Meet Emily Ratajkowski’s Parents: John David Ratajkowski and Kathleen Balgley

Emily O’Hara Ratajkowski, professionally known as EmRata, is an American model, actress, and author who gained international recognition after starring in Robin Thicke’s controversial 2013 music video “Blurred Lines.”

Born in London and raised in Encinitas, California, she became one of the most recognizable faces in fashion, modeling for luxury brands such as Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, and Marc Jacobs, while gracing the covers of Vogue, GQ, and Sports Illustrated Swimsuit in 2014 and 2015.

On screen, she made her acting debut in Gone Girl (2014) and went on to star in We Are Your Friends (2015) and I Feel Pretty (2018).

Emily Ratajkowski was born on June 7, 1991, in Westminster, London, to American parents—celebrity father John David Ratajkowski and celebrity mother Kathleen Balgley. She is their only child.

The family moved to the U.S. shortly after her birth, and she was raised in Encinitas, California. Her multicultural background includes Polish-Israeli, Irish, German, and English heritage, and she was brought up with both Jewish and Roman Catholic traditions.

Emily briefly studied fine art at UCLA before leaving to pursue a full-time modeling career.

Kathleen Balgley

Kathleen Balgley, born around 1952 in the United States, is a renowned academic, writer, and educator. A celebrity mother to Emily Ratajkowski, she has remained relatively private about her early life, with few details available regarding her own parents or siblings.

Of Jewish descent with ancestral ties to Brest, Poland (now Belarus), Balgley earned her Ph.D. in Literature from the University of California, San Diego.

Throughout her distinguished career, she has taught at UCLA Writing Programs, served as the Associate Director of Writing at UCSD’s Sixth College, and held a tenured associate professorship at California State University, San Luis Obispo.

Her commitment to education spans across diverse settings, having taught Native American and farmworker children, as well as students at the San Diego Jewish Academy.

In 2022, she published her memoir, Letters to My Father: Excavating a Jewish Identity in Poland and Belarus, an exploration of family, memory, and cultural identity. Her work reflects both her intellectual rigor and her deep connection to Jewish heritage.

John David Ratajkowski

John David “J.D.” Ratajkowski, born around 1946 in the United States, is a celebrated visual artist and former educator, best known as the celebrity father of Emily Ratajkowski.

Raised in Coronado, California, his lineage includes Polish, Irish, German, and English ancestry, and he was brought up in the Roman Catholic tradition. Although much about his early family life remains undisclosed, J.D. made a name for himself in the art world as a painter, sculptor, and printmaker.

Over the span of his 40-year career, he taught high school art at San Dieguito Academy—where he also taught Emily—mentoring countless young artists. His work has been exhibited in more than 25 shows across the United States and Europe.

Notably, he received a National Endowment for the Arts grant to produce a powerful series of large-format black-and-white portraits of Alzheimer’s patients. A sabbatical in Ireland inspired a collection of abstract landscape paintings, and he later collaborated with Kathleen to renovate artistic homes in Mallorca and West Cork, Ireland, underscoring their bohemian and creative family lifestyle.