Famous Mainers
These are just a few of the famous people who were either born in Maine or spent some important time in Maine.
John Baldacci, Maine governor
Percival Baxter, Maine governor
L. L. Bean, cataloger
James G. Blaine, U.S. speaker of the house, U.S. senator, and presidential candidate
Ralph O. Brewster, U.S. senator
Barbara Bush, first lady
George H. W. Bush, CIA director and U.S. president
George W. Bush, Texas governor and U.S. president
Jeb Bush, Florida governor
Rachel Carson, environmentalist
Joshua Chamberlain, Civil War hero
John Chandler, U.S. senator
Tom Clair, painter and actor
Walter Van Tilburg Clark, writer
Glenn Close, actress
William S. Cohen, U.S. senator and U.S. secretary of state
Susan Collins, U.S. senator
Barbara Cooney, children's book author
Cyrus Curtis, publisher
Patrick Dempsey, actor
Pierre du Guast Sieur de Monts, explorer
Dorothea Dix, civil rights reformer
John Fairfield, Maine governor. The only U.S. governor to declare war on a foreign power.
Philo Farnsworth, inventor of television
Dustin Farnum, actor
William Pitt Fessenden, U.S. senator
Dan Fogelberg, singer and songwriter
John Ford, film director
Richard Ford, novelist
William P. Frye, U.S. senator
Melville Fuller, chief justice, U.S. Supreme Court
Tess Gerritsen, novelist
Ferdinando Gorges, explorer
Chester Greenwood, inventor of earmuffs
Eugene Hale, U.S. senator
Frederick Hale, U.S. senator
Hannibal Hamlin, Maine governor, U.S. senator, and U.S. vice president
Marsden Hartley, painter
John Holmes, U.S. senator
Sarah Orne Jewett, novelist
Angus S. King Jr., Maine governor
Stephen King, horror novelist
Tabitha King, novelist
William King, Maine governor
Linda Lavin, actress
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, poet
James Longley, Maine governor. First popularly elected independent governor in the U.S.
John Mason, explorer
Hiram Stevens Maxim, inventor
John McKernan Jr., Maine governor
Robert McCloskey, children's book author
Edna St. Vincent Millay, poet
George J. Mitchell, U.S. senator
Lot M. Morrill, Maine governor and U.S. senator
Marston Morse, mathematician
Clarence Mulford, novelist
Frank Munsey, publisher
Edmund Muskie, Maine governor, U.S. senator, and presidential candidate
George Palmer Putnam, publisher
Thomas B. Reed, U.S. speaker of the house
Kenneth Roberts, historical author
Edwin Arlington Robinson, poet
Lewis Robinson, novelist
Richard Russo, novelist
Joan Benoit Samuelson, Olympic runner. First gold medal winner in the women's marathon event.
Margaret Chase Smith, U.S. senator. First woman to be elected a U.S. senator.
Olympia Snowe, U.S. senator
Percy Lebaron Spencer, inventor
Francis & Freelan Stanley, inventors
Harriet Beecher Stowe, novelist, Uncle Tom's Cabin
Wallace H. White Jr., U.S. senator
John Hay Whitney, publisher
Monica Wood, novelist
Marguerite Yourcenar, novelist
