List of Welsh Americans

This is a list of notable Welsh 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 Welsh American or must have references showing they are Welsh American and are notable.

Fine Art

 * Earl W. Bascom (1906-1995), "Cowboy of Cowboy Artists"

Entertainment

 * Jessica Alba (born 1981), movie actress, distant Welsh ancestry
 * Alexis Arquette (born 1969), movie actress, distant Welsh ancestry
 * David Arquette (born 1971), movie actor and TV director, distant Welsh ancestry
 * Patricia Arquette (born 1968), movie and TV actress, distant Welsh ancestry
 * Richmond Arquette (born 1963), movie actor, distant Welsh ancestry
 * Rosanna Arquette (born 1959), movie actress, distant Welsh ancestry
 * Michael Aston (1964), born in Cornelly, musician
 * Andrea Bowen (born 1990), actor
 * Cayden Boyd (born 1994), actor, father of Welsh ancestry
 * Jenna Boyd (born 1993), actress, father of Welsh ancestry
 * Dean Cain (born 1966), actor, mother is of partial Welsh ancestry
 * Erika Christensen (born 1982), actress, distant Welsh ancestry
 * Kelly Clarkson (born 1982), singer, distant Welsh ancestry
 * Bette Davis (1908–1989), two-time Academy Award-winning actress of stage, screen and television; distant Welsh ancestry
 * Billy De Wolfe, actor, mother was Welsh
 * Sophie Dee, born in Llanelli, Wales
 * Thomas Dekker, actor, mother is Welsh
 * Michael Douglas, distant Welsh ancestry
 * Leslie Easterbrook, distant Welsh ancestry
 * Bill Evans (born 1929), jazz pianist / composer
 * Sara Evans (born 1971), country music singer
 * Glenn Ford (1916–2006), film actor
 * Carson Grant (born 1950), actor
 * D. W. Griffith (1875–1948), early film director
 * Teri Hatcher (born 1964), actress and writer, distant Welsh ancestry
 * Bob Hope (1903–2003), actor/comedian, mother was Welsh
 * Anthony Hopkins (born 1937), born in Port Talbot, Glamorgan; Academy-Award-winning film/stage actor
 * John Houseman (1902-1988), film producer
 * Anjelica Huston, distant Welsh ancestry
 * John Huston, distant Welsh ancestry
 * Quincy Jones (born 1933), record producer, conductor, arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter, Welsh paternal grandfather
 * Rashida Jones (born 1976), actress, Welsh paternal great-grandfather
 * Tommy Lee (born 1963), drummer for hard rock/heavy metal band Mötley Crüe
 * Zachary Levi (born 1980), actor, distant Welsh ancestry
 * Ted Levine (born 1957), actor, mother was part Welsh
 * Blake Lewis (born 1981), American Idol contestant and singer
 * Juliette Lewis, actress and singer
 * Harold Lloyd (1893–1971), actor
 * Myrna Loy (1905–1993), actress
 * Marco Marenghi, animator, born in Rhondda
 * Ray Milland (1905–1986), actor
 * Wayne Newton, distant Welsh ancestry
 * Leslie Nielsen, actor (1926–2010), Welsh mother
 * The Osmonds, including Donny Osmond (born 1957), half of the brother-sister singing act Donny & Marie; of part Welsh descent, traced their ancestry back to Merthyr Tydfil
 * Karyn Parsons (born 1966), actress, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Welsh descent on father's side
 * Michelle Pfeiffer (born 1958), distant Welsh ancestry
 * Michael Phelps
 * Justin Pierce, English-born actor of Welsh descent; former husband of Gina Rizzo
 * Chris Pine, actor, distant Welsh ancestry
 * Shawn Pyfrom, paternal grandfather is of Welsh ancestry
 * Kim Richards (born 1964), actress, distant Welsh ancestry
 * Kyle Richards (born 1969), actress, distant Welsh ancestry
 * Monica Richards, author and musician
 * Jason Robards, distant Welsh ancestry
 * Eric Roberts (born 1956), actor, distant Welsh ancestry
 * Julia Roberts (born 1967), actress, distant Welsh ancestry
 * Coco Rocha, Canadian model of Welsh, Irish, and Russian descent
 * Gena Rowlands, actress, father was of Welsh descent
 * Susan Sarandon (born 1946), Oscar-winning actress, distant Welsh ancestry
 * Brooke Shields, distant Welsh ancestry
 * Esperanza Spalding (born 1984), singer/songwriter, distant Welsh ancestry
 * Aden Strong, voice actor, father of distant Welsh ancestry
 * Sammy Strong, voice actor, father of distant Welsh ancestry
 * Tiffani Thiessen, actress, distant Welsh ancestry
 * Henry Thomas (born 1971), actor, distant Welsh ancestry
 * Lynda Thomas (born 1981), musician, singer-songwriter
 * Scott Walker
 * Tuc Watkins (born 1966), actor
 * Betty White, actress, distant Welsh ancestry
 * Michelle Williams (born 1980), actress, distant Welsh ancestry
 * Robin Williams, distant Welsh ancestry
 * Vanessa Williams (born 1963), actress, distant Welsh ancestry
 * Cassandra Wilson (born 1955), née Cassandra Fowlkes, jazz vocalist; distant Welsh ancestry through her father
 * Patrick Wilson, distant Welsh ancestry

Literature

 * Sinclair Lewis (1885–1951), novelist/playwright
 * Jack London (1876–1916), author
 * Edgar Lee Masters (1868–1950), poet/biographer/dramatist
 * Lorin Morgan-Richards (1975), author and illustrator
 * Ogden Nash (1902–1971), wrote clever humorous poetry

Politics

 * John Adams, President of the United States, Vice President of the United States (1735–1826);traced his ancestry to Pembroke, Pembrokeshire and to Penybanc Farm at Llanboidy, Carmarthenshire
 * John Quincy Adams, President of the United States, Secretary of State (1767–1848)
 * Benedict Arnold, Revolution general who defected from the American to the British side
 * John Henry Bowen, U.S. Representative from Tennessee
 * George W. Bush, 43rd President United States; distant Welsh ancestry
 * Martha Hughes Cannon (1857-1932), physician, Utah women's rights advocate and suffragist, first female state senator elected in the United States, member of the Utah Senate from the 6th district (1897-1901)
 * Dick Cheney, forty-sixth Vice President of the United States (2001-2009)
 * Cassius Marcellus Clay (1810–1903), abolitionist
 * Hillary Clinton (born 1947), Secretary of State, U.S. Senator from New York, former First Lady, candidate for the 2008 and 2016 Democratic presidential nominations
 * Calvin Coolidge, twenty-ninth Vice President of the United States (1921–1923) and 30th President of the United States (1923–1929)
 * John J. Crittenden, Governor of Kentucky
 * James J. Davis (1873–1947), Secretary of Labor and U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania
 * Jefferson Davis (1808–1889), soldier, politician, and first and only President of the Confederate States (1862–1865)
 * Alvin Evans, U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania; United States Senator from Iowa
 * John Floyd, Governor of Virginia
 * John B. Floyd, Governor of Virginia
 * William Floyd, United States Declaration of Independence signatory
 * James Garfield (1831–1881), 20th President of the United States
 * Nicholas Gilman, United States Senator from New Hampshire
 * Button Gwinnett, United States Declaration of Independence signatory
 * Charles Evans Hughes, Governor of New York
 * Andrew Humphreys, U.S. Representative from Indiana
 * Andrew A. Humphreys, United States Army officer and Union General in the American Civil War
 * E. Howard Hunt, CIA Intelligence Officer; a key figure in organizing and participating in the Watergate burglaries
 * Arthur James, Governor of Pennsylvania
 * Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United States; first Secretary of State; said his father came from the foothills of Snowdon
 * Robert E. Lee, Confederate general
 * Francis Lewis, United States Declaration of Independence signatory
 * James Madison, 4th President of the United States
 * John Marshall, statesman, Chief Justice of the United States
 * George Mathews, Governor of Georgia
 * Henry M. Mathews, Governor of West Virginia
 * John G. McCullough, Governor of Vermont
 * James Monroe (1758–1831), fifth President of the United States
 * James Morgan, United States Congressman from New Jersey
 * Lewis Morris, United States Declaration of Independence signatory
 * Robert Morris, United States Declaration of Independence signatory
 * Patty Murray, United States Senator from Washington
 * Barack Obama, 44th President United States; distant Welsh ancestry
 * P.B.S. Pinchback, Governor of Louisiana
 * Hugh H. Price, U.S. Representative from Wisconsin
 * Rodman M. Price, Governor of New Jersey
 * John H. Pugh, U.S. Representative from New Jersey
 * Thomas Rees, U.S. Congressman, parents/grandparents from Wales
 * Ann Romney (born 1949), wife of American businessman and politician Mitt Romney
 * Isaac Shelby, Governor of Kentucky
 * Daniel Webster (1782–1852), United States Senator and Secretary of State
 * Thomas Wynne (1627–1691), physician to William Penn; speaker of the first Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly

Industry and business

 * Jasper Newton "Jack" Daniel, Tennessee-born founder of Jack Daniel's whiskey
 * Bob Evans (1918–2007), founder of Bob Evans Restaurants
 * William Fargo (1818–1881), pioneer expressman
 * Howard Hughes (1905–1976), pioneering aviator, engineer, industrialist, and film producer
 * J. P. Morgan (1837–1913), banker
 * Jonathan I. Schwartz, President and Chief Executive Officer of CareZone
 * Howard Stringer (born 1942), businessman and Chief Executive Officer of Sony Corporation
 * David Thomas, prominent ironmaster and philanthropist during the Industrial Revolution in Pennsylvania

Other

 * Earl W. Bascom (1906-1995), inventor, "Father of Modern Rodeo"
 * James Bowie (1796-1836), Pioneer and Texas revolutionary
 * Daniel Boone (1734–1820), American pioneer
 * Mary Katherine Campbell (1905-1990), Miss America titleholder 1922 and 1923, First Runner-Up 1924
 * Hiram Wesley Evans (1881–1966), Imperial Wizard of the "second" Ku Klux Klan from 1922 until 1939.
 * Lewis Evans (1700–1756), colonial surveyor and geographer
 * Cowboy Morgan Evans (1903–1969), Texas rancher; 1928 World Series Rodeo Bulldogging champion; competition bull rider; oil production roughneck; drilling foreman; oilman
 * Oliver Evans (1755–1819), inventor
 * Murray Humphreys (1899–1965), Chicago mobster, chief political and labor racketeer in the Chicago Outfit during Prohibition
 * Frank James, cowboy/outlaw
 * Jesse James, cowboy/outlaw
 * George Jones (1811–1891), New-York Daily Times co-founder
 * John L. Lewis (1880–1969), organized labor union leader
 * Meriwether Lewis (1774–1809), explorer
 * Chelsea Manning (1987-), mother was Welsh
 * Daniel Morgan (1736–1802), Brigadier General in the American Revolution in the Continental Army; served in the United States House of Representatives, representing Virginia
 * William Farrand Prosser (1834–1911), Union Colonel in the American Civil War; served in the United States House of Representatives, representing Tennessee
 * Henry Morton Stanley (1841–1904), journalist/explorer
 * George Henry Thomas (1816–1870), Union General during the American Civil War
 * Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959), one of the most prominent and influential architects of the first half of the 20th century
 * Elihu Yale (1649–1721), first benefactor of Yale University