This is a list of famous people from New York City.

Native New Yorkers

The following were born in New York City. Some became famous after they moved away.

A

• Aaliyah - singer
• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - basketball player
• Bella Abzug - feminist activist and politician
• Christina Aguilera - singer
• Marv Albert - sports announcer
• Danny Aiello - actor
• Woody Allen - film director
• Red Auerbach - basketball coach

B

• Anne Bancroft - actress
• Harry Belafonte - actor and singer
• Pat Benatar - singer
• Moe Berg - baseball player and spy
• Humphrey Bogart - film actor
• Margaret Bourke-White - photographer
• Clara Bow - actress
• Barbara Boxer - Senator from California
• Matthew Broderick - actor
• Mel Brooks - film director
• William F. Buckley, Jr. - author and conservative commentator
• Steve Buscemi - actor

C

• James Caan - actor
• Maria Callas - opera singer
• Al Capone - gangster
• Benjamin Cardozo - Supreme Court Justice
• Hugh Carey - governor of New York
• George Carlin - comedian
• Paddy Chayefsky
• Shirley Chisholm - politician
• Schuyler Colfax - Vice President of the United States
• Peter Cooper - inventor
• Aaron Copland - composer
• Bob Costas - sports announcer
• Bob Cousy - basketball player
• George Cukor - film director
• Mario Cuomo - governor of New York
• Tony Curtis - actor

D

• Bobby Darin - singer, entertainer, actor, songwriter
• Marion Davies - actress
• Sammy Davis, Jr. - singer and entertainer
• Al D'Amato - politician
• Robert De Niro - actor
• Eamon de Valera - Irish Taoiseach
• Samuel R. Delany - author and critic
• Don DeLillo - author
• P. Diddy - rap artist
• Neil Diamond - singer and composer
• Richard Dreyfuss - actor

E

• Gertrude Ederle - swimmer

F

• Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. - actor
• Richard Feynman - Nobel Prize-winning physicist
• 50 Cent - rap artist
• Hamilton Fish - governor of New York and Secretary of State
• Malcolm Forbes - publisher
• Al Franken - comedian and radio host
• Milton Friedman - economist

G

• 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
• Elliott Gould - actor
• Hank Greenberg - baseball player
• Bob Guccione - publisher

H

• Armand Hammer - industrialist and philanthropist
• W. Averell Harriman - diplomat and governor of Mew York
• Rita Hayworth - actress
• Anthony Hecht - poet
• Joseph Heller - author
• Lance Henriksen - actor
• Peter Cooper Hewitt - inventor
• Gregory Hines - dancer and actor
• Judd Hirsch - actor
• Lena Horne - singer
• Edward Everett Horton - 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
• Norah Jones - singer
• Michael Jordan - basketball player

K

• Danny Kaye - actor and comedian
• Thomas Kean - governor of New Jersey
• Harvey Keitel - actor
• Jerome Kern - composer
• Alicia Keys - R&B singer
• Ed Koch - mayor of New York City
• E. L. Konigsburg - author
• C. Everett Koop - physician
• Stanley Kubrick - film director
• William Kunstler - lawyer

L

• Fiorello LaGuardia - mayor of New York
• Veronica Lake - actress
• Jake LaMotta - boxer
• Martin Landau - actor
• Cyndi Lauper - singer
• Emma Lazarus - author and poet
• Steve Lawrence - singer
• Madeleine L'Engle - author
• Roy Lichtenstein - artist
• John Lindsay - mayor of New York
• 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

M

• Bernard Malamud - author
• Melissa Manchester - singer
• Mike Mansfield - Senator from Montana
• Stephon Marbury - professional basketball player
• Groucho, Harpo, Chico, Zeppo and Gummo Marx - the Marx Brothers
• Walter Matthau - actor
• Herman Melville - author
• Yehudi Menuhin - violinist
• Ethel Merman - singer and actress
• Arthur Miller - playwright
• Sal Mineo - actor
• Mary Tyler Moore - actress and producer
• Gouverneur Morris - Founding Father and Senator
• Zero Mostel - actor and comedian
• Charlie and Eddie Murphy - actors and comedians

N

• Najee - jazz musician
• Jack Nicholson - actor

O

• Carroll O'Connor - actor
• Eugene O'Neill - playwright
• Robert Oppenheimer - physicist

P

• Al Pacino - actor
• Joe Paterno - football coach
• Claiborne Pell - Senator from Rhode Island
• Chaim Potok - author
• 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
• 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
• Richard Rodgers - composer
• Alex Rodriguez - baseball player
• Mickey Rooney - actor
• Eleanor Roosevelt - First Lady and human rights activist
• Theodore Roosevelt - President of the United States

S

• Carl Sagan - physicist and astronomer
• J. D. Salinger - author
• Jonas Salk - medical researcher
• Dick Schaap - journalist
• 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
• Daniel Sickles - Civil War general
• Bugsy Siegel - gangster
• Beverly Sills - opera singer
• Robert Silverberg - author
• Neil Simon - playwright
• John Slidell - Senator from Louisiana and Confederate diplomat
• Al Smith - governor of New York and presidential candidate
• Stephen Sondheim - songwriter
• Mickey Spillane - author
• Sylvester Stallone - actor
• Barbara Stanwyck - actress
• Henry L. Stimson - politician and diplomat
• Oliver Stone - film director
• Barbra Streisand - singer and actress

T

• Irving Thalberg - film producer
• Johnny Thunders - rock musician
• Louis Comfort Tiffany - artist
• Joe Torre - baseball player and coach
• Donald Trump - businessman
• John Turturro - actor
• William Tweed - politician
• Mike Tyson - professional boxer

V

• Luther Vandross - singer

W

• Christopher Walken - actor
• Jimmy Walker - mayor of New York City
• Eli Wallach - actor
• Steven Weinberg - Nobel Prize-winning physicist
• Leslie West - rock musician
• Nathanael West - author
• Edith Wharton - author
• Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney - sculptor and art patron
• Vanessa Lynn Williams - singer and actress

Other New Yorkers

These people were not born in New York City but were well-known for living there.

• Jason Alexander - television actor, born in New Jersey
• Chester A. Arthur - President of the United States, born in Vermont
• Isaac Asimov - author, born in Russia
• John Jacob Astor - First multimillionaire of the US, born in Germany
• Count Basie - jazz pianist and band leader, born in New Jersey
• Lewis Black - comedian, born in Silver Spring, Maryland
• Mary J. Blige - R&B singer, born in Georgia
• Michael Bloomberg - businessman and mayor, born in Massachusetts
• Tom Brokaw - television news anchor, born in Webster, South Dakota
• Brandy - singer, born in Mississippi
• Mariah Carey - singer, born on Long Island
• Dick Clark - born in Mount Vernon, New York
• Bill Cullen - radio host, born in Pennsylvania
• Joe DiMaggio - professional baseball player, born in California
• Frederick Douglass - abolitionist, born in Maryland
• Patrick Ewing - former NBA All-Star center, born in Jamaica
• Millard Fillmore - President of the United States, born in Summerhill, New York
• Bobby Fischer - chess champion, born in Chicago, Illinois
• Dizzy Gillespie - jazz trumpet player, born in South Carolina
• Alexander Hamilton - Founding Father, born in the West Indies
• Deborah Harry - singer, actress, born in Union City, New Jersey
• O. Henry - author, born in North Carolina
• Peter Jennings - television news anchor, born in Toronto, Ontario
• Derek Jeter - professional baseball player, born in Michigan
• Tom Kennedy - game show host
• Lisa Kudrow - actress, born in California
• Spike Lee - film director, born in Georgia
• Mickey Mantle - professional baseball player, born in Spavinaw, Oklahoma
• Dean Martin - singer, born in Ohio
• Ricky Martin - singer, born in Puerto Rico
• John McEnroe - professional tennis player, born in Germany
• Rosie O'Donnell - comedian, born on Long Island
• David Hyde Pierce - actor, born in Saratoga Springs, New York
• Tony Randall - actor, born in Oklahoma
• Dan Rather - television news anchor, born in Texas
• Chris Rock - comedian, born in South Carolina
• John D. Rockefeller - businessman, born in Richford, New York
• Babe Ruth - professional baseball player, born in Baltimore, Maryland
• Patti Smith - singer, songwriter, poet, born in New Jersey
• Frank Sinatra - singer, born in Hoboken, New Jersey
• Howard Stern - radio personality, born in Roosevelt, New York
• Jon Stewart - comedian, born in Trenton, New Jersey
• Samuel J. Tilden - presidential candidate, born in New Lebanon, New York
• Daniel D Tompkins - Vice President of the United States, born in Westchester County