41.7866° N, 71.5578° W

PROVIDENCE

Most Famous People Born in Providence, United States

Notable people
736
Peak decade
1940s
Median birth year
1927
Most distinctive
Bank 5.8×

Providence's Bank bench is what's left of the old Rhode Island mercantile and textile fortunes that built Federal Hill and the Brown family empire, with a Lawyer class drawn from the same patrician pipeline. The Baseball count reaches back to the Providence Grays of the 1880s, while a modern RISD-and-Brown creative vein runs through the Music and Screenwriter lines — Damien Chazelle and a thick seam of film composers.

Through the Decades

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

Notable Births by Decade

Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1940s with 86 notable births.

What Providence Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Politician is Providence's biggest profession — 16% of all notables (116).

Providence over-indexes on bank — 5.8× the global rate.

Providence under-produces football — only 0.3× the global rate.

  1. Politician116
  2. Lawyer54
  3. Actor50
  4. Baseball39
  5. Football22
  6. Music20
  7. Writer17
  8. Painter17
  1. Bank75.8×
  2. Baseball394.7×
  3. Lawyer544.2×
  4. Boxer82.7×
  5. Officer112.3×
  6. Screenwriter72.2×
  7. Diplomat92.1×
  8. Music201.9×
  1. Football220.3×

Profession Mix Over Time

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

1700175018001850190019502000
  • Politics & Law
  • Sports
  • Film & TV
  • Writing
  • Music
  • Science
  • Other
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Showing 28 of 736 notable people

0009 SINGER

Nelson Eddy

1901 - 1967

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0048 MUSIC

Frankie Carle

1903 - 2001

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0061 JOURNALIST

Elias Abu Shabaki

1903 - 1947

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0083 POLITICIAN

John Pastore

1907 - 2000

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0160 WORKER

Martha Sharp

1905 - 1999

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0194 POLITICIAN

Dennis J. Roberts

1903 - 1994

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0236 LAWYER

Christopher Del Sesto

1907 - 1973

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0243 SCREENWRITER

Albert DeMond

1901 - 1973

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0273 POLITICIAN

John A. Notte Jr.

1909 - 1983

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0306 PAINTER

Eugene Kingman

1909 - 1975

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0316 METEOROLOGIST

Hurd Curtis Willett

1903 - 1992

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0359 LYRICIST

Gordon Clifford (lyricist)

1902 - 1968

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0438 IMMUNOLOGIST

Merrill Chase

1905 - 2004

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0449 ACTOR

Les Damon

1908 - 1962

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0453 PHILOLOGIST

Barbara P. McCarthy

1904 - 1988

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0526 OFFICER

Edgar Chandler (minister)

1904 - 1988

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0580 LAWYER

Edward McEntee

1906 - 1981

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0597 ARCHITECT

D. Thomas Russillo

1902 - 1980

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0605 MISSING

Walter H. Reynolds

1901 - 1987

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0613 ACTOR

John McGovern (Schauspieler)

1902 - 1985

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0625 COACH

Wade Woodworth

1905 - 1992

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0636 BUSINESS

Fred A. Lennon

1905 - 1998

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0650 BASEBALL

Johnny Marcum

1909 - 1984

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0656 FOOTBALL

Ira MacIntosh

1903 - 1973

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0683 BASEBALL

Ed Doherty (baseball executive)

1900 - 1971

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0717 JUDGE

Thomas H. Roberts

1902 - 1976

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0724 MEDIA

Robert M. Hall

1909 - 1998

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0728 MANAGER

William A. Dyer

1902 - 1993

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