The following list includes notable people who were born or have lived in Providence, Rhode Island.
Arts, literature, humanities and entertainment
Tom Adams, illustrator most famous for his Agatha Christie paperback cover designs Daniel Adel, painter and illustrator Chester Holmes Aldrich, architect and director of American Academy in Rome David Aldrich, artist and architect Mathuren Arthur Andrieu, painter David Angell, Frasier co-creator and 9/11 victim Omar Bah, journalist and founder of the Refugee Dream Center Mildred Barker, Shaker eldress, musician, and scholar who lived at the Alfred and Sabbathday Lake Shaker communities Joe Bastardi, meteorologist Joe Beats, hip-hop producer Roger Bowen, actor and novelist Alice D. Engley Beek, watercolor painter Ted Berrigan, poet Blu Cantrell, singer of 2001 hit "Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops)" William Carpenter, early settler of Providence Marilyn Chambers (1952–2009), adult-film actress Damien Chazelle, director and screenwriter, Whiplash and La La Land Nicole Chesney, artist George M. Cohan, songwriter and entertainer, composed "I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy" and "You're a Grand Old Flag" Bill Conti, composer of music for film and television, including theme from Rocky Scott Corbett, writer of children's books Michael Corrente, film director and producer Pauly D, television personality, MTV program Jersey Shore Charlotte F. Dailey, editor and exposition official Christopher Denise, illustrator of children's books, including many in the Redwall series Bruce DeSilva, author of the Liam Mulligan series of mystery novels Paul Di Filippo, author of Steampunk Trilogy Nate DiMeo, podcaster, screenwriter, and author; creator of The Memory Palace podcast and author of the book of the same name Ronald Dworkin, author, professor of constitutional law John Dwyer, multi-instrumentalist, primary songwriter and core member of Thee Oh Sees, visual artist, record label owner C. M. Eddy, Jr., author of mysteries and horror fiction Nelson Eddy, singer and film actor Susan Eisenberg, voice actress Jeanpaul Ferro, poet, short fiction author, novelist Elisabeth Filarski, footwear designer, Survivor: The Australian Outback contestant Sage Francis, hip hop artist and slam poet Margaret Burnham Geddes, architect, activist, and urban planner Al Gomes, record producer and songwriter Roger A. Graham, lyricist, songwriter Robert Leo (Bobby) Hackett, jazz musician (trumpet, cornet, guitar) Scott Hamilton, tenor saxophonist Clay Hart, country musician (guitar) Richard Hatch, winner of Survivor: Borneo David Hedison, actor, star of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea Greta Hodgkinson, ballet dancer Ruth Hussey, actress, Oscar-nominated for The Philadelphia Story (1940) Joe S. Jackson, sportswriter and editor Matilda Sissieretta Joyner Jones (1868–1933), pioneering black soprano who played to audiences around the world Claudia Jordan, actress, Miss Rhode Island USA 1997 Galway Kinnell, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Jesse Leach, vocalist and musician, original frontman of Killswitch Engage, Seemless, The Empire Shall Fall and Times of Grace James Sullivan Lincoln (1811–1888), "father of Rhode Island art" and first president of the Providence Art Club H. P. Lovecraft (1890–1937), author of fantasy and horror fiction Dorothy Lovett, actress Albert Lythgoe (1868–1934), archaeologist and curator of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Dodge MacKnight, painter George Macready, actor, Gilda, Paths of Glory Jason Marsden, voice actor Cormac McCarthy, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, The Road, No Country for Old Men, Blood Meridian Shanna Moakler, 1992 Miss Rhode Island Teen USA, 1995 Miss New York USA and Miss USA Nico Muhly, composer Andy On, Chinese-American Hong Kong actor Jeffrey Osborne, lead vocalist with L.T.D. Monty Oum (1981–2015), animator for Rooster Teeth Productions; creator of RWBY John Pagano, R&B and pop singer Vincent Pagano, actor, screenwriter Don Pardo (1918–2014), NBC announcer since 1944, Saturday Night Live 1975–2014 S. J. Perelman, humorist, author, and screenwriter Sylvia Poggioli, reporter for National Public Radio Ira Rakatansky (1919–2014), modernist architect Josh Schwartz, creator of television series The O.C. A. O. Scott, film critic for New York Times Chris Sparling, screenwriter and film director Daniel Sully, stage actor and playwright Benjamin C. Truman, war correspondent and author Meredith Vieira, television personality Sarah Helen Whitman, poet, possible inspiration for Edgar Allan Poe poems "To Helen" and "Annabel Lee" Mabel May Woodward (1877–1945), prominent impressionist painter and RISD faculty
Business
Arunah Shepherdson Abell, publisher and philanthropist Everett M. "Busy" Arnold, comic-book entrepreneur and publisher Betsey Metcalf Baker (1786–1867; née Betsey Metcalf) manufacturer of straw bonnets, entrepreneur, social activist Andrew Dexter Jr., financier of Exchange Coffee House Wylie Dufresne, chef Alan Shawn Feinstein, finance expert and philanthropist; Feinstein High School in Providence is named in his honor A. O. Granger (1846–1914), industrialist and soldier Abbie E. Krebs-Wilkins (1842–1924), businesswoman Henry J. Steere, industrialist and philanthropist
Innovators
Zachariah Allen, scientist and inventor, patented automatic cut-off valve for steam engines George Henry Corliss, inventor of the Corliss steam engine, which revolutionized industry by making steam power cheaper than water power for powering factories Andries van Dam, pioneer in the field of computer graphics and professor at Brown University
Military
George K. Anderson, general George Andrews, adjutant general of the U.S. Army 1912–1914 Israel Angell, colonel in the American Revolution Richard Arnold, Civil War general William Seaman Bainbridge, military physician, surgeon and gynecologist Samuel T. Cushing, US Army brigadier general Charles L. Hodges, U.S. Army major general Albert Martin, defender of the Alamo David Hammond Vinton, Civil War brevet major general Frank Wheaton, Civil War general
Politics and law
Arunah Shepherdson Abell, creator of Philadelphia Public Ledger and Baltimore Sun newspapers Nelson W. Aldrich, U.S. representative, U.S. senator, grandfather of Vice President Nelson Rockefeller and father of Richard S. Aldrich Richard S. Aldrich, U.S. representative Philip Allen, 22nd governor of Rhode Island and U.S. senator William Henry Allen, naval officer during War of 1812 Zachariah Allen, scientist and inventor Gabe Amo, U.S. representative Jonathan Arnold, member of Continental Congress from Rhode Island Samuel G. Arnold, United States senator from Rhode Island Edward Beard, U.S. representative Grace Lee Boggs, social activist and feminist, known for work done in Detroit Jabez Bowen, federalist supporter, deputy governor of Rhode Island and chief justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court John Brown, co-founder of Brown University, U.S. representative Frank Caprio (1936–2025), chief judge of Providence Municipal Court (1985–2023); known for conducting actual court hearings on his television program, Caught In Providence, where he routinely exercised kindness and empathy to litigants John Chafee, governor of Rhode Island, Secretary of the Navy, and United States Senator Zechariah Chafee, lawyer, academic and civil libertarian Vincent Cianci, longest-serving mayor in Providence history (1974–1984) and (1991–2002); city's first Italian-American mayor David Cicilline, U.S. representative, former mayor of Providence and Rhode Island State Representative Thomas Davis, U.S. representative Herbert F. DeSimone, attorney general of Rhode Island and assistant secretary of transportation Ray Fogarty, Rhode Island state representativeRaymond W. Fogarty-obituary Dwight Foster, U.S. senator and U.S. representative Theodore Foster, U.S. senator J. Joseph Garrahy, 69th governor of Rhode Island Albert C. Greene, U.S. senator and attorney general of Rhode Island John Patrick Hartigan, judge of United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and of United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island Nicole Love Hendrickson, chair of the Gwinnett County, Georgia Board of Commissioners Stephen Hopkins, nine-time governor of Rhode Island and signer of Declaration of Independence David Jagolinzer, litigation attorney, born in Providence Elisha Jenkins, New York secretary of state, mayor of Albany Pat LaMarche, Green Party vice presidential candidate in 2004 and activist Oscar Lapham, U.S. congressman Henry Lippitt (1818–1891), textile magnate, governor of Rhode Island; his Victorian mansion is one of the finest in Providence Audri Mukhopadhyay, Canadian diplomat Dee Dee Myers, first female White House press secretary, served during Clinton administration Peter Newsham, police chief John O. Pastore, Democratic politician, first Italian-American governor (1945–1950) and Italian-American senator (1950–1976) of Rhode Island Jack Reed, U.S. senator for Rhode Island John Rucho, Massachusetts state legislator and businessman, was born in Providence'1977–1978 Public Officials of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Biographical Sketch of John Rucho, pg. 282 Pamela Sawyer, member of Connecticut House of Representatives Bruce Sundlun, 71st governor of Rhode Island and businessman Robert Tiernan, U.S. representative and member of Rhode Island General Assembly Pat Toomey, U.S. senator from Pennsylvania
Reformers
Paulina Kellogg Wright Davis (1813–1876), abolitionist, suffragist, and educator Arthur L. Hardge (1927–1983), African-American civil rights activist, minister, and administrator Bertha G. Higgins (1872–1944), African-American suffragist, civil rights activist and clubwoman Mary E. Jackson (1867–1923), African-American female suffrage activist, YWCA leader and writer, born in Providence and active in RI politics Marion Simon Misch (1869–1941), activist, teacher, writer, businesswoman Elizabeth J. Smith (1842–unknown), Canadian-American temperance activist; newspaper editor and publisher
Science and medicine
Martha H. Mowry (1818–1899), first female physician in Rhode Island
Sports
Bill Almon, player for eight MLB teams Deon Anderson, NFL fullback Isaac Angking, soccer player Rocco Baldelli, MLB outfielder Marvin Barnes, NBA player Will Blackmon, NFL cornerback Paul Briggs, NFL player Nico Colaluca, soccer player Jill Craybas, professional tennis player Ernie DiGregorio, NBA rookie of the year in 1974 William Butler Duncan II, leader in New York Yacht Club's long defense of the America's Cup Hobe Ferris, second baseman for the Boston Americans Beverly Baker Fleitz, tennis player, 1955 Wimbledon singles and doubles finalist, French Open doubles champion Anita Foss, All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player Harold Gomes, boxer Matt Hyson, pro wrestler, better known as Spike Dudley Chris Ianetta, MLB catcher Ray Jarvis, MLB pitcher Marilyn Jones, All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player Paul Konerko, MLB first baseman Davey Lopes, player, coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers Tom Lovett, MLB pitcher Peter Manfredo Jr., boxer Bill Osmanski, College Football Hall of Fame Chuck Palumbo, pro wrestler Michael Parkhurst, soccer defender for USMNT
Others
Edward Francis Anhalt, professor, event promoter, and company founder James E. FitzGerald (1906–1969) Jesuit and academic, fourth president of Fairfield University in Connecticut Stephen Morin, serial killer executed in Texas in 1985
References