40.6979° N, 73.9995° W

NEW YORK CITY

Most Famous People Born in New York City, USA

Notable people
22,064
Peak decade
1940s
Median birth year
1935
Most distinctive
Screenwriter 5.4×

If the 20th century held a casting call, it was in New York. Almost all of the city's notable births fall after 1900, fueled by an entertainment economy — Broadway, Tin Pan Alley, the studio system, late-night TV, hip-hop in the Bronx — that has minted more actors, comedians, and musicians than any other American city. Even its 19th-century names skew literary: poets, editors, journalists, not generals or industrialists.

Standouts

What New York City Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Actor is New York City's biggest profession — 14% of all notables (3,012).

New York City over-indexes on screenwriter 5.4× the global rate.

New York City under-produces football — only 0.1× the global rate.

  1. Actor 3,012 2.6×
  2. Politician 1,004 0.4×
  3. Writer 859 1.2×
  4. Film 841 3.1×
  5. Lawyer 794 2.1×
  6. Music 767 2.4×
  7. Baseball 584 2.3×
  8. Singer 573 1.3×
  1. Screenwriter 522 5.4×
  2. Producer 225 3.6×
  3. Novelist 299 3.4×
  4. Film 841 3.1×
  5. Photographer 287 2.7×
  6. Actor 3,012 2.6×
  7. Music 767 2.4×
  8. Baseball 584 2.3×
  1. Football 365 0.1×
  2. Politician 1,004 0.4×

Profession Mix Over Time

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

1800 1850 1900 1950 2000
  • Film & TV
  • Writing
  • Music
  • Sports
  • Politics & Law
  • Science
  • Other
All22,064
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Showing 1,259 of 22,064 notable people

0019 PHYSICIST

J. Robert Oppenheimer

1904 - 1967

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0055 ACTOR

Barbara Stanwyck

1907 - 1990

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0122 PSYCHOLOGIST

Abraham Maslow

1908 - 1970

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0123 CONDUCTOR

Aaron Copland

1900 - 1990

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0163 ACTOR

Clara Bow

1905 - 1965

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0166 ACTOR

Cesar Romero

1907 - 1994

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0167 BASEBALL

Lou Gehrig

1903 - 1941

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0184 NAVY

Grace Hopper

1906 - 1992

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0190 ACTOR

John Carradine

1906 - 1988

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0260 ACTOR

Joan Blondell

1906 - 1979

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0262 ACTOR

George Raft

1901 - 1980

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0265 COMEDIAN

Milton Berle

1908 - 2002

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0293 PIANIST

Fats Waller

1904 - 1943

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0355 ACTOR

Douglas Fairbanks Jr.

1909 - 2000

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0389 WRITER

James A. Michener

1907 - 1997

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0421 PAINTER

Lee Krasner

1908 - 1984

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0434 PAINTER

Barnett Newman

1905 - 1970

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0485 ACTOR

Zeppo Marx

1901 - 1979

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0507 ACTOR

Thelma Ritter

1905 - 1969

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0524 ACTOR

Constance Bennett

1904 - 1965

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0545 PHYSICIST

Carl David Anderson

1905 - 1991

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0547 PHILOSOPHER

Mortimer J. Adler

1902 - 2001

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0557 CRIMINAL

Bugsy Siegel

1906 - 1947

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0594 WRITER

Cornell Woolrich

1903 - 1968

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0616 WRITER

L. Sprague de Camp

1907 - 2000

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0650 POLITICIAN

William Joyce

1906 - 1946

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0664 COMEDIAN

William Bendix

1906 - 1964

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0669 COMPOSER

Elliott Carter

1908 - 2012

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0676 ARMY

James M. Gavin

1907 - 1990

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0694 ACTOR

Stella Adler

1901 - 1992

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0733 WRITER

Nathanael West

1903 - 1940

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0754 WRITER

William Steig

1907 - 2003

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0801 SCREENWRITER

Robert Rossen

1908 - 1966

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0816 ACTOR

Anne Revere

1903 - 1990

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0826 ACTOR

John Marley

1907 - 1984

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1002 ACTOR

Arthur O'Connell

1908 - 1981

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1006 ACTOR

Albert Dekker

1905 - 1968

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1034 ACTOR

Sheldon Leonard

1907 - 1997

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1047 BIOLOGIST

George Wald

1906 - 1997

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1060 BANDLEADER

Raymond Scott

1908 - 1994

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1065 ACTOR

Everett Sloane

1909 - 1965

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1078 ACTOR

James Dunn (actor)

1901 - 1967

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1111 SWIMMER

Gertrude Ederle

1905 - 2003

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1125 POLITICIAN

Mike Mansfield

1903 - 2001

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1160 ACTOR

Arthur Godfrey

1903 - 1983

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1172 ACTOR

Sanford Meisner

1905 - 1997

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1183 ACTOR

George Tobias

1901 - 1980

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1185 JOURNALIST

Varian Fry

1907 - 1967

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1189 ACTOR

Karl Swenson

1908 - 1978

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1193 OFFICER

Harry Hammond Hess

1906 - 1969

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1209 SINGER

Adelaide Hall

1901 - 1993

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1242 PHYSICIAN

Frank H. Netter

1906 - 1991

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1248 ACTOR

Jack Gilford

1907 - 1990

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1253 ACTOR

Alan Reed

1907 - 1977

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1255 ACTOR

Ricardo Cortez

1900 - 1977

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1258 ACTOR

Nancy Carroll

1903 - 1965

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1274 ACTOR

Luther Adler

1903 - 1984

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1277 ACTOR

Billie Dove

1903 - 1997

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1287 ACTOR

Gordon Douglas (director)

1907 - 1993

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1295 ACTOR

Whit Bissell

1909 - 1996

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1323 ACTOR

Gene Raymond

1908 - 1998

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1333 ACTOR

Bea Benaderet

1906 - 1968

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1338 POLITICIAN

James Roosevelt

1907 - 1991

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1344 ACTOR

Eleanor Audley

1905 - 1991

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1349 ACTOR

Chester Morris

1901 - 1970

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1364 SCREENWRITER

Moss Hart

1904 - 1961

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1380 ACTOR

Gale Gordon

1906 - 1995

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1396 ACTOR

Leila Hyams

1905 - 1977

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1399 PHILANTHROPIST

John D. Rockefeller III

1906 - 1978

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1405 ACTOR

Thomas Gomez

1905 - 1971

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1411 DESIGNER

Henry Dreyfuss

1904 - 1972

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1415 PAINTER

Adolph Gottlieb

1903 - 1974

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1421 COMPOSER

Lennie Hayton

1908 - 1971

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1423 CINEMA

Leon Shamroy

1901 - 1974

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1464 ACTOR

Lee Patrick (actress)

1901 - 1982

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1472 ACTOR

Ted de Corsia

1903 - 1973

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1488 MATHEMATICIAN

Hassler Whitney

1907 - 1989

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1499 ACTOR

Ross Alexander

1907 - 1937

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1504 ACTOR

Frances Bavier

1902 - 1989

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1506 STATESMAN

Galo Plaza

1906 - 1987

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1527 PHILOSOPHER

Sidney Hook

1902 - 1989

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1533 ARTIST

Paul Cadmus

1904 - 1999

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1545 ACTOR

Kent Smith

1907 - 1985

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1588 ACTOR

Florence Eldridge

1901 - 1988

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1591 SCREENWRITER

Julius J. Epstein

1909 - 2000

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1592 ACTOR

Helen Twelvetrees

1908 - 1958

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1602 PHYSICIST

Nathan Rosen

1909 - 1995

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1603 WRITER

Frank Belknap Long

1901 - 1994

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1640 ACTOR

Paul Stewart (actor)

1908 - 1986

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1642 DRUG TRAFFICK

Joseph Valachi

1903 - 1971

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1652 PHOTOGRAPHER

Toni Frissell

1907 - 1988

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1659 FILM

Sam Zimbalist

1904 - 1958

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1673 ACTOR

Madge Evans

1909 - 1981

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1680 FILM

Mark Sandrich

1900 - 1945

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1711 SCREENWRITER

Albert Maltz

1908 - 1985

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1734 POLITICIAN

Jacob Javits

1904 - 1986

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1736 JOURNALIST

William S. Paley

1901 - 1990

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1783 ACTOR

Allen Jenkins

1900 - 1974

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1787 SCREENWRITER

Alvah Bessie

1904 - 1985

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1810 ARTIST

Joe Grant

1908 - 2005

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1820 ACTOR

William Gargan

1905 - 1979

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1835 MATHEMATICIAN

Marshall Harvey Stone

1903 - 1989

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1848 SCREENWRITER

Richard Maibaum

1909 - 1991

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1866 PIANIST

Paul Creston

1906 - 1985

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1887 BOXER

Maxie Rosenbloom

1907 - 1976

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1894 SCREENWRITER

John Emery (actor)

1905 - 1964

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1903 AUTHOR

Clare Boothe Luce

1903 - 1987

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1909 ACTOR

Will Lee

1908 - 1982

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1931 MUSIC

Jan Peerce

1904 - 1984

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1943 WRITER

Dwight Macdonald

1906 - 1982

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1972 ACTOR

Rose Hobart

1906 - 2000

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1975 COMPOSER

Sammy Fain

1902 - 1989

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2055 MATHEMATICIAN

Morris Kline

1908 - 1992

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2107 ACTOR

Albert Hackett

1900 - 1995

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2144 BANDLEADER

Canada Lee

1907 - 1952

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2151 COMPOSER

eden ahbez

1908 - 1995

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2152 ACTOR

Selena Royle

1904 - 1983

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2158 BOXER

Barney Ross

1909 - 1967

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2185 PHOTOGRAPHER

Aaron Siskind

1903 - 1991

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2196 WRITER

Paul Francis Webster

1907 - 1984

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2209 ACTOR

Sally Eilers

1908 - 1978

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2212 HISTORIAN

Charles Hapgood

1904 - 1982

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2226 SCREENWRITER

Philip G. Epstein

1909 - 1952

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2238 TENNIS

Frank Shields

1909 - 1975

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2267 PIANIST

Arthur Schwartz

1900 - 1984

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2278 FILM

Buddy Adler

1909 - 1960

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2316 FILM

Charles K. Feldman

1904 - 1968

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2347 SCREENWRITER

Frederica Sagor Maas

1900 - 2012

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2349 FILM

Joseph H. Lewis

1907 - 2000

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2354 ACTOR

Anita Garvin

1907 - 1994

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2398 SCREENWRITER

Niven Busch

1903 - 1991

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2412 AUTHOR

Clifton Fadiman

1904 - 1999

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2419 FILM

George Sherman

1908 - 1991

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2423 WRITER

Oliver La Farge

1901 - 1963

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2432 FILM

Philip Dunne (writer)

1908 - 1992

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2440 ACTOR

Barbara Jo Allen

1906 - 1974

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2488 ACTOR

Helene Costello

1906 - 1957

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2493 SINGER

Dolores Hope

1909 - 2011

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2496 PLAYER

Vincent Richards

1903 - 1959

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2501 SCREENWRITER

Charles Lederer

1906 - 1976

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2527 SCREENWRITER

S. J. Perelman

1904 - 1979

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2544 COMPOSER

Ralph Rainger

1901 - 1942

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2560 ACTOR

June Collyer

1906 - 1968

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2569 MILITAR

Mickey Marcus

1901 - 1948

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2585 PSYCHOLOGIST

Helen Schucman

1909 - 1981

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2592 ACTOR

Ilka Chase

1900 - 1978

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2593 ACTOR

Anne Seymour (actress)

1909 - 1988

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2621 SOCIALITE

Janet Lee Bouvier

1907 - 1989

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2628 ACTOR

Ken Murray (entertainer)

1903 - 1988

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2631 ACTOR

Shirley Mason (actress)

1900 - 1979

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2650 ART HISTORIAN

Harold Rosenberg

1906 - 1978

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2667 ARTIST

Michael Maltese

1908 - 1981

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2670 SINGER

Annette Hanshaw

1901 - 1985

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2671 PSYCHOLOGIST

Anne Anastasi

1908 - 2001

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2711 ACTOR

Connie Gilchrist

1901 - 1985

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2723 ACTIVIST

Bob Marshall (wilderness activist)

1901 - 1939

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2730 IMMUNOLOGIST

Alexander S. Wiener

1907 - 1976

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2739 ACTOR

Dorothy Tree

1906 - 1992

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2765 ARTIST

Betty Parsons

1900 - 1982

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2790 ACTOR

Ford Rainey

1908 - 2005

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2792 CINEMA

Stanley Cortez

1908 - 1997

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2814 POET

Louis Zukofsky

1904 - 1978

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2857 SCREENWRITER

Lester Cole

1904 - 1985

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2876 ACTOR

Warren Hymer

1906 - 1948

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2880 FILM

Leo Hurwitz

1909 - 1991

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2883 SCREENWRITER

Valentine Davies

1905 - 1961

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2939 FILM

Lew Landers

1901 - 1962

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2942 WRITER

Ward Moore

1903 - 1978

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2977 ACTOR

Jack La Rue

1902 - 1984

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3002 ACTOR

Lloyd Gough

1907 - 1984

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3014 COMEDIAN

Joe E. Lewis

1902 - 1971

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3017 CHESS

Israel Albert Horowitz

1907 - 1973

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3023 ACTOR

Bud Collyer

1908 - 1969

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3027 SCREENWRITER

Sidney Kingsley

1906 - 1995

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3046 CINEMA

Joseph Biroc

1903 - 1996

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3055 FILM

William Cagney

1905 - 1988

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3056 ARTIST

Jeff Morrow

1907 - 1993

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3069 FILM

Mark Hellinger

1903 - 1947

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3099 ACTOR

David Buttolph

1902 - 1983

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3146 ACTOR

Helen Menken

1901 - 1966

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3171 FILM

H. C. Potter

1904 - 1977

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3177 FILM

Harold Hecht

1907 - 1985

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3195 PLAYWRIGHT

Joseph Kesselring

1902 - 1967

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3213 CORRESPONDENT

A. J. Liebling

1904 - 1963

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3216 POET

Laura Riding

1901 - 1991

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3253 COMPOSER

Hy Zaret

1907 - 2007

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3254 CHEMIST

Joseph Edward Mayer

1904 - 1983

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3275 SCREENWRITER

Howard Koch (screenwriter)

1901 - 1995

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3283 ACTOR

William Collier Jr.

1902 - 1987

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3290 WRITER

Anya Seton

1904 - 1990

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3294 PHILOSOPHER

John Courtney Murray

1904 - 1967

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3320 ACTOR

Edgar Barrier

1907 - 1964

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3327 ACTOR

Virginia Brown Faire

1904 - 1980

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3337 ARCHITECT

Joseph Eichler

1900 - 1974

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3355 FILM

Jack Donohue (director)

1908 - 1984

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3358 ACTOR

Phillip Reed

1908 - 1996

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3359 ACTOR

David Burns (actor)

1901 - 1971

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3373 FILM

Irving Reis

1906 - 1953

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3417 ARTIST

Crockett Johnson

1906 - 1975

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3428 PHILOSOPHER

William Frankena

1908 - 1994

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3445 WRITER

Helen McCloy

1904 - 1994

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3453 SOCIALITE

Anna Roosevelt Halsted

1906 - 1975

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3465 CHESS

Isaac Kashdan

1905 - 1985

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3469 CINEMA

Milton Krasner

1904 - 1988

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3479 THEATRE

Harold Clurman

1901 - 1980

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3497 ACTOR

Josephine Dunn

1906 - 1983

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3502 CHOREOGRAPHER

Helen Tamiris

1905 - 1966

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3578 ACTOR

George Meeker

1904 - 1984

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3595 ACTOR

Paula Strasberg

1909 - 1966

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3608 LINGUIST

Alice Kober

1906 - 1950

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3611 POLITICIAN

William Henry Vanderbilt III

1901 - 1981

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3623 COMPOSER

Edward Heyman

1907 - 1981

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3647 INVENTOR

Allen B. DuMont

1901 - 1965

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3673 WRITER

Marcia Davenport

1903 - 1996

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3674 CINEMA

Sam Leavitt

1904 - 1984

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3682 ACTOR

Robert Lewis (director)

1909 - 1997

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3697 ACADEMIC

Raymond D. Mindlin

1906 - 1987

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3709 SCREENWRITER

Anthony Veiller

1903 - 1965

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3739 SCREENWRITER

George Wells (screenwriter)

1909 - 2000

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3748 MUSIC

Tricky Sam Nanton

1904 - 1946

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3754 ACTOR

Mary Field

1909 - 1996

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3787 ASTRONOMER

Jesse L. Greenstein

1909 - 2002

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3789 PHYSICIST

John G. Trump

1907 - 1985

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3810 CONDUCTOR

Elie Siegmeister

1909 - 1991

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3814 JOURNALIST

Herbert Matthews

1900 - 1977

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3824 DESIGNER

Alexander Girard

1907 - 1993

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3826 DRIVER

Louis Meyer

1904 - 1995

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3832 ACTOR

Susan Fleming

1908 - 2002

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3836 ROWER

James Stillman Rockefeller

1902 - 2004

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3864 PAINTER

Henri Goetz

1909 - 1989

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3865 CINEMA

Edward Cronjager

1904 - 1960

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3874 ANIMATOR

Norm Ferguson (animator)

1902 - 1957

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3879 MOBSTER

Abe Reles

1906 - 1941

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3911 SINGER

Lina Pagliughi

1907 - 1980

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3919 FILM

Irving Lerner

1909 - 1976

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3927 PHOTOGRAPHER

Ruth Harriet Louise

1903 - 1940

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3930 BOXER

Frankie Genaro

1901 - 1966

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3938 SCREENWRITER

Viña Delmar

1903 - 1990

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3954 PATHOLOGIST

Harry Eagle

1905 - 1992

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3960 NOVELIST

Edgar Pangborn

1909 - 1976

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3971 JAVELIN THROWER

Lillian Copeland

1904 - 1964

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4009 SKATER

Irving Jaffee

1906 - 1981

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4021 SCREENWRITER

Daniel Fuchs

1909 - 1993

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4034 CARTOONIST

Peter Arno

1904 - 1968

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4082 MATHEMATICIAN

Solomon Kullback

1907 - 1994

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4087 PRIEST

John Carberry

1904 - 1998

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4111 JOURNALIST

Lawrence E. Spivak

1900 - 1994

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4132 COMPOSER

Lillian Fuchs

1901 - 1995

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4158 ACTOR

Pat Walshe

1900 - 1991

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4162 FILM

Marie Menken

1909 - 1970

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4183 FILM

Sol C. Siegel

1903 - 1982

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4187 MILITAR

Aaron Bank

1902 - 2004

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4241 FILM

George Amy

1903 - 1986

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4251 MAGAZINE

William Levitt

1907 - 1994

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4261 JOURNALIST

Quentin Reynolds

1902 - 1965

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4302 SCREENWRITER

Frank Nugent

1908 - 1965

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4303 FILM

Sam Coslow

1902 - 1982

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4321 BANDLEADER

Adrian Rollini

1903 - 1956

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4325 PRODUCER

Irene Mayer Selznick

1907 - 1990

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4337 FILM

Bernard Vorhaus

1904 - 2000

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4359 ART HISTORIAN

Robert Goldwater

1907 - 1973

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4384 SINGER

Harry Barris

1905 - 1962

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4397 HISTORIAN

Beatrice Warde

1900 - 1969

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4400 POLITICIAN

Michael DiSalle

1908 - 1981

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4411 CINEMA

Joseph Valentine

1900 - 1949

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4436 SELLER

Hans P. Kraus

1907 - 1988

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4447 ZOOLOGIST

Richard Archbold

1907 - 1976

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4468 SCREENWRITER

Harry Kurnitz

1908 - 1968

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4476 ANTHROPOLOGIST

Ruth Landes

1908 - 1991

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4505 ACTOR

Inez Courtney

1908 - 1975

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4517 SCREENWRITER

Warren Foster

1904 - 1971

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4560 SCREENWRITER

Art Cohn

1909 - 1958

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4566 ARTIST

Julien Levy

1906 - 1981

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4572 ACTOR

Kitty Kelly

1902 - 1968

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4580 SONGWRITER

Carl Sigman

1909 - 2000

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4582 SCREENWRITER

Cyril Hume

1900 - 1966

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4586 ACTOR

John Harron

1903 - 1939

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4599 ACTOR

Walter Burke

1908 - 1984

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4605 CLARINET

Russell Procope

1908 - 1981

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4665 SONGWRITER

Rube Bloom

1902 - 1976

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4674 PHOTOGRAPHER

Milton Rogovin

1909 - 2011

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4691 PHYSICIAN

Mary Calderone

1904 - 1998

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4701 ACTOR

Eric Linden

1909 - 1994

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4707 PLAYER

Oswald Jacoby

1902 - 1984

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4709 WRITER

Eve Titus

1905 - 2002

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4741 SCREENWRITER

Borden Chase

1900 - 1971

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4747 JOURNALIST

Victor Civita

1907 - 1990

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4776 PHILOSOPHER

Paul Weiss (philosopher)

1901 - 2002

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4787 COMPOSER

Edgar Sampson

1907 - 1973

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4796 ACTOR

Wynne Gibson

1905 - 1987

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4900 COMPOSER

Peter DeRose

1900 - 1953

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4915 ACTOR

Murray Alper

1904 - 1984

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4916 ANTHROPOLOGIST

Cora Du Bois

1903 - 1991

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4918 BASKET

John Russell (basketball)

1902 - 1973

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4930 SCREENWRITER

Guy Endore

1900 - 1970

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4953 PHOTOGRAPHER

Todd Webb

1905 - 2000

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5019 CHEMIST

Melvin Spencer Newman

1908 - 1993

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5021 TALENT AGENT

Irving Paul Lazar

1907 - 1993

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5030 INVESTOR

Irving Kahn

1905 - 2015

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5034 NEWS PRESENTER

John Cameron Swayze

1906 - 1995

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