33.8678° S, 151.2100° E
SYDNEY
Most Famous People Born in Sydney, Australia
- Notable people
- 4,402
- Peak decade
- 1980s
- Median birth year
- 1962
- Most distinctive
- Rugby 25.1×
A harbour city that exports athletes by the boatload. Almost a fifth of Sydney's notable births are professional players of one code or another — rugby league, rugby union, cricket, swimming, rowing — at concentrations no other Australian city quite matches. The non-sport half is dominated by actors and an unusually deep bench of the professional class of a city that has always been the New South Wales capital first and a global one second.
Standouts
Notable Births by Decade
Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1980s with 720 notable births.
What Sydney Is Known For
Click any row to filter the list of people below.
Player is Sydney's biggest profession — 19% of all notables (815).
Sydney over-indexes on rugby — 25.1× the global rate.
Sydney under-produces painter — only 0.5× the global rate.
Profession Mix Over Time
Each band shows a profession family's share of Sydney's notable births by decade. Hover the chart for the breakdown at any decade.
- Sports
- Film & TV
- Politics & Law
- Writing
- Music
- Science
- Other
- Field: Writer Clear ×
Thomas Keneally
Born 1935
Markus Zusak
Born 1975
Elizabeth von Arnim
1866 - 1941
Matthew Reilly
Born 1974
John Flanagan (author)
Born 1944
Geraldine Brooks (writer)
Born 1955
Jennifer Rowe
Born 1948
Kate Grenville
Born 1950
Barry Long
1926 - 2003
Melina Marchetta
Born 1965
Randa Abdel-Fattah
Born 1979
Steve Toltz
Born 1972
Frederic Manning
1882 - 1935
Jackie French
Born 1953
Gabrielle Lord
Born 1946
Jeannie Ebner
1918 - 2004
Russell Braddon
1921 - 1995
Justine Larbalestier
Born 1967
Rebecca James (author)
Born 1970
Elizabeth Harrower (writer)
1928 - 2020
Nadia Wheatley
Born 1949
Angela Webber
1954 - 2007
Joe Cross (filmmaker)
Born 1966
Julie Goodwin
Born 1970
James Moloney
Born 1954
Terry Dowling
Born 1947
Justin Fleming
Born 1953
Marele Day
Born 1947
Tony Kenrick
Born 1935
Richard Hillary
1919 - 1943
Jessica Shirvington
Born 1979
J. C. Burke
Born 1965
Blanche d'Alpuget
Born 1944
Michael Jenkins (director)
Born 1946
Simon Brown (author)
Born 1956
Kimble Rendall
Born 1950
Susan Powter
Born 1957
Russell Blackford
Born 1954
John Dale (writer)
Born 1953
Pamela Freeman
Born 1960
Deborah Abela
Born 1966
Ken Doolan
Born 1939
David Astle
Born 1961
Mary Patchett
1897 - 1989
Gwen Kelly
1922 - 2012
Wendy Lewis
Born 1962
Louis Armand (writer)
Born 1972
Ben Peek
Born 1976
Eleanor Spence
1928 - 2008
Dianne Bates
Born 1948
Alan Collins (writer)
1928 - 2008
David Tribe
1931 - 2017
Karen Brooks (author)
-
Adrian d'Hagé
Born 1946
Brian Harrison (theologian)
Born 1945
Shannon Lush
-
Bruno Ackermann
Born 1957
Hugh Hastings
1917 - 2004
Mark Gravas
Born 1966
Stephen Skinner (author)
Born 1948
Anita Ondine Smith
Born 1974
Catriona Sparks
Born 1965
David Conyers
Born 1971
Alison Bauld
Born 1944
Vivienne Plumb
Born 1955
Gail Bell
Born 1950
Sydney Elliott Napier
1870 - 1940
Fiona McFarlane
Born 1978
Ken Clift
1916 - 2009
George Blaikie
1915 - 1995
Eve Pownall
1901 - 1982
Christopher Sequeira
-
Susanne Gervay
Born 1950
Kim Westwood
-
Judith Clarke
1943 - 2020
Alex Hood
Born 1935
Jack Ellis (writer)
Born 1978
Phillip Grenville Mann
1921 - 1990
Hayden Quinn
Born 1986
Geire Kami
Born 1974
Lorae Parry
-
Shane Jiraiya Cummings
Born 1974
Michael Cohen (writer)
Born 1970
Jai Al-Attas
Born 1984
Suneeta Peres Da Costa
Born 1976
Otto Beeby
1906 - 1981
Trent Hayes
Born 1969