List of Slovene Americans

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

List

Entertainment

Actors

• Ami Dolenz – actor
• George Dolenz – actor
• Micky Dolenz – actor, musician (Drummer/Singer of The Monkees)
• Frank Gorshin – actor
• Melissa Joan Hart – actress
• Željko Ivanek – Emmy Award-winning actor
• Lana Rhoades - actress
• Audrey Totter – actress
• Patrick Warburton – actor (his father is of Slovenian ancestry)

Comedy

• Anthony Jeselnik – comedian

Musicians

• Karen Kamensek – orchestral and operatic conductor
• Joey Miskulin – Grammy Award-winning musician and record producer
• Frankie Yankovic – Grammy Award-winning musician, known as "America's Polka King", popularized Slovenian-style polka
• "Weird Al" Yankovic – Comedy performer known for his parodies of popular music.

Sports

• Mike Adamle – American football player – Northwestern Wildcats and NFL – also a television and radio sports reporter and WWE wrestling announcer
• Tony Adamle – American football player – Ohio State Buckeyes and Cleveland Browns (member of 1950 and 1954 NFL Championship teams)
• Jeff Blatnick – Olympic champion in freestyle wrestling
• Frank Brimsek – ice hockey player
• Bryant Dunston – professional basketball player for the Slovenian national team since he acquired Slovenian citizenship in 2015
• Bob Golic – American football player (Notre Dame Fighting Irish and NFL – Cleveland Browns, among other teams) – also an actor Saved by the Bell: The College Years
• Mike Golic – American football player (Notre Dame Fighting Irish and NFL – Philadelphia Eagles, among other teams) – also ESPN radio personality and host on Mike and Mike in the Morning
• Randy Gradishar – American football player (Ohio State Buckeyes and Denver Broncos)
• John Gruden – ice hockey player
• Eric Heiden – Olympic speed skater, winner of five gold medals at the 1980 Winter Olympics
• Luke Hochevar – Major League Baseball pitcher
• Frank Hribar – NFL Washington Redskins
• Wally Judnich – baseball player
• Joe Kuhel – baseball player and manager
• Les Kuntar – ice hockey player
• Sepp Kuss – professional cyclist
• Trajan Langdon – basketball (NBA and Europe) player
• Dan Majerle – basketball (NBA) player
• Ariel McDonald – former basketball player who played for the Slovenian national team in 2001 since he acquired citizenship, 2000 Israeli Basketball Premier League MVP
• Ken Novak – American football player
• Anton Peterlin – soccer player
• Anthony Randolph – basketball (NBA and Europe) player
• Peter Vidmar – gymnast, U.S. team captain and winner of two gold medals and a silver medal in the 1984 Olympics, was the highest scoring gymnast in U.S. history (with a 9.89 average)
• Fritzie Zivic – boxer
• Mark Zupan – athlete, wheelchair rugby team captain

Journalists

• Jim Klobuchar – author and journalist
• Charles Kuralt – journalist

Academic and scientific

• Richard Carl Fuisz – inventor
• Rado Lenček – linguist, ethnologist, cultural historian
• Jerry Michael Linenger – astronaut
• Ronald Sega – astronaut
• Joseph Velikonja – professor of geography
• Sunita Williams – astronaut

Military

• Ferdinand J. Chesarek – general
• Frank Gorenc – general
• Stanley Gorenc – general
• John S. Lekson – United States Army Major General
• Rudolf Perhinek – captain
• Ronald Zlatoper – admiral

Politicians

• John Blatnik – Congressman United States House of Representatives
• Joe Cimperman – Cleveland, Ohio City Councilman and 2008 candidate for the United States House of Representatives
• Dennis Eckart – public and cultural worker; US Congressman
• Paul Gosar – Congressman
• Tom Harkin – United States Senator
• Amy Klobuchar – United States Senator
• Raymond P. Kogovsek – Congressman
• Frank Lausche – Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, United States Senator and Governor of Ohio
• James Oberstar – Congressman
• Philip Ruppe – Congressman
• Ron Suster - Ohio state representative and judge
• George Voinovich^[1][2] – Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, United States Senator, and Governor of Ohio
• Cheri Pierson Yecke – politician, academic

Religious

• Friderik Irenej Baraga (Frederic Baraga) – Roman Catholic Bishop and Missionary
• Elden Francis Curtiss – former Roman Catholic Archbishop of Omaha, Nebraska and former Bishop of Helena, Montana
• Antonija Höffern – missionary and educator
• Ignatius Mrak – Roman Catholic bishop
• Francis Xavier Pierz – Roman Catholic bishop

Writers

• Louis Adamič – author
• Tea Obreht – author
• Rose Mary Prosen – poet

Others

• Joe Kenda – detective lieutenant and TV producer
• Santino William Legan - perpetrator of the Gilroy Garlic Festival Shooting
• Joe Sutter – manager of the design team for the Boeing 747
• Melania Trump – former First Lady of the United States, wife of 45th U.S. President Donald Trump and fashion model

References

1. . Archived from the original on 7 January 2009. Retrieved 17 November 2007.
2. . Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 17 November 2007.

• Gobetz, E. 2009. Slovenians made a difference in America and the World. Slovenian American Times, Vol. 1, Issue 7, Pages 1; 15. 23 May 2009.