New York City skylineMany notable people were either born in New York City or adopted it as their home.
Non-native New Yorkers
These people were not born or adopted in New York City and raised elsewhere but are well known for living in New York City.
A
B
Lucille Ball – comedian, actress, born in Jamestown, New York
Count Basie – jazz pianist and band leader, born in Red Bank, New Jersey
William Basinski – avant-garde composter, born in Austin, Texas
Laura Joyce Bell – contralto , wife of Digby Bell , born in London, England
Irving Berlin – composer, lyricist, born in Russia
Leonard Bernstein – conductor, born in Lawrence, Massachusetts
Lewis Black – comedian, born in Silver Spring, Maryland
C. L. Blood – physician[31]
Michael Bloomberg – businessman and mayor, born in Boston, Massachusetts
Mary Booze – first African-American woman to sit on the Republican National Committee , 1924–1948; moved to New York from Mound Bayou , Mississippi
David Bowie – English musician, actor, artist, born in London , England
Marlon Brando Jr. – actor, born in Omaha, Nebraska
Brandy – singer, born in McComb, Mississippi
Lottie Briscoe – stage and silent film actress, born in St. Louis, Missouri
Tom Brokaw – television journalist, born in Webster, South Dakota
Orestes Brownson – writer, abolitionist, pro-labor reformer, Catholic apologist, born in Stockbridge, Vermont
David Byrne – musician, born in Dumbarton, Scotland
C
Sid Caesar – comedian and actor, born in Yonkers
Antón Cabaleiro – visual artist born in Spain
Mariah Carey – singer, born in Huntington, New York
Wendy Carlos – musician, born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island
Stokely Carmichael – political activist, born in Port of Spain , Trinidad and Tobago
Art Carney – actor, born in Mount Vernon, New York
Enrico Caruso – opera tenor, born in Naples , Italy
Willa Cather – author, born in Back Creek Valley, Virginia
Connie Chung – television journalist, born in Washington, D.C.
Madonna – singer-songwriter, actress, director, born in Bay City, Michigan
Dick Clark (1929-2012) – TV personality and producer, born in Mount Vernon, New York
Chelsea Clinton – daughter of President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton , born in Little Rock, Arkansas
DeWitt Clinton – Senator and Governor of New York , born in Napanoch , New York
George M. Cohan – entertainer and songwriter, born in Providence, Rhode Island
J Cole – rapper, artist, born in Frankfurt, Germany
Anthony Comstock – reformer, born in New Canaan, Connecticut
Nanette Comstock – Broadway actress, born in Albany, New York
Bill Cosby – actor and comedian, born in Philadelphia
Billy Crawford – singer, born in Manila, Philippines
Fanny Crosby – hymn writer, born in Southeast, New York
Tom Cruise – actor, born in Syracuse, New York
Bill Cullen (1920-1990) – radio host, born in Pittsburgh
D
Lorenzo Da Ponte – librettist to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and professor of Italian at Columbia University , born in Ceneda, Italy
Varina Banks Howell Davis (1826–1906) – wife of Confederate president, born in Mississippi
Sylvia Day – author, born in Los Angeles
Mike Dean – hip hop record producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, born in Houston
Mac DeMarco – singer-songwriter, born in Duncan, British Columbia , Canada
Thomas E. Dewey – Governor of New York
Vin Diesel – actor
Marlene Dietrich – actress, born in Berlin, Germany
Joe DiMaggio – baseball player, born in California
David Dinkins (1927-2020) – former Mayor of New York City , born in Trenton, New Jersey
George Washington Dixon – performer, newspaper editor
Kevin Durant – basketball player, born in Washington D.C.[32]
Frederick Douglass – abolitionist, born in Cordova, Maryland
Francis P. Duffy – priest, World War I chaplain to 69th New York Infantry Regiment , born in Canada
Bob Dylan – singer-songwriter, born in Duluth, Minnesota
E
F
Lee Falk – cartoonist, born in St. Louis
Barbara Feldon – writer and retired actress
Millard Fillmore – U.S. president, born in Summerhill, New York
Bobby Fischer – chess champion, born in Chicago
Ella Fitzgerald – jazz singer, born in Newport News, Virginia
Barthold Fles – Dutch-born literary agent
Jake Flores — comedian
Steve Forbes – publisher, born in Morristown, New Jersey
Heather Foster – Jamaican-born professional bodybuilder
Felix Frankfurter – Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States , born in Vienna, Austria
Henry Clay Frick – businessman, born in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania
G
Dave Gahan – Depeche Mode singer, born in Epping, Essex , United Kingdom
Alberta Gallatin – stage and screen actress, born in Cabell County, West Virginia
Greta Garbo – actress, born in Stockholm, Sweden
Dizzy Gillespie – jazz trumpet player, born in Cheraw, South Carolina
Miguel Gómez – photographer, born in Bogotá, Colombia
H
Bobby Hackett – jazz musician, born in Providence, Rhode Island
Thomas S. Hamblin – actor, manager of the Bowery Theater
Alexander Hamilton – U.S. Founding Father , born in the West Indies
Townsend Harris – first U.S. diplomat in Japan, one of the founders of the City College of New York , born in Sandy Hill, New York
Mariska Hargitay (born 1964) – actress, born in Santa Monica, California
Randy Harrison (born 1977) – actor, born in New Hampshire and formerly of Alpharetta, Georgia
Deborah Harry – singer, actress, born in Union City, New Jersey
Francis L. Hawks – politician; priest, Episcopal Church ; born in New Bern , North Carolina
Carlton Hayes – history professor at Columbia University , ambassador to Spain, born in Afton , New York
Ashton Hayward – former mayor of Pensacola , born in Pensacola, Florida
O. Henry – author, born in Greensboro, North Carolina
Tommy Hilfiger – fashion designer, born in Elmira, New York
Herman Hollerith – inventor, born in Buffalo, New York
Lester Holt – journalist and news anchor for the weekday edition of NBC Nightly News and Dateline NBC , born in San Francisco
Ian Hornak – realist painter, born in Philadelphia
Harry Houdini (1874–1926) – legendary illusionist and escape artist; born in Budapest, Hungary
Langston Hughes – poet, born in Joplin, Missouri
I
Kyrie Irving – basketball player, born in Australia, grew up in New Jersey
J
Janet Jackson – singer, born in Gary, Indiana
Jane Jacobs (1916–2006) – economist, urban theorist, and activist
JonTron – YouTuber , co-creator of Game Grumps , born in Rancho Palos Verdes, California
Kamara James – Olympic fencer, born in Kingston, Jamaica
Kevin James – actor, born in Mineola, New York
Peter Jennings – television journalist, born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Derek Jeter – baseball player, born in New Jersey
Paddy Johnson – art critic
K
Gabriel Kahane – musician, born in Venice Beach, California
Tim Keller – speaker, pastor, born in Lehigh, Pennsylvania
Robert F. Kennedy – U.S. Attorney General and U.S. Senator, born in Brookline, Massachusetts
Tom Kennedy (1927-2020) – game show host
Jack Kerouac – writer most famously associated with the [Beat movement]
Kiesza (full name Kiesza Rae Ellestad) – musician, dancer, and multi-instrumentalist, born in Calgary , Alberta , Canada
Lisa Kudrow – actress, born in Encino, California
Howard Kyle – actor and founding member of Actors' Equity , born in Shullsburg, Wisconsin
L
Kirke La Shelle – playwright and theatrical producer, born in Wyoming, Illinois
Lachi – singer-songwriter, born in Towson, Maryland
John Layfield – professional wrestler, born in Sweetwater, Texas
Heath Ledger – Australian actor
Amy Lee – singer, born in Riverside, California
Spike Lee – film director and actor, born in Atlanta
John Lennon – Singer, Songwriter, Activist. Lennon has a memorial in New York's Central Park . The memorial is named after The Beatles song Strawberry Fields Forever .
Pierre Lorillard IV – tobacco mogul, born in Westchester , New York
Mike Lupica – journalist, author, born in Oneida, New York
Fran Lebowitz – author and public speaker, born in Morristown, New Jersey
M
Ralph Macchio – actor, born on Long Island
Ali MacGraw – actress, born in Pound Ridge, New York
Earl Manigault – basketball player, born in Charleston, South Carolina
Mickey Mantle – baseball Hall of Famer, born in Spavinaw, Oklahoma
Dean Martin – singer and actor, born in Ohio
Ricky Martin – singer, born in Puerto Rico
Jackie Mason – comedian and actor, born in Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Jan Matulka – painter, born in Vlachovo Březí , Czech Republic
Willie Mays – baseball Hall of Famer, born in Alabama
Mike McAlary – Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, born in Honolulu
John McCloskey – first American-born cardinal, born in Brooklyn
Rue McClanahan – theater, television, and movie actress, born in Oklahoma
Linda McCartney – photographer, wife of Beatle Paul McCartney
John McEnroe – tennis player and TV commentator, born in Germany
Zubin Mehta – orchestra conductor, born in Bombay , India
Scott Mescudi – rapper, singer, songwriter, born in Cleveland
Seth Meyers – comedian, actor, and television personality, born in Evanston, Illinois
Bette Midler – singer and actress, born in Honolulu
Nicki Minaj − rapper and actress, born in Port of Spain , Trinidad and Tobago
Liza Minnelli – actress and singer, born in Hollywood, Los Angeles
The Misshapes – DJs and party hosts
Miyawaki – Singer-songwriter musician
Moondog (born Louis Hardin) – eccentric street musician and poet, born in Kansas
Garry Moore – television show host and producer, born in Baltimore
John Pierpont Morgan – businessman, born in Hartford, Connecticut
Robert Moses – NYC urban planner and developer, born in New Haven, Connecticut
Andrew M. Murstein – taxi executive, founder of Medallion Financial
N
O
Soledad O'Brien – television journalist, born in Saint James, New York
John Joseph O'Connor – Roman Catholic Cardinal Archbishop of New York, born in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania
Rosie O'Donnell – actress and television personality, born on Long Island
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen – actresses and fashion designers, born in Sherman Oaks, California
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis – First Lady of United States, born in Southampton, New York
Yoko Ono – artist and singer-songwriter, born in Tokyo, Japan
Haley Joel Osment – actor, born in Los Angeles
Ginny Owens – singer-songwriter, author and blogger, born in Jackson, Mississippi
P
Charlie Parker – musician in jazz, considered one of the greatest musicians of all time
Sarah Jessica Parker – actress, born in Nelsonville, Ohio
George A. Parkhurst (1841–1890) – actor, witnessed Lincoln assassination (born in New York State, died in New York City)
Natalia Paruz – aka the "Saw Lady", subway musician, born in Givatayim , Israel
James Patterson – author
Kira Peikoff – novelist and journalist
Ronald Perelman – investor, owner of Revlon , born in Greensboro, North Carolina [35]
Itzhak Perlman (born 1945) – violinist, born in Jaffa, Israel
David Hyde Pierce – actor, born in Saratoga Springs, New York
Alban W. Purcell (c. 1843 – 1913) – stage actor, born in Wadsworth, Ohio
Mihajlo Pupin (1858–1935) physicist, born in Idvor , Austrian Empire
R
Daniel Radcliffe – born in Fulham , London, England, United Kingdom
Johnny Ramone – born on Long Island
Ayn Rand – Russian-born novelist and philosopher
Tony Randall – actor, born in Tulsa, Oklahoma
Susan Wu Rathbone – Chinese-born community leader[36]
Dan Rather – television news anchor, born in Wharton, Texas
Ryan Reynolds – actor; born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Raven-Symoné – actress and singer; born in Atlanta
John D. Rockefeller – businessman, born in Richford, New York
Richard Rodgers – composer, born on Long Island
Andrew Rooney – CBS 60 Minutes commentator, born in Albany, New York
Franklin D. Roosevelt – U.S. president, born in Hyde Park, New York
Dräco Rosa – composer, singer, and actor, born on Long Island
Damon Runyon – journalist and playwright, born in Manhattan, Kansas
Babe Ruth – professional baseball player, born in Baltimore
S
Samia – musician
Telly Savalas – actor, born on Long Island
Menachem Mendel Schneersohn – rabbi, leader of Chabad hasidic movement, born in Nikolaiv , Russian Empire
Patti Scialfa – singer-songwriter and guitarist
Amy Sedaris – actress, author, and comedian
Chloë Sevigny – actress, director, and fashion icon, born in Darien, Connecticut
Jean Shafiroff – philanthropist and socialite
Elizabeth Shepley Sergeant – journalist and writer, born in Winchester, Massachusetts
Fulton J. Sheen – Catholic bishop, author, TV show host, born in El Paso, Illinois
Abraham Shiplacoff – Jewish-American trade union organizer and left wing political activist, born in Chernihiv , Ukraine
Alana Shipp – American/Israeli IFBB professional bodybuilder
Ryan Shore – composer, songwriter, and conductor
Bobby Short – jazz musician, born in Danville, Illinois
Joel Siegel (1943-2007) – film critic, born in Los Angeles
Paul Simon – singer-songwriter, born in Newark Heights, New Jersey
Frank Sinatra – singer and actor, born in Hoboken, New Jersey
Upton Sinclair – author, born in Baltimore
Patti Smith – singer and poet, born in Chicago
Kevin Spacey – actor, director, writer, producer, and comedian
Regina Spektor – singer-songwriter, born in Moscow, Russia
Francis Spellman – Roman Catholic Cardinal Archbishop of New York, born in Whitman, Massachusetts
Bruce Springsteen – singer-songwriter, guitarist, and humanitarian
Dylan Sprouse – actor, entrepreneur, born in Arezzo, Italy
George Steinbrenner (1930-2010) – New York Yankees owner, born in Bay Village, Ohio
Wilhelm Steinitz – world chess champion, born in Prague, Czech Republic
Martha Stewart – designer and TV personality, born in Jersey City, New Jersey
Sting – musician, born in England
Shontelle
Emma Stone – actress, born in Scottsdale, Arizona
Michael Strahan – actor, television personality, and retired football player, born in Houston
Meryl Streep – actress, born in Summit, New Jersey
Peter Stuyvesant – Governor of New Netherland , born in Peperga , Netherlands
Taylor Swift – singer-songwriter
T
Eva Tanguay (1878–1947) – vaudeville singer and comedian, born in Quebec
Nikola Tesla (1856–1943) – inventor, engineer and futurist, born in Smiljan , Austrian Empire
Samuel J. Tilden – presidential candidate, born in New Lebanon, New York
Daniel D. Tompkins – U.S. vice president, born in Westchester County, New York
Frederick Trump – German-born businessman
Melania Trump – 45th First Lady of the United States and model, born in Novo Mesto , Yugoslavia[37]
U
V
W
Rufus Wainwright – musician, born in Rhinebeck, New York
John Evangelist Walsh – writer and historian, editor of the Reader's Digest Bible
Barbara Walters – TV journalist and personality, born in Boston
Dean Wareham – singer-songwriter, born in New Zealand
Andy Warhol – artist, born in Pittsburgh
Denzel Washington – actor, born in Mount Vernon, New York
Walt Whitman – poet and author, born in West Hills, New York
Olivia Wilde – actress
Barney Williams – Irish-born comedian
Jayson Williams – basketball player, born in Ritter, South Carolina
Christopher Woodrow – movie producer, born in Syracuse, New York
Jason Wu – fashion designer
X
Malcolm X (El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz) – American Muslim, Civil human rights activist