Profile Text
Caplan in 2013, photo by PrPhoptos.com
Birth Name: Elizabeth Anne Caplan
Place of Birth: Santa Monica, Los Angeles, California, United States
Date of Birth: June 30, 1982
Ethnicity: Ashkenazi Jewish
Lizzy Caplan is an American actress and model. Her roles include the series Freaks and Geeks , The Pitts , Tru Calling , Related , The Class , American Dad! , True Blood , Party Down , New Girl , The League , Masters of Sex , Ill Behaviour , Das Boot , Castle Rock , Truth Be Told , Inside Job , Fleishman Is In Trouble , Fatal Attraction , and Zero Day ; and the films Orange County , Mean Girls (2004), Love Is the Drug , Crashing , Cloverfield , My Best Friend’s Girl , Crossing Over , Hot Tub Time Machine , The Last Rites of Ransom Pride , 127 Hours , High Road , Save the Date , Bachelorette , 3, 2, 1… Frankie Go Boom , Queens of Country , The Interview (2014), The Night Before , Now You See Me 2 , and its sequel, Now You See Me: Now You Don’t ; Allied , Extinction (2018), The People We Hate at the Wedding , and Cobweb (2023).
She is the daughter of Barbara Ann, a political aide, and Richard Harold Caplan, an attorney. Lizzy was born to a Jewish family, from Latvia, Austria, Lithuania, Russia, and Poland. She was raised in Reform Judaism, and said in 2005:
I had a bat mitzvah, was confirmed, went to Jewish summer camp… [Nowadays] I go to temple for the High Holy Days. I think, like most people in their early 20s, I kind of strayed away from it. I think once I have a family I’ll be back into it… I love being a Jew but I’m not Super Jew. I’m more about the traditional aspects of it rather than the religious at this point but I plan on raising my kids Jewish.
I had a bat mitzvah, was confirmed, went to Jewish summer camp… [Nowadays] I go to temple for the High Holy Days. I think, like most people in their early 20s, I kind of strayed away from it. I think once I have a family I’ll be back into it… I love being a Jew but I’m not Super Jew. I’m more about the traditional aspects of it rather than the religious at this point but I plan on raising my kids Jewish.
Lizzy’s great-uncle, her grandfather’s brother, was publicist Howard Bragman. Lizzy is married to English actor and producer Tom Riley, with whom she has a son.
A DNA test whose results were displayed on the show Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (2026) stated that Lizzy’s genetic ancestry is:
*99% European Jewish *1% Levant
*99% European Jewish *1% Levant
Lizzy’s paternal grandfather was Leslie Caplan (the son of Morris/Movsha Leyb Caplan and Celia Rosenman/Roseman). Leslie was born in Illinois, to a Lavtian Jewish father and an Austrian Jewish mother. Morris was the son of Rivka Wolpe.
Lizzy’s paternal grandmother was Janet/Jeanette Glick (the daughter of Nathan Glick and Anna Schaefer/Schaffer). Janet was born in Illinois, to Jewish emigrants, from Vilna, Lithuania.
Lizzy’s maternal grandfather was Benjamin Bragman (the son of Louis Bragman and Anna Miller). Benjamin was born in Michigan. Louis and Anna were Russian Jewish immigrants. Louis was the son of Michael Bragman and Bessie. Anna was the daughter of William Miller and Bessie.
Lizzy’s maternal grandmother was Anita June Meadow/Medow (the daughter of Abram/Abraham Lajb/Lewis Miodownik/Meadow/Meadows and Rivke/Vera Gorn/Goren/Corn). Anita was born in Illinois, to Jewish parents from the Russian Empire. Abram was born in Zawiercie, now Poland, the son of Benjamin “Ben” Miodownik and Dobra Zysla Waldberg. Abram’s brother, Wolf Miodownik, had moved to Belgium; he was initially deported to Auschwitz, and survived the Holocaust, while his wife Liba and son were killed.
Sources: Lizzy’s paternal grandfather, Leslie Caplan, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Lizzy’s paternal grandmother, Janet/Jeanette Glick, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Obituary of Lizzy’s paternal grandmother, Janet/Jeanette (Glick) Caplan – http://articles.chicagotribune.com
Genealogy of Lizzy’s maternal grandfather, Benjamin Bragman – https://www.geni.com
Lizzy’s maternal grandfather, Benjamin Bragman, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org