42.3449° N, 71.0753° W

BOSTON

Most Famous People Born in Boston, United States

Notable people
3,663
Peak decade
1950s
Median birth year
1926
Most distinctive
Novelist 3.5×

America's oldest civic intelligentsia. Boston's notables are unusually concentrated in the 1700s and 1800s by American standards, and the distinctive shelves still read like a Yankee almanac — novelists, lawyers, military officers, mathematicians, and diplomats, the trades of a city where Harvard, the State House, and the Old North Church share a few square miles. The modern half tilts more conventionally toward Red Sox baseball, actors, and a deep college-bred music scene.

Through the Decades

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

Notable Births by Decade

Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1950s with 348 notable births.

What Boston Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Actor is Boston's biggest profession — 9% of all notables (314).

Boston over-indexes on novelist3.5× the global rate.

Boston under-produces football — only 0.2× the global rate.

  1. Actor314
  2. Politician312
  3. Writer149
  4. Lawyer135
  5. Baseball110
  6. Painter106
  7. Music102
  8. Football87
  1. Novelist503.5×
  2. Baseball1102.6×
  3. Officer632.6×
  4. Mathematician452.5×
  5. Lawyer1352.1×
  6. Music1021.9×
  7. Diplomat371.7×
  8. Actor3141.6×
  1. Football870.2×

Profession Mix Over Time

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

16501700175018001850190019502000
  • Politics & Law
  • Sports
  • Writing
  • Film & TV
  • Science
  • Music
  • Other
All3,663
Sort By

Showing 177 of 3,663 notable people

0042 CHEMIST

Robert Burns Woodward

1917 - 1979

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0059 POET

Robert Lowell

1917 - 1977

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0081 WRITER

Richard Scarry

1919 - 1994

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0086 ACTOR

Mary Carlisle

1914 - 2018

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0094 ACTOR

Betty Field

1916 - 1973

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0108 ADVISOR

McGeorge Bundy

1919 - 1996

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0131 FILM

Alexander Mackendrick

1912 - 1993

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0136 ACTOR

Lillian Roth

1910 - 1980

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0159 ANTHROPOLOGIST

Richard Evans Schultes

1915 - 2001

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0167 ECONOMIST

George C. Homans

1910 - 1989

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0184 PROFESSOR

Carroll Quigley

1910 - 1977

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0229 OPERA

Sonny Tufts

1911 - 1970

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0239 CLARINET

Harry Carney

1910 - 1974

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0251 ACTOR

Vaughn Taylor (actor)

1910 - 1983

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0261 SCREENWRITER

Norman Corwin

1910 - 2011

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0275 HISTORIAN

James MacGregor Burns

1918 - 2014

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0279 ACTOR

Veda Ann Borg

1915 - 1973

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0287 POET

John Ciardi

1916 - 1986

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0295 PAINTER

Jack Levine

1915 - 2010

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0307 FILM

Leslie H. Martinson

1915 - 2016

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0315 CRIMINOLOGIST

Albert K. Cohen

1918 - 2014

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0316 PHILOLOGIST

Albert Lord

1912 - 1991

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0319 PAINTER

Conrad Marca-Relli

1913 - 2000

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0371 SOCIALITE

Babe Paley

1915 - 1978

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0381 ARTIST

Frank Robbins

1917 - 1994

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0401 JOURNALIST

William Bundy

1917 - 2000

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0408 ACTOR

Fred F. Sears

1913 - 1957

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0423 WRITER

Tasha Tudor

1915 - 2008

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0465 COMPOSER

Irving Fine

1914 - 1962

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0473 ARCHITECT

Dan Kiley

1912 - 2004

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0501 ACTOR

Kenny Delmar

1910 - 1984

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0517 ARCHITECT

Eliot Noyes

1910 - 1977

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0520 SINGER

Dave Lambert (American jazz vocalist)

1917 - 1966

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0555 ACTOR

Jan Miner

1917 - 2004

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0568 COMPOSER

Sid Ramin

1919 - 2019

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0600 ACTOR

Barbara Mullen

1914 - 1979

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0683 COMPOSER

Jerry Gray (arranger)

1915 - 1976

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0732 ACTOR

Anne Nagel

1915 - 1966

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0736 SCREENWRITER

Richard Murphy (screenwriter)

1912 - 1993

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0782 COMPOSER

Ward Costello

1919 - 2009

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0804 PSYCHIATRIST

Charles Brenner (psychiatrist)

1913 - 2008

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0816 PAINTER

David Park (painter)

1911 - 1960

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0824 MATHEMATICIAN

David Gilbarg

1918 - 2001

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0829 CARDIOLOGIST

Paul Zoll

1911 - 1999

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0860 ART HISTORIAN

Sydney Joseph Freedberg

1914 - 1997

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0876 ENTREPRENEUR

Charles Francis Adams IV

1910 - 1999

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0892 HISTORIAN

Francis Woodman Cleaves

1911 - 1995

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0893 SOCIOLOGIST

Matilda White Riley

1911 - 2004

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0935 ENTOMOLOGIST

Vincent Dethier

1915 - 1993

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0952 ENTREPRENEUR

William Rosenberg

1916 - 2002

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0959 POLITICIAN

James A. Burke (Massachusetts politician)

1910 - 1983

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0975 MUSIC

Toots Mondello

1911 - 1992

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1005 CLARINET

Charlie Holmes

1910 - 1985

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1008 PRIEST

Joseph Francis Maguire

1919 - 2014

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1011 WRITER

Ben Benson

1915 - 1959

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1022 ACTOR

Curt Conway

1915 - 1974

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1057 BOTANIST

Bernice Giduz Schubert

1913 - 2000

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1079 HOCKEY

Vic Heyliger

1912 - 2006

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1082 FILM

Herbert L. Strock

1918 - 2005

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1091 OFFICER

William H. Blanchard

1916 - 1966

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1093 PAINTER

Miriam Davenport

1915 - 1999

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1107 EPIDEMIOLOGIST

Joseph L. Melnick

1914 - 2001

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1122 ANTHROPOLOGIST

Alice Mossie Brues

1913 - 2007

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1147 HISTORIAN

Arthur Marder

1910 - 1980

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1172 SWIMMER

Helen Johns (swimmer)

1914 - 2014

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1184 MATHEMATICIAN

Maurice Heins

1915 - 2015

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1202 PHYSICIST

Nicholas Christofilos

1916 - 1972

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1206 MOUNTAINEER

Barbara Washburn

1914 - 2014

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1223 MATHEMATICIAN

Sumner Byron Myers

1910 - 1955

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1236 DIPLOMAT

Maxwell M. Rabb

1910 - 2002

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1261 BOXER

Sal Bartolo

1917 - 2002

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1280 PAINTER

Fannie Hillsmith

1911 - 2007

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1297 PIANIST

Milt Raskin

1916 - 1977

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1303 PENCILLER

Bob Wood (comics)

1918 - 1962

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1326 MATHEMATICIAN

Joel Lee Brenner

1912 - 1997

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1339 MUSIC

Edward Downes (American musicologist)

1911 - 2001

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1342 ACTOR

Gilman Rankin

1911 - 1993

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1351 MUSIC

Turk Van Lake

1918 - 2002

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1362 MATHEMATICIAN

Harry Pollard (mathematician)

1919 - 1985

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1413 GEOLOGIST

Gordon A. MacDonald

1911 - 1978

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1424 SECRETARY

David Powers

1912 - 1998

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1494 ARCHITECT

Jean B. Fletcher

1915 - 1965

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1583 LAWYER

Walter R. Mansfield

1911 - 1987

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1602 ACTOR

Patricia Knight

1915 - 2004

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1636 POLITICIAN

John F. Collins

1919 - 1995

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1652 MUSIC

Carl Frederick Tandberg

1910 - 1988

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1685 ENVIRONMENTALIST

Marjorie Harris Carr

1915 - 1998

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1697 ACADEMIC

Isabelle Raubitschek

1914 - 1988

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1717 ART HISTORIAN

Frederick Hartt

1914 - 1991

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1722 NOVELIST

Robert Rimmer

1917 - 2001

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1750 PRIEST

Lawrence Joseph Riley

1914 - 2001

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1757 ANTHROPOLOGIST

Abraham M. Halpern

1914 - 1985

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1764 MATHEMATICIAN

Wilfred Kaplan

1915 - 2007

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1774 ARCHITECT

Charles Edward Pratt

1911 - 1996

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1803 SCREENWRITER

Joe Rinaldi

1914 - 1974

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1876 WRITER

Francis Russell (author)

1910 - 1989

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1889 OFFICER

Phil Rasmussen

1918 - 2005

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1930 SINGER

Peg LaCentra

1910 - 1996

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1943 CHESS

Max Pavey

1918 - 1957

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1948 PROFESSOR

Grant Gilmore

1910 - 1982

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1972 JOURNALIST

Carl Alpert

1913 - 2005

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1975 MUSIC

Ray Perry

1915 - 1950

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1986 ACTOR

Muriel Rahn

1911 - 1961

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2027 ACTOR

Lorna Thayer

1919 - 2005

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2031 DRAMA

Henry Hewes

1917 - 2006

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2037 NEUROSCIENTIST

Robert Livingston (scientist)

1918 - 2002

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2038 ARTIST

Robert Richenburg

1917 - 2006

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2048 ARCHITECT

Alfred Browning Parker

1916 - 2011

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2084 PSYCHOLOGIST

Richard Solomon (psychologist)

1918 - 1995

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2092 MAFIA

Gennaro Angiulo

1919 - 2009

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2102 PRODUCER

Biff Liff

1919 - 2015

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2133 COMPOSER

Kay Twomey

1914 - 1995

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2153 FILM

Anton Leader

1913 - 1988

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2179 MILITAR

Henry Oliver Hansen

1919 - 1945

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2196 BUSINESS

Carl J. Shapiro

Born 1913

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2207 PSYCHOLOGIST

John R. P. French

1913 - 1995

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2232 BASEBALL

Eddie Pellagrini

1918 - 2006

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2239 BUSINESS

John Alevizos

1919 - 2005

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2251 COLLECTOR

Rene di Rosa

1919 - 2010

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2281 MATHEMATICIAN

George W. Brown (academic)

1917 - 2005

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2289 PRIEST

Edward Thaddeus Lawton

1913 - 1966

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2298 DANCER

Jean de Koven

1915 - 1937

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2327 ECOLOGIST

Howard P. Boyd

1914 - 2011

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2391 OPERA

Paul Franke

1917 - 2011

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2398 TRADE UNION

William J. McCarthy

1919 - 1998

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2441 FOOTBALL

James Moran Sr.

1912 - 1983

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2467 NOVELIST

Patricia Clapp

1912 - 2003

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2494 CRICKET

Ken Weekes

1912 - 1998

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2556 SOCIOLOGIST

Leonard Broom

1911 - 2009

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2569 GUITAR

Hy White

1915 - 2011

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2576 BROADCAST

Salty Brine

1918 - 2004

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2593 WRITER

William Fuller

Born 1913

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2597 MUSIC

Johnny Catron

1916 - 1998

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2608 WORLD WAR

Frederick C. Murphy

1918 - 1945

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2616 WORLD WAR

Jean Gordon (Red Cross)

1915 - 1946

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2684 ARTIST

Tracy Montminy

1911 - 1992

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2687 PERFORMER

Francis Carlyle

1912 - 1975

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2706 ACTOR

Virginia Walker

1916 - 1946

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2749 BIOLOGIST

Beatrice M. Sweeney

1914 - 1989

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2814 SINGER

Wally Peterson

1917 - 2011

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2815 WRITER

Eleanor Ruggles

1916 - 2008

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2829 ACTOR

Casey Walters

1916 - 1991

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2845 BASEBALL

Sam Gentile

1916 - 1998

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2912 ACTOR

Richard McNamara

1915 - 1998

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2925 OFFICER

Frederick T. Moore Jr.

1914 - 1969

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2942 ACTOR

Maurice Tarplin

1911 - 1975

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2970 PAINTER

Edward Brodney

1910 - 2002

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2974 POLITICIAN

John E. Powers

1910 - 1998

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2986 BUSINESS

Melvin Swig

1917 - 1993

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2990 ROWER

Roger W. Cutler Jr.

1916 - 1986

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2994 FOOTBALL

Moody Sarno

1914 - 1997

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3001 BASEBALL

Tom Earley

1917 - 1988

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3003 AUTHOR

Allan Angoff

1910 - 1998

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3116 BASEBALL

Bill Mills (baseball)

1919 - 2019

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3176 FOOTBALL

Jim Zyntell

1910 - 1992

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3274 LAWYER

Frances Jalet-Cruz

1910 - 1994

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3312 PHYSICIAN

Calvin Plimpton

1918 - 2007

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3353 OFFICER

Herman Nickerson Jr.

1913 - 2000

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3361 JOURNALIST

Samuel Krafsur

1913 - 1983

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3375 POLITICIAN

Elizabeth Metayer

1911 - 1998

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3378 ATHLETIC

Dimitri Zaitz

1917 - 1996

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3381 BASEBALL

Joe Walsh (NL infielder)

1917 - 1996

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3403 PAINTER

Raymond Francis Robbins

1912 - 1980

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3405 ORNITHOLOGIST

E. Alexander Bergstrom

1919 - 1973

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3408 LAWYER

Robert Hagopian

1911 - 1995

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3454 EDUCATOR

Richard W. Day (educator)

1916 - 1978

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3478 SWIMMER

Chico Scimone

1911 - 2005

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3485 JUDGE

Herbert N. Maletz

1913 - 2002

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3513 WRITER

Giles Tod

1914 - 1995

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3528 OFFICER

Anthony T. Shtogren

1917 - 2003

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3542 OFFICER

John Joseph Doherty

1919 - 1942

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3549 MILITAR

Henry A. Miley Jr.

1915 - 2010

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3555 MILITAR

George Heyliger

1919 - 1942

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3617 EXECUTIVE

John F. O'Halloran

1914 - 1968

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3627 POLITICIAN

David B. Williams (politician)

1919 - 1994

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3633 MILITAR

Arthur S. Collins Jr.

1915 - 1984

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3658 BADMINTON

Mary Whittemore

Born 1913

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