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Native New Yorkers
The following were born in New York City. Some became famous after they moved away.
A
Aaliyah - (1979-2001), R&B singer, Dancer, Fashion Model and Actress
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - basketball player
George Abernethy - (1807-1877), first provisional governor of Oregon
Bella Abzug - feminist activist and politician
Garnett Adrain, (1815-1878), member of the United States House of Representatives from New Jersey
Cornelius Rea Agnew, (1830-1888), noted ophthamologist
Eliza Agnew, (1807-1883), noted American Presbyterian missionary
Christina Aguilera - singer
Danny Aiello - actor
Marv Albert - sports announcer
Anne Revere Aldrich - (1866-1892), noted poet and author
Ira Aldridge - (1805-1867), stage actor
William Alexander (aka Lord Stirling), (1726-1783), American major general in the American Revolutionary War
Andrew Jackson Allan, (1776-1853), noted actor, theatre director, and costumer
Woody Allen - film director
Alexander Anderson - illustrator
Charles Anthon, classical scholar
Carmelo Anthony - basketball player
Diane Arbus
Kenneth J. Arrow - economist; Nobel laureate (Economics, 1972)
Beatrice Arthur - actress
William H. Aspinwall - railroad promoter
William Backhouse Astor, Sr. - businessman and member of the Astor family
Red Auerbach - basketball coach
Hank Azaria - actor
B
Lauren Bacall - actress
William Bliss Baker - painter
Anne Bancroft - actress
Jeff Barry - songwriter and record producer
Harry Belafonte - actor and singer
Pat Benatar - singer
Moe Berg - baseball player and spy
Des Bishop - comedian
David Blaine - magician
Yasmine Bleeth - actress
Humphrey Bogart - film actor
Margaret Bourke-White - photographer
Clara Bow - actress
Riddick Bowe - boxer
Barbara Boxer - Senator from California
James J. Braddock - boxer (aka 'Cinderella Man')
Matthew Broderick - actor
Mel Brooks - film director
Julia Brown - madam and prostitute
Larry Brown - basketball player and coach
Steve Buscemi - actor
Lloyd Banks - rap artist
C
James Caan - actor
Joseph A. Califano - former Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare
Maria Callas - opera singer
Al Capone - gangster
Benjamin Cardozo - Supreme Court Justice
Hugh Carey - governor of New York
George Carlin - comedian
John Cassavetes - actor
Jeff Chandler - actor
Frank Chanfrau - actor
Paddy Chayefsky - author
Julie Chen - anchorwoman
Edmund A. Chester - television executive & journalist
Shirley Chisholm - politician
Schuyler Colfax - Vice President of the United States
Anderson Cooper - CNN anchorman
Peter Cooper - inventor
Aaron Copland - composer
Bob Costas - sports announcer
Bob Cousy - basketball player
Ann Coulter - political pundit
James Creighton, major league baseball player
George Cukor - film director
Mario Cuomo - governor of New York
Tony Curtis - actor
D
Claire Danes - actress
Ron Dante - singer, songwriter, and record producer
Bobby Darin - singer, entertainer, actor, songwriter
Marion Davies - actress
Sammy Davis, Jr. - singer and entertainer
Rosario Dawson - actress
Al D'Amato - politician
Dorothy Day - Catholic social activist
Robert De Niro - actor
Eamon de Valera - Prime Minister of Ireland
Samuel R. Delany - author and critic
Don DeLillo - author
Jerry Denny, major league baseball player
Neil Diamond - singer and composer
P. Diddy - rap artist
Vin Diesel - actor
Phoebe Doty - prostitute and madam
Kirk Douglas - actor
Joseph Dunninger - mentalist
Richard Dreyfuss - actor
E
Gertrude Ederle - swimmer
Duke Ellington - jazz musician
F
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. - actor
Louis Farrakhan - Leader of the nation of islam
Morton Feldman - Composer
Richard Feynman - Nobel Prize-winning physicist
50 Cent - rap artist
Harvey Fierstein - actor
Hamilton Fish - governor of New York and Secretary of State
Jane Fonda - actress
Peter Fonda - actor
Malcolm Forbes - publisher
Davy Force - major league baseball player
Anthony Franciosa - actor
Al Franken - comedian and radio host, (actually born in New Jersey)
Milton Friedman - economist
John Frusciante - musician, artist
Bobby Flay - Chef
G
John Garfield - actor
Art Garfunkel - songwriter
Lou Gehrig - baseball player
George Gershwin - composer
Ira Gershwin - lyricist
Vitas Gerulaitis - tennis player
Ruth Bader Ginsburg - Supreme Court Justice
Rudolph Giuliani - mayor of New York
Jackie Gleason - comedian
Whoopi Goldberg - comedian and actress
Daniel S. Goldin - NASA director
Cuba Gooding Jr. - actor
Doris Kearns Goodwin - author
Victor Gotbaum - labor leader
Elliott Gould - actor
Rocky Graziano - boxer (real name Thomas Rocco Barbella)
Hank Greenberg - baseball player
Alan Greenspan - economist, former Federal Reserve Chairman
Melanie Griffith - actress
Bob Guccione - publisher
Peggy Guggenheim - art collector
Maggie Gyllenhaal - actress
H
Armand Hammer - industrialist and philanthropist
Oscar Hammerstein II - composer
Frank Hankinson - major league baseball player
W. Averell Harriman - diplomat and governor of New York
Francis L. Hawks, reverend
Susan Hayward - actress
Rita Hayworth - actress
Anthony Hecht - poet
Carol Heiss - Olympic figure skater (silver 1956, gold 1960)
Joseph Heller - author
Jim Hellwig - (Warrior) pro wrestler
Lance Henriksen - actor
Peter Cooper Hewitt - inventor
Hildegarde - American cabaret singer
Gregory Hines - dancer and actor
Judd Hirsch - actor
Lena Horne - singer
Edward Everett Horton - actor
Tab Hunter - actor
Moe, Curly and Shemp Howard - the Three Stooges
I
Washington Irving - author
J
Wolfman Jack - radio personality
Henry James - author
William James - philosopher
John Jay - governor of New York and Supreme Court Chief Justice
Jay-Z - rap artist
Billy Joel - singer
David Johansen - singer, songwriter, actor
Scarlett Johansson - actress
Kimberly Denise Jones "Lil Kim" - rapper
Nasir Jones - rap artist
Norah Jones - singer
Michael Jordan - basketball player
William Joyce - Nazi broadcaster (Lord Haw-Haw)
K
Philip Mayer Kaiser -U.S. Diplomat
Danny Kaye - actor and comedian
Thomas Kean - governor of New Jersey
Harvey Keitel - actor
Jerome Kern - composer
Alicia Keys - R&B singer
Calvin Klein - fashion designer
Ed Koch - mayor of New York City
E. L. Konigsburg - author
C. Everett Koop - physician
Lenny Kravitz - singer
Stanley Kubrick - film director
William Kunstler - lawyer
Tony Kushner - playwright
L
Fiorello LaGuardia - mayor of New York
Veronica Lake - actress
Andrew Lalka - politician
Jake LaMotta - boxer
Burt Lancaster - actor
Martin Landau - actor
Diane Lane - actress
Cyndi Lauper - singer
Ralph Lauren - fashion designer
Emma Lazarus - author and poet
Steve Lawrence - singer
Madeleine L'Engle - author
Joe E. Lewis - comedian
Roy Lichtenstein - artist
John Lindsay - mayor of New York
Peggy Lipton - actress
Robert R. Livingston - Founding Father and diplomat
Vince Lombardi - football coach
Lindsay Lohan - actress and singer
Jennifer Lopez - singer and actress
Lucky Luciano - gangster
Sid Luckman - football player and coach
Frankie Lyman - Singer
Derek Lee - baseball player
M
Frank McCourt - author
Bernard Malamud - author
Melissa Manchester - singer
Barry Manilow - singer, songwriter, musician
Mike Mansfield - Senator from Montana
Stephon Marbury - professional basketball player
Shaun Marcus - fashion model, dancer and community organizer
Constantine Maroulis - American Idol finalist
Groucho, Harpo, Chico, Zeppo and Gummo Marx - the Marx Brothers
Walter Matthau - actor
Herman Melville - author
Yehudi Menuhin - violinist
Ethel Merman - singer and actress
Robert Merrill - singer
Adeline Miller - prostitute and madam
Arthur Miller - playwright
Sienna Miller - actress
Sal Mineo - actor
John Joseph Mitty - Roman Catholic Archbishop of San Francisco
Isaac Mizrahi - fashion designer
Mary Tyler Moore - actress and producer
Tom Morello - guitarist
Gouverneur Morris - Founding Father and Senator
Zero Mostel - actor and comedian
Charlie and Eddie Murphy - actors and comedians
N
Nordstrom Sisters - American sister act, international cabaret singers
Dagmar Nordstrom - American composer, pianist, one of The Nordstrom Sisters
O
Eugene O'Neill - playwright
Robert Oppenheimer - physicist; 'father of the atomic bomb'
Bill O'Reilly - Fox News anchor and journalist
P
Al Pacino - actor
Joe Paterno - football coach
James Patterson - novelist
Amanda Peet - actress
Richard Pelham - blackface performer
Claiborne Pell - Senator from Rhode Island
Sam Perkins - basketball player
Lip Pike - major league baseball player
Chaim Potok - author
Bud Powell - jazz pianist
Colin Powell - army general and Secretary of State
Priscilla Presley - actress
Tito Puente - band leader
Mario Puzo - author
R
Joey Ramone and Marky Ramone - punk rock musicians
Lou Reed - rock musician, songwriter
Christopher Reeve - actor
Paul Reiser - actor
Ed Rendell - former Mayor of Philadelphia, Governor of Pennsylvania
Buddy Rich - jazz drummer
Burton Richter - Nobel Prize-winning physicist
Thelma Ritter - actress
Laurance Rockefeller - conservationist and philanthropist
Winthrop Rockefeller - governor of Arkansas
Norman Rockwell - artist
Alex Rodriguez - baseball player
Sonny Rollins - jazz saxophonist
Ray Romano - actor
Mickey Rooney - actor
Eleanor Roosevelt - First Lady and human rights activist
Theodore Roosevelt - President of the United States
Ethel Greenglass Rosenberg - convicted spy
Julius Rosenberg - convicted spy
Mercedes Ruehl - actress
Art Rust Jr - Sportcaster
Louis Rukeyser - business columnist; economic commentator
S
Carl Sagan - physicist and astronomer
J. D. Salinger - author
Jonas Salk - medical researcher
John Salley - basketball player
Adam Sandler- actor, comedian
Francesco Scavullo - photographer
Dick Schaap - journalist
Vincent Schiavelli - actor
Sandra Schnur - Disability rights activist
Rick Schroder - actor
Charles Schumer - Senator
Julius Schwartz - comic book editor
Martin Scorsese - film director
Vin Scully - sports radio announcer
Jerry Seinfeld - comedian
Maurice Sendak - author and illustrator
Elizabeth Ann Seton - first American Catholic saint
Tupac Shakur - rap artist
Artie Shaw - band leader
Judith Sheindlin - judge (aka 'Judge Judy')
Daniel Sickles - Civil War general
Bugsy Siegel - gangster
Beverly Sills - opera singer
Robert Silverberg - author
Carly Simon - singer, songwriter
Neil Simon - playwright
John Slidell - Senator from Louisiana and Confederate diplomat
Al Smith - governor of New York and presidential candidate
Phoebe Snow - singer, songwriter
Stephen Sondheim - songwriter
Mickey Spillane - author
Eliot Spitzer - governor of New York State
Sylvester Stallone - actor
Barbara Stanwyck - actress
Joe Start - major league baseball player
Julia Stiles - actress
Henry L. Stimson - politician and diplomat
Oliver Stone - film director
Susan Strasberg - actress
Barbra Streisand - singer and actress
T
Studs Terkel - author
Irving Thalberg - film producer
Johnny Thunders - rock musician
Gene Tierney - actress
Louis Comfort Tiffany - artist
Joe Torre - baseball player and coach
Donald Trump - businessman
Barbara Tuchman - historian; author
Gene Tunney - 1926-28 heavyweight boxing champion
John V. Tunney - former U.S. Senator
John Turturro - actor
William Tweed - politician
Mike Tyson - professional boxer
U
Leslie Uggams - singer; actress
Hikaru Utada - musician
V
Andrew Vachss - lawyer and author
Cornelius Vanderbilt - businessman
Luther Vandross - singer
W
Christopher Walken - actor
Jimmy Walker - mayor of New York City
Christopher Wallace - rapper
Eli Wallach - actor
Fats Waller - jazz pianist
Vera Wang - fashion designer
Sigourney Weaver - actor
Steven Weinberg - Nobel Prize-winning physicist
Eric West - actor, pop singer
Leslie West - rock musician
Mae West - actress
Nathanael West - author
Edith Wharton - author
Billy Whitlock - blackface performer
Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney - sculptor and art patron
Vanessa Lynn Williams - singer and actress
Y
Tony Yayo - rap artist
Non-Native New Yorkers
These people were not born in New York City but are or were well-known for living there.
A
Samuel Adler, rabbi, born in Worms, Germany
William Adams, born in Colchester, Connecticut, one of the founders and later the president of Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York
Frederick Styles Agate, born in England, noted painter.
Thomas Peter Akers, born in Knox County, Ohio, vice president of the gold board
Jason Alexander - television actor, born in Newark, New Jersey
Jennifer Aniston - comedienne, actress, born in Sherman Oaks, California
Chester A. Arthur - President of the United States, born in Fairfield, Vermont
Isaac Asimov - author, born in Russia
John Jacob Astor - First multimillionaire of the US, born in Germany
B
Lucille Ball - comedienne, actress, born in Jamestown, New York
Count Basie - jazz pianist and band leader, born in Red Bank, New Jersey
Irving Berlin - composer, lyricist, born in Russia
Lewis Black - comedian, born in Silver Spring, Maryland
Michael Bloomberg - businessman and mayor, born in Boston, Massachusetts
Marlon Brando, Jr. - actor, born in Omaha, Nebraska
Tom Brokaw - television news anchor, born in Webster, South Dakota
Brandy - singer, born in Mississippi
William F. Buckley, Jr. - author and conservative commentator, born in Mexico City, Mexico
C
Mariah Carey - singer, born in Long Island, New York
Wendy Carlos - musician, born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island
Art Carney - actor, born in Mount Vernon, New York
Willa Cather - author, born in Back Creek valley, Virginia
Connie Chung - anchorwoman, born in Washington, D.C.
Dick Clark - born in Mount Vernon, New York
Anthony Comstock - reformer, born in New Canaan, Connecticut
Bill Cosby - actor/comedian, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Billy Crawford - singer, born in Manila, Philippines
Fanny Crosby - hymn writer, born in Southeast, New York
Tom Cruise - actor, born in Syracuse, New York
Bill Cullen - radio host, born in Pennsylvania
D
Lorenzo Da Ponte - librettist to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and professor of Italian at Columbia University, born in Ceneda, Italy
Marlene Dietrich - actress, born in Berlin, Germany
Joe DiMaggio - professional baseball player, born in Martinez, California
George Washington Dixon - performer, newspaper editor
David Dinkins - former mayor of New York City, born in Trenton, New Jersey
Frederick Douglass - abolitionist, born in Maryland
Francis P. Duffy - priest of the Archdiocese of New York, World War I chaplain to 69th New York ("The Fighting 69th"), born in Cobourg, Ontario, Canada
Bob Dylan - singer/songwriter, born in Duluth, Minnesota
E
Edward Cardinal Egan - Cardinal Archbishop of New York, born in Oak Park, Illinois
Patrick Ewing - former NBA All-Star center, born in Jamaica
F
Millard Fillmore - President of the United States, born in Summerhill, New York
Bobby Fischer - chess champion, born in Chicago, Illinois
Ella Fitzgerald - jazz singer, born in Virginia, lived in Yonkers, New York
Steve Forbes - publisher, born in Morristown, New Jersey
Felix Frankfurter - US Supreme Court Associate Justice, born in Vienna, Austria
Henry Clay Frick - businessman, born in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania
G
Greta Garbo - actress, born in Stockholm, Sweden
Dizzy Gillespie - jazz trumpet player, born in South Carolina
H
Thomas S. Hamblin - actor and manager of the Bowery Theatre
Alexander Hamilton - Founding Father, born in the West Indies
Townsend Harris - first US diplomat in Japan; one of the founders of CCNY, born in Sandy Hill, New York
Deborah Harry - singer, actress, born in Union City, New Jersey
O. Henry - author, born in North Carolina
Tommy Hilfiger - fashion designer, born in Elmira, New York
Herman Hollerith - inventor, born in Buffalo, New York
Langston Hughes - poet, born in Joplin, Missouri
I
J
Kevin James - actor, born in Long Island, New York
Peter Jennings - television news anchor, born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Derek Jeter - professional baseball player, born in New Jersey
K
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis - first lady, born in Southampton, New York
Tom Kennedy - game show host
Lisa Kudrow - actress, born in Encino, California
L
John Layfield - professional wrestler, born in Sweetwater, Texas
Spike Lee - film director, born in Atlanta, Georgia
John Lennon - singer/songwriter, born in Liverpool, England
Pierre Lorillard IV - buisnessman and founder of tobacco company, born in Westchester, New York
M
Ralph Macchio actor, born in Long Island, New York
Ali MacGraw - actress, born in Pound Ridge, New York
Mickey Mantle - professional baseball player, born in Spavinaw, Oklahoma
Dean Martin - singer, born in Ohio
Ricky Martin - singer, born in Puerto Rico
Willie Mays - baseball hall of famer, born in Alabama
John Cardinal McCloskey - first American born cardinal, born in City of Brooklyn, New York
John McEnroe - professional tennis player, born in Germany
Zubin Mehta - orchestra conductor, born in Bombay, India
Bette Midler - singer and actress, born in Honolulu, Hawaii
Moondog (Louis Hardin) - eccentric street musician & poet, born in Kansas
Garry Moore - TV show host and producer, born in Baltimore, Maryland
John Pierpont Morgan - businessman, born in Hartford, Connecticut
Robert Moses - NYC urban planner and developer, born in New Haven, Connecticut
N
Joe Namath - professional football player, born in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania
O
Soledad O'Brien - CNN anchorwoman, born in Saint James, New York
John Joseph O'Connor - Roman Catholic Cardinal Archbishop of New York, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Rosie O'Donnell - comedian, born in Long Island, New York
Yoko Ono - artist/musician, born in Tokyo, Japan
P
Ronald Perelman - investor, owner of Revlon, born in Greensboro, North Carolina
Itzhak Perlman - violinist, born in Jaffa, Israel
David Hyde Pierce - actor, born in Saratoga Springs, New York
[[Ed
Q
R
Tony Randall - actor, born in Tulsa, Oklahoma
Dan Rather - television news anchor, born in Wharton, Texas
Chris Rock - comedian, born in Andrews, South Carolina
John D. Rockefeller - businessman, born in Richford, New York
Richard Rodgers - composer, born in Long Island, New York
Andrew Rooney - CBS 60 Minutes commentator, born in Albany, New York
Franklin D. Roosevelt - US President, born in Hyde Park, New York
Babe Ruth - professional baseball player, born in Baltimore, Maryland
S
Telly Savalas - actor, born in Long Island, New York
Fulton J. Sheen - Catholic bishop, author, TV show host, born in El Paso, Illinois
Bobby Short - jazz musician, born in Danville, Illinois
Paul Simon - songwriter, born in Newark Heights, New Jersey
Patti Smith - singer, songwriter, poet, born in New Jersey
Frank Sinatra - singer, born in Hoboken, New Jersey
Upton Sinclair - author, born in Baltimore, Maryland
Francis Cardinal Spellman - Roman Catholic Cardinal Archbishop of New York, born in Whitman, Massachusetts
Wilhelm Steinitz - world chess champion, born in Prague, Czech Republic
Howard Stern - radio personality, born in Roosevelt, New York
Sting - rock star, born in England
Jon Stewart - comedian, born in Lawrence Township, New Jersey
Martha Stewart - home interior designer, born in Jersey City, New Jersey
Lee Strasberg - acting teacher, born in Budaniv, Ukraine
Meryl Streep - actress, born in Summit, New Jersey
T
Samuel J. Tilden - presidential candidate, born in New Lebanon, New York
Daniel D Tompkins - Vice President of the United States, born in Westchester County
U
V
Martin Van Buren - US President, born in Kinderhook, New York
Suzanne Vega - singer, songwriter, born in Santa Monica, California
Jon Voight - actor, born in Yonkers, New York
W
Barbara Walters - anchorwoman, born in Boston, Massachusetts
Andy Warhol - artist, born in Forest City, Pennsylvania
Denzel Washington - actor, born in Mount Vernon, New York
Walt Whitman - poet, author, born in Long Island, New York
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Y
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