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
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Showing 37 of 2,110 notable people

0013 BIBLE

Charles Taze Russell

1852 - 1916

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0027 BANK

Andrew Mellon

1855 - 1937

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0068 PAINTER

Henry Ossawa Tanner

1859 - 1937

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0078 POLITICIAN

Philander C. Knox

1853 - 1921

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0144 ILLUSTRATOR

John White Alexander

1856 - 1915

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0223 POLITICIAN

George W. Wickersham

1858 - 1936

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0288 AUTHOR

Margaret Deland

1857 - 1945

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0401 POLITICIAN

George Shiras III

1859 - 1942

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0578 ACTIVIST

Rachel Foster Avery

1858 - 1919

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0624 PAINTER

William Anderson Coffin

1855 - 1925

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0627 POLITICIAN

Albert McIntire

1853 - 1935

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0780 DIPLOMAT

John George Alexander Leishman

1857 - 1924

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0845 THEOLOGIAN

Melancthon Williams Jacobus Jr.

1855 - 1937

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0912 POLITICIAN

Mahlon Morris Garland

1856 - 1920

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0917 PHILOLOGIST

Andrew Fleming West

1853 - 1943

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0964 WRITER

Theodore Gordon

1854 - 1915

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1054 POLITICIAN

Walter Lyon (Pennsylvania)

1853 - 1933

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1067 BUSINESS

David M. Parry

1852 - 1915

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1207 LAWYER

James Hay Reed

1853 - 1927

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1344 BANK

Richard B. Mellon

1858 - 1933

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1474 ZOOLOGIST

George Hubbard Clapp

1858 - 1949

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1677 BUSINESS

Benjamin Thaw Sr.

1859 - 1933

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1714 MILITAR

John A. Kirkwood

1851 - 1930

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1727 BASEBALL

Frank Harris (baseball)

1858 - 1939

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1784 BASEBALL

Frank Robison

1852 - 1908

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1787 BASEBALL

Marr Phillips

1857 - 1928

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1808 BASEBALL

Stanley Robison

1854 - 1911

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1813 POLITICIAN

John F. Forward Sr.

1851 - 1926

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1815 BASEBALL

Jake Seymour

1854 - 1917

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1832 MILLER

Theodore Schaffer

Born 1856

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1841 BUSINESS

Fred Lind Alles

1851 - 1945

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1986 BASEBALL

Alexander Nevin

1850 - 1921

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2008 PHYSICIAN

Charles Mertz Arbuthnot

1852 - 1920

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2036 BASEBALL

Frank Shaffer

1859 - 1939

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2041 POLITICIAN

John R. Jones (Wisconsin politician)

Born 1850

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2049 FOOTBALL

William J. Duff

1856 - 1922

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2076 LAWYER

Charles Prentiss Orr

1858 - 1922

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