40.7586° N, 78.2112° W

ALBANY

Most Famous People Born in Albany, United States

Notable people
625
Peak decade
1950s
Median birth year
1923
Most distinctive
Baseball 4.8×
Through the Decades

One face per decade — the most globally famous figure born in Albany during each.

Notable Births by Decade

Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1950s with 52 notable births.

What Albany Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Politician is Albany's biggest profession — 13% of all notables (81).

Albany over-indexes on baseball4.8× the global rate.

Albany under-produces painter — only 0.6× the global rate.

  1. Politician81
  2. Football52
  3. Lawyer50
  4. Actor49
  5. Baseball34
  6. Writer21
  7. Officer18
  8. Basket17
  1. Baseball344.8×
  2. Lawyer504.6×
  3. Officer184.4×
  4. Basket172.2×
  5. Judge62.0×
  1. Painter90.6×

Profession Mix Over Time

Each band shows a profession family's share of Albany's notable births by decade. Hover the chart for the breakdown at any decade.

1650170017501800185019001950
  • Politics & Law
  • Sports
  • Film & TV
  • Science
  • Writing
  • Military
  • Other
All625
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Showing 39 of 625 notable people

0001 PIANIST

Ray Charles

1930 - 2004

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0003 WRITER

Marion Zimmer Bradley

1930 - 1999

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0012 ACTOR

William Devane

Born 1937

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0020 SCULPTOR

Walter De Maria

1935 - 2013

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0039 WRITER

Luke Rhinehart

1932 - 2020

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0057 BIOLOGIST

Leigh Van Valen

1935 - 2010

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0073 BIOLOGIST

Stanley Falkow

1934 - 2018

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0079 PLAYER

T. J. Cloutier

Born 1939

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0080 PHOTOGRAPHER

Pete Turner (photographer)

1934 - 2017

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0103 PHOTOGRAPHER

William Gedney

1932 - 1989

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0136 MATHEMATICIAN

Mark Mahowald

1931 - 2013

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0148 ACADEMIC

Martin S. Weinberg

Born 1939

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0156 ACTOR

Robert F. Lyons (actor)

Born 1939

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0162 WRITER

Joseph F. Girzone

1930 - 2015

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0167 COXSWAIN

Kent Mitchell

Born 1939

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0173 MILITAR

John Bahnsen

Born 1934

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0176 ACADEMIC

Robert Chazan

Born 1936

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0179 ASTRONOMER

James B. Kaler

Born 1938

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0192 ZOOLOGIST

Jim Fowler

1932 - 2019

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0205 ACTOR

John Furlong (American actor)

1933 - 2008

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0278 POLITICIAN

Marian Van Landingham

Born 1937

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0279 WRITER

Gordon Ackerman

Born 1931

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0292 MUSIC

Bonnie J. Blackburn

Born 1939

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0341 ANTHROPOLOGIST

Roderick Sprague

1933 - 2012

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0365 BASEBALL

Merritt Ranew

1938 - 2011

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0398 BOBSLED

Howard Clifton

Born 1939

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0415 POLITICIAN

Thomas Michael Whalen III

1934 - 2002

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0431 MUSIC

John M. Watson Sr.

1937 - 2006

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0433 ACTOR

Frederick Tully

1931 - 2005

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0452 BASEBALL

Phil Clark (pitcher)

1932 - 2018

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0460 OFFICER

Robert E. Kelley

Born 1933

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0463 HISTORIAN

Catherine Gunsalus Gonzalez

Born 1934

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0467 FOOTBALL

Tom Pennington

1939 - 2013

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0504 LAWYER

Wilbur Dawson Owens Jr.

1930 - 2010

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0541 OFFICER

Albert J. Herberger

Born 1933

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0550 BUSINESS

Alvin Segal

Born 1933

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0581 POLITICIAN

Howard C. Nolan Jr.

Born 1932

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0588 POLITICAL

McCree Harris

1934 - 2000

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0610 PRIEST

Thaddeus Peplowski

Born 1936

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