Rosario Dawson

Dawson in 2011, Featureflash / Shutterstock.com

Birth Name: Rosario Isabel Dawson

Place of Birth: New York City, New York, U.S.

Date of Birth: May 9, 1979

Ethnicity:
*mother – Puerto Rican, Cuban, including African and Taíno
*biological father – publicly unknown

Rosario Dawson is an American actress, voice actress, producer, singer, comic book writer, and political activist. Her roles include the films Kids, He Got Game, Josie and the Pussycats, Men in Black II, The Rundown, Shattered Glass, Alexander (2004), Frank Miller’s Sin City, and its sequel, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For; Rent (2005), Clerks II and 3, Grindhouse: Death Proof, Seven Pounds, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Unstoppable, Zookeeper, Trance (2013), Top Five, Zombieland: Double Tap, The Water Man, Haunted Mansion (2023), and, in voice role, The Lego Batman Movie and as Wonder Woman in several Justice League animated films; and on television’s Daredevil, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Defenders, Young Rock, Dopesick, and Ahsoka.

Rosario’s mother, Isabel Celeste, is a writer and singer, and is of Puerto Rican and African-Cuban descent. Her mother has Taíno roots. Rosario was raised by her mother and stepfather, Greg Dawson, who gave her his surname; Greg is said to be of Irish and Native American ancestry. Rosario’s biological father is named Patrick Harris. It does not appear to be publicly known what Patrick’s ancestry is.

She was raised partly in Garland, Texas.

Rosario has a daughter, who is adopted.

Rosario’s maternal grandmother was Isabel Quiñones (the daughter of Antonio Quiñones and Celestina Alvira y Torres). Isabel was born in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. Antonio was the son of Ceferino Quiñones and Francisca Quiñones y Rivera. Celestina was the daughter of Eusebio Alvira y Rivera and Teresa Rexach y Torres.

Sources:

Genealogies of Rosario Dawson (focusing on her mother’s side) –

Obituary of Rosario’s maternal grandmother, Isabel II (Quiñones) Stokilo –

Rosario’s maternal great-grandfather, Antonio Quiñones, on the 1910 U.S. Census –

Rosario’s maternal great-grandmother, Celestina Alvira y Torres, on the 1910 U.S. Census –