- Halle Berry – Oscar-winning actress, who has starred and appeared in Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, Their Eyes Were Seeing God, and Monster’s Ball.
- Hector Boiardi, Chef, restauranteur and creator of Chef Boy-ar-dee food products
- Jim Brown – Actor and legendary running back from the Cleveland Browns
- Drew Carey – Creater and producer of the Drew Carey Show and Whose Line is it Anyway?
- Eric Carmen - Popular singer and songwriter, formerly with the Raspberries
- Traci Chapman – Singer and songwriter
- Tim Conway – Actor and comedian, known for his work on the Carol Burnett Show.
- Wes Craven – Film director, known for his horror films
- Ben Curtis – 2003 PGA British Open Champion and Kent State graduate
- Dorothy Dandridge - Oscar nominated actress, best known for starring in Carmen Jones
- Ruby Dee - Actress
- Ian Frazier - Contemporary Author
- Alan Freed – Popular 1950s DJ, who coined the phrase Rock and Roll
- James A Garfield – 20th President of the United States
- Lillian Gish – Silent film star
- Joel Grey – Tony-award and Oscar-winning stage and screen actor
- Arsenio Hall – Late night talk show host and comedian
- Margaret Hamilton – Mid-20th century actress, best known for portraying the Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz.
- Patricia Heaton – Actress, best known for her work in Everyone Loves Raymond.
- Anne Heche - The actress and star of Men in Trees and several films was born in Aurora Ohio.
- Bob Hope – Legendary 20th century actor and comedian
- Terrence Howard - Actor, known for his work in Hustle and Flow and Crash.
- Langston Hughes – Poet
- Don King - Boxing promoter
- LeBron James - Basketball Phenom
- d a levy - "Beat" poet
- Robert Lockwood Jr. - Grammy-award winning Blues guitarist
- Henry Mancini - Composer of "Pink Panther," "Moon River," among other classics. Winner of four Oscars and twenty Grammy awards.
- Garrett Morgan - Inventor of the traffic signal and the gas mask
- Greg Morris - Actor
- Toni Morrison – Nobel prize-winning author of Beloved, and The Bluest Eye was born in Lorain
- Eliot Ness - Famous T-man and head of the "Untouchables"; also Cleveland's Safety Director
- Paul Newman – Oscar-winning actor, director, chef, and race car driver
- Jesse Owens – Olympic gold medallist in track and field
- Laura Paglin - Cleveland Hts. filmmaker
- Les Roberts - Cleveland Hts-based mystery writer
- Don Shula - Former head coach of the Miami Dolphins
- Viktor Schreckengost - Famous artist, teacher, and industrial designer
- Jerry Siegel – created Superman comic book character, with Joe Shuster
- George Stephanopolous - Former White House aide and current Washington reporter and commentator
- Jeptha Wade – Founder of Western Union and major patron to the Cleveland Arts
- Joe Walsh – Singer, songwriter, and member of The Eagles band
- Tom Wilson - Artist and creator of "Ziggy"
- Debra Winger - Actress, known for her work in "An Officer and a Gentleman," among other films.
- Cy Young - Famous baseball pitcher
(last updated 6-9-10)
