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 bank5.8× 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
All736
Sort By

Showing 86 of 736 notable people

0005 COMPOSER

Bill Conti

Born 1942

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0021 ACTOR

Spalding Gray

1941 - 2004

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0023 POLITICIAN

Jack Reed (Rhode Island politician)

Born 1949

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0034 TEACHER

Henry Giroux

Born 1943

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0036 FILM

David S. Ward

Born 1945

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0038 MUSIC

Jeffrey Osborne

Born 1948

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0047 ACTOR

Peter Gerety

Born 1940

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0051 BUSINESS

James McNerney

Born 1949

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0053 SINGER

Vini Poncia

Born 1942

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0085 ACTOR

Margaret Ladd

Born 1942

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0094 ACTOR

Ron McLarty

1947 - 2020

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0101 SINGER

David Blue (musician)

1941 - 1982

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0106 HOCKEY

Lou Lamoriello

Born 1942

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0122 SINGER

David Olney

1948 - 2020

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0133 SCREENWRITER

Don McGregor

Born 1945

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0171 SCULPTOR

Jackie Brookner

1945 - 2015

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0190 WRITER

Joan Nathan

Born 1943

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0206 PHARMACOLOGIST

William A. Catterall

Born 1946

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0218 ARTIST

Alicia Austin

Born 1942

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0239 PRIEST

Salvatore Ronald Matano

Born 1946

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0246 POLITICIAN

Edward Beard

Born 1940

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0251 WRITER

Don D'Ammassa

Born 1946

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0254 PHILOLOGIST

Robert D. Lamberton

Born 1943

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0271 RACING

Jennifer Murray

Born 1940

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0277 LITERARY

David S. Reynolds

Born 1948

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0282 HISTORIAN

John M. Barry

Born 1947

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0298 HOCKEY

Jack Ferreira

Born 1944

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0320 POLITICIAN

Deedee Corradini

1944 - 2015

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0328 JUDGE

David O. Carter

Born 1944

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0329 LAWYER

Brendan Sullivan

Born 1942

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0332 LAWYER

Bernard Jackvony

Born 1945

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0338 POLITICIAN

William Walaska

1946 - 2017

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0346 POLITICIAN

Richard A. Licht

Born 1948

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0348 AUTHOR

Robert Ellis Smith

1940 - 2018

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0349 PHYSICIAN

Rita Charon

Born 1949

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0353 NOVELIST

David Plante

Born 1940

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0354 CONDUCTOR

Charles Ansbacher

1942 - 2010

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0361 ARTIST

Stuart Sherman (artist)

1945 - 2001

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0363 SKIER

Martha Rockwell

Born 1944

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0374 MILITAR

Leon J. LaPorte

Born 1946

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0396 LAWYER

Arlene Violet

Born 1943

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0399 HOCKEY

Tim Regan (ice hockey)

Born 1949

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0400 SINGER

Paul Geremia

Born 1944

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0418 COMPOSER

Mike Renzi

Born 1946

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0420 GANGSTER

Raymond Patriarca Jr.

Born 1945

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0444 BANK

Charles K. Gifford

Born 1942

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0447 COMPOSER

Bruce MacCombie

1943 - 2012

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0458 POLITICIAN

Frank Ciccone

Born 1947

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0474 GOLF

Bob Eastwood

Born 1946

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0478 POLITICIAN

Dominick J. Ruggerio

Born 1948

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0482 POLITICIAN

Mary Pat Clarke

Born 1941

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0483 NURSE

Soenghyang

Born 1948

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0492 WRITER

Jean McGarry

Born 1948

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0502 BASEBALL

Ray Jarvis (baseball)

1946 - 2020

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0504 POLITICIAN

Thomas C. Slater

1945 - 2009

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0506 FOOTBALL

Bill Sandeman

Born 1942

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0518 POLITICIAN

Elaine Coderre

Born 1947

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0520 OCEANOGRAPHER

Harry Bryden

Born 1946

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0521 FILM

Donald Kushner

Born 1945

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0527 LAWYER

Joe Cavanagh

Born 1948

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0529 SINGER

Steve Nardella

Born 1948

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0551 PLAYER

Russ Ekeblad

1946 - 2018

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0553 POLITICIAN

Eileen S. Naughton

Born 1945

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0559 PSYCHOLOGIST

Carol Fowler

Born 1949

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0561 GANGSTER

Gerard Ouimette

1940 - 2015

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0566 MILITAR

John Baca

Born 1949

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0569 POLITICIAN

Joe Trillo

Born 1943

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0571 SWIMMER

Tammy Hazleton

Born 1947

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0573 POLITICIAN

Sherry Appleton

Born 1942

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0579 CEO

Curtis Carlson

Born 1945

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0584 JOURNALIST

Sylvia Poggioli

Born 1946

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0586 LAWYER

Gilbert V. Indeglia

Born 1941

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0588 LAWYER

Francis Flaherty (judge)

Born 1947

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0622 HOCKEY

Robert Gaudreau

Born 1944

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0628 EXECUTIVE

Bruce L. Paisner

Born 1942

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0633 ATHLETIC

Jeff Bannister

Born 1945

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0654 PHILOSOPHER

Felicia Nimue Ackerman

Born 1947

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0657 ACADEMIC

Salvatore D. Morgera

Born 1946

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0662 FOOTBALL

Phil Price (Canadian football)

Born 1949

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0667 POLITICIAN

Kevin Poirier

Born 1940

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0668 PROFESSOR

Edward Francis Anhalt

Born 1946

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0701 PUBLISHER

Thomas L. Dunne

Born 1946

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0702 POLITICIAN

John C. Revens Jr.

Born 1947

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0712 POLITICIAN

Judith Spang

Born 1946

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0731 POLITICIAN

Cynthia Chase

Born 1943

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0736 POLITICIAN

J. Clement Cicilline

Born 1940

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