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
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Showing 71 of 736 notable people

0004 ACTOR

Marilyn Chambers

1952 - 2009

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0039 SAXOPHONIST

Scott Hamilton (musician)

Born 1954

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0045 AUTHOR

Paula Vogel

Born 1951

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0055 FILM

Jane Rosenthal

Born 1956

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0066 FILM

Don Carmody

Born 1951

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0093 BASKET

Marvin Barnes

1952 - 2014

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0104 ACTOR

Amy Van Nostrand

Born 1953

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0118 LAWYER

Thomas E. Donilon

Born 1955

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0127 SINGER

Lisa Papineau

Born 1950

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0130 HOCKEY

Brian Burke (ice hockey)

Born 1955

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0146 PSYCHOLOGIST

Jennifer Freyd

Born 1957

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0157 BASKET

Joe Hassett

Born 1955

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0161 ACTOR

Eddie Gorodetsky

Born 1956

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0162 PSYCHOLOGIST

David C. Geary

Born 1957

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0163 NEUROLOGIST

Rudolph E. Tanzi

Born 1958

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0165 POLITICIAN

Robert J. Healey

1957 - 2016

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0166 ROWER

Harriet Metcalf

Born 1958

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0170 BASEBALL

Rick Lancellotti

Born 1956

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0172 PRODUCTION DESIGNER

Lilly Kilvert

Born 1950

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0174 NOVELIST

Robert N. Charrette

Born 1953

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0186 JOURNALIST

Max Holland

Born 1950

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0187 PROFESSOR

Katharine Cashman

Born 1954

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0197 ACTOR

Maggie Han

Born 1959

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0204 ACTOR

Bruce MacVittie

Born 1956

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0219 ACTOR

Sandra Peabody

Born 1952

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0220 BASEBALL

Bill Almon

Born 1952

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0223 PRIEST

Robert Joseph McManus

Born 1951

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0226 ACTOR

Taaffe O'Connell

Born 1951

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0235 ACTOR

Brianne Leary

Born 1957

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0238 JOURNALIST

Joe Nocera

Born 1952

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0244 BASKET

Owen Wells (basketball)

1950 - 1993

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0283 METEOROLOGIST

Joe Bastardi

Born 1955

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0292 ROWER

Charles Clapp (rower)

Born 1959

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0301 POLITICIAN

Charles J. Fogarty

Born 1955

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0307 WRITER

David Kessler (writer)

Born 1959

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0313 FOOTBALL

Steve Furness

1950 - 2000

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0317 COMPOSER

David Snow (composer)

Born 1954

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0330 MUSIC

Bruce Gertz

Born 1952

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0333 SURGEON

Kevin R. Stone

Born 1955

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0351 JOURNALIST

Mark Ebner

Born 1959

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0352 LAWYER

Paul J. Barbadoro

Born 1955

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0377 RADIO

Angelo Cataldi

Born 1951

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0381 POLITICIAN

Joseph McNamara (Rhode Island politician)

Born 1950

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0387 NOVELIST

Susan Wilson

Born 1951

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0415 POLITICIAN

Raymond Gallison

Born 1952

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0417 POLITICAL

Tad Devine

Born 1955

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0421 POLITICIAN

Joshua Miller (politician)

Born 1954

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0431 WRITER

Peter Pezzelli

Born 1959

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0459 POLITICIAN

Robert Jacquard

Born 1958

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0473 THEATRE

Howard Fine

Born 1958

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0489 BUSINESS

Richard Gingras

Born 1952

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0490 POLITICIAN

Paul Fogarty

Born 1957

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0494 POLITICIAN

Paul Jabour

Born 1956

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0495 LAWYER

John J. McConnell Jr.

Born 1958

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0501 POLITICIAN

Gary Lambert (politician)

Born 1959

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0503 ATTORNEY

Annette Nazareth

Born 1956

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0524 LAWYER

Joseph R. Paolino Jr.

Born 1955

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0549 POLITICIAN

Joe Polisena

Born 1954

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0554 FINANCIER

Bradley S. Jacobs

Born 1956

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0555 POLITICIAN

Deb Ruggiero

Born 1958

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0565 FINANCIER

Jonathan M. Nelson

Born 1956

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0567 LAWYER

Mary M. Lisi

Born 1950

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0585 SERIAL KILLER

Stephen Morin

1951 - 1985

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0589 MISSING

Steven Leath

Born 1957

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0593 POLITICIAN

Steven M. Costantino

Born 1957

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0594 PHOTOGRAPHER

Gail Thacker

Born 1959

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0604 POLITICIAN

Joanne Giannini

Born 1953

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0645 ENVIRONMENTALIST

Bob Hattoy

1950 - 2007

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0681 METEOROLOGY

Steve Cascione

Born 1954

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0691 ARTS

Steven Libman

Born 1959

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0714 POLITICIAN

Ray Fogarty

1957 - 2018

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