39.9292° N, 75.2300° W
PHILADELPHIA
Most Famous People Born in Philadelphia, United States
- 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.
One face per decade — the most globally famous figure born in Philadelphia during each.
Notable Births by Decade
Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1940s with 556 notable births.
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.
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.
- Sports
- Politics & Law
- Film & TV
- Music
- Science
- Writing
- Other
Joanne Boyle
Born 1963
Walt Masterson
1920 - 2008
Roberto Lugo
Born 1981
Ed Savitz
1942 - 1993
Jeffrey Gangwisch
Born 1985
Lobo Nocho
1919 - 1997
Denique Graves
Born 1975
Dick Koecher
1926 - 2020
Scott Northey
Born 1946
Gerry Czarnecki
Born 1940
Ross Hunter (politician)
Born 1961
Frank Rizzo Jr.
Born 1943
David Burpee
1893 - 1980
Friedrich von Schirach
1870 - 1924
Hardy Williams
1931 - 2010
Robert Foster (baseball)
1856 - 1921
Robert L. Barchi
Born 1946
Flawless Sabrina
1939 - 2017
David Evangelista
-
Ken Simendinger
1899 - 1972
Herbert Wertheim
-
Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt
1901 - 1978
Wid Conroy
1877 - 1959
Mal Arnold
Born 1933
Bert Kuczynski
1920 - 1997
Helen Knipe Carpenter
1881 - 1959
Florence Kirk
1909 - 1999
James L. Lardner
1802 - 1881
Lou Young
1894 - 1948
Bernard D. Meltzer
1914 - 2007
Barbara Handman
1928 - 2013
Mary Schmidt Campbell
Born 1947
David P. Richardson (Pennsylvania politician)
1948 - 1995
Bruce Parkhill
Born 1949
Jimmy Haggerty
Died 1871
John William Ditter Jr.
1921 - 2019
Sam Field
1848 - 1904
Jack O'Brien (catcher)
1860 - 1910
Harold E. Pierce
1922 - 2006
Fred Anton
Born 1934
Kempton Greene
1890 - 1939
Emma Garrett
1840 - 1893
Michael Caruso (musician)
Born 1954
Thomas W. Blackwell
1958 - 2017
Clifford Grayson
1857 - 1951
Peter S. Kraus
-
Lois Pope
Born 1933
Tom Laputka
Born 1947
Dan White (magician)
Born 1981
Bryan Anderson (American football)
Born 1980
Gino Jennings
Born 1962
Wendell Tucker
Born 1943
Steven Ward (TV personality)
Born 1980
Joe McGrail
Born 1964
Edward Julian Nally
1859 - 1953
Bob Grupp
Born 1955
Darryl Hall
Born 1963
Robert G. Lewis
1916 - 2011
Pat Kelly (infielder)
Born 1967
Jerome Jaffe
-
Ann Sophia Towne Darrah
1819 - 1881
George A.H. Blake
1810 - 1884
Doug Banks
1958 - 2016
Ari Wolfe
Born 1971
John Idzik
1928 - 2013
Gordon Brown (running back)
Born 1963
Gerald Feehery
Born 1960
Charles D. Griffin
1906 - 1996
Louis Robertshaw
1912 - 2003
John McMullin
1849 - 1881
Mike Schneider (news anchor)
Born 1952
Mike Pasquella
1898 - 1965
Peggy Rae Sapienza
1944 - 2015
Dan Sweeney
1868 - 1913
Joe Faragalli
1929 - 2006
William Newhall
1883 - 1950
Melissa Noriega
Born 1954
Fred Tappert
1940 - 2002
L. W. Riess
1887 - 1946
George F. Good Jr.
1901 - 1991
Simon Belasco
1918 - 1999
Shenita Landry
Born 1987
Bill Henderson (publisher)
Born 1941
Jane Hunt
1812 - 1889
W. Wilson White
1906 - 1964
Lance W. Lord
Born 1946
Leah Cevoli
Born 1974
Ed Sheridan
Born 1957
John Butler (American football coach)
Born 1973
Johnny Ryan (baseball)
1853 - 1902
Ira Davis (athlete)
Born 1936
Harvest Smith
Born 1963
Richard B. Teitelman
1947 - 2016
Joseph Shallit
1915 - 1995
Edward Arnett
Born 1922
Ric Edelman
-
Tryon Reakirt
1844 - 1871
Joe McKeown
Born 1956
E. Richard Cohen
Born 1922
Joe Senser
Born 1956
George W. Cutter
Born 1849
Michael McGeehan
Born 1960
Jim O'Neil (American football)
Born 1978
C. Scott Bounds
Born 1962
George Pocheptsov
Born 1992
Mario Civera
Born 1946
Troy Roberts (journalist)
Born 1962
Arnold Stiefel
-
Thomas A. Scully
-
Adrian R. Morrison
Born 1935
Ralph Caldwell
1884 - 1969
Harrison Graham
Born 1959
Barbara Bry
-
Anye Elite
Born 1987
Heinrich Harry Deierling
1894 - 1989
Tierra Whack
-
Elizabeth Macdowell Kenton
1858 - 1953
Mahlon Duckett
1922 - 2015
Barclay H. Warburton III
1922 - 1983
Stan Javie
1919 - 2002
William Demko
Born 1895
Frank DiCicco
Born 1946
Louis J. Gross
Born 1952
Scott Forster
Born 1971
Perry Lopez (Musiker)
Born 1924
Martin Levey
1913 - 1970
Iris Kelso
1926 - 2003
Arthur Alan Wolk
Born 1943
Mike Loan
1894 - 1966
William Mervine
1791 - 1868
Walter Otto Grimm
1897 - 1919
Walter Rand
1919 - 1995
Kirby Mack
Born 1983
Jesus Martinez (fighter)
Born 1983
John Richmond (shortstop)
1855 - 1898
Thomas Bowers (singer)
1823 - 1885
Jerry Crawford
Born 1947
Upton Bell
Born 1938
Myrka Dellanos
Born 1965
Philip Fishbourne Wharton
1841 - 1880
Colby Corino
Born 1996
Anthony R. Ierardi
Born 1960
Bill Straub
Born 1957
Bob Rice
1899 - 1986
Charles R. Weiner
1922 - 2005
Vic Frank
1927 - 2010
John A. Rocco
1936 - 2020
Charles Stewart McCauley
1793 - 1869
Larry Miller (sports executive)
-
Stanley A. Weiss
Born 1926
Dawud Anyabwile
Born 1965
Frank Modell
1917 - 2016
Father John D’Amico
1939 - 2013
Edmund Haffee
Born 1832
Charlie Bates (baseball)
1907 - 1980
Frank Coonelly
-
Larry Marshall (American football)
Born 1950
Joe Gunson
1863 - 1942
Jud Birchall
1855 - 1887
Edwin J. Hill
1894 - 1941
Harry Hawk
1837 - 1916
Susan Denin
1835 - 1875
David M. Buchanan
1862 - 1936
James Hood Wright
1836 - 1894
Kevin Stefanski
Born 1982
Marguerite McBey
1905 - 1999
Tom Gannon
Born 1943
Nicole Henry
-
Phil Slosburg
1926 - 2018
Al Spohrer
1902 - 1972
Amy Gladfelter
Born 1974
Will Martinez
Born 1980
Ben T. Elliott
Born 1944
Dan Hirschhorn
-
Edward C. Hugler
Born 1950
Jim Braude
Born 1949
Joan Moore
Born 1954
Alexander Henry Hoff
1822 - 1876
Planetary (rapper)
Born 1978
Bob Bell (American football)
Born 1948
Anthony Taylor (Medal of Honor)
1837 - 1894
Henry Goddard Leach
1880 - 1970
Roger LaLonde
Born 1942
Paris Horne
Born 1987
Charlie Nyce
1870 - 1908
Margaret Wallace
Born 1967
Mark Dobies
Born 1959
Frank L. Oliver
1922 - 2018
Richard Hamilton (Medal of Honor)
1836 - 1881
Robert Enders (Regisseur)
1919 - 2007
Richard Longstreet Tea
1840 - 1911
Douglas Baird
Born 1953
Speedy Morris
Born 1942
Fred Lutkefedder
1910 - 1986
Stanhope Wood Nixon
1894 - 1958
John Bigelow IV
Born 2001
Joey Vento
1939 - 2011
Nicholas Micozzie
1928 - 2020
John Radcliff
1848 - 1911
Barry Lee Myers
Born 1989
Albert J. Neri
1952 - 2011
Gil Boyne
1924 - 2010
Peter Camiel
1910 - 1991
Mike Jackson (auto)
Born 1949
Charles John Hexamer
1862 - 1921
Michael Horsey
Born 1949
Joseph A. Steger
1937 - 2013
Ann Fetter Friedlaender
1938 - 1992
Nat Bonx
1900 - 1950
Scott Harrison (charity founder)
Born 1975
Barry Beckham
Born 1944
Fred Warner (baseball)
1855 - 1886
Mary Elitch Long
1850 - 1936
Martin R. Steele
-
Brooks Tegler
Born 1954
Deesha Dyer
Born 1978
Cliff Ross
1928 - 1999
Miguel Cartagena
Born 1992
George T. Faust
1908 - 1985
James Patrick Rossiter
1890 - 1943
Amelia Smith Calvert
1876 - 1965
Hugh Miller (Medal of Honor)
Born 1859
Louis Fred Pfeifer
1876 - 1949
Matthias Kannengiesser
Born 1974
Bill McCloskey
1854 - 1924
Clifford S. Perlman
1926 - 2016
William E. Ashton
1859 - 1933
Clifton Maloney
1937 - 2009
Alice Lord (diver)
1902 - 2000
Karen Czarnecki
Born 1956
Tony Morgano
1913 - 1985
Maurice S. Campbell
1869 - 1942
Jamie Howarth
-
Elwood Geiges
1895 - 1977
Frank D'Agostino
1934 - 1997
Monté Ross
Born 1970
Lou Rell
1940 - 2014
Clifford Scott Green
1923 - 2007
Paul F. Keene Jr.
1920 - 2009
George T. Kenney
Born 1957
Samuel Howell Ashbridge
1848 - 1906
Tim Wendel (writer)
Born 1956
Jimmy Hope
1836 - 1905
John Riddle (baseball)
1864 - 1931
Ray Errol Fox
Born 1939
Susan Hoffman Williams
Born 1960
Charles L. Thomas (Medal of Honor, 1865)
1843 - 1923
Henry Easterday
1864 - 1895
Charles Smith (basketball, born October 1975)
Born 1975
Richard F. Whiten
Born 1967
Frank Du Moulin
Born 1850
Harry Prime
1920 - 2017
Darmani Rock
Born 1996
Wilma B. Liebman
Born 1950
Lawrence Townsend
1860 - 1954
Randy Monroe
Born 1962
John H. Carrington
Born 1934
Tod Brynan
1863 - 1925
Harry L. MacNeal
1875 - 1950
Christopher Wogan
Born 1950
George Fazio
1912 - 1986
Sam Weaver (baseball)
1855 - 1914
Dick Wilson (golf course architect)
1904 - 1965
Bill Carney
1925 - 2017
Dick Whittington (acteur)
-
Robert Garland
Born 1961
Fran Smith Jr.
Born 1952
Jake Bronstein
Born 1978
George Martorano
Born 1948
James Louis Schad
1917 - 2002
Bert Yeabsley
1893 - 1961
Chuck Zapiec
Born 1949
Edward T. Welburn
Born 1950
Carmen Piccone
1929 - 2005
Mike Evans (offensive lineman)
Born 1946
Mike Faragalli
Born 1958
Tom Miller (catcher)
1850 - 1876
Bill Green IV
Born 1965
J Farell
Born 1982
Edith Houghton
1912 - 2013
Frank J. Lynch
1922 - 1987
Bill Haeffner
1894 - 1982
Doc Landis
Born 1854
Lou Nolan
Born 1945
H. Jack Seltzer
1922 - 2011
Nancy Kominsky
1915 - 2011
Ronald Donatucci
Born 1948
Nanette M. DeRenzi
-
Herbert Fineman
1920 - 2016
Timothy Huang
Born 1974
Carl Grubbs
-
George Baldi III
Born 1970
Maje McDonnell
1920 - 2010
Jerry Ross (record producer)
1933 - 2017
Jerry McCormick
1861 - 1905
Marilyn Lewis
Born 1931
D'Andre Swift
Born 1999
Dick Carter
1916 - 1969
Alan Strange
1906 - 1994
Doug Fitch
Born 1959