Walter R. Brooks, author of the 26-book Freddy the Pig series set in central New York. Born in Rome, NY, Brooks lived in Rochester, New York City, and lastly in Roxbury, NY.
Mary Jemison, the "White Woman of the Genesee," whose story was told in J. E. Seaver's classic captivity narrative "Narrative of the Life of Mrs. Mary Jemison" (1824; latest ed. 1967)
Solomon Northup of Saratoga Springs, who published an account of his abduction and ordeal entitled "Twelve Years a Slave" in 1853. The book was written with the help of David Wilson, a local writer. Published when the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin was a bestseller, Northup's book sold 30,000 copies within three years.
Kurt Vonnegut, who began his literary career in Schenectady while working for General Electric in the early 1950s, and who set some of his novels in "Ilium," a fictionalized Schenectady
John A. Williams of Syracuse, novelist of the black experience in white America.
Edmund Wilson, summer resident of Talcottville and author of "Upstate: Records and Recollections of Northern New York." New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1971; reprint, Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1990 and "Apologies to the Iroquois." New York: Farrar, Straus & Cudahy, 1960; reprint, paper, Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1992
Francis Bicknell Carpenter (1830–1900), an American painter born in Homer. Carpenter is best known for his painting First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation of President Lincoln, which is hanging in the United States Capitol.
Minstrel shows, which persisted in New York State into the mid-twentieth century[6]
Showbiz
Entertainers
George Abbott, born in Forestville, theater producer and director, playwright, screenwriter, and film director and producer whose career spanned more than seven decades
Susie Essman, a resident of Glenmont, is a comedian and comic actress in television and films. She is best known for her role as Susie Greene, the verbally abusive wife of Larry David's manager on the HBO show Curb Your Enthusiasm.
The Horse Whisperer (1998) with Robert Redford. Some scenes were shot in Saratoga Springs. The crew also attempted to use the bridge located on Tabor road in Mechanicville for the snowy bridge scene in this movie, but ended up using one in California instead.
Lady in White (1988) a horror film of the ghost/mystery genre. Much of the film was made in Wayne County. The movie is based on the story of The Lady in White who supposedly searches for her daughter in Durand-Eastman Park in Rochester, New York while protecting young women who are on dates with their boyfriends. The film was directed, produced, and written by Frank LaLoggia, a native of Rochester.
Woodstock, the documentary of the 1969 music festival in Bethel, in which Arlo Guthrie marvels to the crowd, "The New York State Thruway is closed, man!"
York State Folks (1915) from the original play by Arthur C. Sidman.