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

• Carlos Brillembourg- Venezuelan architect based in New York. He is the 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.
• Domingo Marcucci- Venezuelan born, American 49er, shipbuilder and shipowner.

Entrepreneurs and businesspeople

• Guido Antonini Wilson- Entrepreneur.
• Gustavo Cisneros- Venezuelan born mass media entrepenour.
• 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).
• Beatriz Michelena- 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.

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.
• 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- is a 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. He attended the School of Visual Arts (NYC)
• Elizabeth Avellán - American film producer, born in Venezuela.
• Daniela Bascopé - Telenovela actress
• Maria Beatty - Venezolan-born American filmmaker who directs, acts, and produces
• Horacio Bocaranda- film director
• Tatiana Capote - 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.
• Marieh Delfino - American 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., the four-year-old daughter of Beatrix "The Bride" Kiddo and Bill. His father is Venezuelan.
• Maria Elena Heredia- 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- Venezelan actress, Miss Universe 1996.
• Édgar Ramírez - a Venezuelan actor
• Julie Restifo - actress. American born-Venezuelan raised.
• Génesis Rodríguez- actress
• Luis José Santander- American-born Venezuelan actor.
• 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.
• 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
• Sonya Smith- American-born Venezuelan actress.
• Jason Silva- television personality, filmmaker, and public speaker.
• Patricia Spanic- twin sister of soap opera actress Gabriela Spanic, she is a Captain in the US Army.
• 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
• Angelina Valentine - American pornographic actress
• Patricia Velásquez- is a Venezuelan actress and fashion model.
• Franklin Virgüez- actor
• 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
• Devendra Banhart- Singer-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.
• Teresa Carreño - Venezuelan born, pianist and composer.
• Sylvia Constantinidis - Venezuelan-American pianist, conductor, writer, music educator and composer.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 .
• Silvano Monasterios- jazz pianist and composer.
• Gabriela Montero- pianist and composer.
• Chris Moy - singer and a former member of the Menudo teen group.
• Allan Phillips- music producer, composer, arranger, and musician.
• 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
• 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.
• José de Armas - professional tennis player.
• Manuel Azpurua Sosa- thoroughbred racehorse trainer
• 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
• Javier Castellano - jockey, recipient of three Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey in the row (2013, 2014 and 2015).
• Eibar Coa - jockey winner of the Breeder's Cup Sprint 2010.
• Daniel Dhers- World Champion BMX cycle ryder
• 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.
• 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
• Ronda Rousey - American mixed martial artist, judoka and actress.
• Antonio Sano - thoroughbred racehorse trainer
• Giovanni Savarese- Venezuelan head coach of the newly formed New York Cosmos soccer club
• Edwin Valero- was an undefeated southpaw Venezuelan boxer and former two weight world champion who fought up to light welter weight.
• María Alejandra Vento-Kabchi- former professional tennist

Journalists, TV hosts and anchors

• Luis Alfredo Alvarez - TV host ESPN Latin America.
• Fernando Alvarez - TV host ESPN Latin America.
• Eli Bravo- journalist, TV host
• 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
• 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
• Juan Vene- Journalist
• Bill Watkins- former CEO of Seagate Technology, the world's largest manufacturer of hard drives
• Patricia Zavala- is a Venezuelan television 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 during his years in exile and died there in 1873.

Politics

• Luigi Boria- Venezuelan born, mayor of Doral, Florida
• Peter Camejo - (1939–2008) was an American activist and politician. He is of Venezuelan descent.
• 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.
• 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
• 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. - biologist, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
• Gustavo Adolfo Romero - biologist, curator of Herbarium of Harvard University.
• Santiago Schnell - biophysical chemist and computational physiologist who holds an Associate Professorship in Molecular & Integrative Physiology at the University of Michigan.
• Andres Tremante - 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- writer and Telemundo TV host
• T. J. MacGregor - Venezuelan born writer
• Susana Rotker- writer, essaist

Activists

• 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.
• 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

See also

• Venezuelan American
• Venezuelan people