This is a list of notable Slovak 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 Slovak American or must have references showing they are Slovak American and are notable. Some of this list might have Slovak immigrant ancestors of German, Hungarian, or Romani descent.

List

Arts, culture, and entertainment

Jon Bon Jovi John Francis Bongiovi Jr. (born March 2, 1962), known professionally as Jon Bon Jovi, is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor. He is best known as the founder and frontman of the rock band Bon Jovi, which was formed in 1983. He ...

– rock musician, singer, songwriter and actor (paternal grandmother of Slovak descent) * Tom Selleck - actor (father was immigrant from eastern Slovakia) * David Boreanaz – actor (mother was half Slovak descent - actually Slovene) * Jim Caviezel – film actor (paternal grandmother of Slovak descent) * Scarlett Chorvat – film and television actress * Alexandra Daddario – actress * Matthew Daddario – actor *

Laco Déczi Ladislav "Laco" Déczi (29 March 1938, Bernolákovo, Czechoslovakia) is a Slovak-American jazz trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—w ...

(Ladislav Déči) – Slovak-American jazz trumpeter and composer, leader of Jazz Celula New York * Steve Ditko – comic book artist and writer, co-creator of the Marvel Comics heroes

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the ...

and Doctor Strange *

David Dobrik David Dobrik ( Dávid Julián Dobrík (; ; born July 23, 1996)) is a Slovak Internet personality. He found early success on the video-sharing platform Vine, before starting his vlog on YouTube in 2015. In 2019, he co-founded the photography app ...

- social media star (born in Slovakia) * Jackie Evancho - singer *

Moritz Fuerst Moritz Fuerst (March 1782 – 1840) was an American artist of Jewish- Slovak origin. He was born in Pezinok, near Bratislava, and died in Philadelphia. Prior to immigrating, he was enlisted by the American consul at Livorno, Italy, in 1807, a ...

– artist employed with United States Mint in the 19th century *

Dave Grohl David Eric Grohl (born January 14, 1969) is an American musician. He is the founder of the rock band Foo Fighters, in which he is the lead singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter. Prior to forming Foo Fighters, he was the drummer of gru ...

– rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, and film director, of part Slovak descent * James Haven – actor and producer *

Audrey Hepburn Audrey Hepburn (born Audrey Kathleen Ruston; 4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) was a British actress and humanitarian. Recognised as both a film and fashion icon, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, t ...

– actress (her grandmother was from village in southern Slovakia) *

Steve Ihnat Stefan Ihnat (August 7, 1934 – May 12, 1972) was a Slovak-born American actor and director. He emigrated to Canada when he was five years old, and later became a United States citizen. Early life Ihnat was born to Andrew and Mary Ihnat i ...

– actor, director *

Justin Jedlica Justin Jedlica (born August 11, 1980), known as the "Human Ken Doll", is an American man who has garnered international attention for undergoing many cosmetic procedures. Cosmetic procedures At the age of seventeen, Jedlica began to research hi ...

– "human Ken doll" * Angelina Jolie – actress, former fashion model and Goodwill Ambassador for the

UN Refugee Agency The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrat ...

; daughter of Jon Voight (paternal grandfather of Slovak descent) *

Bianca Kajlich Bianca Maria Kajlich ( ; born March 26, 1977) is an American actress. Kajlich has had starring and supporting roles in television and film including the role of Jennifer on the CBS comedy ''Rules of Engagement'' (2007–2013). Kajlich was an ac ...

– actress, her father, Dr. Aurel Jan "Relo" Kajlich, was a Slovak immigrant * Candace Kroslak – actress * Austin Mahone – singer and songwriter *

Victor S. Mamatey Victor Samuel Mamatey (February 2, 1917 - January 18, 2007) was an American professor of history. Biography Mamatey was born in North Braddock, Pennsylvania. His father, Albert Mamatey, was a Slovak immigrant to the United States, active in Sl ...

– professor of history, active in Slovak immigrant organizations in the United States *

Luba Mason Luba Mason is an American actress, singer, songwriter and dancer. She has starred on Broadway, Off-Broadway, regional theaters in plays and musicals and television and film. As a singer, she has performed in International Jazz and Music Festiva ...

– singer, actress, dancer and songwriter * Pola Negri – actress, her father, Juraj Chalupec, was a Slovak immigrant *

Paul Newman Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008) was an American actor, film director, race car driver, philanthropist, and entrepreneur. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, three ...

– actor and film director (his mother was Slovak) * John Ondrasik – musician, performing as "Five for Fighting" * Emil Sitka – actor, parents were Slovak immigrants * Ivan Reitman – movie director (born in Slovakia) *

Jason Reitman Jason R. Reitman (; born October 19, 1977) is a Canadian-American actor and filmmaker, best known for directing the films ''Thank You for Smoking'' (2005), ''Juno'' (2007), '' Up in the Air'' (2009), ''Young Adult'' (2011), and '' Ghostbusters: ...

– movie director (son of Ivan Reitman) * Robert Urich – actor * Katarina Van Derham – model, actress, and publisher * Jon Voight – actor (paternal grandfather was a Slovak immigrant from Košice; paternal grandmother was also of Slovak descent) * Andy Warhol – artist, film director (his parents were immigrants from small village Miková in eastern Slovakia) * Kiernan Shipka * Dove Cameron

Business

* John Dopyera – inventor, entrepreneur *

John D. Hertz John Daniel Hertz, Sr. (April 10, 1879October 8, 1961) was an American businessman, thoroughbred racehorse owner and breeder, and philanthropist. Biography Born Sándor Herz to a Jewish family in Szklabinya, Austria-Hungary (today Sklabiňa, a ...

– businessman, thoroughbred racehorse owner and breeder, and philanthropist, one of the earliest owners of The Hertz Corporation (born in small village in central Slovakia) * iJustine – blogger * Travis Kalanick – founder of Uber (paternal grandfather was a Slovak immigrant from Valaškovce) * Frank Lowy – owner and manager of Westfield-branded shopping centers *

Anna Olson Anna Olson (born May 4, 1968 in Atlanta, Georgia) is a professionally trained American pastry chef. She resides in Welland in the Niagara region of Ontario, Canada. She was previously the host of Food Network Canada's '' Fresh with Anna Olson'', ...

– restaurant owner

Law and politics

* Michael Badnarik – software engineer, political figure, and radio talk show host * Mark Critz – U.S. Congressman *

William T. Dzurilla William T. Dzurilla, formerly William T. D'Zurilla, is an American attorney, a counsel in the Freedman Normand Friedland law firm's Miami, Florida office. He was a law clerk for Justice Byron White of the United States Supreme Court from 1982 to ...

– international attorney and

law clerk A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person, generally someone who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial clerks often play significant ...

to Justice Byron White of the United States Supreme Court * Carolyn Forché – professor, poet, editor, and human rights advocate * John Mica – Republican former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida *

Joseph M. Gaydos Joseph Matthew Gaydos (July 3, 1926 – February 7, 2015) was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. Gaydos was the first Slovak American to serve in the United States Congress. Early life and education Gayd ...

–

Democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania * Peter P. Jurchak – legal counsel for the United Mine Workers * John Katko – U.S. Representative from New York *

Vincent Obsitnik Vincent Obsitnik (born 1938) was sworn-in as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Slovak Republic on November 9, 2007 and served in this role until January 20, 2009. Prior to his current appointmen ...

– diplomat born in Slovakia, former Ambassador of the United States of America to Slovakia * Tom Ridge – Republican, 43rd Governor of Pennsylvania and 1st Secretary of United States Department of Homeland Security * John Roberts – Chief Justice of the United States *

Philip Ruppe Philip Edward Ruppe (born September 29, 1926) is an American former politician from the U.S. state of Michigan and a member of the Republican Party. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1967 to 1979 before running, unsuccessfully ...

– U.S. Representative * Claudine Schneider – U.S. Representative from Rhode Island * Joe Sestak – U.S. Representative, Democrat, Pennsylvania 7th District; retired US

Naval A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

vice-admiral; democratic presidential candidate in 2020 election * John Slezak - was United States Under Secretary of the Army from 1954 to 1955 * Judy Baar Topinka – Republican politician in Illinois * Jesse Ventura – 38th Governor of Minnesota, wrestler, television personality * Pete Visclosky – U.S. Representative for Indiana's 1st congressional district

Military

* Štefan Banič – constructor of a

parachute A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who ...

-like device which he donated to the US Army, but was not used *

Joseph E. Durik USS ''Durik'' (DE-666) was a of the United States Navy, in service from 1944 to 1946. After spending two decades in reserve, she was scrapped in 1967. Namesake Joseph Edward Durik was born 9 December 1922 in southwest Pennsylvania. He enlisted ...

– Seaman Apprentice of United States Naval Reserve * Matej Kocak – Sergeant of the United States Marine Corps; double Medal of Honor recipient in World War I * Richard Marcinko –

U.S. Navy SEAL The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the United States Navy, U.S. Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the United States Naval Special Warfare Command, Naval Special Wa ...

and founder of SEAL Team 6 * Michael Strank – Sergeant of the United States Marine Corps, one of the six flag-raisers who helped raise the second U.S. flag atop Mount Suribachi on February 23, 1945

Religion

Joseph Victor Adamec Joseph Victor Adamec (August 13, 1935 – March 20, 2019) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as bishop of the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, Pennsylvania from 1987 to 2011. On March 1, 2016, Pennsylvania Attorney ...

– bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona– Johnstown *

David A. Bednar David Allan Bednar (born June 15, 1952) is a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). A former educator, Bednar was president of Brigham Young University–Idaho (BYU–Idaho) fro ...

– member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) * Teresa Demjanovich – Roman Catholic nun * John Hardon – priest, author, theologian, community leader * Michael Novak – was an American Catholic philosopher, journalist, novelist, and diplomat * Jaroslav Pelikan – scholar of the history of Christianity, Christian theology and medieval intellectual history * David Allen Zubik – the twelfth and current bishop of Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Science and medicine

* Gene Cernan – NASA astronaut, naval aviator, electrical engineer, aeronautical engineer, and fighter pilot * John Dopyera – inventor of the resonator acoustic guitar *

Mike Fincke Edward Michael "Mike"/"Spanky" Fincke (born March 14, 1967) is an American astronaut who formerly held the American record for the most time in space (381.6 days). His record was broken by Scott Kelly on October 16, 2015. Mike Fincke was bor ...

– NASA astronaut, International Space Station commander * Daniel Carleton Gajdusek – Nobel Prize winner for discovery of viruses with prolonged incubation periods * Ivan Alexander Getting –

electrical engineer Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

, inventor of

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a Radionavigation-satellite service, satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of t ...

* Lars Krutak - anthropologist, writer, photographer, and curator * Jozef Murgaš – inventor, architect, botanist, painter, US patriot, and Roman Catholic priest * Douglas D. Osheroff – physicist * Hugh David Politzer – physicist, Nobel Prize winner for the discovery of asymptotic freedom in quantum chromodynamics * Ján Vilček – biomedical scientist, educator, inventor and philanthropist; currently a professor in the Department of Microbiology at the New York University School of Medicine and President of the Vilcek Foundation

Sports

* Joe Baksi – former professional boxer, heavyweight *

Chuck Bednarik Charles Philip Bednarik (May 1, 1925 – March 21, 2015), nicknamed "Concrete Charlie", was an American professional football player in the National Football League (NFL). He has been ranked one of the hardest hitting tacklers in NFL history an ...

– former professional American football player for the Philadelphia Eagles of the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

* George Blanda – former quarterback and kicker for the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

and Houston Oilers * Jeff Bzdelik – basketball coach; currently an assistant with the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

, former assistant with the Memphis Grizzlies, and former head coach of the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...

U.S. Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academy in El Paso County, Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs. It educates cadets for service in the officer corps of the United States Air Force and Unit ...

, University of Colorado, and Wake Forest University * Robbie Ftorek – former professional ice hockey player *

Bill Hartack William John Hartack Jr. (December 9, 1932 – November 26, 2007), born in Colver, Pennsylvania, was a Hall of Fame jockey. Colver is in the northwestern part of Cambria Township, 7 miles (11 km) northwest of Ebensburg, the county seat. ...

– jockey *

Al Hostak Albert (Al) Paul Hostak (January 7, 1916 – August 13, 2006), nicknamed "the Savage Slav," was an American middleweight boxer who fought from 1932-1949. Hostak twice held the National Boxing Association Middleweight title between 1938 and 1940. H ...

– former professional boxer, middleweight * Scott Kazmir – MLB player *

Matthew Knies Matthew Knies ( ; born October 17, 2002) is an American professional ice hockey forward for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL). Knies was drafted 57th overall by the Maple Leafs in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. Playing c ...

– ice hockey player *

Andy Kosco Andrew John Kosco (born October 5, 1941) is a former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball for the Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, California Angels, Boston Red Sox, a ...

– former baseball player * Jack Kralick – former pitcher for Washington Senators and Cleveland Indians *

Leslie Krichko Leslie B. Bancroft-Krichko (born February 22, 1959, in Portland, Maine) is an American cross-country skier who competed from 1979 to 1988. She finished eighth in the 4 × 5 km relay at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. Bancroft-Krichko ...

– Olympic skier *

Johnny Kucab John Albert Kucab (December 17, 1919 – May 26, 1977) was an American professional baseball pitcher who is best known for leading the Philadelphia Athletics to victory in Connie Mack's last game as a Major League Baseball (MLB) manager (base ...

– pitcher for

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oaklan ...

in 1940s and 1950s * Kyle Kuric – professional basketball player in Spain, currently with Gran Canaria * John Kundla – professional

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

coach, member of

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...

. (His father Ján was Slovak immigrant) *

Joseph Lapchick Joseph Bohomiel Lapchick (April 12, 1900 – August 10, 1970) was an American professional basketball player, mostly known for playing with the Original Celtics in the 1920s and 1930s. He is commonly regarded as the best center of his era, overs ...

– former basketball player and coach * Pete Latzo – boxer * Bethanie Mattek-Sands – professional tennis player *

Stan Mikita Stanley Mikita (born Stanislav Guoth; May 20, 1940 – August 7, 2018) was a Slovak-born Canadian ice hockey player for the Chicago Black Hawks of the National Hockey League, generally regarded as the best centre of the 1960s. In 2017, he was n ...

– former professional ice hockey player * Andy Pafko – baseball

center fielder A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the c ...

for the Chicago Cubs (1943–51), Brooklyn Dodgers (1951–52) and Milwaukee Braves (1953–59) *

Kelly Pavlik Kelly Robert Pavlik (born April 5, 1982) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2000 to 2012. He won the unified WBC, WBO, ''Ring'' magazine and lineal middleweight titles by defeating Jermain Taylor in 2007, and made three ...

– undefeated

WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxing ...

/ World Boxing Council

middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have be ...

boxing champion * Mike Piazza – professional baseball player *

Nicole Rajičová Nicole Rajičová or Rajic (born August 13, 1995) is a Slovakia, Slovak-United States, American figure skater who represents Slovakia in single skating, ladies' singles. She is the 2014 Golden Spin of Zagreb, CS Golden Spin of Zagreb bronze medal ...

– figure skater *

George Shuba George Thomas "Shotgun" Shuba (December 13, 1924 – September 29, 2014) was a utility outfielder and left-handed pinch hitter in Major League Baseball who played seven seasons for the Brooklyn Dodgers. His seven seasons included three World Ser ...

– former outfielder for the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...

* Brian Sikorski – baseball relief pitcher * Paul Stastny – professional ice hockey player *

Peter Šťastný Peter Šťastný (; born 18 September 1956), also known colloquially as "Peter the Great" and "Stosh", is a Slovak-Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1980 to 1995. Šťastný is the ...

– former professional ice hockey player * Yan Stastny – professional ice hockey player * Dean Talafous – former professional ice hockey player * Scott Touzinsky – volleyball player * Elmer Valo – right fielder, coach and scout in Major League Baseball * Jason Varitek – former captain and catcher for Boston Red Sox (1997–2011)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Slovak Americans Slovak Americans Slovak