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 2,268 of 22,064 notable people

5023 PROFESSOR

Bruce Hoffman

Born 1954

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5033 ENTREPRENEUR

Jerry Greenfield

Born 1951

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5047 BASKET

Vinnie Johnson

Born 1956

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5055 ENTREPRENEUR

Nick Hanauer

Born 1959

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5069 ACTOR

Silvana Gallardo

1953 - 2012

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5071 ECONOMIST

Drew Fudenberg

Born 1957

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5074 SINGER

Mark Rivera

Born 1952

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5076 HISTORIAN

Elliot Sperling

1951 - 2017

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5083 COMPOSER

Oscar Hernández (musician)

Born 1954

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5092 JOURNALIST

Mark Bittman

Born 1950

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5106 COMPOSER

Arnold Dreyblatt

Born 1953

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5122 BASKET

Albert King (basketball)

Born 1959

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5126 WRITER

Andrew Gross

Born 1952

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5131 COMPOSER

Anthony Coleman

Born 1955

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5136 ESSAYIST

Anne Fadiman

Born 1953

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5150 ACTOR

Lillias White

Born 1951

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5183 ARTIST

Donald Baechler

Born 1956

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5195 NUTRITIONIST

Joel Fuhrman

Born 1953

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5197 MUSIC

N.U. Unruh

Born 1957

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5200 MUSIC

Larry Campbell (musician)

Born 1955

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5214 MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER

Iyanla Vanzant

Born 1953

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5220 COMPOSER

Peter Gordon (composer)

Born 1951

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5225 PLAYER

Erik Seidel

Born 1959

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5226 POLITICIAN

Michael McMahon

Born 1957

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5238 FILM

Michael Pressman

Born 1950

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5256 PLAYER

Eddie Dibbs

Born 1951

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5259 MUSIC

Nora Guthrie

Born 1950

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5276 COMPOSER

Robert Dick (flutist)

Born 1950

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5280 EDITOR

Karen Berger

Born 1958

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5282 PHOTOGRAPHER

Sante D'Orazio

Born 1956

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5283 SCREENWRITER

Bill Guttentag

Born 1958

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5296 ACTOR

Ariana (actress)

Born 1958

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5306 ART HISTORIAN

John Spike

Born 1951

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5323 MUSIC

Charles Giordano

Born 1954

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5332 WRITER

Peter Blauner

Born 1959

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5337 ACTOR

Cole Tucker

1953 - 2015

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5342 BASEBALL

Lee Mazzilli

Born 1955

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5348 WRITER

Esther Friesner

Born 1951

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5373 LAWYER

Diego García Sayán

Born 1950

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5393 ENGINEER

Mark Ulano

Born 1954

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5404 PRODUCER

Jai Uttal

Born 1951

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5406 JOURNALIST

Michael Musto

Born 1955

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5418 BUSINESS

Jeffrey Epstein

1953 - 2019

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5441 ATHLETIC

Margaret Bailes

Born 1951

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5443 BASEBALL

Lou Whitaker

Born 1957

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5447 NOVELIST

James Siegel

Born 1954

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5453 SCREENWRITER

Rafael Yglesias

Born 1954

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5454 ECONOMIST

Richard Ebeling

Born 1950

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5486 SINGER

Cristina (singer)

1959 - 2020

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5500 BASKET

Armond Hill

Born 1953

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5501 HISTORIAN

Alexander J. Motyl

Born 1953

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5507 MUSIC

Adam Nussbaum

Born 1955

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5527 POLITICIAN

Tom Leppert

Born 1954

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5528 SINGER

Joëlle Mogensen

1953 - 1982

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5529 WRITER

Jerry Beck

Born 1955

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5531 NOVELIST

Charles R. Pellegrino

Born 1953

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5537 MATHEMATICIAN

Robert Lazarsfeld

Born 1953

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5545 COMICS

Gerry Duggan (writer)

Born 1950

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5547 LAWYER

Jamie Gorelick

Born 1955

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5555 HISTORIAN

Barry S. Strauss

Born 1953

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5559 ACTOR

Vinny Vella

1950 - 2019

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5565 NOVELIST

Simon Hawke

Born 1951

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5591 COMPOSER

Dwayne Wayans

Born 1956

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5593 SOCIOLOGIST

Richard Lachmann

Born 1956

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5600 ARTIST

Joe Jusko

Born 1959

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5615 MATHEMATICIAN

Thomas Wolff

1954 - 2000

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5631 COMPOSER

Peter Bernstein (composer)

Born 1951

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5641 JOURNALIST

Renaud Girard

Born 1955

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5649 BUSINESS

Ted Leonsis

Born 1957

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5650 ACTOR

Penny Arcade (performer)

Born 1950

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5663 ACTOR

Frank Medrano

Born 1958

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5671 PIANIST

Kenny Drew Jr.

1958 - 2014

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5673 FILM

Jack Hofsiss

1950 - 2016

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5678 MUSIC

Howard Hewett

Born 1955

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5685 NOVELIST

Jeff Rovin

Born 1951

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5689 SCULPTOR

Bruno Fonseca

1958 - 1994

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5693 SONGWRITER

Michael Thompson (guitarist)

Born 1954

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5695 MUSIC

Bobby Sanabria

Born 1957

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5699 ACADEMIC

Alexander L. Wolf

Born 1956

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5715 ACTOR

Gerard Christopher

Born 1959

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5721 BOXER

Gerry Cooney

Born 1956

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5742 CLARINET

David Shifrin

Born 1950

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5750 HISTORIAN

Joshua A. Fogel

Born 1950

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5763 ARTIST

Bran Ferren

Born 1953

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5764 MUSIC

Kramer (musician)

Born 1958

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5772 WRITER

Sigrid Nunez

Born 1951

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5793 ARTIST

Futura (graffiti artist)

Born 1955

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5817 HISTORIAN

Sean Wilentz

Born 1951

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5843 ACTOR

Rob Bartlett

Born 1957

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5845 PRODUCER

Sandy Rivera

Born 1950

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5858 ACTOR

Steven Paul

Born 1959

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5860 JOURNALIST

Howard Kurtz

Born 1953

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5864 SNOWBOARD

Jake Burton Carpenter

1954 - 2019

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5871 ATTORNEY

Paul Hodes

Born 1951

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5880 MURDER

Ronald DeFeo Jr.

Born 1951

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5887 ECONOMIST

Gene Grossman

Born 1955

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5914 FILM

Jan Eliasberg

Born 1954

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5930 SCREENWRITER

Buzz Bissinger

Born 1954

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5941 PIANIST

Mark Soskin

Born 1953

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5963 RABBI

Michael Schudrich

Born 1955

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5973 ACTOR

Ellen Bry

Born 1951

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5981 AUTHOR

Irene Dische

Born 1952

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5984 NOVELIST

Michael Gross (writer)

Born 1952

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5986 CINEMA

Jacques Haitkin

Born 1950

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5993 ACTOR

Willi One Blood

Born 1956

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6005 AUTHOR

Jo Duffy

Born 1954

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6012 BIOLOGIST

Carl Safina

Born 1955

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6029 LAWYER

Carmen Ortiz

Born 1956

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6032 COMPOSER

David Pomeranz

Born 1951

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6047 LAWYER

Cyrus Vance Jr.

Born 1954

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6052 ACTOR

Hilary Shepard

Born 1959

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6057 MUSIC

Kenny Washington (musician)

Born 1958

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6060 MATHEMATICIAN

Douglas N. Arnold

Born 1954

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6071 COLUMNIST

Gene Weingarten

Born 1951

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6075 WRITER

Al Seckel

1958 - 2015

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6085 AUTHOR

Adrian Slywotzky

Born 1951

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6089 HISTORIAN

Robert Aldrich (historian)

Born 1954

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6090 GUITAR

Frank Carillo

Born 1950

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6092 PHILOSOPHER

Todd May

Born 1955

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6100 ASTRONAUT

Martin J. Fettman

Born 1956

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6104 FILM

Maggie Greenwald

Born 1955

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6110 MUSIC

David Tanenbaum

Born 1956

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6111 CARTOONIST

Bobby London

Born 1950

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6125 AUTHOR

Eric Marcus

Born 1958

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6128 PHOTOGRAPHER

Dawoud Bey

Born 1953

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6130 MUSIC

Nancy Allen (harpist)

Born 1954

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6142 POET

Ashrita Furman

Born 1954

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6150 ACTOR

Steve Drake

Born 1954

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6151 BASKET

Ron Behagen

Born 1951

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6166 ACTOR

Roy Nathanson

Born 1955

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6173 SINGER

Ruth Ann Swenson

Born 1959

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6180 COMPUTER SCIENTIST

Jon Rubinstein

Born 1956

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6187 AUTHOR

James Carafano

Born 1955

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6193 ACTOR

Hanon Reznikov

1950 - 2008

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6197 COMPOSER

Mitchel Forman

Born 1956

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6206 COMPOSER

Michael Convertino

Born 1953

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6210 BOXER

Teddy Atlas

Born 1956

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6213 MUSIC

Carolyne Mas

Born 1955

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6217 POET

Jorie Graham

Born 1950

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6225 ACTOR

Christopher Norris (actress)

Born 1953

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6226 ACTOR

Elayne Boosler

Born 1952

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6227 MUSIC

Al Anderson (The Wailers)

Born 1950

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6241 PODCASTER

Mick LaSalle

Born 1959

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6244 MUSIC

Claude Schnell

Born 1958

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6249 SCREENWRITER

Victor Colicchio

Born 1953

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6252 INVENTOR

Joy Mangano

Born 1956

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6271 PERCUSSIONIST

William Winant

Born 1953

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6276 SINGER

Margaret Becker

Born 1959

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6279 MUSIC

Mimi Fox

Born 1956

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6298 FILM

Bill Pankow

Born 1952

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6307 ACTOR

Jo Anderson

Born 1958

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6310 POET

Professor X the Overseer

1956 - 2006

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6331 SOCIOLOGIST

George Barna

Born 1954

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6348 JOURNALIST

Nikki Finke

Born 1953

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6356 BASEBALL

Pat Murphy (baseball coach)

Born 1958

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6372 SINGER

Aprile Millo

Born 1958

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6384 JOURNALIST

Jim Dwyer (journalist)

1957 - 2020

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6391 COMPOSER

John Serry

Born 1954

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6395 WRITER

Ken Kalfus

Born 1954

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6400 PHOTOGRAPHER

Clifford Ross

Born 1952

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6416 NOVELIST

Reed Farrel Coleman

Born 1956

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6427 COMPOSER

Russell Javors

Born 1952

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6429 ACTOR

Lou Hirsch

Born 1955

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6455 CINEMA

Richard Crudo

Born 1957

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6465 ACTOR

Lucy Grantham

Born 1951

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6467 FILM

Neil Meron

Born 1955

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6475 PHOTOGRAPHER

Amy Arbus

Born 1954

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6476 PROFESSOR

James S. Shapiro

Born 1955

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6485 CRITIC

Ethan Nadelmann

Born 1957

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6499 ECONOMIST

James M. Poterba

Born 1958

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6506 AUTHOR

Wayne Koestenbaum

Born 1958

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6510 BASKET

Gail Marquis

Born 1954

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6518 STAGE

Jeff McBride

Born 1959

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6520 ACTOR

Robert O'Reilly

Born 1950

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6525 ASTRONOMER

Richard J. Terrile

Born 1951

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6542 JOURNALIST

Steven Heller (design writer)

Born 1950

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6543 DESIGNER

Kenneth Cole (designer)

Born 1954

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6546 SINGER

Kathy Troccoli

Born 1958

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6561 FILM

Jefery Levy

Born 1958

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6570 WORKER

Jane O'Meara Sanders

Born 1950

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6579 MUSIC

Tom McClung

1957 - 2017

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6609 AUTHOR

Joel Seligman

Born 1950

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6621 SINGER

Sonny Vincent

Born 1953

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6623 ATTORNEY

Robert Bauer

Born 1952

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6624 THEATRE

Gerald Thomas (theatre director)

Born 1954

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6629 PRODUCER

John Mankiewicz

Born 1954

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6633 COMPOSER

Deborah Drattell

Born 1956

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6691 POLITICIAN

Peter Deutsch

Born 1957

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6693 WRITER

Andrew Koenig (programmer)

Born 1952

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6702 BASKET

Steve Sheppard

Born 1954

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6772 PRIEST

Robert Sirico

Born 1951

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6782 ACTOR

Nicholas Guest

Born 1951

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6789 MUSIC

Curtis Fowlkes

Born 1951

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6799 ART CRITIC

Deborah Solomon

Born 1957

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6813 NOVELIST

Brian Morton (American writer)

Born 1955

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6814 BANDLEADER

Vince Giordano

Born 1952

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6825 WRITER

Dan Gutman

Born 1954

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6833 ACADEMIC

Carl H. June

Born 1953

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6836 ACTOR

Scott Bryce

Born 1958

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6842 TEACHER

Francis Xavier Clooney

Born 1950

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6878 PHOTOGRAPHER

Daniel Nicoletta

Born 1954

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6879 LAWYER

David A. Kessler

Born 1951

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6923 AUTHOR

Bob Rozakis

Born 1951

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6935 BASKET

George L. Johnson

Born 1956

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6939 ACTOR

Eddie Pepitone

Born 1958

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6940 SONGWRITER

John Leventhal

Born 1952

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6948 JOURNALIST

John R. MacArthur

Born 1956

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6961 HISTORIAN

Jeffrey Schnapp

Born 1954

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6964 ACTOR

Robin Byrd

Born 1957

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6970 AUTHOR

Peter Levenda

Born 1950

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6981 KEYBOARDIST

Al Greenwood

Born 1951

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6992 BASKET

Kevin Stacom

Born 1951

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6994 PAINTER

Mark Texeira

Born 1950

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7001 FILM

Louie Schwartzberg

Born 1950

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7015 NOVELIST

Katharine Weber

Born 1955

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7022 HISTORIAN

James R. Russell

Born 1953

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7070 WRITER

Surya Das

Born 1950

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7076 BILLIONAIRE

Seth Klarman

Born 1957

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7078 DRIVER

Sergio Cresto

1956 - 1986

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7084 BASKET

Mel Davis

Born 1950

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7100 SONGWRITER

John DeNicola

Born 1955

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7104 WRITER

Matthew Aid

1958 - 2018

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7110 PHYSICIST

Steven E. Koonin

Born 1951

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7121 SINGER

Gary Portnoy

Born 1956

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7138 ARTIST

Alan Kupperberg

1953 - 2015

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7157 PRODUCTION DESIGNER

Judy Becker

Born 1955

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7164 JOURNALIST

Bill Adler

Born 1951

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7168 SINGER

Bruce Molsky

Born 1955

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7170 MUSIC

Alvin Queen

Born 1950

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7225 ANIMATOR

Tom Sito

Born 1956

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7233 POET

Arthur Sze

Born 1950

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7236 PROFESSOR

Peter Lipton

1954 - 2007

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7241 ENTREPRENEUR

Ben Cohen (businessman)

Born 1951

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7267 SINGER

Nicholas Schaffner

1953 - 1991

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7271 SINGER

Ric Segreto

1952 - 1998

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7277 DANCER

Valerie Sutton

Born 1951

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7281 CHOREOGRAPHER

Carol Leigh

Born 1951

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7289 ARCHBISHOP

Charles John Brown

Born 1959

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7324 CREATIVE

Fred Seibert

Born 1951

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7328 WRITER

Alan Kaufman (writer)

Born 1952

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7330 SCREENWRITER

Joshua Brand

Born 1950

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7337 NOVELIST

Anita Diamant

Born 1951

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7339 JOURNALIST

Timothy Noah

Born 1958

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7348 POLITICIAN

Dov Hikind

Born 1950

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7350 ECOLOGIST

Hana Katan

Born 1958

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7362 MUSIC

George Schuller

Born 1958

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7384 WRITER

Michael Levine (publicist)

Born 1954

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7389 PROFESSOR

Ronald D. Liebowitz

Born 1957

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7409 ACTOR

Ben Harney (actor)

Born 1952

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7412 ACTOR

Ned Eisenberg

Born 1957

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7413 BASKET

Franklin Edwards

Born 1959

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7417 PAINTER

Mira Schor

Born 1950

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7423 EMPLOYEE

Burrell Smith

Born 1955

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7427 DIPLOMAT

Nabil Fahmi

Born 1951

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7432 PLAYER

Bruce Manson

Born 1956

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7442 BASKET

Georgie Torres

Born 1957

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7455 WRITER

Crescent Dragonwagon

Born 1952

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7457 AUTHOR

Dan Raviv

Born 1954

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7472 ACTOR

Donna Wilkes

Born 1958

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7480 ORIENTALIST

Catherine Bell (religious studies scholar)

1952 - 2008

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7483 JOCKEY

Mark Kamins

1955 - 2013

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7487 BASKET

Cal Bruton

Born 1954

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7501 PHYSICIAN

Gary Hartstein

Born 1955

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7510 PHOTOGRAPHER

Arlene Gottfried

1950 - 2017

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7515 ARTIST

Arlene Shechet

Born 1951

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7517 MUSIC

Frank Infante

Born 1951

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7522 JOURNALIST

David Kirkpatrick (author)

Born 1953

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7526 COMPUTER SCIENTIST

Daniel Weinreb

1959 - 2012

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7532 JOCKEY

Mr. Magic

1956 - 2009

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7543 DANCER

Nancy Stark Smith

1952 - 2020

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7551 RAPPER

Sauce Money

Born 1950

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7561 SCULPTOR

Rona Pondick

Born 1952

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7582 MUSIC

Sue Evans

Born 1951

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7587 FOOTBALL

Otis Wilson

Born 1957

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7602 BOXER

Eddie Mustafa Muhammad

Born 1952

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7603 PLAYER

Dan Shak

Born 1959

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7605 PSYCHIATRIST

Kenneth Kendler

Born 1950

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7619 ACTOR

June Angela

Born 1959

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7628 MUSIC

Kenwood Dennard

Born 1956

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7658 WRITER

Lesléa Newman

Born 1955

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7669 MUSIC

Paul Schwartz

Born 1956

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7674 FILM

Alan Greenberg (film director)

1950 - 2015

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7680 ECONOMIST

Nicholas Eberstadt

Born 1955

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7694 PHYSICIAN

Michael Newdow

Born 1953

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7700 FILM

Matthew Harrison (director)

Born 1959

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7710 FILM

Nelson Antonio Denis

Born 1955

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7711 PHYSICIST

Jonathan Lunine

Born 1959

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7727 PHILOSOPHER

Debra Satz

Born 1956

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7741 BASKET

Geoff Huston

Born 1957

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7746 COMPOSER

John Musto

Born 1954

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7760 COMPOSER

Jay Gruska

Born 1953

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7785 COMPOSER

John Massari

Born 1957

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7832 ACTOR

C. J. Laing

Born 1956

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7844 FILM

Robert W. Cort

Born 1951

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7847 ACTOR

David Harris (American actor)

Born 1959

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7848 WRITER

Consuelo de Haviland

Born 1955

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7850 BASKET

Reggie Carter

1957 - 1999

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7851 COMPOSER

Robert Greenberg

Born 1954

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7864 MUSIC

Ken Tucker

Born 1953

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7872 MUSIC

Paul Oscher

Born 1950

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