The following people were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely connected to the city of Hamilton, Ontario.
Arts
Architecture and design
James Balfour (1854–1917), architect; works include Canada Life Assurance Company building at corner of King & James (1883), City Hall on corner of James & York (1888)[1]
Karen Kain (b. 1951), principal dancer and later artistic director (2005–2021) of the National Ballet of Canada[6]
Film and television
Jean Adair (1873–1953), actress; worked primarily on stage (sometimes billed as Jennet Adair); made several film appearances late in her career, most notably as one of the misguided murdering aunts of Cary Grant in Arsenic and Old Lace
Robert Beatty (1909–1992), actor who worked in radio, film and television for most of his career and was especially known in the United Kingdom
Alan Best (b. 1959), animation director and producer; began his career as an assistant animator working for Hanna-Barbera studios; also worked on the animated features Heavy Metal (1981) and Pink Floyd The Wall (1982)
Jonathan Frid (1924–2012), theater, television and movie actor, known for the role of the vampire Barnabas Collins on the first incarnation of the Gothic TV serial Dark Shadows[10]
Currie Graham (b. 1967), stage, film and television actor, known for playing Lt. Thomas Bale in the TV program NYPD Blue
Graham Greene (b. 1952), TV and movie actor; born on Six Nations reserve and lived in Hamilton as a young adult; appeared in The Green Mile, on the Red Green Show, L.A. Law and The New Beachcombers[13]
Florence Lawrence (1890–1938), inventor and silent film actress, often referred to as "The First Movie Star"; also known as "The Biograph Girl" and "The Girl of a Thousand Faces"; appeared in more than 270 films for various motion picture companies[17]
Florence LawrenceJulia Arthur
Chris Lazar (b. 1986), actor, known for his role as Young Zach on the series Dark Angel
Ivan Reitman (1946-2022), Slovakian-born, Canadian-raised film actor, producer, and director; most remembered for directing and producing a string of comedies, mostly in the 1980s and 1990s (Meatballs, Stripes and Ghostbusters); a founder of the McMaster Film Board at McMaster University[10]
Hortense Gordon (1886–1961), member of Toronto-based group Painters Eleven; works were exhibited in galleries in Europe and North America[29]
Elizabeth Bradford Holbrook (1913–2009), portrait sculptor; founder of the Canadian Portrait Academy and Canadian Group of Artists; her career spanned over seventy-five years; principal works include eight stone sculpture panels on the former Federal Building[30]
David Vienneau (1951–2004), journalist who moved to television in 1998 as Ottawa bureau chief at for Global Television, where he remained until his death from pancreatic cancer[59]
Nicole Appleton (b. 1974), singer; born in Hamilton but raised in Toronto; one of two Canadian members of the British pop group All Saints, which disbanded in 2001; she and her sister Natalie later formed a second British-based pop group named Appleton[60]
Boris Brott (1944–2022), once an assistant to Leonard Bernstein, he led the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra for 21 years, later creating the Brott Music Festival and National Academy Orchestra[62]
Brenda Russell (1949– ), American-born singer-songwriter and keyboardist who lived in Hamilton; known for her eclectic musical style; her genres include pop, soul, jazz and adult contemporary; has worked with Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin and Sting[79]
Sue Prestedge, sports broadcaster, one of Canada's first and most influential female sports journalists. Now Program Coordinator of the Advanced Journalism program at Mohawk College.[93]
Diane Dupuy, founder of the Famous People Players in 1974, a professional black light theatre company that combines music with characters that pay tribute to the music and artistry of famous people; the group was discovered by Liberace, who took them to Las Vegas to perform; they have been performing around the world ever since[95]
Sky Gilbert (1952– ), artistic director, actor, academic and drag performer; opened the Hammertheatre Company in January 2007 in Hamilton; the theatre is devoted to Gilbert's plays, which deal with issues of gender and sexuality[96][97]
Business
E. D. SmithHarry Stinson
Aris Alexanian (1901–1961), founder of Alexanian Carpet and Flooring (born in what is now Turkey, moved to Hamilton in 1927)
Ron Foxcroft (b. 1947), owner of Fluke Transport; NCAA basketball referee; inventor of the pea-less Fox 40 whistle; motivational speaker; "Foxy" was named Hamilton Citizen of the Year in 1997[107]
Peter George (1941–2017), economist and university administrator, formerly president of McMaster University in Hamilton[10]
Peter Hess (1779–1855), farmer, landowner; Peter and Hess Streets in the city are named after him, and Caroline Street is named after one of his daughters[1]
Joseph Hobson (1834–1917), Canadian land surveyor, civil engineer, and railway design engineer
George Elias Tuckett (1835–1900), Tuckett Tobacco Company owner and Hamilton's 27th mayor in 1896[1]
Bob Young, founder of Red Hat 1996, started a self-publishing website that claims to be the world's fastest-growing provider of print-on-demand books (www.lulu.com); currently owns the Hamilton Tiger Cats of the CFL (Ancaster)[113]
Adelaide Hoodless (1858–1910), educational reformer who inspired the founders of the international women's organization known as the Women's Institutes in 1897[43]
Janet Lee (1862-1940), education reformer who co-founded the international women's organization known as the Women's Institutes (WI) in 1897, and wrote the constitution and By-laws used by the organization. [114][115][116]
Law
Crime
Johnson Aziga (b. 1956), first person charged with first-degree murder in Canada for spreading the HIV virus, after two women whom he had infected without their knowledge died[117]
Evelyn Dick (b. 1920), committed infanticide and was convicted, then acquitted, of having murdered her husband[118]
Cathy Smith (b. 1947), singer; convicted of manslaughter in death of John Belushi, co-authored the book Chasing the Dragon about her life experience with drugs (1984)[123]
Jack Pelech (1934– ), litigation and business lawyer, Hamilton Citizen of the Year, 1987; Order of Canada, 2006[129]
John Sopinka (1933–1997), Supreme Court Justice described as the heart of the court; raised in north Hamilton and died unexpectedly; namesake of Hamilton's courthouse and the Sopinka Cup, a law student advocacy competition[130]
John Willson (1776–1860), judge and political figure in Upper Canada[131]
John Weir Foote (1904–1988), military chaplain and Ontario cabinet minister, Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross; The James Street Armoury where the RHLI is now based, along with 11th Field Hamilton-Wentworth Battery, was renamed the John W. Foote VC Armoury in his memory[134]
Robert Land (1736–1818), veteran of the American Revolution and one of Hamilton's founding citizens; Robert Land Academy, Canada's only military pre-university private school, was named in his honour[136]
Ben Lear (1879–1966), Olympic bronze medal winner, United States Army World War II-era general[137]
Harold A. Rogers (1899–1994), founder of Kin Canada (formerly the Kinsmen and Kinette Clubs of Canada), a non-profit service organization that promotes service, fellowship, positive values, and national pride[138]
Lincoln Alexander (1922–2012), the 24th Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario from 1985 to 1991 and former Governor of the Canadian Unity Council; became Canada's first black Member of Parliament when he was elected to the House of Commons of Canada in 1968 as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada; an expressway on Hamilton Mountain was named the Lincoln Alexander Parkway in his honour[118]
Richard Beasley (1761–1842), soldier, political figure, farmer and businessman in Upper Canada[1]
Marie Bountrogianni (1956– ), Ed.D., a former member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, and cabinet minister in the government of Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty[141]
Sarmite Bulte (1953– ), Latvian-Canadian lawyer, advocate and politician; member of the Liberal Party; represented the Toronto riding of Parkdale-High Park in the House of Commons through three successive parliaments from 1997 to 2006[142]
Chris Charlton (1963– ), MA, Member of Parliament in the 2006 federal election for Hamilton Mountain[145]
David Christopherson (1954– ), represents the riding of Hamilton Centre in the House of Commons (2004– )[146]
Mark Coakley, Hamilton-based activist, lawyer, author and chair of Environment Hamilton[147]
Sheila Copps (1952– ), PC, HBA, LL.D (hc), journalist and former politician; a second-generation member of a political family that has dominated Hamilton-area politics on the municipal, provincial and federal levels[148]
Victor K. Copps (1919–1988), politician and Mayor of Hamilton; the city's landmark sports arena, Copps Coliseum (now FirstOntario Centre) was named in his honour[149]
Adam Crooks (1827–1885), LLB, an Ontario Member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario for Toronto West, 1871–1874; moved to the riding of Oxford South, 1875–1886; MLA for the Ontario Liberal Party[150]
Thomas Mayne Daly Sr. (1827–1885), businessman and political figure in Canada West (later Ontario); represented the riding of Perth North in the House of Commons and in the Ontario Provincial Parliament[151]
Rolf Gerstenberger, president of the United Steelworkers Local 1005 at Stelco's Hilton Works in Hamilton; prominent member of the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist–Leninist)[152]
Allan MacNab (Sir Allan Napier MacNab) (1798–1862), soldier, lawyer, businessman, knight and former Prime Minister of Upper Canada; MacNab Street in Hamilton is named after him[1][155]
Quinto Martini (politician) (1908–1975), first Italian Canadian elected to Parliament, where he represented Hamilton East from 1957 until he was defeated by Liberal John Munro in 1962[13]
Thomas McQuesten (1882–1948), athlete, militiaman, lawyer, politician and government appointee who lived in Hamilton; helped encourage McMaster University to relocate from downtown Toronto to west Hamilton in 1930[17]
Bob Morrow (1946–2018), longest-serving mayor in Hamilton's history (1983–2000); selected to serve as an interim councillor for Ward Three in 2014[149]
John Munro (1931–2003), PC, BA, LL.B, politician, elected to the House of Commons in the 1962 election; Hamilton's "John Munro International Airport" is named after him[158]
John Christie Holland (1882–1954), became an ordained minister in 1924 and served as pastor of Hamilton's Stewart Memorial Church; in 1953 he was honoured as Hamilton's Citizen of the Year, the first African Canadian given that recognition[168][169]
Peter Jones (Kahkewaquonaby) (1802–1856), Methodist missionary of Welsh-Ojibwe heritage
John Charles Fields (1863–1932), mathematician and the founder of the Fields Medal for outstanding achievement in mathematics, considered by some to be the Nobel Prize in Mathematics[173]
Campbell Leckie (1848–1925), engineer; Leckie Park neighbourhood on Hamilton Mountain is named after him[43]
George Klein (1904–1992), often called the most productive inventor in Canada in the 20th century; inventor of electric wheelchairs, microsurgical staple gun, the ZEEP nuclear reactor and the Canadarm[179]
Steve Mann, inventor of wearable computers who teaches electrical and computer engineering at the University of Toronto[180]
Simon Sunatori (1959– ), engineer, inventor and entrepreneur, best known for the invention of the MagneScribe and the Magic Spicer[181]
Toller Cranston (1949–2015), figure skater who won the Olympic bronze medal in 1976[198]
Bryce Davison (1986– ), figure skater, competed in the pairs event with Jessica Dubé; member of the Hamilton Skating Club;[199] Davison and Dube were Canadian champions three times;they were world bronze medallists in 2008; they finished 6th at the Olympics and World Championships in 2010, their last competitive season
Less Browne (1959– ), CFL defensive back for Hamilton, Winnipeg, Ottawa and B.C.; holds the CFL and all-pro records for most interceptions in a career with 87; resides in Hamilton[200]
Bob Cameron (1954– ), played 23 seasons (1980–2002) with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League
Joe Krol (1919–2008 ), Canadian football quarterback (1932–53), Lou Marsh Trophy winner as Canada's top athlete in 1946[196]
Ron Lancaster (1938–2008), former football player, coach and general manager in the Canadian Football League (CFL) and sports announcer for CBC Television[206]
Jesse Lumsden (1982– ), former running back with Hamilton, Edmonton, and Calgary of the Canadian Football League and McMaster University alumnus[10]
Paul Masotti (1965- ), former wide receiver for Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League
Syl Apps (1915–1998), Toronto Maple Leafs captain who led the Leafs to three Stanley Cups; 1936-37 Calder trophy winner (top NHL rookie); 1941-42 Lady Byng Trophy winner; McMaster University Alumni (Paris, Ontario)[10]
Andy Brown (1944– ), credited with being the last pro goaltender to play barefaced; last played NHL hockey for the Pittsburgh Penguins[215]
David Brown (1985– ), Notre Dame Fighting Irish hockey goalie; named team MVP in 2006; named (CCHA); Central Collegiate Hockey Association's Player-of-the-week three times in 2007; favorite to win the 2007 Hobey Baker Award, which is awarded to the top collegiate player in the United States; a Pittsburgh Penguins draft pick in 2004[216]
Dave Dryden (1941– ), retired NHL hockey goalie, 201 NHL games for Buffalo, Edmonton, Chicago and NY Rangers; created (and was the first goaltender to employ) the modern-day goaltending mask consisting of a fiberglass mask with a cage[213]
Cecil "Babe" Dye (1898–1962), NHL hockey player, its top goal scorer of the 1920s; inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1970; nicknamed "Babe" because he was considered to be 'the Babe Ruth of hockey'[213]
Murray Oliver (1937– ), retired NHL hockey player, played in 1,127 NHL games[213]
George Owen (1901–1986), retired NHL hockey defenceman for the Boston Bruins; served as the Bruins captain in the 1931–32 season; first player credited with wearing a helmet in his rookie season in 1928[213]
Keith Primeau (1971– ), retired NHL hockey player; born in Toronto and grew up in Hamilton[213]
Danny Syvret (1985– ), NHL hockey defenseman who spent his junior career with the London Knights of the OHL, eventually being named team captain; in his final year of junior hockey, he was captain of a powerhouse team that broke numerous junior hockey records and won the 2005 Memorial Cup (Millgrove)[222]
Alex Bunbury (1967– ), played four seasons with the Hamilton Steelers (CSL) 1987–90; voted Best Foreign Player in the Portuguese first division club Maritimo in the 1994–95 season, where he scored 12-goals; a Canadian Soccer Hall-of-Fame inductee in 2006; his son is fellow Hamiltonian soccer star Teal Bunbury[226]
Melissa Tancredi (1977– ), Canadian soccer forward who currently plays for Dalsjöfors GoIF and Canada's National Women's team; won an Olympic bronze medal at the 2012 Olympics
Angelo Mosca (1938– ), Canadian Football League player between 1958 and 1969 with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, better known for his pro wrestling career[241]
Johnny Powers (1943– ), ex-pro wrestler, two-time NWF World champion (1970, 1973)[242]
Irene MacDonald (1931–2002), Canada's champion diver from 1951 to 1961; won medals at the 1954 and 1958 Commonwealth Games and in 1956 she won Canada's first Olympic diving medal, a bronze[254]
Joanne Malar (1975– ), former freestyle and medley swimmer; competed in three consecutive Summer Olympics[255]
^MacDonald, Blaine (1967). The Hamilton Spectator Presents Editorial Cartoons by Blaine. The Hamilton Spectator/ printed by: The Carswell Printing Company.
^Lloyd, B.M. (1998). Not a Total Waste: The True Story of a Mother, Her Son, and AIDS. New York: Mosaic Press. ISBN978-0-88962-540-2.
^Beddoes, Dick (1989). Pal Hal: An uninhibited, no-holds-barred account of the life and times of Harold Ballard. Macmillan of Canada. ISBN1-57243-390-6.
^David Dalton (10 August 1970). "Janis Joplin's Full-Tilt Boogie Ride". Rolling Stone. Richard Bell (piano) also comes from Ronnie Hawkins band, and both he and John Till backed the legendary Canadian harp player and singer King Biscuit Boy, otherwise known as Richard Newall.
^Marnie Burgess (2002). "Crooks Street". In Margaret Houghton (ed.). Hamilton Street Names: An Illustrated History. Hamilton, Ontario: James Lorimer & Company. pp. 31–32. ISBN9781550287738.
^Harvey Brownstone (Fall 2013). "I Now Pronounce You Wife & Wife". Reform Judaism. I came from a Jewish community devoted to inclusiveness, helping one another, and fighting injustice – or, at least that's what I thought growing up in Hamilton, Ontario.
^"Canadians cut it too close. (Hamilton's Bryce Davison and partner Jessica Dubé in horrifying accident)" (Press release). The Hamilton Spectator. 9 February 2007.
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