45.5089° N, 73.5618° W

MONTREAL

Most Famous People Born in Montreal, Canada

Notable people
4,921
Peak decade
1960s
Median birth year
1948
Most distinctive
Hockey 8.4×

Bilingual, with a comic streak. Montreal's distinctive profession is hockey at more than eight times the global rate, alongside an unusually thick column of actors, filmmakers, singers, and poets — the city's notables split almost evenly between French and English in every category. Hockey is the constant, but the comedy tradition that runs from the cabarets of Saint-Laurent through the National Film Board to the Just for Laughs festival is the cultural surprise the panel can't quite carry.

Through the Decades

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

Notable Births by Decade

Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1960s with 594 notable births.

What Montreal Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Actor is Montreal's biggest profession — 12% of all notables (592).

Montreal over-indexes on hockey8.4× the global rate.

Montreal under-produces football — only 0.3× the global rate.

  1. Actor592
  2. Politician522
  3. Hockey492
  4. Writer245
  5. Singer193
  6. Football157
  7. Film134
  8. Lawyer116
  1. Hockey4928.4×
  2. Actor5922.3×
  3. Film1342.2×
  4. Singer1931.9×
  5. Poet941.8×
  6. Business791.6×
  7. Writer2451.5×
  1. Football1570.3×

Profession Mix Over Time

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

16501700175018001850190019502000
  • Sports
  • Film & TV
  • Politics & Law
  • Writing
  • Music
  • Art & Design
  • Other
All4,921
Sort By

Showing 152 of 4,921 notable people

0007 ACTRESS

Norma Shearer

1902 - 1983

Preview
0211 CRIMINAL

Alvin Karpis

1907 - 1979

Preview
0269 COMPOSER

Colin McPhee

1900 - 1964

Preview
0284 ACTOR

Ben Blue

1901 - 1975

Preview
0308 ACTOR

Fifi D'Orsay

1904 - 1983

Preview
0333 ACTOR

Pauline Garon

1900 - 1965

Preview
0447 HOCKEY

Nels Stewart

1902 - 1957

Preview
0527 ACTOR

Lionel Daunais

1901 - 1982

Preview
0584 ACTOR

Ovila Légaré

1901 - 1978

Preview
0617 HOCKEY

Lorne Chabot

1900 - 1946

Preview
0649 ACTOR

Rose Ouellette

1903 - 1996

Preview
0784 HOCKEY

Sylvio Mantha

1902 - 1974

Preview
0814 WRITER

Hartley Howard

1908 - 1979

Preview
0840 POET

John Glassco

1909 - 1981

Preview
0850 POLITICIAN

Hartland Molson

1907 - 2002

Preview
0853 TRADE UNION

Léa Roback

1903 - 2000

Preview
0859 POLITICIAN

Georges-Émile Lapalme

1907 - 1985

Preview
0879 PAINTER

Marian Dale Scott

1906 - 1993

Preview
0993 LITERARY

A. J. M. Smith

1902 - 1980

Preview
0994 ACTOR

Raymond Lovell

1900 - 1953

Preview
1001 CHEMIST

Edgar William Richard Steacie

1900 - 1962

Preview
1028 PAINTER

Alexandra Luke

1901 - 1967

Preview
1075 SPORT

Marcel Deslauriers

1905 - 1988

Preview
1094 ACTOR

Henri Letondal

1901 - 1955

Preview
1108 SCULPTOR

Sylvia Daoust

1902 - 2004

Preview
1127 PRIEST

Alexander Carter

1909 - 2002

Preview
1161 PRESENTER

Jehane Benoît

1904 - 1987

Preview
1189 OFFICER

James Campbell Clouston

1900 - 1940

Preview
1294 HISTORIAN

Jean Bruchési

1901 - 1979

Preview
1336 TELEVISION

Alphonse Ouimet

1908 - 1988

Preview
1367 SWIMMER

George Vernot

1901 - 1962

Preview
1394 POLITICIAN

George Carlyle Marler

1901 - 1981

Preview
1404 FOOTBALL

Joe Kennaway

1905 - 1969

Preview
1410 CONDUCTOR

Jean Deslauriers

1909 - 1978

Preview
1429 PAINTER

Jori Smith

1907 - 2005

Preview
1444 WRESTLER

Donald Stockton

1904 - 1978

Preview
1487 LAWYER

Arnold Heeney

1902 - 1970

Preview
1566 ACTOR

Pat Harrington Sr.

1901 - 1965

Preview
1692 POLITICIAN

William Kashtan

1909 - 1993

Preview
1719 ACTOR

Paul Desmarteaux

1905 - 1974

Preview
1726 WRITER

Marcel-Marie Desmarais

1908 - 1994

Preview
1766 HUMOURIST

Manda Parent

1907 - 1992

Preview
1791 PIANIST

Marie-Thérèse Paquin

1905 - 1997

Preview
1948 ACTOR

Paul Guèvremont

1902 - 1979

Preview
1959 COMPOSER

Isabelle Delorme

1900 - 1991

Preview
2084 ACTOR

Germaine Giroux

1902 - 1975

Preview
2090 ROWER

Jack Guest

1906 - 1972

Preview
2163 SONGWRITER

Alex Kramer

1903 - 1998

Preview
2164 ACTOR

Athole Shearer

1900 - 1985

Preview
2185 SPORT

Joe Laporte

1907 - 1983

Preview
2218 HOCKEY

Roger Cormier

1905 - 1971

Preview
2254 GOVERNOR

Louis Rasminsky

1908 - 1998

Preview
2279 POLITICIAN

Alan Macnaughton

1903 - 1999

Preview
2291 PLAYWRIGHT

Émile Legault

1906 - 1983

Preview
2311 HOCKEY

Johnny Sheppard

1903 - 1969

Preview
2333 WRITER

Lionel Shapiro

1908 - 1958

Preview
2355 LAWYER

Paul-Émile Côté

1909 - 1970

Preview
2406 ACTOR

J. Léo Gagnon

1907 - 1983

Preview
2408 ATHLETIC

Len Hutton (athlete)

1908 - 1976

Preview
2448 CARICATURISTE

Robert LaPalme

1908 - 1997

Preview
2465 POLITICIAN

Frank Hanley

1909 - 2006

Preview
2523 MILITAR

Lucien Dumais

1904 - 1993

Preview
2535 PAINTER

Francesco Iacurto

1908 - 2001

Preview
2541 LAWYER

Maurice Lalonde (politician)

1901 - 1956

Preview
2553 HOCKEY

Earl Robinson (ice hockey)

1907 - 1986

Preview
2587 HOCKEY

Walter Buswell

1907 - 1991

Preview
2641 LAWYER

William Campbell James Meredith

1904 - 1960

Preview
2713 ARCHITECT

Douglas Honnold

1901 - 1974

Preview
2730 HOCKEY

Archie Wilcox

1903 - 1993

Preview
2834 BUSINESS

Gordon McGregor

1901 - 1971

Preview
2839 ENGINEER

Lucien L'Allier

1909 - 1978

Preview
2886 LAWYER

Omer Côté

1906 - 1999

Preview
2923 CONDUCTOR

Lucien Martin

1908 - 1950

Preview
2924 JOURNALIST

Berthelot Brunet

1901 - 1948

Preview
2927 CHEMIST

Léon Lortie

1902 - 1985

Preview
2937 BISHOP

Laurent Morin

1908 - 1996

Preview
2951 SURGEON

Arthur Vineberg

1903 - 1988

Preview
2976 LAWYER

Pacifique Plante

1907 - 1976

Preview
2987 SKI

Leslie Gagne

Born 1908

Preview
2993 WRITER

Ignace Colombani

1908 - 1988

Preview
3001 ARCHITECT

Maxwell M. Kalman

1906 - 2009

Preview
3035 PAINTER

Irène Senécal

1901 - 1978

Preview
3060 LAWYER

Monroe Abbey

1904 - 1993

Preview
3086 WRITER

Vera Shlakman

1909 - 2017

Preview
3125 WRITER

Joseph Dainow

1906 - 1978

Preview
3152 ARCHITECT

John Campbell Merrett

1909 - 1998

Preview
3166 WRITER

Roger Viau

1906 - 1986

Preview
3181 BOTANIST

Jules Brunel

1905 - 1986

Preview
3198 PRIEST

Irénée Lussier

1904 - 1973

Preview
3229 LAWYER

Saul Hayes

1906 - 1980

Preview
3277 PRIEST

Émilien Frenette

1905 - 1983

Preview
3296 MUSIC

Réal Gagnier

1905 - 1984

Preview
3316 ACTOR

Mady Correll

1907 - 1981

Preview
3352 ACTOR

Réjeanne Desrameaux

1903 - 1975

Preview
3373 SPORT

Alfred Tourville

1908 - 1983

Preview
3391 POLITICIAN

Paul Dozois

1908 - 1984

Preview
3409 WRITER

Rex Desmarchais

1908 - 1974

Preview
3484 LAWYER

Aurélien Noël

1904 - 1991

Preview
3570 ACTOR

Marthe Thiéry

1902 - 1979

Preview
3598 NOTARY

Marcel Faribault

1908 - 1972

Preview
3653 RADIO

Ferdinand Biondi

1909 - 1998

Preview
3659 SINGER

Caro Lamoureux

1904 - 1998

Preview
3691 JOURNALIST

Roland Beaudry

1906 - 1964

Preview
3744 SKI

Jerry Dupuis

Born 1904

Preview
3779 ATHLETIC

Les Wade

Born 1909

Preview
3780 PAINTER

Thomas Reid MacDonald

1908 - 1978

Preview
3784 LAWYER

Yves Leduc

1908 - 1995

Preview
3830 POLITICIAN

Alcide Simard

1907 - 1984

Preview
3940 POLITICIAN

Harold Monteith

1900 - 1963

Preview
3969 BASEBALL

M. Donald Grant

1904 - 1998

Preview
4008 POLITICIAN

Gérard Thibeault

1906 - 1998

Preview
4115 OPERA

Paul-Émile Corbeil

1908 - 1965

Preview
4174 HOCKEY

Frank Sheppard

1905 - 1996

Preview
4319 ARTIST

Simone Dénéchaud

1905 - 1974

Preview
4343 MUSIC

Fleurette Beauchamp-Huppé

1907 - 2007

Preview
4378 ACTOR

Estelle Mauffette

1904 - 1984

Preview
4389 MUSIC

Lucien Sicotte

1902 - 1943

Preview
4391 POLITICIAN

Paul Gauthier (politician)

1901 - 1957

Preview
4413 POLITICIAN

Honoré Mercier III

1908 - 1988

Preview
4426 FENCER

Bertrand Boissonnault

1907 - 1995

Preview
4432 DIPLOMAT

Léon Mayrand

1905 - 1975

Preview
4454 MODISTE

Yvette Brillon

1907 - 1996

Preview
4499 POLITICIAN

Lucien Maynard

1908 - 1996

Preview
4501 PHYSICIST

John Tasker Henderson

1905 - 1983

Preview
4502 SINGER

Roger Filiatrault

1905 - 1973

Preview
4514 COMPOSER

Bernard Piché

1908 - 1989

Preview
4541 BUSINESS

Alma Ricard

1906 - 2003

Preview
4576 LAWYER

Carl Goldenberg

1907 - 1996

Preview
4610 OLYMPIC

Sydney David Pierce

1901 - 1992

Preview
4617 HOCKEY

Bert Connelly

1907 - 1990

Preview
4630 HOCKEY

Walter Harnott

1909 - 1977

Preview
4636 BUSINESS

Marcel Vincent

1907 - 1992

Preview
4689 MILITAR

Arthur Lorne James

1903 - 1964

Preview
4700 SPRINT

John McKechenneay

Born 1904

Preview
4702 SPRINT

William Fuller (athlete)

Born 1904

Preview
4731 POLITICIAN

Louis-Philippe Beaubien

1903 - 1985

Preview
4752 JOCKEY

John Bejshak

1909 - 1969

Preview
4760 POLITICIAN

Fernand Viau

1909 - 2000

Preview
4770 FENCER

Charles Otis (fencer)

1906 - 1970

Preview
4783 TEACHER

Suzanne Paquette-Goyette

1908 - 2001

Preview
4809 ORGANIST

Juliette Milette

1900 - 1992

Preview
4816 IDROTTARE

Arthur Gravel

Born 1905

Preview
4848 POLITICIAN

Louis-Philippe Gélinas

1902 - 1976

Preview
4879 MUSIC

Lucien Gagnier

1900 - 1956

Preview
4881 BASSOONIST

Roland Gagnier

1905 - 1975

Preview
4888 POLITICIAN

Camille Côté

1905 - 1967

Preview
4907 PIANIST

Paul Doyon

1903 - 1986

Preview
4909 MAGIC

Norm Houghton (magician)

1909 - 1998

Preview
4913 PHOTOGRAPHER

Blossom Caron

1905 - 1999

Preview
4918 BOXER

Samuel Rennie

1903 - 1952

Preview
4919 BOXER

Mickey MacGowan

1900 - 1977

Preview
4921 BOXER

Frederick Volkert

Born 1903

Preview