Famous Clevelanders

Among the many past and present Cleveland and Northeast Ohio residents are the following famous and infamous persons (in alphabetical order):

• 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 1-24-08)}