39.9292° N, 75.2300° W

PHILADELPHIA

Most Famous People Born in Philadelphia, USA

Notable people
5,575
Peak decade
1940s
Median birth year
1928
Most distinctive
Baseball 6.0×

The original American capital, then the capital of nothing in particular, then a sports town. Philadelphia's notables run thick through the 18th century — lawyers, philanthropists, financiers — and then settle into a long, steady output of baseball players, basketball players, jazz bandleaders, and character actors. The city has one of the highest shares of notables in organized labor of the early 20th century and one of the deepest benches of soul singers of the late 20th.

Standouts

What Philadelphia Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Politician is Philadelphia's biggest profession — 9% of all notables (482).

Philadelphia over-indexes on baseball 6.0× the global rate.

Philadelphia under-produces football — only 0.4× the global rate.

  1. Politician 482 0.7×
  2. Actor 414 1.4×
  3. Baseball 383 6.0×
  4. Basket 260 3.7×
  5. Football 251 0.4×
  6. Music 206 2.6×
  7. Lawyer 185 1.9×
  8. Singer 161 1.4×
  1. Baseball 383 6.0×
  2. Basket 260 3.7×
  3. Boxer 72 3.3×
  4. Rower 57 2.8×
  5. Music 206 2.6×
  6. Officer 84 2.3×
  7. Lawyer 185 1.9×
  8. Film 113 1.6×
  1. Football 251 0.4×

Profession Mix Over Time

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

1700 1750 1800 1850 1900 1950 2000
  • Sports
  • Politics & Law
  • Film & TV
  • Music
  • Writing
  • Art & Design
  • Other
Film113
Sort By

Showing 113 of 5,575 notable people

0008 FILM

Man Ray

1890 - 1976

Preview
0010 FILM

Sidney Lumet

1924 - 2011

Preview
0012 FILM

Lionel Barrymore

1878 - 1954

Preview
0033 FILM

Adam McKay

Born 1968

Preview
0036 FILM

Bruce Davison

Born 1946

Preview
0044 FILM

Irvin Kershner

1923 - 2010

Preview
0047 FILM

Arthur Penn

1922 - 2010

Preview
0059 FILM

Lee Daniels

Born 1959

Preview
0079 FILM

Richard Lester

Born 1932

Preview
0098 FILM

Sam Wood

1884 - 1949

Preview
0106 FILM

Jennifer Lynch

Born 1968

Preview
0159 FILM

Randal Kleiser

Born 1946

Preview
0165 FILM

Clark Johnson

Born 1954

Preview
0216 FILM

Margaret Whitton

1950 - 2016

Preview
0219 FILM

Dan Trachtenberg

Born 1981

Preview
0234 FILM

Chuck Barris

1929 - 2017

Preview
0235 FILM

Steven E. de Souza

Born 1947

Preview
0249 FILM

Susan Seidelman

Born 1952

Preview
0281 FILM

Philip Casnoff

Born 1949

Preview
0287 FILM

David Mirkin

Born 1955

Preview
0304 FILM

Leon Schlesinger

1884 - 1949

Preview
0311 FILM

Marshall Herskovitz

Born 1952

Preview
0329 FILM

William Keighley

1889 - 1984

Preview
0335 FILM

Jack Sholder

Born 1945

Preview
0437 FILM

Ross Katz

Born 1971

Preview
0442 FILM

Jules Bass

Born 1935

Preview
0445 FILM

Paul Wendkos

1925 - 2009

Preview
0567 FILM

Joseph Breen

1890 - 1965

Preview
0601 FILM

Fred Raskin

Born 1973

Preview
0638 FILM

Nicole Kassell

Born 1972

Preview
0667 FILM

Nathaniel Kahn

Born 1962

Preview
0672 FILM

Alan Poul

Born 1954

Preview
0698 FILM

Thomas Carr (director)

1907 - 1997

Preview
0703 FILM

Benny Boom

Born 1971

Preview
0726 FILM

Lisa Lassek

-

Preview
0727 FILM

Sidney Kimmel

Born 1928

Preview
0735 FILM

Morton DaCosta

1914 - 1989

Preview
0741 FILM

Murray Lerner

1927 - 2017

Preview
0757 FILM

Andrew Kosove

Born 1970

Preview
0867 FILM

Jay Ashley

Born 1971

Preview
0873 FILM

Stan Lathan

Born 1945

Preview
0877 FILM

Richard Suckle

Born 1969

Preview
0900 FILM

Chuck Workman

Born 1967

Preview
0901 FILM

William H. Ziegler

1909 - 1977

Preview
0926 FILM

Charles Stone III

Born 1966

Preview
0987 FILM

Philip Atwell

Born 1974

Preview
0995 FILM

Sheldon Reynolds (producer)

1923 - 2003

Preview
1022 FILM

Otho Lovering

1892 - 1968

Preview
1074 FILM

Michael Worth

Born 1972

Preview
1103 FILM

Jay Hunt (director)

1855 - 1932

Preview
1107 FILM

Emily Hagins

Born 1992

Preview
1151 FILM

David Howard (director)

1896 - 1941

Preview
1158 FILM

Adam F. Goldberg

Born 1976

Preview
1216 FILM

Duke Worne

1888 - 1933

Preview
1223 FILM

T. Hayes Hunter

1884 - 1944

Preview
1269 FILM

Benjamin Stoloff

1895 - 1960

Preview
1283 FILM

Harry Elfont

Born 1968

Preview
1294 FILM

Mark Rosenthal

Born 1950

Preview
1306 FILM

Elinor Burkett

Born 1946

Preview
1321 FILM

Alex Zamm

-

Preview
1385 FILM

Jack Bernhard

1914 - 1997

Preview
1417 FILM

Kirk Simon

1954 - 2018

Preview
1419 FILM

J. C. Spink

1972 - 2017

Preview
1424 FILM

Bob Marcucci

1930 - 2011

Preview
1435 FILM

Rob Hardy

Born 1971

Preview
1497 FILM

Walter Seltzer

1914 - 2011

Preview
1562 FILM

Noah Buschel

Born 1978

Preview
1577 FILM

Jill Godmilow

Born 1943

Preview
1609 FILM

Harry Revier

1890 - 1957

Preview
1729 FILM

Will S. Davis

1880 - 1920

Preview
1771 FILM

Jonathan Yudis

Born 1971

Preview
1878 FILM

Howard G. Minsky

1914 - 2008

Preview
1887 FILM

Robert A. Masciantonio

Born 1974

Preview
2022 FILM

N. Paul Kenworthy

1925 - 2010

Preview
2062 FILM

David Koff

1939 - 2014

Preview
2194 FILM

Elliot M. Bour

Born 1969

Preview
2236 FILM

Jerold T. Hevener

Born 1873

Preview
2254 FILM

John Powers Middleton

Born 1984

Preview
2354 FILM

Jerrold Freedman

Born 1941

Preview
2377 FILM

Richard Bartlett

1922 - 1994

Preview
2444 FILM

Francis Wilson (actor)

1854 - 1935

Preview
2456 FILM

Bob Brooks

1927 - 2012

Preview
2531 FILM

Ayoka Chenzira

Born 1953

Preview
2622 FILM

Leo Braudy

Born 1941

Preview
2677 FILM

Sidney Glazier

1916 - 2002

Preview
2741 FILM

Paul Lazarus

Born 1954

Preview
2813 FILM

Georgia Lee

Born 1976

Preview
2869 FILM

Will Keenan

Born 1974

Preview
3032 FILM

Mary Aloe

Born 1969

Preview
3035 FILM

Cecelia Condit

Born 1947

Preview
3057 FILM

Max Raab

1926 - 2008

Preview
3182 FILM

Zeinabu irene Davis

Born 1961

Preview
3186 FILM

John Aglialoro

Born 1943

Preview
3248 FILM

Safiya Songhai

Born 1984

Preview
3253 FILM

Carl Lerner

1912 - 1973

Preview
3275 FILM

George Litto

Died 2019

Preview
3379 FILM

Leah Shore

-

Preview
3470 FILM

Steve Hopkins

1929 - 1971

Preview
3564 FILM

Saul Andrew Blinkoff

-

Preview
3567 FILM

Lewis Jacobs

1904 - 1997

Preview
3649 FILM

B. F. Zeidman

1896 - 1970

Preview
3732 FILM

Oscar Lerman

1919 - 1992

Preview
3756 FILM

Frank Richardson (director)

1898 - 1962

Preview
3964 FILM

Joey Coyle

1953 - 1993

Preview
3984 FILM

Harold Lee Tichenor

Born 1946

Preview
4006 FILM

Mark Forstater

Born 1943

Preview
4103 FILM

Earl Lestz

1939 - 2017

Preview
4287 FILM

Leah Cevoli

Born 1974

Preview
4308 FILM

Arnold Stiefel

-

Preview
4514 FILM

Jason Sherman (videographer)

Born 1976

Preview
5091 FILM

Dave Mazzoni

Born 1979

Preview
5112 FILM

Barry Gerson

Born 1939

Preview
5242 FILM

Merritt Hulburd

1903 - 1939

Preview