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 129 of 2,329 notable people

0013 POLITICIAN

Spiro Agnew

1918 - 1996

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0050 ACTOR

Hans Conried

1917 - 1982

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0056 COMPOSER

Larry Adler

1914 - 2001

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0090 PAINTER

Morris Louis

1912 - 1962

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0092 AUTHOR

Walter Lord

1917 - 2002

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0102 NURSE

Dorothea Orem

1914 - 2007

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0129 LAWYER

Pauli Murray

1910 - 1985

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0164 FILM

Charles Marquis Warren

1912 - 1990

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0167 COMEDIAN

Garry Moore

1915 - 1993

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0173 ACTOR

Claudia McNeil

1917 - 1993

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0196 ACTOR

Margaret Hayes

1916 - 1977

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0202 SINGER

Anne Brown

1912 - 2009

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0204 PHYSICIST

Joseph O. Hirschfelder

1911 - 1990

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0207 POET

Karl Shapiro

1913 - 2000

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0218 CHEMIST

Norman Hackerman

1912 - 2007

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0225 SCREENWRITER

Millard Kaufman

1917 - 2009

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0230 CIRCUS

Johnny Eck

1911 - 1991

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0241 ACTOR

Norman Chaney

1914 - 1936

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0243 FILM

Robert Pirosh

1910 - 1989

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0280 PIANIST

Martha Goldstein

1919 - 2014

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0283 POLITICAL SCIENTIST

George McTurnan Kahin

1918 - 2000

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0295 COMPOSER

John La Touche (lyricist)

1915 - 1956

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0298 ACTOR

Avon Long

1910 - 1984

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0307 ECONOMIST

Ansley J. Coale

1917 - 2002

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0308 CHEMIST

Frank Westheimer

1912 - 2007

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0330 EXPLORER

Jackie Ronne

1919 - 2009

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0349 SURGEON

Howard W. Jones

1910 - 2015

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0367 PAINTER

Jane Frank

1918 - 1986

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0398 COMPOSER

Alan Shulman

1915 - 2002

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0435 MILITAR

Edward Rowny

1917 - 2017

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0441 FILM

William L. Snyder

1918 - 1998

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0449 WRITER

Milbourne Christopher

1914 - 1984

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0452 JOURNALIST

Simeon Booker

1918 - 2017

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0480 INVENTOR

John N. Shive

1913 - 1984

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0531 MATHEMATICIAN

Philip Hartman

1915 - 2015

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0536 PIANIST

Clyde Hart (pianist)

1910 - 1945

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0555 ACTOR

Jane Dulo

1918 - 1994

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0556 PIANIST

Don Ewell

1916 - 1983

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0557 ART DEALER

Robert E. Hecht

1919 - 2012

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0565 MUSIC

Jerry Adler (harmonica player)

1918 - 2010

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0570 BASEBALL

James Dudley

1910 - 2004

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0596 ECONOMIST

Abram Bergson

1914 - 2003

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0631 JOURNALIST

James P. O'Donnell

1917 - 1990

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0648 FOOTBALL

Tom Amrhein

Born 1911

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0659 MATHEMATICIAN

Abraham Sachs

1914 - 1983

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0665 NOVELIST

Will Oursler

1913 - 1985

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0666 ACTIVIST

Irene Morgan

1917 - 2007

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0669 PHYSICIAN

Harry Klinefelter

1912 - 1990

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0681 ACTOR

Steve Barclay (actor)

1918 - 1994

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0695 BASEBALL

Tommy Byrne (baseball)

1919 - 2007

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0700 PHYSICIAN

Robert Austrian

1916 - 2007

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0704 GUITAR

Billy Mackel

1912 - 1986

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0734 BUSINESS

W. Braddock Hickman

1911 - 1970

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0760 SCREENWRITER

Morton Fine

1916 - 1991

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0787 JOURNALIST

Murray Kempton

1917 - 1997

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0816 COMPOSER

Mark Fax

1911 - 1974

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0823 MUSIC

Benjamin Steinberg (conductor)

1915 - 1974

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0841 PRIEST

Thomas Austin Murphy

1911 - 1991

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0875 PAINTER

Edward Marshall Boehm

1913 - 1969

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0880 BOXER

Harry Jeffra

1914 - 1988

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0919 ARCHITECT

Warren Platner

1919 - 2006

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0939 ACTOR

Jane Hamilton (actress)

1915 - 2004

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0940 BIOGRAPHER

Page Smith

1917 - 1995

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0948 LOBBYIST

Clarence Mitchell Jr.

1911 - 1984

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0986 SINGER

Earl Wrightson

1916 - 1993

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1019 FINANCIER

Victor Posner

1918 - 2002

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1040 LIBRARIAN

Augusta Braxton Baker

1911 - 1998

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1054 PHYSICIST

William George Fastie

1916 - 2000

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1062 RADIO

Jocko Henderson

1918 - 2000

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1083 PSYCHIATRIST

Lawrence Kolb

1911 - 2006

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1109 PRIEST

Bernard J. Nolker

1912 - 2000

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1121 POLITICIAN

Clarence H. Burns

1918 - 2003

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1122 ECOLOGIST

Georgeanna Seegar Jones

1912 - 2005

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1136 ACTOR

Lillian Zuckerman

1916 - 2004

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1137 ACTOR

Al Rosen (actor)

1910 - 1990

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1138 ACTOR

Bill Johnson (musical theatre actor)

1916 - 1957

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1147 ECONOMIST

Samuel L. Myers Sr.

Born 1919

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1170 PHYSICIAN

Stewart Wolf

1914 - 2005

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1193 HOCKEY

Jack Turnbull

1910 - 1944

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1214 RABBI

Judah Nadich

1912 - 2007

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1299 ACTOR

Dots Johnson

1913 - 1986

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1303 RADIO

Julius Westheimer

1916 - 2005

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1314 DYNAMICIST

John Rettaliata

1911 - 2009

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1315 ARMY

Roger Wolcott Hall

1919 - 2008

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1340 RADIO

Fred Robbins (broadcaster)

1919 - 1992

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1372 PRIEST

Thomas Mardaga

1913 - 1984

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1374 HEMATOLOGIST

C. Lockard Conley

1915 - 2010

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1438 SINGER

Joan Merrill

1918 - 1992

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1441 MINERALOGIST

Charles L. Christ

1916 - 1980

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1472 PSYCHOLOGIST

Melvin Seeman

Born 1918

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1490 BASEBALL

Boze Berger

1910 - 1992

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1541 ADMINISTRATOR

John Henry Fischer

1910 - 2009

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1561 COMPOSER

Thomas H. Kerr junior

1915 - 1988

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1570 FOOTBALL

Millard Lang

1912 - 2002

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1574 POLITICIAN

Rosalie Silber Abrams

1916 - 2009

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1599 OFFICER

Milton Ernest Ricketts

1913 - 1942

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1641 MUSIC

Jerome Darr

1910 - 1986

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1652 PRIEST

Edward John Herrmann

1913 - 1999

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1655 ASTRONOMER

Fletcher Watson

1912 - 1997

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1665 AIRFORCE

Elaine D. Harmon

1919 - 2015

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1688 BASEBALL

Mike Schemer

1917 - 1983

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1719 BASEBALL

Johnnie Wittig

1914 - 1999

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1731 BASEBALL

Buck Etchison

1915 - 1980

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1801 EPISCOPAL

Charles R. Denny

1912 - 2000

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1805 WRITER

Jack Iams

1910 - 1990

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1809 BASEBALL

Jim Schelle

1917 - 1990

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1862 DESIGNER

Theodore Wells Pietsch II

1912 - 1993

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1967 MUSIC

Irv Manning

1917 - 2006

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1983 BIOLOGIST

E. Cuyler Hammond

1912 - 1986

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1986 DIPLOMAT

J. Fife Symington Jr.

1910 - 2007

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1989 POLITICIAN

Frederick Malkus

1913 - 1999

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1990 INVENTOR

John Calvin Jureit

1918 - 2005

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2006 INVENTOR

Jack Naylor

1919 - 2007

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2028 BUSINESS

Martin Dannenberg

1915 - 2010

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2037 FOOTBALL

Nick Campofreda

1914 - 1959

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2038 BASEBALL

Al Rubeling

1913 - 1988

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2063 PRIEST

George M. Murray (bishop)

1919 - 2006

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2093 BASEBALL

Lou Thuman

1916 - 2000

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2108 HORSE TRAINER

Thomas Joseph Kelly

1919 - 2013

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2145 LAWYER

Frank Albert Kaufman

1916 - 1997

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2166 HORSE TRAINER

Lawrence W. Jennings

1917 - 1992

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2183 DANCER

Juanita Boisseau

1911 - 2012

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2184 RACEHORSE

Georgia B. Ridder

1914 - 2002

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2186 BASEBALL

Slim Jones

1913 - 1938

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2199 POLITICIAN

Victorine Q. Adams

1912 - 2006

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2242 SONGWRITER

Margie Gibson

Born 1917

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2262 BUSINESS

Edward O'Herron Jr.

1915 - 2006

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2306 PUBLISHER

John H. Murphy III

1916 - 2010

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2314 POLITICIAN

Hugh S. Balkam

1918 - 1978

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