39.2868° N, 76.6201° W

BALTIMORE

Most Famous People Born in Baltimore, United States

Notable people
2,329
Peak decade
1950s
Median birth year
1939
Most distinctive
Baseball 7.0×

A port city whose distinctive professions are baseball at seven times the global rate, basketball, and an unusually thick column of officers, novelists, and lawyers — the shape of a Mid-Atlantic city that has always sat at the meeting point of the Navy yard, the courts, and the literary establishment. Frank Zappa, Babe Ruth, Michael Phelps, and Edgar Allan Poe (who died here, not born) all belong to this bench, and the 19th-century tail is heavier than in most American cities its size.

Through the Decades

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

Notable Births by Decade

Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1950s with 245 notable births.

What Baltimore Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Politician is Baltimore's biggest profession — 11% of all notables (255).

Baltimore over-indexes on baseball7.0× the global rate.

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

  1. Politician255
  2. Actor189
  3. Baseball186
  4. Football149
  5. Basket102
  6. Lawyer88
  7. Writer66
  8. Music54
  1. Baseball1867.0×
  2. Basket1023.5×
  3. Officer422.7×
  4. Novelist232.5×
  5. Lawyer882.2×
  6. Music541.6×
  7. Actor1891.5×
  1. Painter350.6×
  2. Football1490.6×

Profession Mix Over Time

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

1700175018001850190019502000
  • Sports
  • Politics & Law
  • Film & TV
  • Writing
  • Science
  • Music
  • Other
All2,329
Sort By

Showing 118 of 2,329 notable people

0022 JUDGE

Thurgood Marshall

1908 - 1993

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0028 LAWYER

Alger Hiss

1904 - 1996

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0047 ACTOR

Mildred Natwick

1905 - 1994

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0064 BANDLEADER

Chick Webb

1905 - 1939

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0071 ACTOR

Mildred Dunnock

1901 - 1991

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0109 FILM

Michael Gordon (film director)

1909 - 1993

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0112 ACTOR

Paul Ford

1901 - 1976

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0130 SPY

Virginia Hall

1906 - 1982

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0142 WRITER

Munro Leaf

1905 - 1976

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0213 COMPOSER

Blanche Calloway

1902 - 1978

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0231 POLITICIAN

Gordon Gray (politician)

1909 - 1982

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0248 BOTANIST

Alexander Skutch

1904 - 2004

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0249 BANJOIST

Elmer Snowden

1900 - 1973

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0250 POLITICIAN

Theodore McKeldin

1900 - 1974

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0253 NOVELIST

William Lindsay Gresham

1909 - 1962

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0259 POLITICIAN

Thomas D'Alesandro Jr.

1903 - 1987

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0316 SCREENWRITER

John Bright (screenwriter)

1908 - 1989

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0344 WRITER

Ruth Krauss

1901 - 1993

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0353 DIPLOMAT

William J. Sebald

1901 - 1980

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0370 ACTOR

Francis X. Bushman Jr.

1903 - 1978

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0392 WRITER

David Lasser

1902 - 1996

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0395 ENGINEER

William Littell Everitt

1900 - 1986

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0397 JOURNALIST

Hanson W. Baldwin

1903 - 1991

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0420 SURGEON

Robert Edward Gross

1905 - 1988

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0427 ART DIRECTOR

George C. Jenkins

1908 - 2007

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0433 PIANIST

Joe Turner (jazz pianist)

1907 - 1990

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0458 COLLECTOR

Betsey Cushing Roosevelt Whitney

1908 - 1998

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0464 ACTOR

Eddie Mayehoff

1909 - 1992

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0473 BANDLEADER

Pete Brown (jazz musician)

1906 - 1963

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0482 BIOLOGIST

Tracy Sonneborn

1905 - 1981

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0495 MILITAR

John K. Waters

1906 - 1989

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0500 ASTRONOMER

Helen Dodson Prince

1905 - 2002

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0503 WRITER

Avigdor Miller

1908 - 2001

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0528 NOVELIST

Hake Talbot

1900 - 1986

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0584 SINGER

Robert Weede

1903 - 1972

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0586 PHYSICIST

Ferdinand Brickwedde

1903 - 1989

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0589 CLARINET

Benny Waters

1902 - 1998

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0604 POLITICIAN

George Hyde Fallon

1902 - 1980

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0636 TRUMPET

Wallace Jones (musician)

1906 - 1983

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0657 LITERARY

V. F. Calverton

1900 - 1940

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0672 FILM

Jerome Thoms

1907 - 1977

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0686 BIOLOGIST

Hattie Alexander

1901 - 1968

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0735 ACTOR

Edna Mae Cooper

1900 - 1986

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0762 POLITICIAN

Edward Garmatz

1903 - 1986

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0764 PHOTOGRAPHER

A. Aubrey Bodine

1906 - 1970

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0765 AIR FORCE

Christian Roy Kaldager

1908 - 2005

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0840 BOXER

Vince Dundee

1907 - 1949

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0874 DIPLOMAT

Robert R. Bowie

1909 - 2013

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0891 ART HISTORIAN

James A. Porter

1905 - 1970

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0931 COMPOSER

Gordon Beecher

1904 - 1973

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0955 BASEBALL

Andy Cohen (baseball)

1904 - 1988

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0956 LINGUIST

Anna Granville Hatcher

1905 - 1978

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0963 WRITER

Ellen MacGregor

1906 - 1954

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0979 JOURNALIST

Frank Gervasi

1908 - 1992

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1001 PAINTER

Jeanne Patterson Miles

1908 - 1999

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1023 RABBI

Bernard Jacob Bamberger

1904 - 1980

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1034 PAINTER

Lee Gatch

1902 - 1968

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1063 SOCIOLOGIST

Anna Johnson Julian

1903 - 1994

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1082 OFFICER

Herbert D. Riley

1904 - 1973

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1090 MILITAR

Ridgely Gaither

1903 - 1992

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1093 WRITER

Nan Agle

1905 - 2006

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1107 PAINTER

Elton Fax

1909 - 1993

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1158 ACTOR

Eleanor Phelps

1907 - 2001

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1182 PAINTER

Herman Maril

1908 - 1986

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1242 LAWYER

Robert Dorsey Watkins

1900 - 1986

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1285 THEOLOGIAN

Paul Lehmann (Theologe)

1906 - 1994

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1309 WRITER

Hilda Lawrence

1906 - 1976

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1311 PRIEST

Michael William Hyle

1901 - 1967

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1331 ACTOR

Scott Kolk

1905 - 1993

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1352 SCREENWRITER

Albert J. Cohen

1903 - 1984

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1379 DANCER

Earl Snakehips Tucker

1905 - 1937

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1389 JUDGE

A. Cecil Snyder

1907 - 1959

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1390 LACROSSE

William Kelso Morrill

1903 - 1991

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1414 WRITER

Angelica Gibbs

1908 - 1955

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1420 DANCER

Henri Chatin-Hofmann

1900 - 1961

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1430 BASEBALL

Johnny Neun

1900 - 1990

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1432 HISTORIAN

Alexander Brown Griswold

1907 - 1991

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1440 PAINTER

Florence Riefle Bahr

1909 - 1998

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1454 MOTION PICTURE

Hazard E. Reeves

1906 - 1986

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1465 ROWER

Bob Gerhardt

1903 - 1989

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1475 FOOTBALL

Carroll Rosenbloom

1907 - 1979

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1523 BASEBALL

Syd Cohen

1906 - 1988

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1630 POLITICIAN

Paul L. Cordish

1909 - 2003

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1631 LAWYER

Donald Hiss

1906 - 1989

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1651 BASEBALL

Harry Baldwin (baseball)

1900 - 1958

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1701 BASEBALL

Tom Angley

1904 - 1952

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1714 BASEBALL

Ed Carroll

1907 - 1984

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1722 TROMBONIST

Clarence Brereton

1909 - 1953

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1739 POLITICIAN

George P. Mahoney

1901 - 1989

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1740 BASKET

Gene Corrigan

1903 - 2020

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1766 MUSIC

Jesse Cryor

1906 - 2006

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1780 BASEBALL

Walt Lerian

1903 - 1929

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1783 MUSIC

Leo McConville

1900 - 1968

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1829 PUPPETEER

Bernard H. Paul

1907 - 2005

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1890 WRITER

Joe Brooks (fly fisherman)

1901 - 1972

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1892 SPORT

Doug Turnbull

1903 - 1993

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1926 LAWYER

Bernard Ades

1903 - 1986

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1965 BUSINESS

Zanvyl Krieger

1906 - 2000

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1969 LAWYER

William L. Marbury Jr.

1901 - 1988

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2033 LAWYER

Meyer Cardin

1907 - 2005

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2036 OFFICER

William H. Brockman Jr.

1904 - 1979

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2040 OFFICER

William O. Eareckson

1900 - 1966

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2047 PHOTOGRAPHER

Arthur "Smokestack" Hardy

1901 - 1995

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2052 SCULPTOR

Ethel Painter Hood

1908 - 1982

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2069 BASEBALL

Harry Child

1905 - 1972

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2072 DARTS PLAYER

Ray Carver

Born 1901

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2144 OFFICER

Harry Hubbard

1903 - 1942

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2146 LAWYER

Roszel Cathcart Thomsen

1900 - 1992

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2215 COMPOSER

Robert Delaney (composer)

1903 - 1956

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2222 PHYSICIAN

N. Louise Young

1907 - 1997

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2224 BASEBALL

Bucky Williams

1906 - 2009

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2234 SPORT

Frank Parsons Jr.

1906 - 1957

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2249 BASEBALL

Scotty Robb

1908 - 1969

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2267 SCULPTOR

Marjorie Rowland Clarke

1908 - 1997

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2276 ENDOCRINOLOGIST

John Eager Howard (Mediziner)

1902 - 1985

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2289 SPORT

C. Gardner Mallonee

1903 - 1980

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2308 MUSIC

Adah Jenkins

1901 - 1973

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2326 POLITICIAN

Maurice Cardin

1909 - 2009

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