• Source: List of people from Worcester, Massachusetts

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 (1932–2009), Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Binghamton University
Harvey Ball (1921–2001), inventor of the smiley face
Alan T. Busby (1895–1992), educator and first African-American alumnus of the University of Connecticut
Harold W. Chase (1922–1982), educator and United States military officer
Robert Goddard (1882–1945), father of modern rocketry
G. Stanley Hall (1846–1924), first president of Clark University
John Kneller (1916–2009), English-American professor and fifth President of Brooklyn College
David Green (born 1963), president of Colby College
Leonard Morse (born 1929), university professor of clinical medicine
Lawrence Park (1873–1924), art historian, architect, and genealogist
Francis E. Reed (1852–1917), inventor and industrialist who founded F.E. Reed & Co.
Daniel B. Wesson (1825–1906), gunsmith, co-founder of Smith & Wesson




Actors and artists


John Wolcott Adams (1874–1925), artist
Edith Ella Baldwin (1846–1920), artist
H. Jon Benjamin, actor best known as the voices of Sterling Archer on Archer, Bob Belcher on Bob's Burgers, and Can of Vegetables in the Wet Hot American Summer franchise
Christopher Boffoli, photographer
Elbridge Boyden, architect of Mechanics Hall
Zara Cully, actress best known for The Jeffersons
Stephen DiRado, photographer
Stephen C. Earle, architect
Paul Fontaine, abstractist colorist painter
Joslyn Fox, drag queen, contestant on Rupaul’s Drag Race season 6
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
Tom Lewis, artist and activist
Joyner Lucas, American rapper
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, former child actress and winner of Season 10 of The Voice
Terri Priest, artist
Sam Qualiana, actor and filmmaker involved with many low-budget horror films, including Snow Shark (2012)
Joyce Reopel, artist
Renee Sands, former child actress and singer from Kids Incorporated and Wild Orchid
Sam Seder, podcast host of The Majority Report, 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
Wu Tsang, filmmaker, artist, and performer
David Whitney, art curator
Alicia Witt, actress, singer-songwriter
Hildegard Woodward, children's book illustrator




Athletes


Jerry Azumah, former NFL defensive back
Tyler Beede (born 1993), baseball pitcher for the San Francisco Giants
Frank Carroll, US figure skater and coach, 1960 graduate of the College of the Holy Cross, actor
Tim Collins, relief pitcher for the Kansas City Royals
Alana Cook, soccer player for the United States national team
Bob Cousy, Hall of Fame basketball player; attended the College of the Holy Cross; currently lives in Worcester
Jay Cutler, former professional bodybuilder and 4x Mr. Olympia
Ken Doane, professional wrestler
Oliver Drake, relief pitcher who's a free agent
Rich Gedman, Boston Red Sox catcher, manager of the Worcester Tornadoes
Bill Guerin, former Pittsburgh Penguins right winger
Aaron Haddad, professional wrestler in WWE
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
Dwayne McClain, former NBA/Professional basketball player. Starred at Villanova in the early/mid 1980s. Attended Holy Name Catholic Central
Tom Poti, former NHL defenseman
J.P. Ricciardi, MLB executive, former general manager of the Toronto Blue Jays
José Antonio Rivera, WBA light middleweight champion
Richard Rodgers II, 3rd-string Tight End for the Philadelphia Eagles; played for St. John's High School
Edwin Rodríguez, boxer
Rosy Ryan – was a professional baseball pitcher. He played ten seasons. Best remembered for his time with the World Series Champion New York Giants
Tanyon Sturtze, former MLB pitcher
Major Taylor, track cycling champion
Bill Toomey, gold medal decathlete, 1968 Olympics; attended Worcester Academy
Leah Van Dale, professional wrestler better known by her ring name Carmella
Vinnie Yablonski, NFL player
Stephen Nedoroscik, an artistic gymnast and a two-time Olympic medalist




Musicians


John Adams, popular composer
Duncan Arsenault, musician
Norman Bailey, big band trumpet player from The Lawrence Welk Show
Jaki Byard, jazz pianist, composer and recording artist
Frank Capp, jazz drummer and bandleader
Luke Caswell, better known as Cazwell, an LGBT rapper
Wendell Culley, jazz trumpeter from Worcester who played with Noble Sissle, Lionel Hampton, and Count Basie's Orchestra, and many others
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
Duke Levine, guitarist
The Hotelier, rock band
Jordan Knight, member of the boy band New Kids On The Block
Joyner Lucas, rapper
Arun Luthra, jazz saxophonist, konnakol artist, composer, arranger, band leader
Miriam "Mamie" Moffitt, jazz pianist and band leader of Mamie Moffitt and Her Five Jazz Hounds, the first professional jazz ensemble in Worcester
Orpheus, band that enjoyed popularity in the 1960s and early 1970s
Cole Porter, Broadway composer, student at Worcester Academy ca. 1912, born in Peru, Indiana
Andy Ross, guitarist for rock band OK Go
Maureen Steele, pop singer and songwriter, one of the very few white artists signed to Motown during the mid 1980s
Einar Swan, multi-instrumental jazz musician and songwriter of "When Your Lover Has Gone"
Boots Ward, jazz drummer, band leader, and Worcester jazz club owner




Politicians


Charles Allen (1797–1869), United States Congressman from Massachusetts
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
John Binienda, Massachusetts state legislator
Alexander H. Bullock, Governor of Massachusetts (1866–1868)
Kate Campanale, member of Massachusetts House of Representatives from District 17
John Curtis Chamberlain, US Representative
Dorothea Dix, reformer and activist
Dwight Foster, Massachusetts Attorney General and Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Roger Sherman Baldwin Foster, lawyer
Emma Goldman, Lithuanian-American anarchist; owned ice cream parlor in Worcester
Thomas Wentworth Higginson, abolitionist, literary mentor to Emily Dickinson
Abbie Hoffman, radical activist
Abby Kelley Foster, abolitionist, suffragette
Joseph T. Higgins, member of the New York State Assembly
Jim McGovern, US Representative from Massachusetts's 2nd congressional district
Levi Lincoln Sr., American revolutionary
Levi Lincoln Jr., Governor of Massachusetts
William D. Mullins, state representative and baseball player
Albert L. Nash, politician and businessman
Richard Neal, US Representative from Massachusetts's 1st congressional district
Kenneth P. O'Donnell, Appointments Secretary and Political Adviser to President John F. Kennedy
Robert Owens, businessman and Massachusetts state senator
John Rucho, politician and businessman
Charles F. Sullivan, Mayor of Worcester and Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts, 1949–1953
Benjamin Swan, longest-serving Vermont State Treasurer
Charles G. Washburn, member of the U.S. House of Representatives




Writers and journalists


Jane G. Austin, writer
Mike Barnicle, print and broadcast journalist, social and political commentator
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 D. Casey, novelist and translator
John Dufresne, novelist and screenwriter
Alice Morse Earle, writer
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
Isabel Hornibrook, children's literature writer
Omar Jimenez, CNN reporter, known for being arrested on live TV while reporting on the George Floyd protests in Minneapolis
Aidan “Turtleboy” Kearney, author and investigative journalist
Stanley Kunitz, Poet Laureate
Frank O'Hara, poet
Charles Olson, modernist poet
Charlie Pierce (born 1953), American writer/journalist, and panelist on NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me
Normand Poirier, writer
Olive Higgins Prouty, writer, known for "Now, Voyager" and "Stella Dallas"
Ernest Lawrence Thayer, poet and journalist, known for "Casey at the Bat"
Isaiah Thomas, publisher of the Massachusetts Spy
Stanley Woodward, newspaper editor and sportswriter




Other


Lillian Asplund, last survivor of the RMS Titanic who remembered the actual sinking
William Austin Burt, 19th-century explorer and surveyor in Michigan
Nathaniel Bar-Jonah, convicted child molester, possible serial killer and cannibal
Timothy Bigelow, Revolutionary War patriot
Jonas Clark, founder of Clark University
Edmund L. Daley (1883–1968), U.S. Army major general
Edgar C. Erickson (1896–1989), United States Army Major General and Chief of the National Guard Bureau
Catherine Fiske (1784-1837), school founder
John Stanley Grauel (1917–1986), Christian Zionist leader
Samuel Fisk Green (1822–1884), physician and medical missionary, served with the American Ceylon Mission 1847–1873
Samuel R. Heywood, founder of the Heywood Boot & Shoe Company
Myra Kraft, philanthropist, wife of New England Patriots owner Bob Kraft
Royal B. Lord (1899–1963), United States military officer
Joe Morrone, Connecticut Huskies soccer coach
Charley Parkhurst, stagecoach driver and horseman
Irving Price, co-founder of Fisher Price toys and games
Michael Ritchie, artistic director
George Edward Rueger (1929–2019), Roman Catholic bishop
Stephen Salisbury III, founder of the Worcester Art Museum
Richard B. Sellars (1915–2010), Chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson
Madeline Singas, American attorney and jurist.
Ichabod Washburn, founder of Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Steven N. Wickstrom, Army National Guard major general who commanded the 42nd Infantry Division
Stillman Witt (1808–1875), Ohio railroad and steel executive, banker
Geoffrey Zakarian, Iron Chef, Food Network Channel celebrity chef




References

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• List of people from Worcester, Massachusetts
• Worcester, Massachusetts
• List of people from Massachusetts
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• Worcester County, Massachusetts
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