List of people from Worcester, Massachusetts

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

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, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Binghamton University; stabbed to death by student in 2009
• Harvey Ball, inventor of the smiley face
• Robert Goddard, father of modern rocketry
• G. Stanley Hall, first president of Clark University
• Francis E. Reed, inventor and industrialist who founded F.E. Reed & Co.

Actors and artists

• John Wolcott Adams (1874–1925), artist
• H. Jon Benjamin, actor best known as voice of Sterling Archer on Archer (TV series), and voice of Coach McGuirk on cartoon Home Movies
• Christopher Boffoli, photographer
• Elbridge Boyden, architect of Mechanics Hall
• Stephen DiRado, photographer
• Stephen C. Earle, architect
• 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
• 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, actress and singer
• Renee Sands, former child actress and singer from Kids Incorporated and Wild Orchid
• Sam Seder, Air America radio host of Breakroom Live with Maron & Seder, 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
• David Whitney, art curator
• Alicia Witt, actress, singer-songwriter
• Hildegard Woodward, children's book illustrator

Athletes

• Jerry Azumah, former NFL defensive back^[1]
• Frank Carroll, US figure skater and coach, 1960 graduate of the College of the Holy Cross, actor^[2]
• Tim Collins, relief pitcher for the Kansas City Royals^[3]
• Bob Cousy, Hall of Fame basketball player; attended the College of the Holy Cross; currently lives in Worcester^[4]
• Ken Doane, professional wrestler^[5]
• Rich Gedman, Boston Red Sox catcher, manager of the Worcester Tornadoes^[6]
• Bill Guerin, former Pittsburgh Penguins right winger^[7]
• Aaron Haddad, professional wrestler in WWE^[8]
• 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^[9]
• Tom Poti, former NHL defenseman^[10]
• J.P. Ricciardi, MLB executive, former general manager of the Toronto Blue Jays^[11]
• José Antonio Rivera, WBA light middleweight champion
• Richard Rodgers, starting tight end for the Green Bay Packers; played for St. John's High School
• Edwin Rodríguez, boxer^[12]
• Tanyon Sturtze, former MLB pitcher^[13]
• Major Taylor, track cycling champion^[14]
• Bill Toomey, gold medal decathlete, 1968 Olympics; attended Worcester Academy
• Vinnie Yablonski, NFL player^[15]

Musicians

• John Coolidge Adams, popular composer
• Duncan Arsenault, musician
• Norman Bailey, big band trumpet player from The Lawrence Welk Show
• Jaki Byard, jazz pianist and composer
• Frank Capp, jazz drummer and bandleader
• 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
• The Hotelier, rock band
• Orpheus, a band that enjoyed popularity in the 1960s and early 1970s
• Jordan Knight, member of the boy band New Kids On The Block
• Cole Porter, Broadway composer, student at Worcester Academy ca. 1912
• Andy Ross, guitarist for rock band OK Go

Politicians

• Charles Allen (1797–1869), United States Congressman from Massachusetts^[16]
• 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^[17]
• John Binienda, Massachusetts state legislator^[18]
• Alexander H. Bullock, Governor of Massachusetts (1866–1868)^[19]
• John Curtis Chamberlain, US Representative^[20]
• Dorothea Dix, reformer and activist
• Dwight Foster, Massachusetts Attorney General and Associate Justice on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court^[21]
• Roger Sherman Baldwin Foster, lawyer^[22]
• Emma Goldman, Lithuanian-American anarchist; owned ice cream parlor in Worcester^[23]
• Thomas Wentworth Higginson, abolitionist, literary mentor to Emily Dickinson^[24]
• Abbie Hoffman, radical activist^[25]
• Abby Kelley Foster, abolitionist, suffragette^[26]
• Levi Lincoln, Sr., American revolutionary
• Levi Lincoln, Jr., Governor of Massachusetts
• Albert L. Nash, politician and businessman^[27]
• Kenneth P. O'Donnell, Appointments Secretary and Political Adviser to President John F. Kennedy^[28]
• John Rucho, politician and businessman^[29]
• Charles F. Sullivan, Mayor of Worcester and Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts, 1949–1953
• Benjamin Swan, longest-serving Vermont State Treasurer^[30]
• Charles G. Washburn, member of the U.S. House of Representatives

Writers and journalists

• Jane G. Austin, writer
• 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 Dufresne, novelist and screenwriter
• 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
• Stanley Kunitz, Poet Laureate
• Frank O'Hara, poet
• Charles Olson, modernist poet
• Normand Poirier, writer
• Ernest Lawrence Thayer, poet and journalist, known for "Casey at the Bat"
• Isaiah Thomas, publisher of the Massachusetts Spy

Other

• Lillian Asplund, last survivor of the RMS Titanic who remembered the actual sinking
• William Austin Burt, 19th-century explorer and surveyor in Michigan
• Timothy Bigelow, Revolutionary War patriot
• Jonas Clark, founder of Clark University
• Edgar C. Erickson (1896-1989), United States Army Major General and Chief of the National Guard Bureau
• Myra Kraft, philanthropist, wife of New England Patriots Owner Bob Kraft
• Joe Morrone, Connecticut Huskies soccer coach
• Charley Parkhurst, stagecoach driver and horseman
• Stephen Salisbury III, founder of the Worcester Art Museum
• Richard B. Sellars (1915–2010), Chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson^[31]
• Ichabod Washburn, founder of Worcester Polytechnic Institute
• Geoffrey Zakarian, Iron Chef, Food Network Channel celebrity chef

References

1. "MEET JERRY AZUMAH". ASAP. Retrieved April 12, 2014.
2. "Rink Master". Holy Cross. Retrieved April 12, 2014.
3. "Tim Collins". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved April 12, 2014.
4. "Bob Cousy". Pro-Basketball Reference . Com. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
5. "Ken Doane". 2013, Canoe Inc. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
6. "Rich Gedman". Pro-Baseball Reference.com. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
7. "Bill Guerin". Hockey Reference.com. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
8. "Aaron Haddad". 2013, Canoe Inc. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
9. Glassboro High School Hall of Fame (1989 Inductees). Accessed August 6, 2007.
10. "Tom Poti". Hockey Reference.com. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
11. "J.P. Ricciardi". Pro-Baseball Reference.com. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
12. "Andre Ward pummels Edwin Rodriguez". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 12, 2014.
13. "Tanyon Sturtze". Pro-Baseball Reference.com. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
14. "Marshall Taylor". 2000 - 2002 Major Taylor Association, Inc. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
15. "VINNIE YABLONSKI". profootballarchives.com. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
16. Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607–1896. Marquis Who's Who. 1967.
17. "George Bancroft Secretary of the Navy 1800 - 1891". Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved December 10, 2013.
18. Votesmart.org.-John Binienda, Sr.
19. "Massachusetts Governor Alexander Hamilton Bullock". NATIONAL GOVERNORS ASSOCIATION. Retrieved December 10, 2013.
20. "CHAMBERLAIN, John Curtis (1772-1834)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved December 10, 2013.
21. Davis, William Thomas (1900), History of the Judiciary of Massachusetts: Including the Plymouth and Massachusetts Colonies, The Province of Massachusetts Bay, and The Commonwealth, Boston, MA: The Boston Book Company, p. 194.
22. "THE ANCESTRY OF SALLY SLEEPER RUSSELL OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS (1919-1983)". Ancestry.com. Retrieved April 11, 2014.
23. "People & Events: Henry Clay Frick (1849-1919)". American Experience. Retrieved December 10, 2013.
24. "Thomas Wentworth Higginson". Civil War Trust. Retrieved December 10, 2013.
25. "Abbie Hoffman, 60's Icon, Dies; Yippie Movement Founder Was 52". The New York Times. Retrieved December 10, 2013.
26. "Abigail Kelley Foster". Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved December 10, 2013.
27. '1973-1974 Public Officials of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Biographical Sketch of Albert L. Nash, pg. 252
28. "Biographical Profiles: Kenneth P. O'Donnell". John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum. Retrieved December 10, 2013.
29. '1977-1978 Public Officials of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Biographical Sketch of John Rucho, pg. 282
30. Henry Swan Dana, History of Woodstock, Vermont, 1889, page 485
31. Abelson, Reed. "Richard B. Sellars, Former Chief of Johnson & Johnson, Dies at 94", The New York Times, June 26, 2010.