List of people from Massachusetts
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This is a list of people who were born in/raised in, lived in, or have significant relations with the American state of Massachusetts. It includes both notable people born in the Commonwealth, and other notable people who are from the Commonwealth. People from Massachusetts are called "Bay Staters" after the Commonwealth's nickname.
Architects
- Charles Bulfinch, architect
- Josephine Wright Chapman, architect
- Theophilus P. Chandler Jr., architect
- William LeBaron Jenney, architect
- Samuel McIntire, architect
- Josep Lluís Sert, Spanish architect; Dean of Harvard Graduate School of Design
Artists
- Harvey Ball, inventor of the smiley face
- Will Barnet, painter
- Frank Weston Benson, painter
- John Singleton Copley, painter
- Thomas Dewing, painter
- Charles Dana Gibson
- Duff Goldman, cake artist.
- Nancy Graves (1939–1995), sculptor, painter, engraver and film director
- Childe Hassam, painter
- Winslow Homer, painter
- Peter Laird, co-creator of the comic book Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- Fitzhugh Lane, painter
- Jack Levine, painter
- Shawn McManus, comic book artist
- Willard Metcalf, painter
- Tony Millionaire, cartoonist, illustrator
- Lilla Cabot Perry (1848–1933), impressionist
- Ted Rall, political cartoonist
- Robert Reid, painter
- René Ricard, poet, art critic, painter
- Norman Rockwell, artist
- Paul Ryan, cartoonist
- Albert Pinkham Ryder, painter
- Mark Shasha, painter, author
- Stass Shpanin, visual artist listed in Guinness Book of World Records as world's youngest professional artist
- Edward Simmons, painter
- Frank Stella, artist
- Andrew Stevovich, artist
- Edmund Charles Tarbell, painter
- Abbott Handerson Thayer, painter
- James Abbott McNeill Whistler, artist
- N. C. Wyeth (1882–1945), artist
Sculptors
- Cyrus Edwin Dallin (1861–1944), sculptor; Olympic archer; namesake of Cyrus E. Dallin Art Museum
- Daniel Chester French (1850–1931), neoclassical sculptor
Athletes
- A–F
- Kim Adler, bowler
- Harry Agganis, baseball player
- Kiko Alonso, football player
- Tony Amonte, hockey player
- Prince Amukamara, football player
- Jim Arvanitis, martial artist, MMA trainer
- Paul Azinger, golfer, television commentator
- Jerry Azumah, football player
- Jeff Bagwell, baseball player
- Tom Barrasso, hockey player
- Dana Barros, basketball player
- Mark Bavaro, football player
- Joe Bellino, football player, Heisman Trophy winner
- Mackenzy Bernadeau, football player
- Travis Best, basketball player
- David Blatt, Israeli-American basketball player and coach, most recently for the Cleveland Cavaliers
- Ron Brace, football player
- Andy Brickley, hockey player
- Charles Brickley, football player and coach
- Nick Buoniconti, Hall of Fame football player
- Chris Capuano, baseball pitcher
- Mary Carew, sprinter, Olympic gold medalist
- Michael Carter-Williams, basketball player
- John Cena, professional wrestler
- Gosder Cherilus, football player
- Jack Chesbro, Hall of Fame baseball player
- Alex Cobb, baseball player
- Mickey Cochrane, Hall of Fame baseball player
- Chris Colabello, baseball player
- Tim Collins, baseball player
- Todd Collins, football player
- Marc Colombo, football player
- Tony Conigliaro, baseball player
- Stephen Cooper, football player
- Jim Craig, USA Olympic hockey player, 1980 Lake Placid
- Honey Craven, equestrian
- Candy Cummings, Hall of Fame baseball player
- Tim Daggett, gymnast
- Ron Darling, baseball pitcher, television commentator
- Vinny Del Negro, basketball player, head coach
- Tony DeMarco, welterweight champion boxer
- Zak DeOssie, football player for New York Giants
- Eli Dershwitz, Under-20 World Saber Champion, and US Olympic saber fencer
- Mike DeVito, football player for Kansas City Chiefs
- Oliver Drake, baseball pitcher
- Rich Dubee, baseball coach
- Leo Durocher, Hall of Fame baseball manager
- Mike Eruzione, USA Olympic hockey player, 1980 Lake Placid
- Patrick Ewing, Hall of Fame basketball player
- Mark Fidrych, baseball pitcher, 1976 AL rookie of the year
- Ray Fitzgerald, baseball player
- Kenny Florian, UFC Fighter
- Doug Flutie, NFL quarterback, CFL Hall of Famer, Heisman Trophy winner
- G–L
- Chris Gamble, football player
- Breno Giacomini, football player
- Peter Giunta, football coach
- Tom Glavine, baseball pitcher
- Gracie Gold, Olympic figure skater
- Colin Grafton, figure skater
- Frank Grant, Hall of Fame baseball player
- Mike Grier, ice hockey player
- Josh Grispi, WEC fighter
- Bill Guerin, hockey player
- Marvin Hagler, champion boxer
- Pete Hamilton, NASCAR driver
- Matt Hasselbeck, football player
- Tim Hasselbeck, football player
- Steven Hauschka, football player
- Ed Healey, NFL Hall of Fame player for Chicago Bears
- Chris Herren, basketball player
- Rich Hill, baseball pitcher
- James Ihedigbo, football player
- Jarrett Jack, basketball player
- Tim Keefe, 19th-century baseball pitcher
- Nancy Kerrigan, Olympic figure skater
- Joe Lauzon, UFC fighter
- Peter Laviolette, hockey player, head coach
- Erika Lawler, U.S Olympic women's hockey team
- Michael Leach, tennis player
- Dana LeVangie, baseball player, coach
- Howie Long, Hall of Fame football player, sportscaster
- M–R
- Connie Mack, Hall of Fame baseball manager
- Rabbit Maranville, Hall of Fame baseball player
- Rocky Marciano, undefeated heavyweight boxer
- Lou Merloni, baseball player
- Alex Meyer, Olympic open water swimmer
- Mike Milbury, hockey player and coach
- Wayne Millner, Hall of Fame football player and coach
- Nerlens Noel, basketball player
- Ryan O'Rourke, baseball player
- Kassim Osgood, football player
- Francis Ouimet, golfer
- Jay Pandolfo, hockey player
- Craig Patrick, hockey player
- Carlos Peña, baseball player
- Joe Philbin, football coach
- Brian Piccolo, football player
- Tom Poti, hockey player
- John Quinlan, professional wrestler
- Aly Raisman (born 1994), Olympic gymnast
- Jeff Reardon, baseball player
- Jerry Remy, baseball player, broadcaster
- Jorge Rivera, UFC fighter
- Richard Rodgers, football player
- Jeremy Roenick, hockey player
- Annette Rogers, sprinter, Olympic gold medalist
- Dan Ross, football player
- S–Z
- Joe Sacco, hockey player
- Alicia Sacramone, Olympic gymnast
- Cory Schneider, hockey player
- Anthony Sherman, NFL player
- Simon Shnapir, Olympic medalist pairs skater
- Jarrod Shoemaker, triathlete
- Craig Smith, basketball player
- Lofa Tatupu, football player
- Keith Tkachuk, hockey player
- Jordan Todman, football player
- Pie Traynor, Hall of Fame baseball player
- Mark van Eeghen, football player
- Noah Vonleh, basketball player
- Pete Walker, baseball pitcher, coach
- Micky Ward, boxer
- Turk Wendell, baseball pitcher
- Jerry White, baseball player
- Jermaine Wiggins, football player
- Brian Wilson, baseball pitcher
- Mark Wohlers, baseball pitcher
- Wilbur Wood, baseball pitcher
- Antoine Wright, basketball player
- Paul Wylie, Olympic figure skater
Business
- Sheldon Adelson, chief executive officer of Las Vegas Sands Corp.
- Benjamin Bates IV, entrepreneur, namesake of Bates College
- Michael Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg L.P.
- Amar Bose, inventor
- Edward Goodwin Burnham, industrialist, Connecticut state senator
- Safra A. Catz, president of Oracle Corporation
- John S. Chen, chief executive officer of BlackBerry Ltd.
- Al Davis, former owner of the Oakland Raiders (deceased 2011)
- Elias Hasket Derby, reportedly America's first millionaire
- Dan Duquette, General Manager of the Baltimore Orioles
- William C. Durant, founder of General Motors and Chevrolet
- John Wesley Emerson, founder of the Emerson Electric Company
- Theo Epstein, General Manager of the Chicago Cubs; previously with Boston Red Sox
- Aaron Feuerstein, inventor
- Dave Gettleman, General Manager of the Carolina Panthers
- Crawford Greenewalt, president of DuPont (1948–1962)
- Reed Hastings, chief executive officer of Netflix
- Irwin M. Jacobs, co-founder and former chairman of Qualcomm
- Howard Deering Johnson, founder of the Howard Johnson's chain
- Leo Kahn, co-founder of Staples Inc.
- Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., businessman, investor, ambassador to United Kingdom
- Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots
- Jeffrey Lurie, owner of the Philadelphia Eagles
- George Swinnerton Parker, founder of Parker Brothers games
- Sumner Redstone, entertainment mogul
- Henry Huttleston Rogers, industrialist
- Jes Staley, chief executive officer of Barclays
- Jack Welch, chief executive officer of General Electric (1981–2001)
- Oliver Winchester, founder of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company
- Robert Wolf, Chairman and CEO of UBS's Group Americas division
Civil Rights and Activists
- Abigail Adams, advocate for women's rights and against slavery; second First Lady; wife of John Adams; mother of John Quincy Adams
- Susan B. Anthony, social reformist, suffragist
- David Bossie, political activist, president of Citizens United
- Frederick Douglass, abolitionist, social reformist
- Abby Kelley Foster, suffragist and abolitionist
- Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, feminist historian and writer
- Elizabeth Freeman, slave in Sheffield; sued for and won freedom on basis of state constitution, 1781
- Margaret Fuller, journalist and suffragist
- William Lloyd Garrison, abolitionist, journalist, and social reformist
- Charles Garry, civil rights attorney
- Abbie Hoffman, political activist, co-founder of the "Yippies"
- Horace Mann, U.S. Congressman, educationist, and abolitionist
- Grover Norquist, president of advocacy group Americans for Tax Reform
- Nathaniel Raymond, human-rights investigator and anti-torture advocate
- Lucy Stone, suffragist and abolitionist
- Neera Tanden, president of Center for American Progress
- Quock Walker, slave in Worcester County; won freedom on basis of state constitution, 1781
- Malcolm X, civil-rights activist (lived in Roxbury from ages 15–27) [1]
Crime
- Elizabeth Borden
- James J. "Whitey" Bulger
- Albert DeSalvo
- Thomas DeSimone
- "Anthony the Animal" Fiato
- Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi
- Jimmy Flynn
- Mark Foley
- David Gilbert
- George "Boston George" Jung
- Bernard "Bernie" McLaughlin
- Edward "Punchy" McLaughlin
- James "Buddy" McLean
- James "Spike" O'Toole
- Jacob D. Robida
- Alex Rocco
- "Handsome Johnny" Roselli
- Frank Salemme
- Frank Wallace
- Howie Winter
Entertainment
Comedians
- Edwin Adams, comedian, stage actor
- Orny Adams, comedian, actor, Teen Wolf
- Fred Allen, radio comedian
- Anthony Barbieri, comedy writer and performer, Jimmy Kimmel Live!
- Mike Birbiglia, comedian
- Andrew Bowen, comedian, MADtv
- Bo Burnham, comedian
- Bill Burr, comedian, actor
- Louis C.K., comedian, actor, director, Louie
- Mario Cantone, comedian
- Steve Carell, comedian, actor, The Office US
- Robert Carlock, producer, writer, 30 Rock
- Jessica Chaffin, comedian and actor, The Heat
- Lenny Clarke, comedian and actor, Rescue Me
- Jerry Colonna, comedian, singer
- Dane Cook, comedian and actor; Retaliation, Harmful If Swallowed (Arlington)
- Nate Corddry, comedian, actor, The Daily Show
- Rob Corddry, comedian, actor, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
- Rob Delaney, comedian, writer
- Jamie Denbo, comedian, actress, Terriers
- Nick DiPaolo, comedian
- Rachel Dratch, comedian, Saturday Night Live
- John Ennis, comedian, actor, Mr. Show with Bob and David
- Spike Feresten, comedy writer, television personality
- Christian Finnegan, comedian, actor, Are We There Yet?
- Gary Gulman, comedian
- Pete Holmes, comedian, comedy writer, television personality, voice-over actor
- Penn Jillette, comedian, illusionist, juggler, writer
- Mindy Kaling, comedian, actress The Office US, The Mindy Project
- Robert Kelly, comedian, actor, NYC 22
- Jen Kirkman, comedian, actress, writer, SuperNews!
- John Krasinski, comedian, actor The Office US
- Denis Leary, comedian and actor
- Jay Leno, comedian and talk show host
- Jason Mantzoukas, comedian and writer, The League
- Matt Mira, comedian, writer, and podcaster
- Eugene Mirman, comedian and writer, Bob's Burgers
- BJ Novak, comedian, actor, head writer of The Office US
- Conan O'Brien, comedian and talk show host (Cambridge)
- Patrice O'Neal, comedian, writer
- John Pinette, comedian, actor
- Amy Poehler, comedian, actress, Parks and Recreation
- Paula Poundstone, comedian
- Joe Rogan, comedian, actor
- Faith Salie, comedian, actress, radio host, Significant Others
- Lew Schneider, comedian, actor, writer, Everybody Loves Raymond
- Matt Selman, writer, producer, The Simpsons
- Tom Shillue, comedian, host of Red Eye
- Jenny Slate, comedian, actress, Saturday Night Live
- Doug Stanhope, comedian
- Steve Sweeney, comedian and actor
- Jimmy Tingle, comedian and actor
- Nancy Walls, comedian, actress
- Steven Wright, comedian, actor (Burlington)
Television and film
- A–H
- Ben Affleck, Oscar-winning screenwriter, director and actor; Good Will Hunting, Armageddon, Argo (Berkeley, California)
- Casey Affleck, actor (Falmouth)
- Jack Albertson, Academy Award-winning actor
- Jane Alexander, Emmy and Tony Award-winning actress
- Kristian Alfonso, actress
- Christopher Allport, actor
- Shawn Andrews, actor
- John Ashton, actor
- Elizabeth Banks, actress
- Susan Batson, actress, producer
- Michael Beach, actor
- Tobin Bell, actor
- Paul Benedict, actor
- H. Jon Benjamin, voice actor; Bob's Burgers, Archer (Worcester)
- Traci Bingham, actress, model
- Vail Bloom, actress
- Verna Bloom, actress
- Eric Bogosian, actor, playwright; Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Talk Radio (Woburn)
- Ray Bolger, actor
- Walter Brennan, Academy Award-winning actor
- Paget Brewster, actress
- Phil Brown, actor
- Wally Brown, actor
- Jere Burns, actor
- Steve Carell, The Office, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Anchorman (Acton)
- Richard Carle, actor
- Corey Carrier, actor
- Max Casella, actor
- Peggy Cass, actress, comedian
- John Cazale, actor
- John Cena, WWE Champion (West Newbury)
- Kevin Chapman, actor
- Michael Chiklis, actor
- Etan Cohen, screenwriter
- Misha Collins, actor
- Jennifer Coolidge, actress
- Nate Corddry, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Studio 60 (Weymouth)
- Rob Corddry, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, (Weymouth)
- Marcia Cross, Desperate Housewives (Marlborough)
- Monique Gabriela Curnen, actress
- Jane Curtin, actress
- Matt Damon, Academy Award-winning screenwriter and actor; Good Will Hunting, The Bourne Identity, The Departed (Cambridge)
- Bette Davis, actress
- Geena Davis, Academy Award-winning actress; Thelma and Louise (Wareham)
- Billy De Wolfe, actor, comedian, singer, voice actor Frosty the Snowman
- Ken Doane, WWE Superstar (Worcester)
- Ed Donovan, Monster, Acts of Mercy (South Boston)
- Jeffrey Donovan, actor; Burn Notice (Amesbury)
- Illeana Douglas, actress
- Rachel Dratch, Saturday Night Live (Lexington)
- Anne Dudek, actress
- Olympia Dukakis, Academy Award-winning actress
- Eliza Dushku, actress
- Richard Dysart, actor
- Lisa Edelstein, actress
- Ben Edlund, producer, writer
- Charles H. Eglee, Emmy Award-winning television producer and writer
- Lee Eisenberg, producer, writer
- John Enos III, actor
- Kathryn Erbe, actress
- Chris Evans, actor (Boston)
- Charles Farrell, actor
- Guy Ferland, film and television director
- Betty Field, actress
- Alison Folland, actress
- Ben Foster, actor
- Arlene Francis, actress
- Samuel Fuller, director, screenwriter
- Sabina Gadecki, model, actress
- Christos Gage, screenwriter
- Pamela Gidley, actress
- Ray Girardin, actor
- Paul Michael Glaser, actor, director
- Nick Gomez, director
- Ruth Gordon, actress
- Sprague Grayden, actress
- Ari Graynor, actress
- Adam Green, actor, director, screenwriter
- Lynnie Greene, actress, writer, producer
- Clark Gregg, actor, screenwriter
- Scott Grimes, actor
- Paul Guilfoyle, actor
- Jack Haley, actor
- Anthony Michael Hall, actor
- Pooch Hall, actor
- Neil Hamilton, actor
- Jane Hamsher, film producer
- Ziad Hamzeh, director, writer, producer
- Van Hansis, actor
- Jay Harrington, actor
- Jesse Heiman, actor
- G Hannelius, actress
- John Michael Higgins, actor
- Nichole Hiltz, actress
- Marin Hinkle, actress
- Judith Hoag, actress
- John Hodgman, The Daily Show, "I'm a PC" in Get a Mac (Brookline)
- Hal Holbrook, actor
- I–P
- Marie Jansen, musical actress
- Ann Jillian, actress
- Amy Jo Johnson, actress
- Chris J. Johnson, actor
- JoJo, actress, singer
- Jennifer Jostyn, actress
- Madeline Kahn, actress, singer
- Mindy Kaling, actress; The Office, The Mindy Project (Cambridge)
- Ben Karlin, Needham (The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Colbert Report)
- David E. Kelley, Emmy Award-winning writer and producer
- Jean Louisa Kelly, actress
- Arthur Kennedy, actor
- John Krasinski, The Office (Newton)
- Ben Kurland, The Artist (Newton)
- Denis Leary, Rescue Me (Worcester)
- Matt LeBlanc, Friends (Newton)
- Rex Lee, actor
- Jack Lemmon, Academy Award-winning actor
- Jay Leno, The Tonight Show (Andover)
- Joseph E. Levine, producer
- Richard Libertini, actor
- Laura Linney, actress Northfield Mount Hermon School
- Alexander Mackendrick, director
- Rob Mariano, Survivor contestant
- Nora Marlowe, actor
- Erica McDermott, actress
- Neal McDonough, actor
- Richard McGonagle, actor
- Melinda McGraw, actress
- Ed McMahon, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Star Search (Lowell)
- Terrence E. McNally, actor
- Julie McNiven, actress
- Maria Menounos, Entertainment Tonight, Extra (Medford)
- Jan Miner, actress
- Eugene Mirman, voice actor
- William Monahan, screenwriter
- Agnes Moorehead, Emmy Award-winning actress
- David Morse, actor
- Robert Morse, actor, singer
- Ebon Moss-Bachrach, actor
- Bridget Moynahan, actress
- Peter Murnik, actor
- Donna Murphy, actress
- Alexandra Neil, actress
- Barry Newman, actor
- Julianne Nicholson, actress
- Leonard Nimoy, Star Trek, IMAX voiceover (Boston)
- Alessandro Nivola, actor
- Edward Norton, American History X, The Incredible Hulk (Boston)
- B.J. Novak, The Office (Newton)
- Conan O'Brien, Late Night with Conan O'Brien (Brookline)
- Tricia O'Kelley, actress
- Gretchen Palmer, actress
- Benjamin John Parrillo, actor
- Estelle Parsons, Academy Award-winning actress
- Adrian Pasdar, actor
- Elizabeth Perkins, actress
- John Bennett Perry, actor
- Matthew Perry, actor
- Rebecca Pidgeon, actress
- Joseph Pilato, actor
- Maryann Plunkett, actress
- Amy Poehler, Saturday Night Live, Parks and Recreation (Burlington)
- Ellen Pompeo, Old School, Grey's Anatomy (Everett)
- Robert Preston, actor
- Q–Z
- Alan Rachins, actor
- Natalie Ramsey, actress
- Kim Raver, actress Northfield Mount Hermon School
- Joseph D. Reitman, actor
- James Remar, actor
- Patrick Renna, actor
- Robert Richardson, Academy Award-winning cinematographer
- Alex Rocco, actor
- Eli Roth, director, screenwriter, actor; Hostel (Newton)
- Harold Russell, Academy Award-winning actor
- Kurt Russell, actor, Escape from New York (Springfield)
- Damien Sandow, born Aaron Haddad, professional wrestler
- Alex Schemmer, actor
- Taylor Schilling, actress
- Fred J. Scollay, actor
- Tom Everett Scott, actor
- John Slattery, actor
- Hillary B. Smith, actress
- Paul L. Smith, actor
- Talisa Soto, actress
- James Spader, Emmy Award-winning actor; The Blacklist, Boston Legal (Boston)
- Andrew Stanton, director, screenwriter, producer
- David Starzyk, actor
- Skipp Sudduth, actor
- Erik Per Sullivan, actor
- Liam Kyle Sullivan, the "Kelly" Skits (Boston)
- Julie Taymor, director
- Casey Patrick Tebo, director
- Robin Thomas, actor
- Uma Thurman, actress, Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill (Amherst)
- T. J. Thyne, actor
- Maura Tierney, actress
- Nancy Travis, actress
- Jonathan Tucker, actor
- Paige Turco, actress
- Anne Twomey, actress
- Steven Tyler, actor, musician, TV personality (Lynn, Marshfield)
- Steven Van Zandt, actor
- Donnie Wahlberg, actor and musician
- Mark Wahlberg, actor and former musician; Entourage, The Departed, Ted (Dorchester)
- Nancy Walls, Saturday Night Live, The Office (Cohasset)
- Barbara Walters, television journalist and personality (Boston)
- Johnny Washbrook, child actor
- Sam Waterston, actor
- William A. Wellman, Academy Award-winning director
- Lyle R. Wheeler, Academy Award-winning art director (Woburn)
- Brian J. White, actor, dancer
- Kristen Wilson, actress
- Alicia Witt, actress (Worcester)
- Kenny Wormald, dancer, actor
- George Wyner, actor
- Greg Yaitanes, director
- Michael Yebba, actor, screenwriter
- Rob Zombie, The Devil's Rejects (Haverhill)
Radio
- Dean Barnett, occasional fill-in radio host for Hugh Hewitt
- Liane Hansen, senior host of NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday
- Ray and Tom Magliozzi, of Car Talk
- Leslie Marshall, radio talk host
- Henry Joseph Nasiff Jr., former Howard Stern Show regular
- Ryen Russillo, sports radio host
- Paul Sullivan, radio talk host
Hosts, sportscasters, and television personalities
- Tom Bergeron, television personality and game show host
- Michelle Bonner, ESPN SportsCenter and ESPNEWS anchor
- Susie Castillo, MTV VJ and 2003 Miss USA
- Liz Claman, anchor for Fox Business Network's Countdown to the Closing Bell
- Bertha Coombs, general assignment reporter for CNBC
- S. E. Cupp, conservative pundit and Crossfire panelist
- Fred Cusick, play-by-play announcer for the Boston Bruins
- Arwa Damon, video correspondent for CNN International and CNN based in Iraq
- Damien Fahey, MTV VJ
- Josh Gates, explorer and host of Destination Truth on Syfy network
- Ed Herlihy, radio and television announcer
- John King, CNN chief national correspondent
- Steve Kornacki, political commentator on MSNBC and host of Up
- Wayne Larrivee, play-by-play announcer for the Green Bay Packers; previously for the Chicago Bears
- Josh Lewin, play-by-play announcer for the Texas Rangers
- Sean McDonough, sports announcer for ESPN
- Maria Menounos, television presenter for Entertainment Tonight and Access Hollywood
- Dave O'Brien, ESPN sportscaster
- Lawrence O'Donnell, political commentator on MSNBC and host of The Last Word
- Don Orsillo, play-by-play announcer for the San Diego Padres
- Gil Santos, WBZ, voice of the New England Patriots
- John Sencio, host of Cash In The Attic for HGTV, an MTV VJ during 1990s, actor and musician
- George Stephanopoulos, chief political correspondent for ABC News, co-anchor of Good Morning America
- Lesley Visser, sportscaster, Boston Globe sportswriter, co-host of The NFL Today
- Suzyn Waldman, sportscaster for WCBS-AM and color commentator for the New York Yankees
- Mike Wallace, television personality and journalist, 60 Minutes correspondent
- Barbara Walters, television personality and journalist, The View creator and co-host
Founders
- John Adams,—Braintree
- Samuel Adams,—Boston
- Benjamin Franklin,—Boston
- John Hancock,—Braintree
- Pilgrims, the first European settlers (Plymouth Colony, 1620)
- Puritans, English settlers in the 16th and 17th centuries (Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1628)
- Elizabeth Poole, foundress of Taunton, in 1637; the first woman to have founded a town in the Americas
Literature
- Herbert Baxter Adams, educator, historian
- Louisa May Alcott, author, Little Women (Concord)
- Horatio Alger, Jr., author
- Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, author, In the Forests of the Night, Demon in my View (Concord)
- Mike Barnicle, journalist
- Peter Beinart, journalist (Cambridge)
- Edward Bellamy, author and socialist
- James Bennet, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic
- Amalie Benjamin, journalist, The Boston Globe
- Elizabeth Bishop, poet (Worcester)
- Anne Bradstreet, poet
- Joseph Breck, author, magazine editor, publisher (Medfield)
- William Cullen Bryant, poet
- Augusten Burroughs, Running with Scissors (Amherst)
- Robert Ellis Cahill, folklorist, author, some three dozen books on New England history and lore (Salem)
- John Casey, author
- Robert Cormier, author, columnist (Leominster)
- Bernard Cornwell, created Richard Sharpe (Chatham)
- E. E. Cummings, poet (Cambridge)
- Steve Curwood, journalist, author (Boston)
- Stephen Daye, printer
- Emily Dickinson, poet (Amherst)
- E. J. Dionne, liberal op-ed columnist for The Washington Post (Boston)
- W. E. B. Du Bois, author, editor, historian, The Souls of Black Folk (Great Barrington)
- Andre Dubus III, author
- Will Durant, writer, historian, philosopher (North Adams)
- Gordon Edes, sports journalist
- Dave Eggers, author
- Ralph Waldo Emerson, poet, Nature, The Transcendentalist (Concord)
- Dan Fitzpatrick, author (Fairhaven, Shelburne Falls)
- George Frazier, journalist (Boston)
- Robert Frost, poet (Lawrence)
- Linda Gaboriau, dramaturg and literary translator (Boston)
- Nicholas Gage, writer and journalist (Worcester)
- John Kenneth Galbraith, author, educator, and public official
- Peter Gammons, sportswriter (Boston)
- Khalil Gibran, artist, poet, writer
- George Gilder, author, intellectual (Tyringham)
- Ellen Goodman, journalist, syndicated columnist
- Edward Gorey, author and illustrator
- Nathaniel Hawthorne, author, The Scarlet Letter (Salem)
- George V. Higgins, columnist, author, The Friends of Eddie Coyle
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., poet and essayist (Cambridge)
- Helen Maria Hunt Jackson, author
- Sebastian Junger, author, journalist
- Janice Kaplan, novelist, magazine editor
- Marina Keegan, author, playwright (Wayland)
- Jack Kerouac, author, On the Road (Lowell)
- Ronald Kessler, journalist, author, In the President's Secret Service (Belmont)
- Richard Kindleberger, reporter, editor, The Boston Globe (Lincoln)
- Peter King, sportswriter, author
- Jonathan Kozol, author, educator, activist
- Stanley Kunitz, poet, Poet Laureate of the United States (Worcester)
- Peter Laird, comic book creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- Timothy Leary, psychologist, author, Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out (Springfield)
- Dennis Lehane, author
- Mark Leibovich, journalist and author, The New Imperialists (Boston)
- Henry Cabot Lodge, author and public official
- Amy Lowell, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet
- James Russell Lowell, poet (Fireside Poets)
- Robert Lowell, poet
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882), author
- Michael Patrick MacDonald, author, activist, All Souls (South Boston)
- William Manchester, author and biographer
- William Marston, comic book writer, co-created Wonder Woman
- Tony Massarotti, sportswriter, The Boston Globe (Waltham)
- Stephen McCauley, The Object of My Affection (Woburn)
- Will McDonough, sportswriter for the Boston Globe (South Boston)
- Eileen McNamara, columnist, The Boston Globe (Cambridge)
- Susan Minot, novelist, short story writer (Boston, Manchester)
- Robin Moore, author, The Green Berets (Boston)
- Orson Desaix Munn I, publisher of Scientific American (Monson)
- Marvin Olasky, author, editor-in-chief of WORLD Magazine
- Charles Olson, poet (Worcester)
- Thomas Paine, Common Sense
- Robert B. Parker, author (Springfield)
- Bliss Perry, literary critic, writer, editor (Williamstown)
- Charlie Pierce, sportswriter, political blogger, author
- Daniel Pipes, author, In the Path of God (Boston, Cambridge)
- Sylvia Plath, poet, author, and essayist, The Bell Jar (Boston)
- Edgar Allan Poe, author and poet, "The Raven", "The Fall of the House of Usher" (Boston)
- Rufus Porter, founder of Scientific American magazine (Boxford)
- Douglas Preston, author, The Book of the Dead (Cambridge)
- John Rennie, editor-in-chief of Scientific American magazine
- R.A. Salvatore, author (Leominster)
- George Santayana, philosopher, essayist, poet, novelist, The Life of Reason (Boston)
- Daniel Scott, author, Some of Us Have to Get Up in the Morning, Pay This Amount (Braintree)
- Horace Scudder, man of letters, editor
- Dr. Seuss, born Theodor Seuss Geisel, author, poet and illustrator (Springfield)
- Anne Sexton, poet (Newton)
- Mark Shasha, author
- Dan Shaughnessy, sportswriter (Groton)
- Kyle Smith, film critic, novelist, essayist
- Jeff Stein, columnist
- Sabrina Tavernise, journalist (Granville)
- Michelle Tea, Rent Girl (Chelsea)
- Henry David Thoreau, philosopher, author, Walden (Concord)
- John Updike
- Edith Wharton, author
- John Greenleaf Whittier, poet and abolitionist
- Thomas E. Woods, Jr., author, historian (North Andover)
- Jane Yolen, author
Military
- Clarence Lionel Adcock, US Army, deputy to General Lucius D. Clay in 1946
- Nathaniel M. Allen, soldier in Civil War, awarded Congressional Medal of Honor
- George Bancroft, Secretary of the Navy and founder of the US Naval Academy
- William Francis Buckley, US Army officer and CIA operative; died in 1985 while being tortured by the Islamist group Hezbollah
- George W. Casey, Jr., US Army general and Chief of Staff of the United States Army
- Christopher Cassidy, US Navy SEAL, NASA astronaut
- Joseph Dunford, United States Marine Corps general, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Barack Obama
- John Wesley Emerson, Civil War commander
- General John Galvin, retired US Army; former dean of The Fletcher School at Tufts University
- Adolphus Greely, Polar explorer, US Army officer and recipient of the Medal of Honor
- Cyprian Howe (1726–1806), colonel in the American Revolutionary War
- Barry McCaffrey, four-star Army General, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy
- Elmer J. Rogers, Jr. (1903–2002), United States Air Force lieutenant general
- Charles Pomeroy Stone, soldier, explorer, and engineer
- Ralph Talbot (1897-1918), United States Marine Corps pilot during World War I, Congressional Medal of Honor
Music
Classical music
- John Coolidge Adams (born 1947), composer (contemporary classical with strong roots in minimalism)
- Samuel Adler, composer and conductor, lived and studied for a time in Massachusetts before moving to New York
- Leroy Anderson (1908–1975), composer of short, light concert pieces
- Leonard Bernstein, conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist of Ukrainian Jewish descent
- Sarah Caldwell (1924–2006), opera conductor, impresario and stage director of opera
- Michael Gandolfi, composer of contemporary classical music
- Serge Koussevitzky (Russian: Сергей Александрович Кусевицкий), born in Russia, composer and conductor Boston Symphony Orchestra; professor to Leonard Bernstein, Samuel Adler and Sarah Caldwell
- Walter Piston (1894–1976), composer, music theorist and professor of Italian-American descent
- Roger Sessions (Roger Huntington Sessions, 1896–1985), composer, critic and teacher
- Randall Thompson (1899–1984), composer of choral works
Rock and other music
- Akrobatik, rapper
- Nuno Bettencourt, singer and guitarist of Extreme
- Tracy Bonham, alternative rock musician
- Bobby Brown, singer
- Michael Burkett (also known as Fat Mike), singer, bassist of NOFX and owner of Fat Wreck Chords, born in Massachusetts
- Gary Cherone, rock singer and songwriter
- Neil Cicierega, singer and internet cult icon
- Ray Conniff, easy-listening recording artist
- Rich Cronin, singer, LFO
- Danny Davis, country musician
- Brad Delp (deceased), lead singer of former bands Boston, RTZ
- Nicole Fiorentino, bass guitarist of The Smashing Pumpkins
- John Flansburgh, half of They Might Be Giants
- Stephen Foster, composer of folk and traditional music
- Thom Gimbel, rhythm guitar, saxophone, flute, keyboards, vocals Foreigner (band)
- Barry Goudreau, guitars, backing vocals for Boston, RTZ, Ernie and the Automatics
- Norman Greenbaum, singer
- Tom Hamilton, bassist for Aerosmith
- Kay Hanley, singer (Letters to Cleo)
- Sib Hashian, drums, percussion, backing vocals for Boston, RTZ, Ernie and the Automatics
- Juliana Hatfield, guitarist, singer-songwriter
- Roy Haynes, jazz musician
- Pete Francis Heimbold, of Dispatch
- JoJo, singer
- Sonya Kitchell, singer-songwriter
- Joey Kramer, drummer for Aerosmith
- Jordan Knight, singer-songwriter
- Phil Labonte, singer, All That Remains
- Jack Landrón, folk singer, songwriter
- Aaron Lewis, lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of Staind
- John Linnell, one half of They Might Be Giants
- Mary Lou Lord, singer, guitarist
- Taj Mahal, blues musician
- Jonah Matranga, singer/songwriter
- J Mascis, singer-songwriters, guitarist for Dinosaur Jr
- Andrew McMahon, singer, pianist
- Jo Dee Messina, country artist
- Angie Miller, singer, songwriter
- Mike Ness, guitarist, vocalist, songwriter for Social Distortion
- Taecyeon Ok, actor, model, and member of South Korean pop group 2PM.
- Joe Perry, guitarist, singer for Aerosmith, The Joe Perry Project
- Linda Perry, singer-songwriter
- Wanda Perry-Josephs, singer
- Bobby "Boris" Pickett, singer ("Monster Mash")
- Rachel Platten, singer-songwriter
- Ruth Pointer, singer-songwriter of the Pointer Sisters
- Alisan Porter, singer-songwriter and retired actress; winner of The Voice season 10
- Jonathan Richman, singer-songwriter in The Modern Lovers
- David Robinson, drummer, The Cars
- Tom Scholz, musician, composer for the band Boston
- Carly Simon, musician, singer, composer
- Slaine, hip-hop MC
- Spider One, singer
- Billy Squier, rock musician
- Donna Summer, singer-songwriter
- James Taylor, singer-songwriter, instrumentalist
- Meghan Trainor, singer-songwriter
- Chad Stokes Urmston, of Dispatch
- Brad Whitford, singer, guitarist for Aerosmith
- Alan Wilson, guitarist and singer for the band Canned Heat
- Rob Zombie, singer, director
- Quinn Sullivan, guitarist, singer
Native Americans
- King Philip, war chief (Wampanoag)
- Crispus Attucks (see below)
- Samoset, first Native American to make contact with the Pilgrims (Abenaki)
- Squanto, helped the Pilgrims in their first visit to the New World (Wampanoag)
- Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck, first Native American graduate of Harvard University (Wampanoag)
- Passaconaway, Chief of the Pennacook tribe (Pennacook)
- Massasoit, Chief of the Wampanoag tribe in 1621 (Wampanoag)
People involved in the American Revolution
- John Adams, Patriot; 2nd President and 1st Vice President of the United States
- Samuel Adams, 4th Governor of Massachusetts and Delegate to the Continental Congress
- Crispus Attucks, first casualty of the American Revolutionary War
- John Glover, Brigadier General in the Continental Army
- John Hancock, 1st and 3rd Governor of Massachusetts and President of the Continental Congress
- James Otis, lawyer; known for his catchphrase "No taxation without representation"
- Robert Treat Paine, signer of the Declaration of Independence and 1st Attorney General of Massachusetts
- William Prescott, Colonel during the Battle of Bunker Hill
- Paul Revere, silversmith; Patriot; known for his "Midnight Ride"
- Deborah Sampson, disguised herself as a man in the Continental Army
- Artemus Ward, Major general in the American Revolution; Congressman from Massachusetts
- Dr. Joseph Warren, physician; President of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress
Politics and Government
See Governor of Massachusetts for a complete list of governors from 1620 to the present.
- John Adams, 2nd President and 1st Vice President of the United States
- John Quincy Adams, 6th President of the United States
- Samuel Adams, 4th Governor of Massachusetts and Delegate to the Continental Congress
- Joe Arpaio, sheriff of Maricopa County in Arizona
- Michael Bloomberg, 108th Mayor of New York City
- James Bowdoin, 2nd Governor of Massachusetts
- Edward Brooke, U.S. Senator
- George H W Bush, 41st President and 43rd Vice President of the United States
- Andrew Card, State Rep., U.S. Secretary of Transportation, White House Chief of Staff
- Paul Cellucci, governor and U.S. Ambassador to Canada
- Calvin Coolidge, 30th President and 29th Vice President of the United States
- P.J. Crowley, Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs under President Obama
- James Michael Curley, 35th Mayor of Boston and 53rd Governor of Massachusetts
- Susan Davis, U.S. Representative of California
- Bill de Blasio, 109th Mayor of New York City
- Paul Douglas, U.S Senator of Illinois (1949–1967)
- Michael Dukakis, 65th and 67th Governor of Massachusetts and 1988 Democratic presidential candidate
- Edward Everett, 15th Governor of Massachusetts; U.S. Secretary of State; remembered for his two-hour speech at Gettysburg before Abraham Lincoln's two-minute one
- Thomas Finneran, Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives (1996–2004)
- Elbridge Gerry, 5th Vice President of the United States, 9th Governor of Massachusetts, namesake of gerrymandering
- Richard Goodwin, speechwriter for John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Robert F. Kennedy; congressional investigator
- John Hancock, 1st and 3rd Governor of Massachusetts and President of the Continental Congress
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
- Thomas Hutchinson, Colonial Governor
- Edward M. Kennedy, U.S. Senator
- John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States
- Robert F. Kennedy, U.S. Attorney General and U.S. Senator
- John Forbes Kerry, longtime U.S. Senator from Massachusetts (1985-2013), 2004 Democratic nominee for president, current U.S. Secretary of State
- Harold Hongju Koh, Legal Adviser of the Department of State under President Obama
- David Kris, Assistant Attorney General under President Obama
- Henry Cabot Lodge, U.S. Senator, led the Senate opposition to the League of Nations
- Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., U.S. Senator, U.S. Ambassador to U.N., South Vietnam, and West Germany, and 1960 Republican nominee for Vice-President
- Ed Markey, U.S. Senator, former member of the U.S. House of Representatives
- Gina McCarthy, EPA Administrator under President Obama
- John W. McCormack, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
- Thomas Menino, longest-serving mayor of Boston
- Ernest Moniz, U.S. Secretary of Energy under President Obama
- Tip O'Neill, 55th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (1977–1987)
- Peter R. Orszag, Director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Obama
- Frances Perkins, U.S. Secretary of Labor (1933–1945) and first woman appointed to the U.S. Cabinet
- Mitt Romney, 70th Governor of Massachusetts, 2012 Republican nominee for U.S. president
- Warren Rudman, U.S. Senator
- Theodore Sedgwick, President pro tempore of the Senate, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
- Charles Sumner, U.S. Senator
- Cass Sunstein, Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs under President Obama
- John E. Sununu, U.S. Senator of New Hampshire
- Jane Swift, first and only female Governor of Massachusetts (acting)
- Henry Wilson, 18th Vice President of the United States, U.S. Senator
- John A. Volpe, U.S. Secretary of Transportation under President Nixon and 61st and 63rd Governor of Massachusetts
Religion
- Francis Ellingwood Abbot, philosopher and theologian
- Richard Alpert (Ram Dass), spiritual teacher
- Russell Conwell, Baptist minister, orator, philanthropist, lawyer, and writer
- Mary Dyer, martyr
- Mary Baker Eddy, founder of Christian Science
- Ralph Waldo Emerson, Unitarian and Transcendentalist
- Louis Farrakhan, Nation of Islam leader
- Edward Everett Hale, religious leader
- John Harvard, clergyman and namesake of Harvard University
- Bernard Francis Law, archbishop and cardinal
- Emmanuel Lemelson, Greek Orthodox priest, investor and philanthropist
- Cotton Mather, minister
- Increase Mather, minister
- Dwight Lyman Moody, evangelist
- Edmund Sears, Unitarian parish minister who penned "It Came upon the Midnight Clear" in 1849
- Samuel Webber, clergyman, mathematician, and academic
Science
- Cyrus Alger, metallurgist, arms manufacturer and inventor
- Ethan Allen, co-inventor of the single-action revolver
- Johnny Appleseed, folk hero, pioneer nurseryman
- Jerome Apt, astronaut
- Nima Arkani-Hamed, theoretical physicist
- Elliot Aronson, psychologist
- Charlotte Barnum, mathematician
- Alexander Graham Bell, inventor
- Sir Tim Berners-Lee, World Wide Web; MIT professor
- Luther Burbank, horticulturist
- William Burt, inventor, surveyor, and millwright
- Vannevar Bush, engineer, inventor and science administrator
- Rachel Fuller Brown, chemist
- Roderick Chisholm, philosopher
- Noam Chomsky, linguist
- Michael Cohen, first doctor to diagnose Proteus syndrome
- Morris Cohen, metallurgist
- William D. Coolidge, physicist
- Elias James Corey, chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1990.
- William Healey Dall, naturalist, malacologist
- Daniel Dennett, cognitive scientist and philosopher
- Benjamin Franklin, scientist, diplomat, public official
- Robert Goddard, inventor
- Charles Goodyear, inventor
- Temple Grandin, doctor of animal science and professor at Colorado State University
- Sylvester Graham, inventor
- Crawford Greenewalt, chemical engineer
- Frederick Hauck, NASA astronaut
- Elias Howe, inventor
- Dan Itse, chemical engineer and New Hampshire public official
- Melvin Johnson, prominent firearms designer
- Richard Karp, computer scientist, computational theorist
- Alan Kay, computer scientist
- Nathaniel S. Keith, manufacturer, chemist, inventor, and electrical engineer
- Robert Lanza, medical doctor, scientist
- Lewis Howard Latimer, inventor and draftsman
- Erasmus Darwin Leavitt, Jr., mechanical engineer
- Henrietta Swan Leavitt, astronomer
- Gilbert N. Lewis, physical chemist, discovered covalent bonds
- Robert Lindsay, physicist, specializing in acoustics
- Richard Lindzen, atmospheric physicist
- Arthur Little, chemist and chemical engineer
- Percival Lowell, astronomer
- Elizabeth Marston, psychologist, co-creator of Wonder Woman
- William Marston, psychologist, co-creator of Wonder Woman
- John McCarthy, computer scientist, cognitive scientist
- Albert Abraham Michelson, physicist, first American to receive the Nobel Prize in science
- Samuel Finley Breese Morse, inventor and artist
- William T.G. Morton, dentist and physician
- Samuel Morse, painter, co-developer of Morse code
- Richard Muther, industrial engineer
- Lloyd Ohlin, sociologist and criminologist
- Robert T. Paine, ecologist
- Charles Sanders Peirce, logician, mathematician, philosopher, and scientist
- Jacob Perkins, inventor, mechanical engineer and physicist
- Gregory Pincus, scientist, developed birth control pill
- Rufus Porter, inventor
- Albert Sacco, chemical engineer and Payload Specialist for NASA
- John Henry Schwarz, theoretical physicist
- Samuel Scudder, entomologist and palaeontologist
- Andrew Strominger, theoretical physicist
- Benjamin Thompson, physicist and inventor
- Edward Thorndike, psychologist
- Janice E. Voss, engineer, NASA astronaut
- An Wang, inventor, computer engineer, co-founder of Wang Laboratories
- Worcester Warner, mechanical engineer, astronomer
- Samuel Wellman, inventor of the crucible steel furnace
- David Ames Wells, engineer, textbook author, economist
- Daniel Wesson, firearms designer
- Charles Abiathar White, geologist, paleontologist
- Frank C. Whitmore, chemist
- Eli Whitney, inventor
- Kenneth G. Wilson, theoretical physicist
- John Winthrop, mathematician, physicist, astronomer
- Robert Wood, physicist, inventor
- Sewall Wright, geneticist
Others
- Henry Adams, historian
- F. Lee Bailey, attorney
- Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross[2]
- Nathaniel Bowditch, mathematician
- William M. Bulger, former President of the Massachusetts State Senate and former president of the University of Massachusetts
- Donald Davidson, philosopher
- Isaac Greenwood, mathematician
- Kevin Hassett, economist, specializing in macroeconomics and tax policy
- Jill Lepore, historian
- Corey Lewandowski, campaign manager for Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign
- Carroll Quigley, historian and theorist of the evolution of civilizations
- Acharya S, internet personality, conspiracy theorist
- Lothrop Stoddard, political scientist, historian, journalist, anthropologist, eugenicist
See also
References
- ^ "Malcolm X, ex-Bostonian". Retrieved November 30, 2016.
- ^ "The Story of My Childhood". World Digital Library. 1907. Retrieved October 9, 2013.