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
George C. Rickards
1860 - 1933
Chris Rickley
1859 - 1911
Louis Silverman
1909 - 1992
George Hesselbacher
1895 - 1980
Austin J. Durney
1867 - 1926
Seth Tobias
1963 - 2007
Eric Simonoff
Born 1969
Jules Mastbaum
1872 - 1926
Mary Simmons
Born 1928
Richard Costello
Born 1951
John Strike
Born 1865
Joe Hudson (pitcher)
Born 1970
Tyrone Williams (defensive tackle)
Born 1972
Joseph A. Sullivan
1911 - 2002
Gary Emanuel
Born 1958
D. Magruder
-
Tom Gillen
1862 - 1889
Pat Ciarrocchi
Born 1952
Robert von Ezdorf
1889 - 1956
George N. Galloway
1841 - 1904
Jim Field
1863 - 1953
Nelson Obus
Born 1947
Bill Hallman (outfielder)
1876 - 1950
Eugene McGill
Born 1956
William J. Lederer (Pennsylvania politician)
1924 - 2008
Samuel B. Booth
1883 - 1935
George Charles Boldt Jr.
1879 - 1958
Liquid (rapper)
Born 1979
Dorothea Grossman
1937 - 2012
Bill Price (baseball)
1863 - 1922
Adolph Lessig
1869 - 1935
James J. A. Gallagher
1928 - 1992
Jack McFetridge
1869 - 1917
Thomas J. Madden
Born 1938
Sam Bradman
Born 1990
Tyler Hines
Born 1990
Richard Rothstein (academic)
Born 1939
Ben Paterson
Born 1982
Jim Stanton
-
Barton G. Weiss
-
Robert A. Gray
1834 - 1906
Al Sauter
1868 - 1928
B. J. Johnson (basketball)
Born 1995
Dave Lischner
Born 1962
George L. Sargent
1863 - 1944
Frank Monte
1931 - 1982
Charlie Gessner
1863 - 1922
Carol A. DiBattiste
Born 1951
Ed Gallagher (American football, born 1903)
1903 - 1963
George Corneal
1883 - 1944
Bill Welch
1941 - 2009
John F. De Swan
1876 - 1956
Stuart Gibbs
Born 1969
Marc Verica
Born 1988
Harry Diddlebock
1854 - 1900
Edward L. Gilligan
1843 - 1922
Max DiLeo
Born 1993
Barbara Ketcham Wheaton
Born 1931
Bill Knowlton
1898 - 1944
F. Emmett Fitzpatrick
1930 - 2014
Joseph Gladeck
Born 1950
Wallace McCurdy
1892 - 1970
Joseph T. Jones
1842 - 1916
James R. Lloyd
1950 - 1989
Brian Marsella
-
Peter Allen (physician)
1921 - 2014
Anna Lukens
1844 - 1917
Bart Cantz
1860 - 1943
William J. Schwartz
Born 1950
Pete Donnelly (baseball)
1849 - 1890
Lenny Seidman
-
Martin A. Herman
Born 1939
William Lyshon
1887 - 1918
Caroline Spencer (suffragist)
1861 - 1928
William C. Pfefferle
1923 - 2010
Francis Tenaglio
Born 1949
Vince Ratti
-
Horace Hodes
1907 - 1989
A. King Dickson
1876 - 1938
Ed Irvin
1882 - 1916
Gerald Nugent
1892 - 1970
Henry Zeiher
1862 - 1951
Walter Schlichter
1866 - 1944
Samuel Rappaport
1932 - 2016
Warren Miller (baseball)
1885 - 1956
Gerald Bowman
Born 1989
Art McNally
Born 1925
Jennifer Stefano
-
I Michael Leitman
Born 1959
Chris Vincent (American football)
Born 1981
Lefty Herring
1880 - 1965
Bill Farmer (baseball)
1864 - 1928
Bill Shettsline
1863 - 1933
Harry Snodgrass
-
David M. Hall
-
Miriam Balaban
-
Jessica Czop
Born 1986
David Antonio Cruz
Born 1974
Kathy Flores
Born 1955
Stephen Silvasy Jr.
Born 1941
Maury Henry Biddle Paul
1890 - 1942
Tonyelle Cook-Artis
-
Dalex
Born 1990
Bernie Kaplan
1913 - 1992
John P. Moon
Born 1938
Edith Longstreth Wood
1885 - 1967
Ken McDonald (soccer)
Born 1957
Ryshiem Henderson
-
Victor H. Blanc
1897 - 1968
De'Andre Hunter
Born 1997
Joseph Mitchell (Medal of Honor)
1876 - 1925
Bernie Agrons
1922 - 2015
Julien Aklei
Born 1975
Denise King
Born 1954
John Ziegler (guitarist)
-
Minnie Dessau Louis
1841 - 1922
Debbie Goddard
Born 1980
Reggie Barnes
Born 1967
Betty Johnson (physicist)
1936 - 2003
Rick Ney
1961 - 2017
Jonathan Dordick
Born 1959
Peter O. Price
Born 1940
Allen Harvin
Born 1959
Ida Dixon
1854 - 1916
T'Melle
Born 1988
Byron Landham
Born 1969
Jim McTamany
1863 - 1916
Young Jack O'Brien
Born 1894
Richard Waller
Born 1929
William Allen (soldier)
1845 - 1882
Diehl Mateer
1928 - 2012
Sam Greenblatt
-
Woody Wheaton
1914 - 1995
Carmen Tyson-Thomas
Born 1991
Kelly O'Dell
Born 1973
Frederick F. Woerner Jr.
Born 1933
Japhia Life
Born 1977
Hermon Hitson
Born 1943
John Miller Carson Jr.
1864 - 1956
William Rupp
1927 - 2002
Roy Reinard
Born 1954
J. Edward Addicks
1841 - 1919
Dylan Cunningham
Born 1994
Joe Logan
Born 1974
Thomas McCreesh
1928 - 2016
Roy Neal
1921 - 2003
Dawn Noel
-
Tony Bono
Born 1963
Walter Bortz II
Born 1930
William G. Taylor
1829 - 1910
Lynwood Savage
Born 1954
Harry Crafton
-
Albert Hoskins
Born 1899
Stephen Stewart (basketball)
Born 1970
Thomas R. Potts
1810 - 1874
Lamar Stevens
Born 1997
Eugene Freedman
1925 - 2008
Marty Watt
Born 1952
Alicia Levy
1963 - 2007
Tom McDonald (soccer)
Born 1959
Sylvia Hassenfeld
1920 - 2014
Connie Morgan
1935 - 1996
Nick Falcon
Born 1968
Mark Reed (academic)
-
Henry A. Lyons
1809 - 1872
Alan J. Gould
1898 - 1993
Marc Kligman
Born 1970
Wally Andrews
1859 - 1940
Isaac Sapp
1844 - 1913
Moses Williams (artist)
1777 - 1825
Joseph Simon Lord III
1912 - 1991
Tom Nussbaum
Born 1953
Bubba Torres
Born 1991
Ívar DeCarsta Webster
Born 1955
Washington Fulmer
1840 - 1907
Glenn Schwartz (meteorologist)
-
Martin Laub
Born 1944
Phil Baker (baseball)
1856 - 1940
Adele Berlin
-
Gene Shay
1935 - 2020
Sondra Sherman
Born 1958
William H. Ginn Jr.
1928 - 2010
Gary Catona
Born 1952
Joe Williams (defensive end)
Born 1942
Dave Dunaway
1945 - 2001
Joe Ward (baseball)
1884 - 1934
Dewey Lee Yoder Jr
Born 1930
John Nanoski
1918 - 2011
Amin Ali
Born 1956
Edna Buckman Kearns
1882 - 1934
Frank Seravalli
Born 1988
Sean Davis (photographe)
Born 1969
James M. Trout
1850 - 1910
Dwayne White
Born 1967
Audrey Bleiler
1933 - 1975
Charles Hammock
1941 - 2014
Andrew Kahn
Born 1952
Cecil Clay
1842 - 1903
Walter Stocker
1925 - 2003
Edward Wiggins
1933 - 2015
Charles D. Worthington
1928 - 1999
Tim McGinley
1854 - 1899
Joe Dougherty (rower)
1901 - 1981
Rose Toll
1911 - 1997
Dave Magarity
Born 1950
Hollie Mershon
Born 1990
John Mulligan (baseball)
-
Lois Sherman Hagarty
Born 1948
Joe Kohlman
1913 - 1974
William Wagner (philanthropist)
1796 - 1885
Ed Greer
1865 - 1890
Lydia Artymiw
-
Harriet Zeitlin
Born 1929
Charles S. Trimmier
1918 - 1967
Bruce Beall
Born 1951
James T. Nulty
Born 1857
Diane Braceland
Born 1950
Dick Steinberg
1935 - 1995
Cy Malis
1907 - 1971
Edward Marshall (rower)
Born 1908
Gerard Kosinski
Born 1954
Otis Johnson (athlete)
Born 1932
John Boake
1841 - 1912
Edgar R. Bassett
1914 - 1942
William Steel Creighton
1902 - 1973
James Moroney
Born 1953
Joseph Toland
1928 - 2002
Ann Wood-Kelly
1918 - 2006
Lester Shubin
1925 - 2009
Scott Lenet
-
Paul Makler Jr.
Born 1946
Patrick B. Gillespie
Born 1945
James M. McIntyre
1918 - 1991
Godfrey Diamond
-
Randolph Zane
1887 - 1918
Bob Rickenbach
Born 1950
Norman Sussman
1905 - 1969
Mary Ann Arty
1926 - 2000
Fortunato Perri
Born 1936
Bill Black (baseball)
1899 - 1968
W. Coleman Nevils
1878 - 1955
Matthew Cianciulli
1942 - 2008
Melvyn J. Shochet
Born 1944
John Waldron (lawyer)
-
Tom Kirk (baseball)
1927 - 1974
Ed Sixsmith
1863 - 1926
Seth Meisterman
Born 1975
Jim McGarr
1888 - 1981
Nicholas Maiale
Born 1951
Eric Battle
-
Brendan Walter
Born 1986
Jimmy Vass
1937 - 2006
James Anthony Wills
1912 - 1993
John Renninger
1924 - 2005
Minna Antrim
1861 - 1950
George W. Jackson
Born 1924
Red Rosan
1911 - 1976
P. T. Ricci
Born 1987
Harry Hempstead
1868 - 1938
Grace Gemberling
1903 - 1997
Samuel Goodman (cricketer)
1877 - 1905
Peter Daniel Truman
1935 - 2018
William S. Stokley
1823 - 1902
Joseph C. Boyle
1888 - 1972
Wilmer Carter
Born 1941
Jillian Shea Spaeder
Born 2002
Earl Greenburg
1947 - 2008
Richard Hayden (Pennsylvania politician)
Born 1956
Wesley S. Williams Jr.
Born 1942
Francis Lund Van Dusen
1912 - 1993
Harry R. J. Comer
1912 - 1990
Nicholas Pucciarelli
1923 - 1983
Shelley Spector
Born 1960
Stephen S. Aichele
Born 1948
Mike Robinson (soccer)
Born 1958
Roland Greenfield
1919 - 1997
Sparrow McCaffrey
1868 - 1894
Bernie Snyder
1913 - 1999
Thomas Mack (rowing)
1913 - 2002
John K. Cheyney
1858 - 1939
Lois Fernandez
1936 - 2017
Freddy Winnai
1905 - 1977
William Culbertson III
1905 - 1971
Benjamin Donolow
1917 - 1972
H. Boyd McKeen
1835 - 1864
Robert J. Sinclair
1932 - 2009
Thomas McIntosh
1921 - 2005
Frances Weston
1954 - 2005
George C. Prendergast
Born 1961
Fred Siegel (baseball)
1861 - 1916
Dave Mazzoni
Born 1979
Aaron Fenton
Born 1982
Harold Kaese
1909 - 1975
Leonard W. Riches
Born 1939
Whitey Ritterson
1855 - 1917
David Savitt
1928 - 2018
Ed Watkins
1877 - 1933
Harry Clay Adler
1865 - 1940
Harry O'Donnell
1894 - 1958
George Snyder (baseball)
1848 - 1905