Birth Name: Courtney Michelle Harrison
Place of Birth: San Francisco, California
Date of Birth: July 9, 1964
Ethnicity: Spanish-Cuban (great-grandmother), Welsh, Irish, German, English
Courtney Love is an American singer and actress. She is the daughter of Hank Harrison and Linda Risi.
Her father has Welsh, Irish, German, and English ancestry. Her maternal grandmother was of approximately half English and half Spanish-Cuban origin.
Courtney’s paternal grandparents were George Harry Harrison, Jr. (the son of George Harry Harrison and Mazie M. McGlumphy) and Edith Velma Cooke (the daughter of Harry Daniel Cooke and Laura L. Lohr).
Courtney’s mother was adopted by the Risi family. Courtney’s biological maternal grandmother is author Paula Fox (the daughter of Paul Hervey Fox and Elsie de Sola). Paul was the son of Winfield Douglas Fox and Mary Letitia Finch, and had English ancestry. Elsie was born in Mantanzas, Cuba, of Spanish descent, to Fermin de Sola and Candelaria de Carvajal.
Courtney has often described herself as having Jewish ancestry, as being “half Jewish”, or, once, as being “five eighths Jewish”. None of these statements appear to be accurate. Courtney’s father is not of Jewish heritage, nor is Courtney’s maternal grandmother. The identity of Courtney’s biological maternal grandfather does not appear to be publicly known, but it is not clear if Courtney is referring to him being Jewish in her statements (she has said that her maternal grandmother, Paula Fox, is Jewish, which is not accurate).
Sources: Genealogy of Courtney Love – http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com
Genealogy of Courtney Love (focusing on her mother’s side) – http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com
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