List of people from Portland, Oregon
The following is a partial list of notable residents, past and present, from Portland, Oregon. A separate list of people from Oregon is available.
A - E
- Obo Addy, worldbeat musician originally from Ghana
- Brad Adkins, contemporary artist
- Art Alexakis, member of Everclear
- Garner Ted Armstrong, televangelist
- Jean M. Auel, author of The Clan of the Cave Bear
- Michael R. Barr, youngest rapper/producer, actor/filmmaker, writer/cartoonist, singer/guitarist
- James Beard, food expert
- Pietro Belluschi, architect
- Brian Michael Bendis, comic book writer
- Simon Benson, philanthropist, logging innovator
- Brad Bird, filmmaker, including The Incredibles
- Frank Black, real name Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV, singer/rhythm guitarist, founding member of the Pixies
- Mel Blanc, cartoon voice actor (What's up Doc?)
- Lance Blankenship, retired Major League Baseball player and World Series Champion
- Chuck Bown and Jim Bown, NASCAR drivers
- Terrell Brandon, Grant High School and NBA All-Star
- Isaac Brock, co-founder and frontman of the indie rock band Modest Mouse.
- John Callahan, cartoonist [1]
- Clive Charles, soccer coach
- Beverly Cleary, children's author
- John H. Couch, sea captain and early merchant who platted the Alphabet District
- Joseph Buford Cox, inventor of the Cox Chipper Chain, which made chainsaws practical
- Larry Crane, publisher of Tape Op
- Ward Cunningham, inventor of wiki
- Rev.Chuck Currie, United Church of Christ clergy and long-time homeless advocate
- Mickey Dee, guitarist, singer, actor, hip-hop artist
- Richard Diebenkorn, painter
- Michael Doleac, Central Catholic HS and NBA Miami Heat star
- Abigail Scott Duniway, radical, suffragist, and publisher/editor of Portland newspaper The New Northwest
- Katherine Dunn, author, Geek Love
- Mike Dunleavy, Jr., Jesuit H.S. and NBA Golden State Warriors star
- Guss Dussin, founder of The Old Spaghetti Factory chain of Italian restaurants
- Dick Egan, baseball player
- Sam Elliott, actor
- Douglas Engelbart, inventor of the computer mouse
- Marie Equi, physician and anarchist
F - L
- Stanley Fafara, child actor
- Brad Fitzpatrick, creator of LiveJournal
- Dick Fosbury, high jumper, inventor of the Fosbury Flop
- Boaz Frankel, host and creator of Clips & Quips
- C. Gordon Fullerton, astronaut and member of the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame
- Elizabeth Furse, U.S. Congresswoman
- Robert Lee Ghormley, World War II naval officer
- Rodney Glisan, U.S. Army surgeon on the Oregon frontier
- Danny Glover, famous black American actor
- A.C. Green (Benson High School), former NBA player
- Matt Groening, The Simpsons and Life In Hell cartoonist
- Tonya Harding, champion figure skater, boxer, and notorious American icon
- Katie Harman, 2002 Miss America
- Joey Harrington, (Central Catholic High School), NFL quarterback
- Lou Harrison, composer
- Michael Allen Harrison, musician
- Steve Havelka, Pokey the Penguin creator
- Ernest Haycox, writer
- Todd Haynes, filmmaker
- Joe Hill, radical labor activist
- Stewart Holbrook, author and artist
- Bill Hudson, musician, singer/songwriter, producer
- Brett Hudson, musician, singer/songwriter, producer
- Hudson, Mark, musician, singer/songwriter, producer
- Peter Jacobsen, PGA golfer (and high school classmate of Matt Groening)
- Fred Jones, Sam Barlow High School and NBA Indiana Pacers star, 2004 NBA All-Star Slam Dunk Champion
- Miranda July, performance artist, filmmaker
- The Kingsmen, musicians ("Louie Louie")
- Ben Hur Lampman, writer, editor at The Oregonian, Oregon poet laureate
- Storm Large, singer, fronts the band Storm Large and the Balls. Contestant on Rock Star: Supernova
- Thomas M Lauderdale, musician, Pink Martini
- Ursula K. Le Guin, science fiction/fantasy author
- Mickey Lolich, All-star major league baseball pitcher
- Courtney Love, actress and musician
M - S
- Shannon MacMillan, U.S. soccer player
- Stephen Malkmus, member of seminal indie-rock band, Pavement
- Phillip Margolin, writer and lawyer
- Dallas McKennon, voice actor (Gumby, Pokey, Archie Andrews, Tony the Tiger)
- Mike and Brian McMenamin, brewpub owners
- Tiffeny Milbrett, U.S. soccer player
- Lisa Kennedy Montgomery, former MTV VJ 1992-1996
- Ona Munson, actress, played Belle Watling in Gone with the Wind
- Dale Murphy, Wilson High School and former Atlanta Braves star
- Colin O'Reilly, film/television producer
- Michael Paul Oman-Reagan, artist
- Chuck Palahniuk, writer, author of Fight Club and a memoir and idiosyncratic guide to Portland, Fugitives and Refugees: A Walk in Portland, Oregon (ISBN 1-4000-4783-8)
- Linus Pauling, Nobel Prize-winning chemist
- Johnny Pesky, iconic Boston Red Sox baseball player
- River Phoenix, Actor, musician, animal rights activist
- Henry F. Phillips, inventor of the Phillips-head screw
- Tom Potter, former police chief and current mayor (2005-present)
- Jane Powell, actress/singer
- Ahmad Rashad, former NFL player, television pesonality
- Johnnie Ray, musician
- John Reed, journalist
- Mel Renfro, (Jefferson High School) star NFL defensive back, Dallas Cowboys
- Kim Rhodes, actress, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, As the World Turns, Another World
- Alex Ross, comic book artist
- Mark Rothko, artist (Shattuck School & Lincoln High graduate)
- Greg Rucka, novelist and comic book writer
- Joe Sacco, graphic novel journalist
- Katee Sackhoff, actor, Battlestar Galactica (2003)
- Rebecca Schaeffer, actress, whose murder in 1989 led to anti-stalking laws
- Randal L. Schwartz, author of many Perl books and magazine articles, and convicted computer criminal
- Danny Simon, television writer
- Elliott Smith, musician, d. 2003
- Harry Smith, American archivist, ethnomusicologist, student of anthropology, record collector, experimental filmmaker, artist, bohemian, and Kabbalist
- Tom Spanbauer, author
- William Stafford, poet
- Damon Stoudamire, Wilson High School and NBA Memphis Grizzlies star
- Sally Struthers, actress born and raised in Portland
T - Z
- John H. Tillman, civil engineer, Seaside Seawall among many famous works
- Ruth Ann Tillman, artist
- Craig Thompson, graphic novelist
- Linus Torvalds, creator of the Linux kernel and resident
- Zoe Trope, teenage author
- Gus Van Sant, filmmaker, Kentucky native now based in Portland
- Will Vinton, claymation animator
- Lindsay Wagner, the Bionic Woman, Sleep Number bed spokesperson
- Marie Watt, contemporary sculptor
- E. Henry Wemme, businessman
- Minor White, influential photographer
- George Wolff, American classical guitarist
- Steven Wolff, Founder The Ghost Education & Research Center - Pacific Northwest
- James Winters, first African-American sports coach in Oregon
- Anthony Wynn, author