List of people from Adelaide

This is an incomplete list of notable people from Adelaide.

Arts and music[edit]

Prominent intellectuals, writers, artists, bands, and musicians to hail from Adelaide include:

Actors[edit]

Dame Judith Anderson - Rebecca, And Then There Were None; Tony and Emmy Award winner
Elspeth Ballantyne - Prisoner
Holly Brisley - Home and Away
Sam Clark - Neighbours
Kate Fischer - Sirens
Sir Robert Helpmann - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Nicholas Hope - Bad Boy Bubby
Dichen Lachman - Neighbours, Dollhouse
Anthony LaPaglia - Without a Trace
Jonathan LaPaglia - Seven Days, The District
Glenn McMillan - Wonderland, Power Rangers Ninja Storm
Ben Oxenbould - Hey Dad..!
Teresa Palmer - December Boys, I Am Number Four
Lois Ramsey - Road to Nhill, Home and Away
Xavier Samuel - The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
Hugh Sheridan - Packed to the Rafters
Sarah Snook - Succession; Golden Globe winner
Sonia Todd - McLeod's Daughters
Melanie Vallejo - Winners and Losers, Power Rangers Mystic Force
Samara Weaving
John Noble - Fringe

Comedians[edit]

Anthony "Lehmo" Lehmann - comedian
Richard Marsland
Shaun Micallef
Greig Pickhaver - aka "H.G. Nelson"
Roy Rene - aka "Mo McCackie"
Frank Woodley

Film directors[edit]

Humanities[edit]

Graeme Hugo - demographer and Federation Fellow (2002)
J. J. C. Smart - philosopher
Hugh Stretton - historian and sociologist
Peter Sutton - anthropologist
Ghil'ad Zuckermann - linguist and revivalist
Wesley Wildman - philosopher, theologian, ethicist

Journalists[edit]

Annabel Crabb - political writer and commentator
Brady Haran - independent video journalist and Internet personality
Jenni Hogan - TV reporter and host, Emmy Award winner
Christian Kerr - political commentator and journalist
David Kosh - financial journalist and former presenter of Sunrise
Bruce McAvaney - sports broadcaster
Hamish McLachlan - television sports commentator for the Seven Network
David Penberthy - editor-in-chief of the Australian newspaper The Daily Telegraph

Musicians and bands[edit]

Visual artists[edit]

James Ashton - painter and arts educator
Dorrit Black - modernist printmaker and painter
Michal Dutkiewicz - comic book artist and illustrator, three-time winner of the Stanley Award
Robert Hannaford - portrait artist, three-time winner of the People's Choice Award of the Archibald Prize
Barbara Hanrahan - artist, printmaker and writer
Sir Hans Heysen - landscape painter, nine-time winner of the Wynne Prize
Nora Heysen - portrait artist, first female winner of the Archibald Prize
Ondrej Mares - sculptor and furniture maker
Joseph Stanislaus Ostoja-Kotkowski - painting, photography, film-making, theatre design, fabric design, murals, kinetic and static sculpture, stained glass, vitreous enamel murals, op-collages, computer graphics, and laser art
Geoffrey Proud - portrait and landscape painter, sculptor, winner of the 1990 Archibald Prize, winner of the 1975 Sulman Prize
Jeffrey Smart - precisionist landscape painter
Susan Dorothea White - painter, sculptor and printmaker

Writers[edit]

Malcolm Afford - playwright and novelist
Guy Boothby - novelist and travel writer
James Bradley - novelist and critic
Brian Castro - novelist
Nancy Cato - author
J M Coetzee - novelist and essayist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature
Aidan Coleman - poet
David Conyers - science fiction author
Geoffrey Dutton - poet, author and historian, winner of the Grace Leven Prize for Poetry
Max Fatchen - journalist and children's author
Mem Fox - educator and children's author
Peter Goldsworthy - novelist, poet and scriptwriter, winner of the Helpmann Award
Christine Harris - children's and young adult author
Max Harris - poet, critic and columnist
Vernon Knowles - fantasy author
Kym Lardner - children's author, illustrator, and storyteller
Caleb Lewis - playwright
DBC Pierre - novelist, winner of the Man Booker Prize
Gillian Rubinstein - children's author and playwright
Bel Schenk - poet
Tony Shillitoe - fantasy author
Tim Sinclair - poet and novelist
Hugh Stretton - historian and sociologist
Anne Summers - feminist writer and editor
Colin Thiele - children's author and educator, winner of the Dromkeen medal
David Thorne - humorist and satirist
Russel Ward - historian and author of The Australian Legend
Sean Williams - science fiction author
Ben Winch - novelist
Nan Witcomb - poet
Laetitia Withall - poet, author and suffragette

Business and media[edit]

Rick Allert - accountant, company director and chairperson
Balfours family - bakery founders
Barr Smith family - businessmen and philanthropists
Matt Barrie - entrepreneur, CEO Freelancer Limited
Shaun Bonétt - property developer, entrepreneur and philanthropist
Cooper family - brewery founders
Thomas Elder - pastoralist, politician and philanthropist
Gerard family - founders of Clipsal
Edward Hayward - owner and manager of John Martins
Sir Sidney Kidman - pastoralist, entrepreneur and landowner
Matthew and Zbigniew Michalewicz - entrepreneurs and co-founders of SolveIT Software
Rupert Murdoch - media mogul, chairperson and CEO of News Corporation
Mary Penfold - winemaker
John Spalvins - managing director of Adelaide Steamship Company
Robert Stigwood - impresario, entertainment entrepreneur and film producer
Michael Tunn - radio announcer and program director
Gary Turner - producer, record company owner and founder of LearnToPlayMusic.com

Law and politics[edit]

Julie Bishop - Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia
Sir John Langdon Bonython - member of the first Australian parliament
Sir John Lavington Bonython - Mayor and Lord Mayor of Adelaide
Michael Bradley - mayor of Sarnia, Ontario, Canada
James Crawford - Legal academic and Judge of the International Court of Justice (2014)
Mario Despoja - leader of the Croatian community in Australia
Natasha Stott Despoja - senator and leader of the Australian Democrats
Alexander Downer - Foreign Affairs Minister and Leader of the Opposition
Alexander Downer, Sr. - member of the House of Representatives and High Commissioner to London
John Downer - twice Premier of South Australia
John Finnis - Professor of Law at University College, Oxford
Julia Gillard - Prime Minister and leader of the Australian Labor Party
Janine Haines - senator and leader of the Australian Democrats
Sir Charles Kingston - Premier of South Australia and Minister for Trade and Customs in the first Commonwealth parliament
Dame Roma Mitchell - Australia's first female QC, first female judge, and first female Governor
Christopher Pyne - Minister for Defence
Catherine Helen Spence - suffragist, electoral reformer, prohibitionist, and first female political candidate in Australia
Ian Wilson - member of the Australian House of Representatives and Minister for Aboriginal Affairs
Sir Keith Wilson - senator and member of the Australian House of Representatives
List of mayors and lord mayors of Adelaide
List of premiers of South Australia
Category: Federal politicians from South Australia

Science[edit]

World-renowned Adelaide scientists include:

Len Beadell - surveyor, roadbuilder and explorer; asteroid 3161 Beadell is named after him
William Henry Bragg - physicist, chemist and mathematician, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics
William Lawrence Bragg - physicist and crystallographer, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics and youngest Nobel Laureate
Rodney Brooks - roboticist, director of the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and founding member of the iRobot corporation
Baron Howard Florey - pharmacologist and pathologist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Basil Stuart Hetzel AC - medical researcher who made a major contribution to combating iodine deficiency
Cecil Madigan - geologist and meteorologist, member of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition
Sir Douglas Mawson - geologist and explorer, leader of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition
Sir Mark Oliphant - nuclear physicist, winner of the Hughes Medal and the Faraday Medal
Enid Lucy Robertson - botanist, conservationist
Reg Sprigg - geologist and conservationist
George Szekeres - mathematician, after whom the George Szekeres Medal is named.
Terence Tao - mathematician, winner of the Fields Medal
Andy Thomas - aerospace engineer and NASA astronaut
David Unaipon - inventor and writer, commemorated on the Australian fifty-dollar note
Robin Warren - pathologist and researcher, winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine
Sir Hubert Wilkins - Antarctic aviation pioneer, Arctic explorer, ornithologist and geographer

Sport[edit]

Internationally and nationally recognised sports people from Adelaide include:

Aerobatics[edit]

Chris Sperou - thirteen-time National Aerobatics Champion,^[1] and five-time participant in the FAI World Aerobatic Championships

Archery[edit]

Simon Fairweather - Olympic gold medalist

Australian rules football[edit]

Nathan Buckley - captained the Collingwood Football Club, winner of the Brownlow Medal
Adam Cooney - player for the Western Bulldogs and the Essendon Football Club, winner of the Brownlow Medal
Matthew Pavlich - captained the Fremantle Football Club
Adelaide Football Club players
Port Adelaide Football Club players

Basketball[edit]

Mark Bradtke - played one season in the NBA for the Philadelphia 76ers, played in the NBL for the Adelaide 36ers, Melbourne Tigers and Brisbane Bullets; three-time NBL Championship winner and 2002 NBL Most Valuable Player; NBL's all-time leading rebounder; played for the Australian Boomers in four Olympic Games and two World Championships
Lindsay Gaze - played for the Australian Boomers in three Olympics and coached the team in four Olympics; two-time NBL Championship winning coach, three-time NBL Coach of the Year; member of the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame, FIBA Hall of Fame and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
Joe Ingles - plays for the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA. He also represents the Australian Boomers.
Ben Madgen - plays in the NBL for the Sydney Kings
Brett Maher - played in the NBL for the Adelaide 36ers, captained the team to three Championships, played in three Olympic Games for the Australian Boomers
Mike McKay - played in the NBL for the West Adelaide Bearcats, Adelaide 36ers, Brisbane Bullets, Canberra Cannons and Wollongong Hawks; won the 1985 Rookie of the Year and 1986 NBL championship with the 36ers; played for the Australian Boomers at the 1992 Summer Olympics
Brad Newley - plays in Spain for CB Gran Canaria, drafted to the NBA by the Houston Rockets; has played for the Australian Boomers in the Olympic Games, World Championships and Commonwealth Games
Erin Phillips - plays in the WNBA for the Phoenix Mercury, played for the Connecticut Sun, won a championship with the Indiana Fever, played in the WNBL for the Adelaide Lightning, Olympic silver medalist and FIBA gold medalist with the Australian Opals
Luke Schenscher - 7'1" (216 cm) tall Centre, played in the NBA for the Chicago Bulls and the Portland Trail Blazers; plays in the NBL for the Adelaide 36ers; played in the East Asian Games for the Australian Boomers in 2001 while still in high school; member of the 2003–04 NCAA All-Final Four Team
Phil Smyth - played in the NBL for the St Kilda Saints, Canberra Cannons, Adelaide 36ers and Sydney Kings; won three championships as a player at Canberra and coached the 36ers to three Championship wins; played for the Australian Boomers in four Olympic Games and five World Championships; captained the Boomers from 1983-1995

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu[edit]

Craig Jones 2x ADCC silver medalist (2019 - 2022)

Cricket[edit]

Greg Blewett - played for the Australian national cricket team
Sir Donald Bradman - captained Australia, all-time highest Test batting average of any player with 99.94 (Note: Bradman was born in Cootamundra, New South Wales in 1908 and moved to Adelaide in 1934)
Greg Chappell - captained Australia
Ian Chappell - captained Australia
Trevor Chappell - played for Australia
Albert Gillespie - played first-class cricket in England
Jason Gillespie - played for Australia
George Goodfellow - played first-class cricket in England
Clem Hill - captained Australia
David Hookes - played for Australia
Barry Jarman - captained Australia
Arthur G. Jenkins - first South Australian to umpire a cricket Test match
Darren Lehmann - played for Australia; current (2015) coach of the Australian team
Wayne Phillips - played for Australia
Vic Richardson - captained Australia; won Magarey Medal (Australian Rules Football) and represented Australia in Baseball; grandfather of Ian, Greg and Trevor Chappell
Shaun Tait - plays for Australia

Cycling[edit]

Alex Edmondson - Commonwealth Games Team pursuit champion, World individual pursuit champion 2014
Annette Edmondson - Commonwealth Games gold medalist 2014, Olympic bronze medalist in the omnium 2012
Matthew Glaetzer - Olympic gold, silver and bronze medalist for the Australian Cyclist team since 2009
Alexandra Manly - professional cyclist at Orica-AIS
Stephanie Morton - Commonwealth Games Individual Sprint Champion 2014
Stuart O'Grady - Olympic gold medalist in the Men's Madison, silver and bronze medalist in the 4000m Team Pursuit, bronze medalist in the Points Race, and four-time second-place finisher in the Tour de France
Michael Turtur - Olympic gold medalist in the Team Pursuit, and Race Director of the Tour Down Under
Kimberley Wells - two-time national criterium champion, and current professional cyclist.
Sam Willoughby - Olympic silver medalist in the men's BMX and UCI BMX world champion

Darts[edit]

Barry Atkinson - professional darts player
Rob Modra - two-time Geelong Open Darts Championships

Golf[edit]

Geoff Ogilvy - U.S. Open winner and three-time World Golf Championships winner
Adam Scott - U.S. Masters winner and World number one

Kickboxing[edit]

Frank Giorgi - two-time Australian champion and world Super Middleweight champion
Paul Slowinski - four-time Muay Thai world champion

Motor sports[edit]

John Boulger - two-time Australian Speedway Champion, nine-time South Australian Champion, captained Australia to win the Speedway World Team Cup
Jeremy Burgess - MotoGP engineer, helped Wayne Gardner, Mick Doohan and Valentino Rossi to 12 World Championships
Garrie Cooper - founder of Elfin Sports Cars, Australian 1½ Litre Champion, Australian Sports Car Champion and Singapore Grand Prix winner
Daniel Falzon - two-time Australian Superbike Champion
Steve Martin - Superbike World Championship veteran and World Endurance Champion
Billy McConnell - competes in the British Supersport Championship
Nick Percat - V8 Supercar driver, Australian Formula Ford Champion and Bathurst 1000 winner
Vern Schuppan - Formula One driver, 24 Hours of Le Mans winner and Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year
Johnnie Walker - Australian Drivers' Champion and Australian Grand Prix winner
Jack Young - two-time Speedway World Champion and nine-time South Australian Champion

Professional wrestling[edit]

Rhea Ripley - signed to the WWE, current 2023 Women’s Royal Rumble winner; former 1/2 of the WWE Women's Tag Team Champions; former Raw Women's Champion former NXT Women's Champion & former NXT UK Women's Champion (as well as being the inaugural champion for the latter).
Bronson Reed - billed from Black Forest, signed to the WWE, former NXT North American Champion.

Soccer[edit]

Dianne Alagich - played in the Women's United Soccer Association for the San Jose CyberRays, played for the Matildas
John Aloisi - played in La Liga, Premier League and Serie A, played for the Socceroos at the FIFA World Cup
Diana Hall - played for the Matildas
Charlotte Grant - plays for the Matildas^[2]
Awer Mabil - plays for FC Midtjylland
Alex Tobin - captained the Socceroos
Aurelio Vidmar - captained the Socceroos
Tony Vidmar - played for the Socceroos
Adelaide United FC players

Sport aerobics[edit]

Kylie Halliday - placed second at the Aerobic Gymnastics World Championships

Swimming[edit]

Kyle Chalmers - 2016 Summer Olympics gold medalist in the 100m freestyle
Emily Seebohm - 2012 Summer Olympics gold medalist in the 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay and 2008 Summer Olympics gold medalist in the 4 × 100 metre medley relay

Tennis[edit]

Darren Cahill - Australian Open doubles finalist, US Open singles semi-finalist
Lleyton Hewitt - U.S. Open and Wimbledon winner and World number one
Alicia Molik - Australian Open and French Open doubles winner, reached World top ten singles ranking
Mark Woodforde - two-time Australian Open, one-time French Open, six-time Wimbledon, and three-time French Open doubles winner; Olympic gold and silver medalist; World number one
Thanasi Kokkinakis

Trampoline gymnastics[edit]

Blake Gaudry - 2012 Summer Olympics competitor, Australian Gymnastics Championships Winner

Volleyball[edit]

Kerri Pottharst (born 1965) - Olympic gold and bronze medalist in beach volleyball
Tania Gooley-Humphry (born 1973) - beach volleyball and indoor volleyball player
Andrew Schacht (born 1973) - beach volleyball player
Tamsin Hinchley (born 1980) - volleyball player
Becchara Palmer (born 1988) - beach volleyball player

Other[edit]

Garry Gordon Cooper - retired airline captain, ex RAAF pilot
Gladys Elphick - Australian Aboriginal active in Aboriginal affairs
David Hicks - former Guantanamo Bay inmate, falsely convicted of 'providing material support to terrorism'

References[edit]

^ Bowman, Matt (20 November 1999). "Veteran pilot still pushing the sky's limits". The Advertiser. p. 28.
^ "Matildas' Charlotte Grant hailed for true Aussie grit". The West Australian. 12 April 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2023.

[1] Bowman, Matt (20 November 1999). "Veteran pilot still pushing the sky's limits". The Advertiser. p. 28.

[2] "Matildas' Charlotte Grant hailed for true Aussie grit". The West Australian. 12 April 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2023.

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