List of people from Rhode Island

This is a list of prominent people who were born in the U.S. State of Rhode Island or spent significant periods of their lives in the state.

Athletics

*Bill Almon (1952- ), baseball player
*Billy Andrade (1964- ), golfer
*Rocco Baldelli (1981- ), baseball player
*Elizabeth Beisel (1993- ), Olympic swimmer
*Harvey Bennett (1952- ), ice hockey player
*Bryan Berard (1977- ), ice hockey player
*Will Blackmon (1984- ), American football player
*Brian Burke (1955- ), ice hockey executive
*Keith Carney (1970- ), ice hockey player
*Mike Cloud (1975- ), American football player
*Jill Craybas (1974- ), tennis player
*Ernie DiGregorio (1951- ), basketball player
*Anthony Durante (1967-2003), wrestler
*Claire Waters Ferguson, ice skating executive
*Brad Faxon (1961- ), golfer
*Melissa Fiorentino (1977- ), boxer
*Dave Gavitt (1937- ), basketball coach
*Billy Gonsalves (1908-1977), soccer player
*Lou Gorman, baseball executive
*Gabby Hartnett (1900-1972), baseball player
*Matt Hyson (1970- ), wrestler
*Chris Iannetta (1983- ), baseball player
*Jeff Jillson (1980- ), ice hockey player
*Paul Konerko (1976- ), baseball player
*Nap Lajoie (1874-1959), baseball player
*Lou Lamoriello (1942- ), ice hockey executive
*Rick Lancellotti (1956- ), baseball player
*Davey Lopes (1945- ), baseball player
*Peter Manfredo (1980- ), boxer
*Chuck Palumbo (1971- ), wrestler
*Vinny Paz (1962- ), boxer, 5-time world champion
*Aileen Riggin (1906-2002), swimmer
*Joe Soares, rugby player
*Mike Stefanik (1958- ), NASCAR driver
*Mark Van Eeghen (1952- ), NFL Pro Bowl Running Back
*Clara Lamore Walker (1924-), Olympic swimmer. In the Swimming Hall of Fame
*Dan Wheeler (1977- ), baseball player

Business

*Everett M. "Busy" Arnold (1899-1974), comic book publisher
*Ann Smith Franklin (1696-1763), publisher
*Edward J. McElroy (1941- ), labor union executive
*Henry J. Steere (1830-1889), textile industrialist, philanthropist
*Aldo Tatangelo (1913- ), businessman and politician
*Judah Touro (1775-1854), businessman
*William Vernon (1719-1806), trader

Entertainment

*Norm Abram (1950- ), carpenter and television performer
*Robert Aldrich (1918-1983), film director
*Gianna Amore (1968- ), model and actress
*Harry Anderson (1952- ), actor
*David Angell (1946-2001), television producer
*Jon B (1974- ), singer
*Nadia Bjorlin (1980- ), actress
*Ruth Buzzi (1936- ), actress
*Nicholas Colasanto (1924-1985), actor
*The Cowsills, singing group
*Vin Di Bona (1944- ), television producer
*Eddie Dowling (1895-1976), actor
*Nelson Eddy (1901-1967), actor and singer
*Mark Famiglietti (1979- ), actor
*Bobby Farrelly (1958- ), film director
*Peter Farrelly (1956- ), film director
*Ava Gaudet, actor and singer
*Peter Gerety (1940- ), actor
*Joanna Going (1963- ), actress
*Spalding Gray (1941-2004), actor
*Elisabeth Hasselbeck (1977- ), television performer
*David Hedison (1927- ), actor
*Ruth Hussey (1911-2005), actress
*Thomas Harper Ince (1882-1924), actor
*Richard Jenkins (1953- ), actor
*Van Johnson (1916- ), actor
*Claudia Jordan (1973- ), model
*Geoffrey Lewis (1935- ), actor
*David "Dopey" Lopes (1967- ), Musician
*Eric Lutes (1962- ), actor
*Seth MacFarlane (1973- ), actor, voice actor, (Numerous voices on Family Guy)
*Mike Maronna (1977- ), actor
*Jason Marsden (1975- ), actor
*Caroline McWilliams (1945- ), actress
*Debra Messing (1968- ), actress
*Shanna Moakler (1975- ), model and actress
*Christopher Murney (1943- ), actor
*Arden Myrin (1973- ), actress
*Don Reo, television producer
*Charles Rocket (1945-2005), actor
*Josh Schwartz (1976- ), television producer
*Mena Suvari (1979- ), actress
*Aimee Sweet (1977- ), model and actress
*Meredith Vieira (1953- ), television performer
*Desiree Washington (1973- ), model
*James Woods (1947- ), actor

Journalism

*Allen Bestwick (1961- ), sportscaster
*Angelo Cataldi, sportscaster
*David Hartman (1935- ), television newscaster
*Irving R. Levine (1922- ), journalist
*Walter Mossberg (1947- ), columnist
*Al Rockoff, photographer

Literature and art

*John Noble Barlow (1861-1917), painter
*Dicky Barrett (1964- ), popular musician
*John Cafferty , popular musician
*Blu Cantrell (1976- ), popular musician
*Wendy Carlos (1939- ), composer
*George M. Cohan (1878-1942), playwright, composer and vaudeville performer
*Bill Conti (1943- ), film composer
*Bill Cowsill (1948-2006), popular musician
*C. M. Eddy, Jr. (1896-1967), author
*Nelson Eddy (1901-1967), popular musician
*Eileen Farrell (1920-2002), opera singer
*Billy Gilman (1988- ), popular musician
*Bobby Hackett (1915-1976), jazz musician
*Kristin Hersh (1966- ), with half-sister Tanya Donelly (1966- ) and Rogers High School schoolmate David Narcizo (1966- ), popular musicians
*Greta Hodgkinson, ballet dancer
*Jesse Leach (1978- ), popular musician
*H. P. Lovecraft (1890-1937), author
*David Macaulay (1946- ), author
*Cormac McCarthy (1933-), novelist.
*Don McGregor (1945- ), comic book writer
*Edwin O'Connor (1918-1968), novelist
*David Olney (1948- ), popular musician
*Jeffrey Osborne (1948- ), popular musician
*S.J. Perelman (1904-1979), humorist, critic
*Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828), painter

Military

*William Henry Allen (1784-1813), U.S. Navy officer
*Ambrose Burnside (1824-1881), U.S. Army officer
*Timothy Bush (1728-1815), Continental Army officer
*Stephen Champlin (1789-1870), U.S. Navy officer
*Godfrey Chevalier (1889-1922), U.S. Navy officer
*Nathanael Greene (1742-1786), Continental Army officer
*Matthew Perry (naval officer) (1794-1858), U.S. Navy officer
*Oliver Hazard Perry (1785-1819), U.S. Navy officer
*Isaac P. Rodman (1822-1862), U.S. Army officer
*Frank Wheaton (1833-1903), U.S. Army officer
*Abraham Whipple (1733-1819), naval commander

Politics and government

*Sullivan Ballou (1829-1861), state representative and U.S. Army officer
*John Chafee (1922-1999), U.S. Senator
*Lincoln Chafee (1953- ), U.S. Senator
*Vincent "Buddy" Cianci, Jr. (1941- ), mayor of Providence
*David Cicilline (1961- ), mayor of Providence
*Job Durfee (1790-1847), U.S. Congressman
*Christopher R. Hill (1952- ), Diplomat, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs
*Stephen Hopkins (1707-1785), Governor of Rhode Island, RI Supreme Court justice, Signatory of the Declaration of Independence
*Pat LaMarche (1960- ), Green Party presidential candidate
*Dee Dee Myers (1961- ), White House Press Secretary
*Jack Reed (1949- ), U.S. Senator
*William H. Sullivan (1922- ), U.S. Ambassador
*Charles Tillinghast James (1805-1862), U.S. Senator
*William West (1733-1816), American Revolution general, Lieutenant Governor, RI Supreme Court justice, anti-federalist leader
*Charles C. Van Zandt (1830-1894), governor

Religion

*Mark Anthony De Wolfe Howe (1801-1895), Episcopal Church bishop
*Maurice Davis (1921-1993), Rabbi and human rights activist
*Edwards Amasa Park (1808-1900), theologian
*William Ellery Channing (1780-1842), Unitarian theologian
*Roger Williams (theologian) (1603-1684), theologian and colony co-founder

cience

*Sylvester Gardiner (1707-1786), physician
*Nathanael Herreshoff (1848-1938), naval engineer
*Sherwood C. Spring (1944- ), astronaut
*Frank E. Winsor (1870-1939), Civil engineer

Other

*Arthur Irving Andrews (1878-1967), law professor
*Frank Caprio (judge) (1936- ), judge and television performer
*Robert Carothers (1942- ), president of the University of Rhode Island
*Catherine Littlefield Greene (1755-1814), wife of Nathanael Greene
*Joyce Jillson (1946-2004), astrologer
*Raymond Mathewson Hood (1881-1934), architect
*Wilfred Harold Munro (1849-1934), historian
*Abby Aldrich Rockefeller (1874-1948), philanthropist
*Thomas Alexander Tefft (1826-1859), architect
*Thomas Tew (?-1695), pirate
*Marjorie van Vliet (1923-1990), teacher and aviator
*Minton Warren (1850-1907), classical scholar