40.9156° N, 74.1631° W

PATERSON

Most Famous People Born in Paterson, United States

Notable people
331
Peak decade
1950s
Median birth year
1941
Most distinctive
Baseball 5.8×
Through the Decades

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

Notable Births by Decade

Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1950s with 50 notable births.

What Paterson Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Politician is Paterson's biggest profession — 10% of all notables (33).

Paterson over-indexes on baseball5.8× the global rate.

Paterson under-produces football — only 0.7× the global rate.

  1. Politician33
  2. Football25
  3. Actor24
  4. Lawyer23
  5. Baseball22
  6. Music13
  7. Basket13
  8. Film9
  1. Baseball225.8×
  2. Screenwriter64.2×
  3. Lawyer234.0×
  4. Physicist53.6×
  5. Basket133.1×
  6. Music132.8×
  7. Film92.2×
  8. Athletic71.9×
  1. Football250.7×

Profession Mix Over Time

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

180018251850187519001925195019752000
  • Sports
  • Politics & Law
  • Film & TV
  • Music
  • Writing
  • Science
  • Other
All331
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Showing 36 of 331 notable people

0008 SINGER

Randy Edelman

Born 1947

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0034 BIOLOGIST

Joan Roughgarden

Born 1946

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0038 LINGUIST

Alexander Berzin (scholar)

Born 1944

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0047 PHYSICIST

Bernard F. Schutz

Born 1946

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0053 EDUCATION

Michael Apple

Born 1942

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0073 NOVELIST

David Rosenfelt

Born 1949

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0077 FILM

Alfred Sole

Born 1943

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0078 ACTOR

Joseph Cortese

Born 1948

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0085 PHYSICIST

H. Jay Melosh

1947 - 2020

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0089 DRUMMER

Michael Hossack

1946 - 2012

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0111 WRITER

Diana G. Gallagher

Born 1946

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0114 LAWYER

W. Cary Edwards

1944 - 2010

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0120 COMPOSER

Eugene O'Brien (composer)

Born 1945

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0126 BOTANIST

Daniel Moerman

Born 1941

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0131 PRIEST

Nicholas Samra

Born 1944

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0132 SINGER

Jimmy Charles

Born 1942

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0133 BASEBALL

Johnny Briggs (baseball)

Born 1944

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0153 WRITER

Nora Kelly (writer)

Born 1945

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0160 POET

Maria Mazziotti Gillan

Born 1940

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0172 ACTOR

Vincent Baggetta

1944 - 2017

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0182 ILLUSTRATOR

Don Brautigam

1946 - 2008

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0186 BASEBALL

Mike Jackson (left-handed pitcher)

Born 1946

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0192 FOOTBALL

Bruce Jankowski

Born 1949

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0205 LAWYER

Jack LaSota

Born 1941

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0212 LAWYER

Nicholas Garaufis

Born 1948

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0213 CHOREOGRAPHER

Andy Degroat

Born 1947

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0228 MUSIC

Bob DeVos

Born 1946

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0232 FOOTBALL

Larry Hand

Born 1940

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0238 SCREENWRITER

Richard Fire

1945 - 2015

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0251 ACTOR

Doug Momary

Born 1947

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0262 POLITICIAN

John Girgenti

Born 1947

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0277 PHYSIOLOGIST

Joseph Brain (academic)

Born 1940

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0278 POLITICIAN

Henri S. Rauschenbach

Born 1947

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0281 ENGINEER

Gerald Ash

Born 1942

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0319 ARTIST

Laurie Fendrich

Born 1948

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0327 WRITER

Rachel Guido deVries

Born 1947

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