List of Hungarian Americans

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

Many Hungarians went to the United States during the Second World War and after the Soviet invasion in 1956 during Operation Safe Haven.

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

Actors

 * Don Adams - Get Smart; father was a Hungarian Jew
 * Vilma Bánky
 * Drew Barrymore - mother is a Hungarian immigrant.
 * Judith Barsi - daughter of Hungarian parents
 * Mayim Bialik
 * Adrien Brody - mother is Hungarian
 * Stephanie Courtney
 * Jamie Lee Curtis - paternal grandparents were Hungarian Jews
 * Tony Curtis - parents were Hungarian Jews
 * Bill Dana
 * Rodney Dangerfield
 * Peter Falk - Columbo
 * Rani Fujikawa - actress, mother of Hungarian Jewish descent
 * Eva Gabor
 * Zsa Zsa Gabor
 * Drake Glover - mother of Hungarian Jewish descent
 * Legend Glover - mother of Hungarian Jewish descent
 * Mariska Hargitay - father, former bodybuilder Mickey Hargitay, is of Hungarian descent
 * Goldie Hawn - maternal grandparents were Hungarian Jews
 * Kate Hudson - two maternal great-grandparents were Hungarian Jews
 * Robert Karvelas - cousin of Don Adams and Dick Yarney
 * Ernie Kovacs
 * David Krumholtz - mother is a Hungarian Jewish immigrant
 * Peter Lorre
 * Paul Lukas
 * Ali MacGraw - maternal grandparents were of Hungarian Jewish descent
 * Ilona Massey (née Harmassy)
 * Paul Newman - father was of Hungarian Jewish and Polish Jewish descent, maternal grandparents were Slovaks from Hungary
 * Marisol Nichols
 * Michael Pataki
 * Joe Penner
 * Joaquin Phoenix - maternal grandmother was of Hungarian Jewish descent
 * River Phoenix - maternal grandmother was of Hungarian Jewish descent
 * John Paul Pitoc - father is an immigrant of Hungarian descent
 * Freddie Prinze - Jewish father immigrated to U.S. in 1934 from Hungary
 * Ted Raimi - Jewish American actor, Xena, Warrior Princess; ancestors came from Russia and Hungary
 * Jerry Seinfeld - father was of Hungarian Jewish descent
 * William Shatner - Canadian-American actor, of Hungarian Jewish descent
 * Shaun Sipos
 * Jessica Szohr - paternal grandfather was of Hungarian descent
 * Michael Vartan - paternal grandmother was from Hungary
 * Cornel Wilde - parents were Hungarian Jews
 * Jon Lovitz
 * Bela Lugosi - most notably remembered for portraying Count Dracula in 1931 for Universal
 * Matthew Daddario - actor

Filmmakers

 * Nimród Antal (born 1973) film director
 * László Benedek - film director
 * Gabor Csupo - animator of Rugrats and early Simpsons
 * George Cukor - film director
 * Michael Curtiz (née Kertesz) - director of Casablanca; Academy Award winner
 * Frank Darabont - producer and director
 * William S. Darling - designer, winner of three Oscar awards
 * André de Toth - film director
 * Jules Engel - animator, filmmaker and teacher
 * Joe Eszterhas - screenwriter (Basic Instinct, Flashdance)
 * William Fox - founder of 20th Century Fox
 * Alexander Korda - director
 * László Kovács - cinematographer (Easy Rider)
 * Andrew Laszlo - cinematographer
 * László Marton - theatre director
 * Peter Medak - director
 * Ferenc Molnár - dramatist and novelist
 * George Pal - director, producer, cinematographer
 * Gabriel Pascal - movie producer
 * Joe Pasternak - producer of Universal Studios
 * Sam Raimi - film director, producer; brother of Ted Raimi
 * Steven Spielberg - has Jewish Hungarian ancestors
 * Andrew G. Vajna - movie producer, co-founder of Carolco Pictures (Rambo, Terminator, Basic Instinct, Total Recall, Evita)
 * King Wallis Vidor - film producer, screenwriter and film director; grandfather was Charles Vidor refugee of the 1848 Hungarian Revolution
 * Jules White - producer
 * Vilmos Zsigmond - cinematographer, Academy Award winner (Close Encounters of the Third Kind)
 * Adolph Zukor - founder of Paramount Pictures

Sportspeople

 * Howard Komives - professional basketball player.
 * Julius Boros - professional golfer; two-time U.S. Open winner and oldest person ever to win a major tournament (PGA Championship, 1968)
 * Ralph Branca - mother is of Hungarian Jewish descent
 * Greg Camarillo (born 1982) - football player
 * Larry Csonka - football player
 * Ed Doheny - baseball player
 * Bertalan de Nemethy - show jumping coach for the United States Equestrian Team (1955–1980)
 * Ladislas Farago - journalist
 * Nick Fazekas - basketball player
 * Kirk Ferentz - American football coach (currently with University of Iowa)
 * Susan Francia - Olympic and world champion rower
 * Charlie Gogolak - football player
 * Pete Gogolak - football player; invented "soccer style" kicking
 * Lou Groza - football player
 * Mickey Hargitay - bodybuilder, father of Mariska Hargitay
 * Charles Horváth - Hungarian-American soccer player.
 * Les Horvath - 1944 Heisman Trophy winner
 * Tim Howard - soccer player
 * Al Hrabosky - baseball player
 * Béla Károlyi - born in Kolozsvár, Hungary (now Cluj-Napoca, Romania); coached Romanian gymnast Nadia Comăneci; currently trains gymnasts in the USA at the National Team Training Center in Huntsville, Texas
 * Karch Kiraly - volleyball player and coach
 * Doug Kotar - pro football player
 * Jack Lengyel - football coach
 * Ted Ligety - Olympic and world champion alpine ski racer
 * Joe Medwick - baseball player, inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame in 1968
 * Zoltan Mesko - football punter
 * Charles Nagy - baseball player
 * Matt Nagy - pro football quarterback
 * Joe Namath - football player
 * Nick Nemeth - professional wrestler better known by his WWE ring name of Dolph Ziggler
 * Tom Orosz - pro football player
 * Allie Quigley - basketball player
 * Jack Rudnay - pro football player
 * Monica Seles - tennis player
 * Dave Shula - football WR/PR, football coach
 * Don Shula - football coach
 * Dan Sileo - football player
 * Mike Shula - football quarterback, football coach
 * Rebecca Soni - Olympic and world champion backstroke swimmer
 * Joe Theismann - former NFL / CFL football player turned broadcaster
 * Jim Tomsula - former NFL Head Coach of the San Francisco 49ers
 * Courtney Vandersloot - basketball player
 * Scott Zolak - former pro football quarterback, announcer
 * Teddy Atlas - boxing trainer and fight commentator
 * Kevin Toth - former shot putter
 * Joe Kovacs - world champion shot putter; paternal grandfather is Hungarian

Scientists

 * Réka Albert
 * Béla H. Bánáthy – linguist, systems scientist, and professor
 * Albert-László Barabási
 * Zoltán Bay
 * László Bíró – inventor of the ballpoint pen
 * Arpad Elo
 * Paul Erdős – mathematician
 * Milton Friedman – economist, Nobel Prize (1976)
 * József Galamb – mechanical engineer, designer of the Ford Model T
 * Peter Carl Goldmark – engineer (LP record, color television)
 * Sidney Gottlieb
 * Andy Grove – scientist and businessman and CEO of Intel Corporation
 * Paul Halmos – mathematician
 * Stevan Harnad – scientist
 * John Harsanyi – economist, game theory in economics, Nobel Prize (1994)
 * Csaba Horváth
 * Imre Izsak
 * John George Kemeny – scientist (BASIC programming language)
 * Nicholas Kurti – physicist
 * Cornelius Lanczos – physicist
 * Erno Laszlo – dermatologist and cosmetic businessman
 * Peter Lax – mathematician
 * George Andrew Olah – chemist, Nobel Prize (1994)
 * Ivan Raimi – Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine
 * Julius Rebek – chemist
 * Hans Selye – physician, theory of psychological stress
 * Charles Simonyi – computer developer (Microsoft Office, Hungarian notation)
 * Thomas Szasz – psychiatrist and academic
 * Victor Szebehely – scientist, a key figure in the development and success of NASA's Apollo program
 * Gábor Szegő – mathematician
 * Albert Szent-Györgyi – biologist and polymath, discovered Vitamin C; Nobel Prize (1937)
 * Andor Szentivanyi – originator of the beta adrenergic theory of asthma
 * Leó Szilárd – physicist, hypothesized the nuclear chain reaction, patented the idea of the nuclear reactor, invented the electron microscope
 * Edward Teller – father of the hydrogen bomb
 * Mária Telkes
 * Georg von Békésy – biophysicist
 * Theodore von Kármán – scientist, "the father of supersonic flight"
 * John von Neumann – computer scientist, a key figure of developing the digital computer and game theory
 * Thomas Vietorisz – researcher and teacher in economics
 * Eugene Wigner – quantum physicist, Nobel Prize (1963)
 * Daniel Carleton Gajdusek – Nobel Prize winner for discovery of viruses with prolonged incubation periods

Writers, editors, and journalists

 * Csaba Csere – technical director and editor of Car and Driver magazine
 * Lawrence Dorr – short story author
 * Peter Hargitai – writer, poet, translator
 * Chris Jansing (born Christine Kapostasy) – correspondent for NBC News, contributing reporter for the Today Show, NBC Nightly News, and contributing anchor on MSNBC
 * Peter W. Klein – journalist, documentary filmmaker, director of Global Reporting Centre
 * Michael Korda--editor-in-chief emeritus Simon & Schuster
 * John Lukacs – historian, writer, professor
 * Kati Marton – author
 * Nicholas Nagy-Talavera – dissident, historian, writer and professor
 * Paul J. Pastor – journalist, writer, author of "The Listening Day" and other works. Hungarian paternal grandfather.
 * Joseph Pulitzer – publisher, Pulitzer Prize was named after him.
 * John Simon – author; literary, theater, and film critic
 * Dan Sileo – radio host
 * Patrick Vlaskovits – New York Times bestselling author of The Lean Entrepreneur
 * Elie Wiesel – author, 1986 Peace Prize Nobelist

Musicians and composers

 * Bob Babbitt – Motown bassist and member of the Funk Brothers, born to Hungarian parents
 * Béla Bartók
 * Zoltan Bathory – guitarist and founder of metal band Five Finger Death Punch
 * Peter Cetera – singer, bassist, composer, and producer, formerly of the band Chicago; has stated his Hungarian heritage in interviews and on his website, but has not revealed his mother's birth/maiden name
 * Jon Deak – bassist, New York Philharmonic
 * Ernö Dohnanyi
 * Flea – bassist of Red Hot Chili Peppers
 * Laszlo Gardony – jazz pianist composer, Sunnyside recording artist, Berklee College of Music professor of piano
 * Keith Jarrett – jazz and classical pianist and composer
 * Kesha – pop musician; grandmother is Hungarian
 * Alanis Morissette
 * John Németh – soul and blues singer/songwriter and harmonicist; father is from Hungary
 * Eugene Ormandy – conductor
 * John Popper – singer/harmonicist of Blues Traveler
 * Suzi Quatro – American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress; Hungarian mother
 * Tommy Ramone – member of the Ramones
 * Miklós Rózsa – film score composer
 * Hunt Sales – rock drummer for Todd Rundgren, Iggy Pop and Tin Machine; son of Soupy Sales
 * Tony Sales – rock bassist for Todd Rundgren, Iggy Pop and Tin Machine; son of Soupy Sales
 * Mike Shinoda – member of Linkin Park; mother is of Hungarian descent
 * Gene Simmons – singer, bassist of rock band KISS; Jewish Hungarian mother; still speaking Hungarian
 * Paul Simon – singer/songwriter; Jewish Hungarian parents
 * Gábor Szabó – jazz guitarist
 * Gábor Szakácsi – rock musician, member of Sledgeback
 * Zoltan Teglas – bands Ignite and Pennywise
 * Tommy Vig – jazz vibraphonist, born in Budapest

Politicians

 * Chris Gabrielli – Massachusetts candidate for governor
 * Joseph Gaydos – former Pennsylvania congressman (1968-1993)
 * Ernest Istook – former Congressman from Oklahoma (1993-2007)
 * John Kerry – United States Secretary of State (2013-2017); of Hungarian and Moravian ancestry; his family's original name was "Kohcn"
 * Fiorello H. LaGuardia – former mayor of New York City (1934-1945); Hungarian mother
 * Tom Lantos – former Congressman from California (1981-2008)
 * George Pataki – former Governor of New York (1995-2006); father was Hungarian
 * Mark Singel – former Lt. Governor of Pennsylvania (1987-1995)
 * Sebastian Gorka – Deputy Assistant to the President (2017)

Other

 * Agoston Haraszthy – pioneer winemaker in Wisconsin and California
 * Steven Brust – writer
 * Edward L. Doheny - oil tycoon
 * Magda Gabor – entertainer
 * John D. Hertz – businessman, founder of The Hertz Corporation
 * Karoly Hokky – former Czechoslovak senator
 * Chris Jansing – newscaster
 * Calvin Klein – fashion designer
 * Alex Koroknay-Palicz – executive director of National Youth Rights Association
 * Ernie Kovacs – entertainer
 * Michael Kovats – founder of the U.S. Cavalry
 * Eugene Lang – philanthropist
 * Paul László – architect, interior designer
 * Estée Lauder – co-founder of Estée Lauder cosmetics company
 * Csaba Markus – artist, publisher
 * Albert Nemethy – artist
 * George Pal – animator
 * Christina Pazsitzky – comedian
 * Thomas Peterffy – entrepreneur, founder of Interactive Brokers Group
 * Laszlo Rabel – United States Army soldier and Medal of Honor recipient
 * Helena Rubinstein – co-founder of makeup label Helena Rubinstein
 * Soupy Sales – comedian, actor, radio-TV personality and host; Hungarian parents
 * George Soros – speculator, investor, philanthropist, and political activist
 * Thomas Szasz – psychiatry professor
 * Louis Szathmary – chef, writer, and public personality
 * Steven F. Udvar-Házy – business mogul in the aviation industry, philanthropist
 * Ferenc A. Váli – lawyer, author, and political analyst
 * Roland Wank – architect
 * Harry Houdini – stage magician and stunt performer
 * Steven Kemenyffy – ceramic artist
 * David Dobrik – YouTube entertainer, has hungarian mother, still speaks Hungarian