# List of people from Worcester, Massachusetts

The following is a list of prominent people who were born in Worcester, Massachusetts, lived in Worcester, or for whom Worcester is a significant part of their identity.

## Academics and inventors

* Richard T. Antoun (1932–2009), Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Binghamton University
* Harvey Ball (1921–2001), inventor of the smiley face
* Alan T. Busby (1895–1992), educator and first African-American alumnus of the University of Connecticut
* Harold W. Chase (1922–1982), educator and United States military officer
* Robert H. Goddard (1882–1945), father of modern rocketry
* G. Stanley Hall (1846–1924), first president of Clark University
* John Kneller (1916–2009), English-American professor and fifth President of Brooklyn College
* David Green (born 1963), president of Colby College
* Leonard Morse (born 1929), university professor of clinical medicine
* Lawrence Park (1873–1924), art historian, architect, and genealogist
* Francis E. Reed (1852–1917), inventor and industrialist who founded F.E. Reed & Co.
* Daniel B. Wesson (1825–1906), gunsmith, co-founder of Smith & Wesson

## Actors and artists

* John Wolcott Adams (1874–1925), artist
* Nubar Alexanian (1950-), is an American-Armenian documentary photographer who focuses on the human condition.
* Edith Ella Baldwin (1846–1920), artist
* H. Jon Benjamin, actor best known as the voices of Sterling Archer on Archer, Bob Belcher on Bob's Burgers, and Can of Vegetables in the Wet Hot American Summer franchise
* Christopher Boffoli, photographer
* Elbridge Boyden, architect of Mechanics Hall
* Zara Cully, actress best known for The Jeffersons
* Stephen DiRado, photographer
* Stephen C. Earle, architect
* Paul Fontaine, abstractist colorist painter
* Joslyn Fox, drag queen, contestant on Rupaul’s Drag Race season 6
* Ryan Idol, adult film actor
* Rita Johnson, actress, co-starred opposite Spencer Tracy in Edison, The Man
* Jean Louisa Kelly, actress from Yes, Dear
* Arthur Kennedy, Oscar-nominated, Tony Award-winning actor
* Dorothy Stratton King, painter and printmaker
* Diane and Elaine Klimaszewski, actresses and models best known as the "Coors Light Twins"
* Jarrett J. Krosoczka, children's book author and illustrator; his Punk Farm optioned by DreamWorks Animation
* Denis Leary, actor and comedian
* Tom Lewis, artist and activist
* Joyner Lucas, American rapper
* John Lurie, actor, musician, and composer
* Nora Marlowe (1915–1977), actress
* Eddie Mekka, actor best known for playing Carmine Ragusa on Laverne and Shirley
* Alisan Porter, former child actress and winner of Season 10 of The Voice
* Terri Priest, artist
* Sam Qualiana, actor and filmmaker involved with many low-budget horror films, including Snow Shark (2012)
* Joyce Reopel, artist
* Renee Sands, former child actress and singer from Kids Incorporated and Wild Orchid
* Sam Seder, podcast host of The Majority Report, actor, writer and director
* Joseph Skinger, silversmith, sculptor
* Doug Stanhope, comedian known for abrasive style and for The Man Show
* Lewis Stone (1879–1953), actor, The Secret Six, Grand Hotel, Andy Hardy series
* Erik Per Sullivan, actor, Malcolm in the Middle
* Wu Tsang, filmmaker, artist, and performer
* David Whitney, art curator
* Alicia Witt, actress, singer-songwriter
* Hildegard Woodward, children's book illustrator

## Athletes

* Jerry Azumah, former NFL defensive back
* Tyler Beede (born 1993), baseball pitcher for the San Francisco Giants
* Frank Carroll, US figure skater and coach, 1960 graduate of the College of the Holy Cross, actor
* Tim Collins, relief pitcher for the Kansas City Royals
* Alana Cook, soccer player for the United States national team
* Bob Cousy, Hall of Fame basketball player; attended the College of the Holy Cross; currently lives in Worcester
* Jay Cutler, former professional bodybuilder and 4x Mr. Olympia
* Ken Doane, professional wrestler
* Oliver Drake, relief pitcher who's a free agent
* Rich Gedman, Boston Red Sox catcher, manager of the Worcester Tornadoes
* Bill Guerin, former Pittsburgh Penguins right winger
* Aaron Haddad, professional wrestler in WWE
* Tom Heinsohn, NBA Hall of Fame, Boston Celtics great; attended College of Holy Cross
* Gordon Lockbaum, attended Holy Cross College; twice finished in the top five in the Heisman Trophy balloting
* Dwayne McClain, former NBA/Professional basketball player. Starred at Villanova in the early/mid 1980s. Attended Holy Name Catholic Central
* Tom Poti, former NHL defenseman
* J.P. Ricciardi, MLB executive, former general manager of the Toronto Blue Jays
* José Antonio Rivera, WBA light middleweight champion
* Richard Rodgers, 3rd-string tight end for the Philadelphia Eagles; played for St. John's High School
* Edwin Rodríguez, boxer
* Rosy Ryan – was a professional baseball pitcher. He played ten seasons. Best remembered for his time with the World Series Champion New York Giants
* Tanyon Sturtze, former MLB pitcher
* Major Taylor, track cycling champion
* Bill Toomey, gold medal decathlete, 1968 Olympics; attended Worcester Academy
* Leah Van Dale, professional wrestler better known by her ring name Carmella
* Vinnie Yablonski, NFL player
* Stephen Nedoroscik, an artistic gymnast and a two-time Olympic medalist

## Musicians

* John Adams, popular composer
* Duncan Arsenault, musician
* Norman Bailey, big band trumpet player from The Lawrence Welk Show
* Jaki Byard, jazz pianist, composer and recording artist
* Frank Capp, jazz drummer and bandleader
* Luke Caswell, better known as Cazwell, an LGBT rapper
* Wendell Culley, jazz trumpeter from Worcester who played with Noble Sissle, Lionel Hampton, and Count Basie's Orchestra, and many others
* Don Fagerquist, jazz trumpeter
* Four Year Strong, rock band
* J. Geils, lead in J. Geils Band, attended Worcester Polytechnic Institute
* J. Geils Band, formed in Worcester as a fraternity party band at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, as Snoopy and the Sopwith Camels
* Georgia Gibbs, 1950s pop singer
* Duke Levine, guitarist
* The Hotelier, rock band
* Jordan Knight, member of the boy band New Kids On The Block
* Joyner Lucas, rapper
* Arun Luthra, jazz saxophonist, konnakol artist, composer, arranger, band leader
* Miriam "Mamie" Moffitt, jazz pianist and band leader of Mamie Moffitt and Her Five Jazz Hounds, the first professional jazz ensemble in Worcester
* Orpheus, band that enjoyed popularity in the 1960s and early 1970s
* Cole Porter, Broadway composer, student at Worcester Academy ca. 1912, born in Peru, Indiana
* Andy Ross, guitarist for rock band OK Go
* Matt Scannell, lead vocalist, lead guitarist and founding member of the alternative rock band Vertical Horizon.
* Maureen Steele, pop singer and songwriter, one of the very few white artists signed to Motown during the mid 1980s
* Einar Swan, multi-instrumental jazz musician and songwriter of "When Your Lover Has Gone"
* Boots Ward, jazz drummer, band leader, and Worcester jazz club owner

## Politicians

* Charles Allen (1797–1869), United States Congressman from Massachusetts
* George Bancroft, 17th United States Secretary of the Navy, founder of the US Naval Academy at Annapolis, author of the first comprehensive history of the United States
* John Binienda, Massachusetts state legislator
* Alexander H. Bullock, Governor of Massachusetts (1866–1868)
* Kate Campanale, member of Massachusetts House of Representatives from District 17
* John Curtis Chamberlain, US Representative
* Dorothea Dix, reformer and activist
* Dwight Foster, Massachusetts Attorney General and Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
* Roger Sherman Baldwin Foster, lawyer
* Emma Goldman, Lithuanian-American anarchist; owned ice cream parlor in Worcester
* Thomas Wentworth Higginson, abolitionist, literary mentor to Emily Dickinson
* Abbie Hoffman, radical activist
* Abby Kelley Foster, abolitionist, suffragette
* Joseph T. Higgins, member of the New York State Assembly
* Jim McGovern, US Representative from Massachusetts's 2nd congressional district
* Levi Lincoln Sr., American revolutionary
* Levi Lincoln Jr., Governor of Massachusetts
* William D. Mullins, state representative and baseball player
* Albert L. Nash, politician and businessman
* Richard Neal, US Representative from Massachusetts's 1st congressional district
* Kenneth P. O'Donnell, Appointments Secretary and Political Adviser to President John F. Kennedy
* Robert Owens, businessman and Massachusetts state senator
* Frances Perkins, workers-rights advocate and first female member of a Presidential Cabinet
* John Rucho, politician and businessman
* Charles F. Sullivan, Mayor of Worcester and Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts, 1949–1953
* Benjamin Swan, longest-serving Vermont State Treasurer
* Charles G. Washburn, member of the U.S. House of Representatives

## Writers and journalists

* Jane G. Austin, writer
* Mike Barnicle, print and broadcast journalist, social and political commentator
* S. N. Behrman, playwright, author of memoir The Worcester Account
* Robert Benchley, writer and member of the Algonquin Round Table
* Elizabeth Bishop, poet and writer
* John D. Casey, novelist and translator
* John Dufresne, novelist and screenwriter
* Alice Morse Earle, writer
* Esther Forbes, writer
* Samuel Fuller, screenwriter, producer and director
* John Michael Hayes, writer of the Alfred Hitchcock films Rear Window, To Catch a Thief, The Trouble with Harry, and The Man Who Knew Too Much
* Isabel Hornibrook, children's literature writer
* Omar Jimenez, CNN reporter, known for being arrested on live TV while reporting on the George Floyd protests in Minneapolis
* Aidan “Turtleboy” Kearney, author and investigative journalist
* Stanley Kunitz, Poet Laureate
* Frank O'Hara, poet
* Charles Olson, modernist poet
* Charlie Pierce (born 1953), American writer/journalist, and panelist on NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me
* Normand Poirier, writer
* Olive Higgins Prouty, writer, known for "Now, Voyager" and "Stella Dallas"
* Ernest Lawrence Thayer, poet and journalist, known for "Casey at the Bat"
* Isaiah Thomas, publisher of the Massachusetts Spy
* Stanley Woodward, newspaper editor and sportswriter

## Other

* Lillian Asplund, last survivor of the RMS Titanic who remembered the actual sinking
* William Austin Burt, 19th-century explorer and surveyor in Michigan
* Nathaniel Bar-Jonah, convicted child molester, possible serial killer and cannibal
* Timothy Bigelow, Revolutionary War patriot
* Jonas Clark, founder of Clark University
* Edmund L. Daley (1883–1968), U.S. Army major general
* Edgar C. Erickson (1896–1989), United States Army Major General and Chief of the National Guard Bureau
* Catherine Fiske (1784-1837), school founder
* John Stanley Grauel (1917–1986), Christian Zionist leader
* Samuel Fisk Green (1822–1884), physician and medical missionary, served with the American Ceylon Mission 1847–1873
* Samuel R. Heywood, founder of the Heywood Boot & Shoe Company
* Myra Kraft, philanthropist, wife of New England Patriots owner Bob Kraft
* Royal B. Lord (1899–1963), United States military officer
* Joe Morrone, Connecticut Huskies soccer coach
* Charley Parkhurst, stagecoach driver and horseman
* Irving Price, co-founder of Fisher Price toys and games
* Michael Ritchie, artistic director
* George Edward Rueger (1929–2019), Roman Catholic bishop
* Stephen Salisbury III, founder of the Worcester Art Museum
* Richard B. Sellars (1915–2010), Chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson
* Madeline Singas, American attorney and jurist.
* Ichabod Washburn, founder of Worcester Polytechnic Institute
* Steven N. Wickstrom, Army National Guard major general who commanded the 42nd Infantry Division
* Stillman Witt (1808–1875), Ohio railroad and steel executive, banker
* Geoffrey Zakarian, Iron Chef, Food Network Channel celebrity chef