Famous New Yorkers
These are just a few of the famous people who were either born in New York or spent some important time in New York.
Donnie Abraham, football player
John Abraham, football player
Sam Adams, football player
Sharon Allen, chairperson, Deloitte & Touche USA
Woody Allen, actor, director, and producer
Walter Alston, baseball manager
Lyle Alzado, football player
Maya Angelou, poet
Jennifer Aniston, actress
Judd Apatow, writer, director, and producer
Diane Arbus, photographer
Darren Aronofsky, director
Brooke Astor, society first lady
Shalom Auslander, novelist
Richard Axel, Nobel prize winner in physiology
John Backus, inventor of Fortran
Kevin Bacon, actor
Louis Bacon, financier
Whitney Balliett, jazz critic
Brett Barakett, hedge fund manager
Timothy Barakett, hedge fund manager
Tiki Barber, football player
Ellen Barkin, actress
Jean-Michel Basquiat, artist
Nancy Bass, co-owner of the Strand bookstore
Mario Batali, chef and cookbook author
Hank Bauer, baseball player and manager
Noah Baumbach, screenwriter and director
William Becker, co-founder of Motel 6
Irene Bedard, actress and singer
Peggy Bedford, Standard Oil heiress
Don Beebe, football player
James Gordon Bennett, publisher, New York Herald
Elmer Bernstein, composer
Yogi Berra, baseball player and manager
Jeffrey Bewkes, media executive
C. Channing Blake, Friendly's heir
Drew Bledsoe, football player
Wolf Blitzer, TV news anchor
Nikki Blonsky, actress
Michael Bloomberg, New York City mayor and billionaire media baron
Nathan Bogle, musician, Rag & Bone
Jon Bon Jovi, singer and actor
William Bonney (aka Henry McCarty, Henry Antrim, and Billy the Kid), outlaw
Mathew Brady, photographer
Molly Brandt, peacekeeper
Ann Brashares, novelist
Benjamin Bratt, actor
Michael Brecker, jazz saxophonist
Jimmy Breslin, columnist
Teresa Brewer, pop and jazz singer
David Brinkley, TV journalist
Foxy Brown (aka Inga Marchand), rapper
Thom Browne, fashion designer
James Brunot, Scrabble game namer
Aaron Burr, U.S. senator
Plaxico Burress, football player
William S. Burroughs, novelist
Candace Bushnell, novelist
Alfred Mosher Butts, Scrabble game inventor
Michael Cader, author, agent, book packager, and publisher, Publishers Lunch
Sammy Cahn, lyricist
Alexander Calder, artist
Truman Capote, author
Al Capp, cartoonist
Bud Carson, football coach
Harry Carson, football player
Graydon Carter, Vanity Fair editor
Theodore Case, inventor of the first commercially successful system of recording sound on film
Kim Cattrall, actress
Chevy Chase, actor and comedian
John Cheever, novelist
Shirley Chisholm, U.S. representative and first African-American woman elected to Congress
Michael Chow, restaurant owner
Phillipe Chow, chef
Wayne Chrebet, football player
Steve Christie, football player
Nate Clements, football player
Grover Cleveland, U.S. president
Bill Clinton, U.S. president
Dewitt Clinton, New York governor. Helped build the Erie Canal, then known as Dewitt's Folly.
George Clinton, New York governor and U.S. vice president
Hilary Rodham Clinton, U.S. senator
James Clinton, general
Chuck Close, artist
Glenn Close, actress
Ben Cohen, ice cream maker
Laveranues Coles, football player
Jacob Collins, artist
Kerry Collins, football player
Sean “Diddy” Combs, rapper and entrepreneur
James Fenimore Cooper, novelist
Ted Cottrell, football coach
Sam Cowart, football player
Jim Cronin, zookeeper and animal rights activist
Floyd Crosby, cinematographer
George Crum, inventor of potato chips
John Cullum, actor
Mario Cuomo, New York governor
Claire Danes, actress
Jeff Daniels, actor
George David, head of United Technologies
Kenny Davis, football player
Robert De Niro, actor
Cote de Pablo, actress
Thomas Dewey, New York governor and presidential candidate
Junot Diaz, novelist
Joe Dimaggio, baseball player
David Dinkins, New York City mayor
Diane Di Prima, poet
Joanne Dru, actress
Rhea Durham, model
Phillip Dusenberry, advertising executive
Lenny Dykstra, baseball player
Bob Dylan, singer and songwriter
Herman Edwards, football coach
Shaun Ellis, football player
Izzy Englander, financier
Jason Epstein, editor
John Michael Evans, investment banker
Fabio, model
Mia Farrow, actress
Jeff Feagles, football player
Nicolai Fechin, artist
Jerry Della Femina, chairman of Della Femina advertising agency
Tina Fey, comedienne
Jonathan Fields, author
Millard Fillmore, U.S. president
Renee Fleming, opera singer
London Fletcher, football player
Steven Florio, magazine publisher
Tom Ford, fashion designer
Whitey Ford, baseball pitcher
Les and Sue Fox, bestselling authors
Betty Goldstein Friedan, author of The Feminist Mystique and founder of the National Organization for Women
Rick Frishman, publicist and author
Robert Fulton, inventor of steamboat
Wanda Gag, children's book author and illustrator
James Gandolfini, actor
Joseph Gayetty, inventor of toilet paper
Lou Gehrig, baseball player
Boy George (O'Dowd), rock singer
Paul Giamatti, actor
Frank Gifford, football player
Vincent (Chin) Gigante, Mafia Oddfather
Allen Ginsberg, poet
Rudolph Giuliani, New York City mayor
Dwight “Doc” Gooden, baseball player
Richard “Goose” Gossage, baseball player
Kelsey Grammer, actor
Hank Greenberg, chairman of AIG
Jerry Greenfield, ice cream maker
Robert Greenhill, investment banker
Michael Greyeyes, actress and dancer
Gene Hackman, actor
Charles Hall, inventor
Alexander Hamilton, U.S. secretary of treasury
Mariska Hargitay, actress
Bruce Hart, lyricist
Craig Hatkoff, venture capitalist
Levon Helm, actor and musician, The Band
Leona Helmsley, hotelier
Lauren Holly, actress
Elston Howard, baseball player
Henry Hudson, explorer
Charles Evans Hughes, politician
Carl Icahn, financier
Don Imus, radio show host
Washington Irving, short story writer
John Jay, colonel, patriot, and New York governor
Derek Jeter, baseball player
Keyshawn Johnson, football player
Henry Jones, football player
Leroi Jones, aka Amiri Baraka, poet
Hettie Jones, poet
Norah Jones, jazz singer
Mel Karmazin, CEO, Viacom
Marjorie Kellogg, novelist and playwright
Jim Kelly, football player
Jack Kemp, football player, politician, and columnist
John F. Kennedy Jr., publisher
Robert Kennedy, U.S. senator
Miles Keogh, fought in the Battle of Little Big Horn
Alicia Keys, singer and songwriter
Michael Kidd, choreographer
Mark Kingdon, financier
Calvin Klein, designer
Franz Kline, artist
Beyonce Knowles, singer
Rose Knox, president, Knox Gellatin
David Koch, billionaire
Michael Kors, fashion guru
Bruce Kovner, financier
Lee Krasner, artist
Henry Kravis, financier
Charles Kuralt, TV journalist
Nick Lachey, singer
Fiorelli LaGuardia, New York City mayor
Ronald Lauder, Estee Lauder heir
Matt Lauer, Today show host
Ralph Lauren, designer
Ty Law, football player
Shelly Lazarus, chairperson, Ogilvy & Mather
Heath Ledger, actor
James T. Lee, grandfather of Jackie Kennedy Onassis
Barbara Lehman, children's book author and illustrator
Jennifer Jason Leigh, actress
John Lennon, singer and songwriter, Beatles
Ira Levin, novelist
Harry Lieberman, artist
Annie Leibovitz, photographer
Carl Lennertz, publisher
John Lennon, rock singer and songwriter
David Letterman, TV talk show host
Marv Levy, football coach
Mo Lewis, football player
Rush Limbaugh, radio talk show host and author
Maya Lin, architect
John Lindsay, New York City mayor
James Lofton, football player
Chief Logan, Native American orator
Pierre Lorillard, tobacco company founder
J. P. Losman, football player
Henry Luce Jr., publisher, editor, founder of Time, Inc.
Yo-Yo Ma, cellist
John Mack, investment banker
Norman Mailer, novelist
Barry Manilow, singer
Eli Manning, football player
Mickey Mantle, baseball player
Wellington Mara, football owner
Roger Maris, baseball player
Wynton Marsalis, jazz trumpeter and composer
Billy Martin, baseball manager
Curtis Martin, football player
Steve Martin, actor and comedian
William “Bat” Masterson, lawman and columnist
Kevin Mawae, football player
Peter Max, pop artist
Paul McCartney, singer and songwriter
Willis McGahee, football player
Morris Michtom, inventor of Teddy bear
Alyssa Milano, actress
Mitch Miller, music and TV producer
Lawyer Milloy, football player
Jessica Molaskey, singer
Julianne Moore, actress
J.P. Morgan, financier and philanthropist
Samuel Morse, inventor of telegraph
Robert Moses, mathematician, educator, and civil rights activist
Eric Moulds, football player
Rupert Murdoch, CEO, News Corp.
Edward R. Murrow, TV journalist
John Mutter, editor, Shelf Awareness
Joe Namath, football player
Daniel Neidich, investment banker
Keith Newman, football player
Stan O'Neal, investment banker
Yoko Ono, singer
Thomas Paine, patriot
Gordon Parks, photographer and director
Richard Parsons, media executive
George Pataki, New York governor
Norman Vincent Peale, preacher and author
Amanda Peet, actress
Chad Pennington, football player
Joe Pepitone, baseball player
Ronald Perelman, financier
Norman Pearlstine, editor in chief, Time Inc.
Arnold and Marjorie Pfeffer, founders, Arnold Pfeffer Center for Neuro Psychoanalysis
Regis Philbin, TV show host
Eleanor Phillips, author
Allison Pierce, singer
Antonio Pierce, football player
Catherine Pierce, singer
Lionel Pincus, private equity manager
John Pizzarelli, singer and guitar player
Jada Plunkett-Smith, actress
Johnny Podres, baseball player
Edgar Allen Poe, poet and short story writer
Jackson Pollock, artist
Natalie Portman, actress
Kalani Queypo, dancer and actor
Bonnie Raitt, singer
John Raitt, singer
Jill Rappaport, Today Show host
Kim Raver, actress
Andre Reed, football player
Frank Reich, football player
Alex Rice, actress
Bobby Richardson, baseball player
Jeff Richmond, Saturday Night Live composer
Phil Rizzuto, baseball player and announcer
Tim Robbins, actor
Adam Robinson, author
David Rockefeller, banker and philanthropist
John D. Rockefeller, industrialist and philanthropist
Nelson Rockefeller, New York governor and presidential candidate
Winthrop Rockefeller, Arkansas governor
Charles Rocket, comedian and actor
Loree Rodkin, jewelry designer
Carolyn Roehm, clothing designer
Ray Romano, actor
Mickey Rooney, actor
Eleanor Roosevelt, first lady
Franklin D. Roosevelt, New York governor and U.S. president
Theodore Roosevelt, U.S. president
Jane Rosenthal, movie producer
Phil Rosenthal, TV producer
Myrton Running Wolf, film editor and actor
Babe Ruth, baseball player
Jonas Salk, developer of polio vaccine
Arthur Samburg, hedge fund manager
Susan Sarandon, actress
Aaron Schobel, football player
Philip Schuyler, general
Stephen Schwarzman, financier
John Morin Scott, governor
Kyra Sedgwick, actress
Jerry Seinfeld, actor and comedian
William Seward, New York governor, senator, and U.S. secretary of state. Bought Alaska, then known as Seward's Folly.
Sheetal Sheth, actress
Jeremy Shockey, football player
Beverly Sills, opera singer
Phil Simms, football player
Jim Simons, financier
O. J. Simpson, football player and actor
Al Smith, New York governor and presidential candidate
Bruce Smith, football player
Joseph Smith, Morman Church founder
Will Smith, actor
Wesley Snipes, actor
Sonic Youth, rock group
Talisa Soto, actress
Stephen Spielberg, director and producer
Takeo Spikes, football player
Lesley Stahl, TV reporter
Ted Stanhope, actor
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, feminist and first woman to run for the U.S. House of Representatives
Michael Steinhardt, investment banker
Casey Stengel, baseball manager
Howard Stern, radio personality
Jon Stewart, comedian
Martha Stewart, media personality, jail bird, and businesswoman
Sharon Stone, actress
Michael Strahan, football player
Arthur “Pinch” Sulzberger Jr., publisher, New York Times
Gay Talese, author
Nan Talese, book publisher
Darryl Talley, football player
Fran Tarkenton, football player
Steve Tasker, football player
Lawrence Taylor, football player
Nikola Tesla, inventor (probably the greatest inventor to have ever lived)
Vinny Testaverde, football player
Lowell Thomas, author, broadcaster, and traveller
Thurman Thomas, football player
Lady Tigra, singer
Laurence Tisch, owner of Loews
Tommy Tisch, Loews heir
Y. A. Tittle, football player
Amani Toomer, football player
Joe Torre, baseball coach
Charlene Touchette, artist and author
John Travolta, actor
Donald Trump, businessman and TV personality
Ivanka Trump, model
Harriet Tubman, slave, abolitionist leader, and guide in the Underground Railroad
John Turturro, actor
Martin Van Buren, U.S. president
Cornelius Vanderbilt, railroad tycoon
Giovanni da Varrazano, explorer
Jonathan Vilma, football player
Troy Vincent, football player
Robert Wagner, New York mayor
Robert Wagner, U.S. senator
Anne Waldman, poet
DeWitt Wallace, publisher, founder of Reader's Digest, philanthropist
Lila Acheson Wallace, co-founder of Reader's Digest and philanthropist
Barbara Walters, talk show host and newswoman
George Washington, U.S. president
James Watson, discoverer of DNA
Michael Weatherly Jr., actor
Michael Weatherly Sr., importer
Weegee, aka Arthur Fellig, photographer
Sandy Weill, banker
John Weinberg, investment banker
Peter Weinberg, investment banker
Rachel Weisz, actress
Walt Whitman, poet
Olivia Wilde, actress
Michelle Williams, actress
Pat Williams, football player
Robert Wilson, financier
Serena Wilson, choreographer
Antoine Winfield, football player
Oliver Wolcott Jr., patriot, banker, Connecticut governor, U.S. secretary of treasury
Victoria Woodhull, stockbroker and first woman nominated as a U.S. presidential candidate (Equal Rights Party)
Gretchen Wyler, singer, dancer, and actress
Jay Z, rapper and entrepreneur
William B Ziff, Jr., magazine publisher
William B Ziff, Sr., magazine publisher
Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook.com
