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 42 of 625 notable people

0015 PSYCHOLOGIST

Martin Seligman

Born 1942

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0016 INVENTOR

Robert S. Langer

Born 1948

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0025 ACTOR

Paula Deen

Born 1947

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0030 POLITICIAN

Bobby Rush

Born 1946

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0043 ACTOR

Bert Sommer

1949 - 1990

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0060 SINGER

Bernice Johnson Reagon

Born 1942

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0074 POET

Ai (poet)

1947 - 2010

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0087 NOVELIST

Paul Preuss (author)

Born 1942

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0100 POLITICIAN

Ginny Brown-Waite

Born 1943

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0127 WRITER

Paul Edwin Zimmer

1943 - 1997

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0161 LAWYER

Loretta Preska

Born 1949

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0177 SCHOLAR

Menachem Kellner

Born 1946

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0182 JOURNALIST

James Mann (writer)

Born 1946

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0202 BASEBALL

Hal Breeden

Born 1944

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0234 FOOTBALL

John Hilton (American football)

1942 - 2017

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0240 ACTOR

Angel Tompkins

Born 1942

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0245 POLITICIAN

Gerald Jennings

Born 1948

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0255 LAWYER

John C. Coffee

Born 1944

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0276 POET

Gregory Orr (poet)

Born 1947

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0281 POLITICIAN

John McEneny

Born 1943

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0324 BUSINESS

John Whitman

1944 - 2015

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0337 POLITICIAN

Susan Weiner

1946 - 2012

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0353 ACTIVIST

Mandy Carter

Born 1948

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0363 LAWYER

Amanda Williams

Born 1946

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0386 LAWYER

Neil Breslin

Born 1942

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0396 JOURNALIST

Joan Lescinski

Born 1947

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0407 OFFICER

Walter Doran

Born 1945

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0416 DRUMMER

Paul Whaley

1946 - 2019

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0449 GRANDDAUGHTER

Anne Scripps

1946 - 1993

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0454 BASEBALL

Rich Robertson (right-handed pitcher)

Born 1944

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0458 LAWYER

Patricia Dillon Cafferata

Born 1940

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0464 KILLER

Morris Solomon Jr.

Born 1944

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0473 CONVICT

Almon Glenn Braswell

1943 - 2006

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0476 POLITICIAN

Bud Heidgerken

Born 1943

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0507 WRITER

Robert J. Rubel

Born 1944

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0511 COACH

Gary Kinchen

1941 - 2011

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0516 OFFICER

Richard E. Hawley

Born 1942

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0542 SINGER

Tom Dawes

1944 - 2007

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0551 BASEBALL

John Flavin

Born 1942

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0554 BASEBALL

Danny Breeden

Born 1942

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0558 BASKET

Pete Smith (basketball)

Born 1947

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0623 BISHOP

Andrew Smith (bishop)

Born 1944

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