40.4418° N, 80.0008° W

PITTSBURGH

Most Famous People Born in Pittsburgh, United States

Notable people
2,110
Peak decade
1940s
Median birth year
1938
Most distinctive
Baseball 6.2×

A steel city with an unusually literary bench — novelists, screenwriters, and musicians at the top, the legacy of Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh — alongside the expected baseball and basketball shelves. Pittsburgh's most famous son is Andy Warhol, with Gene Kelly, Gertrude Stein, Martha Graham, and Mary Cassatt a few shelves down; the philanthropic tradition is what happens when the Mellons, Fricks, and Carnegies all live on the same hill.

Through the Decades

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

Notable Births by Decade

Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1940s with 233 notable births.

What Pittsburgh Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Football is Pittsburgh's biggest profession — 11% of all notables (242).

Pittsburgh over-indexes on baseball6.2× the global rate.

Pittsburgh under-produces painter — only 0.7× the global rate.

  1. Football242
  2. Politician193
  3. Actor176
  4. Baseball148
  5. Lawyer72
  6. Basket69
  7. Music64
  8. Writer52
  1. Baseball1486.2×
  2. Novelist253.0×
  3. Basket692.6×
  4. Screenwriter232.5×
  5. Officer302.2×
  6. Music642.1×
  7. Lawyer722.0×
  8. Business361.7×
  1. Painter370.7×

Profession Mix Over Time

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

175018001850190019502000
  • Sports
  • Politics & Law
  • Film & TV
  • Music
  • Writing
  • Science
  • Other
All2,110
Sort By

Showing 36 of 2,110 notable people

0005 PAINTER

Mary Cassatt

1844 - 1926

Preview
0088 ENTREPRENEUR

Henry J. Heinz

1844 - 1919

Preview
0141 CRIMINAL

Alferd Packer

1842 - 1907

Preview
0355 WRITER

Hallie Quinn Brown

1849 - 1949

Preview
0389 OFFICER

Samuel Baldwin Marks Young

1840 - 1924

Preview
0508 POLITICIAN

Letitia Stevenson

1843 - 1913

Preview
0544 PLAYWRIGHT

Bartley Campbell

1843 - 1888

Preview
0619 INDUSTRIALIST

William Henry Conley

1840 - 1897

Preview
0688 POLITICIAN

John Buchanan Robinson

1846 - 1933

Preview
0708 ACTOR

Joseph J. Dowling

1848 - 1928

Preview
0781 NOVELIST

Charles Romeyn Dake

1849 - 1899

Preview
0791 POLITICIAN

James W. Brown

1844 - 1909

Preview
0834 ATTORNEY

Alexander Gilmore Cochran

1846 - 1928

Preview
0904 PAINTER

Charles Stanley Reinhart

1844 - 1896

Preview
0908 POLITICIAN

Charles Champlain Townsend

1841 - 1910

Preview
0914 POLITICIAN

William Harrison Graham

1844 - 1923

Preview
1033 SPORT

Denny McKnight

1848 - 1900

Preview
1149 POLITICIAN

John Herriott

1844 - 1918

Preview
1259 BASEBALL

Al Pratt (baseball)

1847 - 1937

Preview
1283 COLONEL

James Martinus Schoonmaker

1842 - 1927

Preview
1324 POLITICIAN

Christopher Magee (politician)

1848 - 1901

Preview
1357 SUFFRAGETTE

Helen Ekin Starrett

1840 - 1920

Preview
1394 THEOLOGIAN

David Riddle Breed

1848 - 1931

Preview
1418 POLITICIAN

William J. Diehl

1845 - 1929

Preview
1498 MINISTER

David Gregg (minister)

1846 - 1919

Preview
1583 POLITICIAN

Jeremiah A. Brown

1841 - 1913

Preview
1611 BUSINESS

John A. Wiley

1843 - 1909

Preview
1627 BASEBALL

William A. Nimick

1848 - 1907

Preview
1678 ARMY

Gotlieb Luty

1842 - 1904

Preview
1713 LAWYER

Levi C. Wade

1843 - 1891

Preview
1750 BUSINESS

William Plankinton

1843 - 1905

Preview
1795 ARMY

Charles Higby

1841 - 1903

Preview
1863 LAWYER

James Scott Young

1848 - 1914

Preview
1942 BUSINESS

Samuel S. Brown

1842 - 1905

Preview
2016 SOLDIER

Archibald H. Rowand, Jr.

1845 - 1913

Preview
2094 POLITICIAN

Neal Cheetham

1845 - 1917

Preview