List of Venezuelan Americans

This is a list of notable Venezuelan 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 Venezuelan Americans or must have references showing they are Venezuelan Americans and are notable.

List

Architects and builders

• Anita Berrizbeitia- Venezuelan landscape theorist, teacher, and author. Professor of Landscape Architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.
• Carlos Brillembourg- Venezuelan architect based in New York. Founder of Carlos Brillembourg Architects.
• Monica Ponce de Leon - Architect with offices in Ann Arbor, New York and Boston. Dean of the School of Architecture at Princeton University. First Hispanic architect to receive the National Design Award in Architecture.
• Carolina Izsak - After the pageant as Miss Venezuela 1991 she completed architecture studies and currently resides in Boston, MA, USA
• Domingo Marcucci- Venezuelan born, American 49er, shipbuilder and shipowner.

Entrepreneurs and businesspeople

• Guido Antonini Wilson - Entrepreneur.
• Mary Black-Suarez- Venezuelan executive producer and entertainment consultant. She is the founder of MBS Entertainment and co-founder of SOMOS Productions.
• Adriana Cisneros- Venezuelan journalist. CEO and Vice Chairman of Cisneros Group.
• Gustavo Cisneros- Venezuelan born mass media entrepreneur.
• Andres Gluski- CEO of AES Corporation.
• Thor Halvorssen Hellum- Venezuelan-Norwegian businessman who served as CEO and President telephone company, CANTV and later as Special Commissioner for International Narcotic Affairs.
• Janet Kelly - American born editor owner of The Daily Journal (Venezuela).
• Hilda Ochoa-Brillembourg- Venezuelan business woman and the current president and chief executive officer of Strategic Investment Group (SIG)
• Lorenzo Alejandro Laviosa López - Venezuelan entrepreneur, racketeer and businessman.
• Beatriz Michelena- Venezuelan American operatic soprano and actress during the silent film era. She was the first Latina star and co-founded Michelena Studios a film production company with her husband.
• Vanessa Neumann- Venezuelan graduated in Columbia University. Founder, President & CEO of Asymmetrica, a New York-headquartered global consultancy on brand integrity and counter-illicit trafficking. The relationship with Mick Jagger (2000-2002) made her famous among world press.
• Bárbara Palacios- Venezuelan TV Host, writer and Miss Universe 1986. CEO of BP Inspiration, where she's the main motivational speaker.
• Claudio Osorio- Venezuelan entrepreneur and convicted criminal based in Miami, Florida.
• Luis Villanueva- Venezuelan American television and entertainment executive that has made significant contributions to the Latin American and U.S. Hispanic entertainment markets. He is currently President and CEO of SomosTV LLC.
• Bill Watkins- Venezuelan born former CEO of Seagate Technology, the world's largest manufacturer of hard drives

Artists and designers

• Julio Aguilera - Venezuelan-American painter and sculptor born in Caracas.
• Devendra Banhart- Venezuelan American singer-songwriter and visual artist.
• Jorge Blanco - Venezuelan artist who created the comic strip The Castaway/El Náufrago, which became an overnight success.
• Nicolas Felizola - fashion designer.
• Rodner Figueroa- TV host from Univision, fashion designer and philanthropist.
• Nina Fuentes, a.k.a. Nina Dotti - Venezuelan art collector, curator, philanthropist, business woman and art dealer.
• Marisol Escobar - Venezuelan-American sculptor born in Paris.
• Carolina Herrera - fashion designer. Also Founder and CEO of New York-based CH Carolina Herrera.
• Camilo Him - Venezuelan-born American naturalized and Paris-based fashion photographer, artist and film director.
• Tina Ramirez - dancer and choreographer, best known as the Founder and Artistic Director of Ballet Hispanico.
• Angel Sanchez - fashion designer.
• Nick Verreos - American fashion designer, fashion commentator and former Project Runway contestant.
• Jhonen Vasquez - American comic book writer, cartoonist, and music video director.
• Ron van Dongen - photographer.

Comedians

• Julio Gassete- Venezuelan born TV former comediant of Bienvenidos TV show. He lives currently in Miami, Florida
• Erika De la Vega- Venezuelan stand up comedy actress and fashion model

Films and TV

• Cristina Abuhazi- Venezuelan actress, model, and TV host in Sony YouTube America Latina Network.
• Arthur Albert - Venezuelan born, American cinematographer and television director.
• Fred Armisen- actor, comedian, musician.^[1][2][3] He attended the School of Visual Arts (NYC)^[4]
• Elizabeth Avellán - American film producer, born in Venezuela.
• Daniela Bascopé - Telenovela actress
• Maria Beatty - Venezuelan-born American filmmaker who directs, acts, and produces.
• Fabiola Beracasa Beckman- Venezuelan film and television producer and philanthropist. Co-owner of The Hole Gallery, in New York City.
• Horacio Bocaranda- film director.
• Tatiana Capote - telenovela actress. Cuban born-Venezuelan raised.
• Grecia Colmenares- actress of telenovelas who gained fame across Latin America, specially during the 1980s.
• Gabriel Coronel- actor of telenovelas and model.
• Jesse Corti - Venezuelan-born, American voice actor.
• Alejandro Chaban - Venezuelan-born, telenovela actor.
• Mara Croatto - Venezuelan-born Puerto Rican actress.
• Pablo Fenjves - Venezuelan-born American screenwriter and ghostwriter based in Los Angeles, California.
• Marieh Delfino - American actress.
• Christina Dieckmann- Venezuela born, actress.
• Andrew Divoff- Venezuela born, actor.
• Wanda D'Isidoro- Venezuelan actress, born in Boston.
• Silvana Gallardo (1953 – 2012) - American film and television actress.
• Carlos González (cinematographer)- Venezuelan born American cinematographer and director of film and television.
• Brooke Haven - American pornographic actress.
• Perla Haney-Jardine - Brazilian-born American actress. She is best known for her role in Kill Bill Vol. 2 as B.B. His father is Venezuelan.
• Maria Elena Heredia- Venezuelan actress.
• Alejandro Hernández Reinoso- Venezuelan film director, writer, humorist, singer-songwriter, composer.
• Lilimar Hernandez - Venezuelan actress.
• Betty Kaplan- Venezuelan film director, currently live in Los Angeles
• Moisés Kaufman - playwright, director and founder of Tectonic Theater Project.
• Kamala Lopez - Actress, director, and political activist.
• Alicia Machado- Venezuelan actress, Miss Universe 1996.
• Wlly Martin - Venezuelan-born, telenovela actor at Nickelodeon
• Beatriz Michelena - American actress during the silent film era. She was of Venezuelan descent.
• Vera Michelena - American actress, contralto prima donna and dancer who appeared in light opera, musical comedy, vaudeville and silent film. She was of Venezuelan descent.
• Carlos Montilla- Venezuelan television and theater actor.
• Lilibeth Morillo- actress.
• Carlos Pena Jr. - American actor (Big Time Rush), singer, and dancer. His father is of Spanish and Venezuelan descent.
• Clara Perez - film and television actress.
• Antonio Piedra - producer, director, photographer and philanthropist.
• Abraham Pulido- Venezuelan television and film director
• Édgar Ramírez - Venezuelan actor.
• Julie Restifo - actress. American born-Venezuelan raised.
• Génesis Rodríguez- actress. American born
• Luis José Santander- American-born Venezuelan actor.
• Sonya Smith- American-born Venezuelan actress.
• Jason Silva- television personality, filmmaker, and public speaker.
• Monica Spear- Miss Venezuela 2004- actress of Telemundo network
• Laura Termini - Venezuelan born American actress, producer, writer, and a Board Certified Health/Beauty Counselor AADP.
• Tammy Trull - American actress of Venezuelan and Cuban descent.
• Orlando Urdaneta- Venezuelan actor
• Wilmer Valderrama- Venezuelan actor
• Patricia Velásquez- Venezuelan actress and fashion model.
• Franklin Virgüez- actor.
• Henry Zakka- venezuelan actor and producer.
• Eglantina Zingg- actress, model and television host

Models

• Mariela Pérez Branger - Miss Venezuela 1967.
• Jennifer Rovero- Playboy's Playmate of the Month for July 1999 and has appeared in numerous Playboy videos.
• Rita Verreos - Venezuelan born beauty pageant contestant, image consultant, model, actress, and reality television contestant.

Musicians

• Aldo Abreu-Venezuelan baroque flutist.
• María Conchita Alonso - three time Grammy Award–nominated singer/songwriter and actress. Cuban born-Venezuelan raised, she is American citizen^[5]
• Devendra Banhart- Singer and songwriter
• Andrea Burns - singer.
• Ed Calle - saxofonist and composer from Miami, Florida, born in Venezuela. He has four nominations for Grammy Awards.
• Mariah Carey- singer; her father Alfred Roy Carey was born in Venezuela.
• Randy Carlos- Composer and Orchestra director named el "Rey de la Pachanga".
• Teresa Carreño - Venezuelan born, pianist and composer.
• Sylvia Constantinidis - Venezuelan born pianist, conductor, writer, music educator and composer. Former President of the Southeast Chapter of NACUSA (National Association of Composers of The United States of America)
• Tulio Cremisini- Venezuelan percussionist, composer and orchestra conductor.
• Majandra Delfino - Alma Award-nominated Venezuelan born, American actress and singer.
• Yasmin Deliz - American singer-songwriter, model and actress. She is daughter of Dominican father and a Colombian-Venezuelan mother.
• Paul Desenne - Venezuelan cellist and resident composer at Alabama Simphony Orchestra
• Gustavo Dudamel - Orchestra conductor and violinist. He is the music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Los Angeles, California.
• Pedro Eustache- flautist - "World Music" woodwinds-reeds-wind synthesizers and composer
• Lorenzo Herrera- Former Venezuelan singer.
• Hernan Hermida- vocalist of rock band Suicide Silence
• Enrique Hidalgo- Venezuelan composer.
• Judith Jaimes-pianist.
• Raphael Jiménez- associate professor of conducting and director of Oberlin College orchestras.
• Pablo Manavello- Italian-born Venezuelan composer, guitarist, singer and songwriter.
• Manu Manzo- Venezuelan born singer and songwriter.
• Eduardo Marturet - composer, music director and principal conductor of The Miami Symphony Orchestra.
• Gustavo Matamoros- composer-sound artist.
• Fernando Michelena - Venezuelan tenor. In USA Michelena toured with the Emma Abbott Grand Opera Company. He was the father of Beatriz and Vera Michelena .^[6]
• Alfredo del Monaco-Venezuelan composer.
• Silvano Monasterios- jazz pianist and composer.
• Gabriela Montero- pianist and composer. Manu Manzo -singer/songwriter.
• Chris Moy - singer and a former member of the Menudo teen group.
• Luis Perdomo - jazz pianist and composer.
• Mario Campani- is an Italo-Venezuelan guitar player born in Caracas. Campani is currently performing with the hard rock band The White Wagon. He's also the CEO of the MOU Records, an independent record label, live performance production company and band merchandising company focused on producing and promoting hard rock and heavy metal bands from Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia.
• Allan Phillips- music producer, composer, arranger, and musician.
• Alejandro Enrique Planchart- Venezuelan-American musicologist, conductor, and composer.
• Rudy Regalado- Venezuelan Latin music leader, percussionist and composer.
• Jose Luis Rodríguez "El Puma"- singer and actor.
• Otmaro Ruiz- pianist and composer.
• Juan Carlos Salazar - Singer, Cuatro-player and songwriter/composer in addition to being an engineer with an MBA, and university instructor.
• Marger Sealey - Singer, composer and actress.
• Alberto Šlezinger- Venezuelan born singer, songwriter and composer.
• Yva Las Vegass - Venezuelan born singer and composer radicated in Seattle since 1980.
• Zamora- is a Venezuelan pianist and composer nominated on Grammy Award 2010 in the "New Age" music category.

Sports

• Bob Abreu- Venezuelan Baseball player.
• Luis Aparicio - Baseball player. Hall of Fame of MLB.
• Nestor Aparicio - Sports writer and radio personality.
• Junior Alvarado - jockey.
• José de Armas - professional tennis player.
• Manuel Azpurua Sosa- thoroughbred racehorse trainer^[7]
• Josh Barfield - Venezuelan-born American major league Baseball player
• Jesus Armando Bracho - Venezuelan jockey winner of the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Apprentice Jockey in 1992 but was suspended, then surrendered his award to Rosemary Homeister, Jr. for falsifying his racing papers.
• Miguel Cabrera- Baseball player. In 2012 became the first player since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967 to win the Triple Crown in batting.
• Alfonso Carrasquel - Venezuelan-born major league Baseball player
• Abel Castellano Jr.- Venezuelan jockey.
• Javier Castellano - Venezuelan jockey, recipient of three Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey in the row (2013, 2014 and 2015).
• Eibar Coa - Venezuelan jockey winner of the Breeder's Cup Sprint 2010.
• Daniel Dhers- World Champion BMX cycle ryder
• Milka Duno- Venezuelan born Indycar driver
• Juan Pablo Galavis - professional footballer
• Ozzie Guillén - former major league professional baseball player and manager of Chicago White Sox and Miami Marlins.
• Ramon Dominguez - jockey, recipient of three Eclipse Award in the row (2010, 2011 and 2012)
• Marcy Hinzmann - American pairs figure skater. Her mother was born in Venezuela
• Carlos Hernández (catcher) - Venezuelan baseball player
• Gonzalo López Silvero- Cuban born sports narrator of Venevision.
• AnnMaria De Mars - American judoka
• Richard Mendez - Football narrator of ESPN Deportes
• Amleto Monacelli- Professional ten-pin bowler, member of American Bowlers Association Halls of Fame.
• Julianna Peña- American mixed martial artist
• Eddie Pérez- Venezuelan-American former professional baseball player and current coach
• C.J. Perry - American professional wrestling valet, professional wrestler, model, actress, dancer, and singer.Her mother was born in Venezuela
• Alex Popow- Venezuelan racing driver.
• Enzo Potolicchio- Venezuelan racing driver and businessman
• Ronda Rousey - American mixed martial artist, judoka and actress
• Antonio Sano - thoroughbred racehorse trainer.^[8]
• Sam Shepherd- American naturalized as a Venezuelan, in order to be able to play with the Venezuelan national basketball team.
• Giovanni Savarese- Venezuelan head coach of the newly formed New York Cosmos soccer club.
• Donta Smith- American naturalized as a Venezuelan, in order to be able to play with the Venezuelan national basketball team.
• Rafael Suárez - Venezuelan Olympian fencer and USA international team fencer
• Edwin Valero- Undefeated southpaw Venezuelan boxer and former two weight world champion who fought up to light welter weight.
• María Alejandra Vento-Kabchi- former professional tennist
• Cheche Vidal- Venezuelan American soccer player and businessman

Journalists, TV hosts and anchors

• Luis Alfredo Alvarez - TV host ESPN Latin America.
• Fernando Alvarez - TV host ESPN Latin America.
• José Aristimuño - journalist, press sub secretary of Democratic Party
• Eli Bravo- journalist, TV host^[9]
• Carlos López Bustamante- journalist spent part of his life in USA where died in Chicago.
• Nelson Bustamante- Venezuelan born TV host and writer.
• Chiquinquirá Delgado- Venezuelan TV host, model, and actress of Univision network in the United States.
• George Duran- Venezuelan-born restaurateur, TV personality, TV producer, and published author.
• Lorena Garcia- Venezuelan-born restaurateur, philanthropist, TV personality, TV producer, and published author.
• Raúl González - TV host and actor. In Venezuela, he hosted a kids' TV show Supercrópolis. He became one of the hosts on TV show Despierta América of Univisión television network.
• Eva Golinger - Attorney, RT Network TV host and editor of the Correo del Orinoco International.
• Alejandra Oraa- Venezuelan television anchor currently working for CNN en Español.
• Elizabeth Pérez - Cuban-Venezuelan Emmy-winning television journalist and presenter working for CNN en Español.
• Rafael Poleo- a Venezuelan journalist and politician.
• Carolina Sandoval - Journalist, broadcaster, writer, TV presenter, and actress.
• Daniel Sarcos- Venezuelan TV host, model, and actor of Telemundo network in the United States.
• James Tahhan- Venezuelan-born restaurateur knowed as "Chef James", TV personality, TV producer, and published author.
• Juan Vene- Journalist^[10]
• Patricia Zavala- Venezuelan TV host and model. She hosts E! Entertainment Television's Coffee Break.

Military

• Renato Beluche- Privateer at service of Simon Bolivar army.
• José Manuel Hernández-A popular Venezuelan caudillo, army general, congressman, presidential candidate and cabinet member who was also involved in numerous insurrections. Live exiliated in USA from 1911 to his dead in 1921.
• Narciso López- A Venezuelan soldier and adventurer, knowed for four filibuster expeditions aimed at liberating Cuba from Spain in the 1850s.
• José Antonio Páez- Venezuelan leader who fought the War of Independence. President of Venezuela once it was independent of the Gran Colombia (1830–1835; 1839–1843; 1861–1863). He lived in New York City during his years in exile and died there in 1873.
• Patricia Spanic- twin sister of soap opera actress Gabriela Spanic, she is a Captain in the US Army.

Politics

• Luigi Boria- Venezuelan born, mayor of Doral, Florida
• Peter Camejo - (1939–2008) was an American activist and politician. He is of Venezuelan descent.^[11]
• Cipriano Castro- President of Venezuela. Expatriated by Juan Vicente Gomez regime in 1908, spent the rest of his life in exile, mostly in Puerto Rico where died in 1928.
• Philip Giordano - former Republican mayor of Waterbury, Connecticut, and a convicted sex offender. He was born in Caracas, Venezuela, to Italian parents and his family moved to the United States when he was two years old.
• P. Michael McKinley - American diplomat and the United States Ambassador to Afghanistan
• Irene Sáez - Venezuelan politician and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Universe 1981.
• Al Santos (mayor) - Mayor of Kearny, New Jersey, and a Democrat, born in Venezuela.

Science

• Cristina Amon - Venezuelan born, dean of the University of Toronto Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering.
• Baruj Benacerraf - Venezuelan-born American immunologist, 1980 Nobel Prize in Medicine for the discovery of the major histocompatibility complex genes
• Manuel Blum - born in Caracas, Venezuela, is a computer scientist who received the Turing Award in 1995.
• José Luis Cordeiro - Venezuelan mechanical engineer. Futurologist at Singularity University.
• Humberto Campins - professor of Physics and Astronomy at University of Central Florida.^[12]
• José Esparza - Venezuelan virologist known for his efforts to promote the international development and testing of vaccines against HIV/AIDS.
• Humberto Fernandez Moran - Venezuelan research NASA scientist winner of the John Scott Award, for his invention of the diamond knife
• Niklaus Grünwald- Venezuelan born biologist. He is currently a research scientist with the USDA Agricultural Research Service.
• Werner Hoeger - Venezuelan born professor emeritus (active) of exercise science at Boise State University.
• William H. Phelps, Jr. - a notable American born Venezuelan ornithologist and businessman.
• William H. Phelps, Sr. - Venezuelan American ornithologist and businessman.
• L. Rafael Reif - Venezuelan electrical engineer and inventor. President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
• Aldemaro Romero Jr. - Venezuelan biologist, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
• Gustavo Adolfo Romero - biologist, curator of Herbarium of Harvard University.
• Gabriel A. Rincon-Mora - Venezuelan-American electrical engineer, scientist, professor, inventor, and author.
• Santiago Schnell - Venezuelan born biophysical chemist and computational physiologist who holds an Associate Professorship in Molecular & Integrative Physiology at the University of Michigan.
• Andres Tremante - Venezuelan mechanical engineer of Florida International University.

Economists

• Ricardo Hausmann- economist, writer
• Leopoldo Martínez Nucete- economist, director of Center for Democracy and Development in the Americas (Miami, Florida)
• Moisés Naím- economist, Foreign Police chief editor, writer, TV-host.

Writers

• Antonio Arraiz- Venezuelan writer
• Perla Farías Lombardini- Telemundo writer
• Boris Izaguirre- Spanish Venezuelan writer and Telemundo TV host
• T. J. MacGregor - Venezuelan born writer
• Susana Rotker- writer, essaist
• Miguel Tinker Salas - Venezuelan historian, writer and professor at Pomona College (Califorrnia).

Activists

• Mery Godigna Collet- Venezuelan artist, writer, philanthropist and environmental living in Austin, Texas.
• Thor Halvorssen Mendoza - Venezuelan human rights advocate and film producer
• Nancy Navarro - Social activist. In 2010, President Obama appointed her to the Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics.
• Victor Pineda (activist) - social development scholar and disability rights advocate.
• Luis Posada Carriles- Cuban born Venezuelan naturalized former CIA agent. Anticastrist activist.
• Jeanmarie Simpson - American peace activist and theatre artist. His father is Venezuelan.^[13][14]
• Sylvia Rivera - American bisexual transgender activist and trans woman

Others

• Patricia Phelps de Cisneros- Art collector and philanthropist.
• Tobias Bluzmanis - Expert in locks and locksmithing.
• Melchor Centeno Vallenilla- Electrical engineer^[15]

See also

• Venezuelan American
• Venezuelan people
• List of Venezuelans
• List of Americans

References