List of people from Providence, Rhode Island

The following list includes notable people who were born or have lived in Providence, Rhode Island.

Arts, literature, humanities and entertainment

• Tom Adams – an illustrator most famous for his Agatha Christie paperback cover designs^[1]
• Daniel Adel - painter and illustrator
• Chester Holmes Aldrich – architect and director of American Academy in Rome
• David Aldrich - artist and architect^[2]
• Mathuren Arthur Andrieu – painter
• Joe Bastardi - meteorologist
• Joe Beats – hip-hop producer
• Ted Berrigan – poet
• The Brother Kite – indie rock band
• Blu Cantrell – singer of "Hit 'Em Upstyle (Oops)" and "Breathe"
• William Carpenter – early settler of Providence
• Marilyn Chambers – adult-film actress
• George M. Cohan – songwriter and entertainer, composed "I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy" and "You're a Grand Old Flag"
• Jim Connors – radio personality (d. 1987)
• 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
• Christopher Denise – illustrator of children's books, including many in the Redwall series
• Bruce DeSilva - author of the Liam Mulligan series of mystery novels
• 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
• Ava Gaudet – singer, dancer, actress known for Broadway's Rent, ABC's Ugly Betty
• Roger A. Graham – lyricist, songwriter
• Robert Leo (Bobby) Hackett – jazz musician (trumpet, cornet, guitar)
• Scott Haltzman – author, The Secrets of Happily Married Men: Eight Ways to Win Your Wife's Heart Forever
• 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
• Ruth Hussey – actress, Oscar-nominated for The Philadelphia Story (1940)
• 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
• H. P. Lovecraft (1890 - 1937) – author of fantasy and horror fiction^[3]
• Dorothy Lovett - actress
• Dodge MacKnight – painter
• George Macready – actor
• Cormac McCarthy – author
• 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
• 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
• 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"

Business

• Arunah Shepherdson Abell – publisher and philanthropist
• Everett M. "Busy" Arnold – comic-book entrepreneur and publisher^[4]
• Lewis Dexter - financier of the St. Croix Cotton Mill^[5]
• Wylie Dufresne - chef
• Alan Shawn Feinstein – finance expert and philanthropist; Feinstein High School in Providence is named in his honor^[6]
• William Hamlin – entrepreneur and Rhode Island's first engraver^[7]
• Henry J. Steere – industrialist and philanthropist^[8]

Innovators

• Zachariah Allen – scientist and inventor, patented automatic cut-off valve for steam engines^[9]
• George Henry Corliss – inventor of the Corliss steam engine, which revolutionized industry by making steam-power cheaper than water-power for powering factories^[10]
• John Peirce, inventor who participated in the development of the telephone

Military

• George K. Anderson – general
• George Andrews – Adjutant General of the U.S. Army from 1912 to 1914
• Israel Angell – colonel in the American Revolution^[11]
• Richard Arnold – Civil War general
• William Seaman Bainbridge – military physician, surgeon and gynecologist
• Albert Martin – defender of the Alamo
• Frank Wheaton – Civil War general

Politics

• Arunah Shepherdson Abell – creator of Philadelphia Public Ledger and Baltimore Sun newspapers^[11]
• Nelson W. Aldrich - U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, grandfather of Vice President Nelson Rockefeller and father of Richard S. Aldrich^[12]
• Richard S. Aldrich - U.S. Representative^[13]
• Philip Allen – Governor of Rhode Island and U.S. Senator^[14]
• William Henry Allen – naval officer during the War of 1812^[11]
• Zachariah Allen – scientist and inventor^[11]
• Jonathan Arnold – member of the Continental Congress from Rhode Island^[11]
• Samuel G. Arnold – United States Senator from Rhode Island^[11]
• Edward Beard - U.S. Representative^[15]
• Jabez Bowen – federalist supporter, Deputy Governor of Rhode Island and Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court^[16]
• John Brown – co-founder of Brown University, U.S. Representative^[17]
• John Chafee – Governor of Rhode Island, Secretary of the Navy, and United States Senator^[18]
• Zechariah Chafee – lawyer, academic and civil libertarian^[19]
• Vincent Cianci – longest-serving mayor in Providence history (1974–1984) and (1991–2002); city's first Italian-American mayor^[20]
• Thomas Davis - U.S. Representative^[21]
• Herbert F. DeSimone - Attorney General of Rhode Island and Assistant Secretary of Transportation^[22]
• Dwight Foster - U.S. Senator and U.S. Representative^[23]
• Theodore Foster - U.S. Senator^[24]
• Albert C. Greene - U.S. Senator and Attorney General of Rhode Island^[25]
• John Patrick Hartigan - Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island^[26]
• Stephen Hopkins – nine-time governor of Rhode Island and signer of the Declaration of Independence^[27]
• Elisha Jenkins – New York Secretary of State, Mayor of Albany
• Pat LaMarche – Green Party vice presidential candidate in 2004 and activist^[28]
• Oscar Lapham - U.S. Congressman^[29]
• Dee Dee Myers – first female White House Press Secretary, served under the Clinton administration
• John O. Pastore – Democrat politician, first Italian American governor (1945–1950) and Italian American senator (1950–1976) of Rhode Island^[30]
• John Rucho - Massachusetts state legislator and businessman, was born in Providence.^[31]
• Pamela Sawyer – member of the Connecticut House of Representatives^[32]
• Robert Tiernan - U.S. Representative and member of the Rhode Island General Assembly^[33]

Reformers

• Paulina Kellogg Wright Davis - abolitionist, suffragist, and educator^[34]
• Marion Simon Misch (1869-1941) - activist, teacher, writer, businesswoman^[35]

Sports

• Bill Almon – player for eight MLB teams^[36]
• Deon Anderson – NFL fullback^[37]
• Rocco Baldelli – MLB outfielder^[38]
• Marvin Barnes – NBA player^[39]
• Will Blackmon - NFL cornerback^[40]
• Paul Briggs – NFL player^[41]
• Ernie DiGregorio - NBA rookie of the year in 1974^[42]
• Hobe Ferris – second baseman for the Boston Americans^[43]
• Matt Hyson – pro wrestler, better known as Spike Dudley
• Chris Ianetta – catcher for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim^[44]
• Ray Jarvis - MLB pitcher^[45]
• Marilyn Jones – All-American Girls Professional Baseball League pitcher^[46]
• Paul Konerko – MLB first baseman^[47]
• Davey Lopes – player, coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers^[48]
• Tom Lovett – MLB pitcher^[49]
• Peter Manfredo Jr. – boxer^[50]
• Bill Osmanski – College Football Hall of Fame^[51]
• Chuck Palumbo – pro wrestler^[52]
• Michael Parkhurst – soccer defender for USMNT^[53]

References

1. "Tom Adams". 1997-2014 All Rights Reserved | Bentley Global Arts Group, LLC. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
2. "A History of Swan Point Cemetery". Swan Point Cemetery. Retrieved March 26, 2014.
3. "H.P. Lovecraft Walking Tour Returns". Official Website of the City of Providence, Rhode Island. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
4. "Sequence of Events". Cosmic Teams. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
5. historicplaces.ca: "St. Croix Cotton Mill Site"
6. "90s FAMILY At Feinstein, Youths Learn the Value of Volunteering". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
7. "American Silversmiths". Ancestry.com. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
8. "A legacy of more than 140 years of serviceto the elder community of Rhode Island". Steere House. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
9. "Zachariah Allen Papers". Rhode Island Historical Society. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
10. "George Henry Corliss". The New England Wireless and Steam Museum. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
11. Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607–1896. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who. 1963.
12. "ALDRICH, Nelson Wilmarth, (1841 - 1915)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved March 26, 2014.
13. "ALDRICH, Richard Steere, (1884 - 1941) s". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
14. "ALLEN, Philip, (1785 - 1865) s". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
15. "BEARD, Edward Peter, (1940 - )". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
16. "Bowen Family Papers". Rhode Island Historical Society. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
17. "BROWN, John, (1736 - 1803)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
18. "CHAFEE, John Hubbard, (1922 - 1999)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
19. "Chafee, Zechariah. Papers, 1898-1957: Finding Aid". Harvard University Library. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
20. "Mayor Vincent A. Cianci, Jr. (D - Providence, RI)". Americans for the Arts. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
21. "DAVIS, Thomas, (1806 - 1895)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
22. "In Memoriam" (PDF). Rhode Island Bar Journal. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
23. "FOSTER, Dwight, (1757 - 1823)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved April 3, 2014.
24. "FOSTER, Theodore, (1752 - 1828)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved April 3, 2014.
25. "GREENE, Albert Collins, (1792 - 1863)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
26. "Biographical Directory of Federal Judges Hartigan, John Patrick". Federal Judicial Center. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
27. "Governor Stephen Hopkins House (1708)". The National Society of The Colonial Dams of America. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
28. "The Happy Warrior". The Nation. October 25, 2004. Retrieved April 5, 2014.
29. "LAPHAM, Oscar, (1837 - 1926)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved March 26, 2014.
30. "PASTORE, John Orlando, (1907 - 2000)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
31. '1977-1978 Public Officials of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Biographical Sketch of John Rucho, pg. 282
32. "About Pamela Sawyer". Connecticut House Republican Office. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
33. "TIERNAN, Robert Owens, (1929 - )". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
34. James, Edward T. and Wilson, Janet (1971). Notable American Women, 1607-1950: A Biographical Dictionary, Volume 2. Harvard University Press. p. 444.
35. Horvitz, Eleanor F. (November 1980). "Marion L. Misch – An Extraordinary Woman" (PDF). Thirtieth Anniversary Issue: Rhode Island Jewish Historical Notes. Rhode Island Jewish Historical Organization. pp. 7–65.
36. "Bill Almon". 2000-2013 Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
37. "Deon Anderson". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
38. "Rocco Baldelli". 2014 Breeze Publications, Inc. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
39. "Marvin Barnes". 2000-2014 Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
40. "Will Blackmon". 2000-2014 Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
41. "PAUL BRIGGS". profootballarchives.com. Retrieved September 21, 2014.
42. "Ernie DiGregorio". 2000-2014 Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
43. Hubbard, Donald. The Red Sox Before the Babe: Boston's Early Days in the American League, 1901-1914. McFarland, Jul 15, 2009. p. 19.
44. "Chris Ianetta". 2000-2013 Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
45. "Ray Jarvis Stats". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
46. "Marilyn C. Jones". 2005-2014 All American Girls Professional Baseball League Players Association, Inc. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
47. "Paul Konerko". 2000-2013 Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
48. "Davey Lopes". 2000-2013 Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
49. "Tom Lovett". 2000-2013 Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
50. "Peter Manfredo Jr.". BoxRec. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
51. "Bill Osmanski". 2001-2013 National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, Inc. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
52. "Chuck Palumbo". 2014 Discovery Communications, LLC. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
53. "Michael Parkhurst". 2014 United States Olympic Committee. Retrieved 27 April 2014.