posthumously awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal in WWII and namesake of a U.S. Navy ship, USS Naifeh (DE-352)
 * Ernest "Iron Mike" Massad – U.S. Army major general
 * George Joulwan – retired U.S. Army general
 * James Jabara – first American jet ace
 * John Abizaid – retired general in the United States Army
 * Michael A. Monsoor – U.S. Navy SEAL awarded Medal of Honor after being killed during the Iraq War

Activists

 * Jahaira DeAlto – domestic violence victims and LGBT community activist and advocate
 * Brigitte Gabriel – founder of non-profit political organizations American Congress For Truth and ACT! for America; author; formerly journalist in Israel working for World News
 * Candy Lightner – activist and founder of Mothers Against Drunk Drivers
 * James Zogby – founder of the Arab-American Institute
 * Jill Kelley – international advocate, socialite, and former diplomat
 * John Zogby – pollster; founder of Zogby International

Politicians

 * Abraham Kazen – former U.S. representative from Texas
 * Alex Azar – former United States Secretary of Health and Human Services
 * Charles Boustany – former U.S. representative from Louisiana
 * Charlie Crist – U.S. representative from Florida and former governor of Florida
 * Chris Greeley – former Maine state representative
 * Chris John – former U.S. representative from Louisiana
 * Chris Sununu – Governor of New Hampshire
 * Darin LaHood – Republican representative from Illinois
 * Darrell Issa – U.S. representative from California
 * David Karem – member of Kentucky Senate from 1976 to 2004
 * Debbie Mucarsel-Powell – U.S. representative from Florida
 * Donna Shalala – U.S. representative from Florida and former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services
 * Edward M. Gabriel – former U.S. ambassador to Morocco
 * Francis Slay – former mayor of Saint Louis
 * Garret Graves – U.S. representative from Louisiana
 * George A. Kasem – former U.S. representative from California
 * George J. Mitchell – former U.S. senator from Maine
 * Gwen Graham – former U.S. representative from Florida
 * James Abdnor – former U.S. senator and U.S. representative from South Dakota
 * James Abourezk – former U.S. senator from South Dakota
 * Jeanine Pirro – politician, judge and television host
 * John Baldacci – former governor of Maine
 * John E. Sununu – former U.S. senator and U.S. representative from New Hampshire
 * John H. Sununu – former White House Chief of Staff; former governor of New Hampshire
 * Katcho Achadjian – former California State Assembly member, of Armenian descent
 * Manuel Maloof – former U.S. government official and businessman
 * Mary Rose Oakar – former U.S. representative from Ohio
 * Nick Rahall – former U.S. representative from West Virginia
 * Nico LaHood – Bexar County district attorney, Texas
 * Pat Danner – former U.S. representative from Missouri
 * Philip Habib – former U.S. ambassador and envoy
 * Ralph Abraham – U.S. representative from Louisiana
 * Ralph Nader – political activist and former U.S. presidential candidate (Green Party)
 * Ray LaHood – former U.S. Transportation Secretary and former U.S. representative from Illinois
 * Richard L. Hanna – former U.S. representative from New York
 * Richard Ieyoub – former Attorney General of Louisiana
 * Selwa Roosevelt – former U.S. government official
 * Spencer Abraham – former U.S. senator from Michigan
 * Suzanne Haik Terrell – former Louisiana elections commissioner
 * Toby Moffett – former U.S. representative from Connecticut
 * Victor G. Atiyeh – former governor of Oregon
 * Vincent Sheheen – member of the South Carolina senate
 * Sam H. Zakhem – member of the Colorado State House of Representatives, Colorado state senator, former U.S. ambassador to Bahrain under Ronald Reagan

Other personalities

 * Adele Khoury Graham – educator and former first lady of the State of Florida
 * George Noory – radio host of Coast to Coast AM; author; entertainer
 * Joseph Farah – author and journalist
 * Nassim Nicholas Taleb – best-selling author, risk expert and statistician, university professor, and former trader and business person
 * Robert Khuzami, U.S. deputy attorney for Southern District of New York
 * Timothy Massad – U.S. Treasury Department official and corporate lawyer
 * Jirair Ratevosian – acting chief of staff to the United States Global AIDS Coordinator (2022–23)
 * Victoria Reggie Kennedy – attorney and widow of U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy

Sciences

 * Anthony Atala – director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine
 * Charbel Farhat – director, Army High Performance Computing Research Center, Stanford University, and Member of National Academy of Engineering
 * Charles Elachi – director of NASA Jet Propulsion Labs
 * Doris Daou – NASA astronomer
 * Elias Corey – 1990 Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry
 * Christa McAuliffe – American teacher and astronaut who was killed on the Space Shuttle Challenger; mother was of partial Lebanese descent
 * Hassan Kamel Al-Sabbah – technology innovator
 * Michael Debakey – doctor and heart surgeon, medical innovator

Athletes

 * Abe Mickal – football player for LSU
 * Bobby Rahal – professional car racer and team owner
 * Charley Zivic – professional boxer
 * Damien Sandow – professional wrestler in the WWE
 * David Azzi – professional football player
 * Doug Flutie – former professional football player
 * Fred Saigh – lawyer; real estate investor; owner of the American professional baseball franchise the St. Louis Cardinals
 * Graham Rahal – professional car racer
 * Jackson Vroman – former professional basketball player and member of Lebanon's national basketball team (naturalized Lebanese citizen)
 * Jeff George – former NFL quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts
 * Jim Harrick – former head coach of the University of Georgia Bull Dogs
 * Joe Lahoud – former Major League Baseball outfielder
 * Joe Vogel – professional basketball player and member of Lebanon's national basketball team
 * John Elway – Hall of Fame NFL quarterback for the Denver Broncos
 * John Grabow – former Major League Baseball pitcher
 * John Jaha – former first baseman in Major League Baseball, played for the Milwaukee Brewers and Oakland Athletics
 * Johnny Manziel – professional football player
 * Jordyn Wieber – Olympic gymnast and gold medallist
 * Liz Carmouche – mixed martial artist
 * Matt Freije – ex-NBA player and member of Lebanon national basketball team
 * Matt Kalil – professional football player
 * Mikie Mahtook – Major League Baseball outfielder
 * Mikie Mahtook – Major League Baseball outfielder
 * Patrick Maroon – ice hockey player for the Edmonton Oilers in the NHL
 * Paul Rabil – former professional lacrosse player
 * Petey Sarron – former featherweight boxing champion
 * Rich Kotite – former National Football League player and coach
 * Robert Saleh – professional football coach and head coach of the New York Jets
 * Robert Watkins – former professional football player; of African-American and Lebanese descent
 * Rony Seikaly – former professional basketball player in the NBA and for both the U.S. and Lebanon's national basketball team
 * Ryan Kalil – professional football player
 * Sabu – professional wrestler, real name Terry Brunk
 * Sage Karam – professional car racer
 * Samir Bannout – former professional bodybuilder and winner of Mr. Olympia title in 1983
 * Skandor Akbar – former professional wrestler
 * Soony Saad – professional soccer forward player
 * Steve Kerr – retired professional basketball player and current head coach of the Golden State Warriors
 * Toni Breidinger – professional race car driver

World Series of Poker champions

 * Ihsan "Sammy" Farha – three-time WSOP-bracelet winner
 * Jennifer Shahade – two-time United States Women's champion; has the FIDE title of woman grandmaster
 * Kassem "Freddy" Deeb – two-time WSOP-bracelet winner
 * Joe Hachem – WSOP main event winner and a WPT championship winner (1 of 6 players in the world to win both)

Writers

 * Ameen Rihani – author
 * D. H. Melhem – poet, novelist, and editor
 * Geoff Johns – comic book writer
 * Khalil Gibran – author and philosopher
 * Lee Francis – poet
 * Mikha'il Na'ima – author and poet
 * Nassim Nicholas Taleb – essayist
 * Paula Gunn Allen – Native American poet and activist
 * Rabih Alameddine – author
 * Raymond Khoury – novelist and screenwriter
 * Saree Makdisi – author and literary critic
 * Stephen Karam – playwright
 * Vance Bourjaily – novelist
 * William Peter Blatty – writer, screenwriter