List of people from Portland, Maine

The following list includes notable people who were born or have lived in Portland, Maine.

Eccentric and influential writer and critic, John Neal

Birthplace of Thomas B. Reed c. 1915 (since demolished)

Wadsworth-Longfellow House c. 1910

Fort Levett

Authors and academics

• John Howard Appleton, chemist
• Louisa Dow Benton, linguist and letter writer
• Hannah Johnson Carter, art educator
• Elisabeth Cavazza (1849–1926), author, journalist, and music critic
• Jennie Maria Drinkwater Conklin (1841–1900), author
• Leo Connellan, Beat poet and Poet Laureate of Connecticut
• Owen Davis, dramatist
• Robert F. Griffin, essayist
• Dorothy M. Healy, professor at Westbrook College and Curator of the Maine Women Writers Collection
• Stephen King, author
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, poet
• John Neal, author and critic
• Alan Taylor, historian
• William Irwin Thompson, poet and cultural historian

Business

• James Phinney Baxter, canning magnate and Mayor
• Asa Clapp, international merchant
• Cyrus Curtis, publisher and philanthropist
• John A. Poor, railroad developer
• Roxanne Quimby, founder of Burt's Bees
• Reuben Ruby, businessman and political activist
• Thomas A. Sanders, real estate developer and politician
• Donald Valle, founder and owner of the Valle's Steak House restaurant chain

Explorers and settlers

• George Baker Leavitt Sr., whaling captain, arctic explorer
• Capt. Christopher Levett, English explorer of Casco Bay, founded first settlement
• Francis Pettygrove, one of Portland Oregon's founders

Media and arts

Academy Award winning director John Ford

Actress and singer Anna Kendrick

• Dorothy Appleby, American film actress
• Maria a'Becket, painter
• Hiram Abrams, motion picture mogul
• William H. Brown Jr., television director and producer; born, raised, and died in Portland. ^{[1] [2]}
• Bebe Buell, model, musician, and mother of Liv Tyler ^[3]
• Howie Carr, radio personality
• Cody Christian, actor and rapper
• John Greenleaf Cloudman, artist, portrait painter and cabinet maker
• Charles Codman, painter
• Jerry Crasnick, sports journalist
• Kevin Eastman, co-creator of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ^[4]
• Greg Finley II, actor
• Frank Fixaris, sportscaster
• Francis Ford, actor
• John Ford, director
• Charles L. Fox, painter, labor unionist, and two-time candidate for Governor of Maine with the Socialist Party
• Adam Gardner, musician
• Peter Garland, composer
• Jeremiah Hacker, journalist and reformer
• Will Holt, songwriter
• Avery Yale Kamila, journalist and community organizer
• Anna Kendrick, actress
• Charles F. Kimball, artist
• Jennie Kimball, actor, soubrette, theatrical manager
• Linda Lavin, actress
• Tawny Little, television newscaster and Miss America (1976)
• Bob Ludwig, Grammy Award-winning audio mastering engineer
• Bob Marley, comedian
• Andrea Martin, actress
• Judd Nelson, actor
• Lincoln Peirce, comic strip creator, Big Nate
• Ryan Peters, aka Spose, rapper
• Victoria Rowell, actress
• Ethelynde Smith, concert singer and botanical painter
• Stuart Saunders Smith, composer and percussionist
• Brett Somers, actress
• Franklin Stanwood, painter
• Phyllis Thaxter, actress
• Liv Tyler, actress
• Louise Brown Verrill, composer

Military

Mexican-American and Civil War naval officer James Alden Jr.

• James Alden Jr., rear admiral in the United States Navy
• George G. Gatley, brigadier general who commanded brigades and divisions in World War I ^[5]
• John H. Hall, inventor of the first United States Army breech-loading rifle
• Horatio Collins King, Medal of Honor recipient
• Charles J. Loring Jr., Medal of Honor recipient
• Holman S. Melcher, mayor, Civil War veteran
• Edward Preble, naval officer
• Herbert E. Schonland, Medal of Honor recipient
• Ronald Speirs, army officer with the Easy Company, 506 Parachute Infantry Regiment
• Peleg Wadsworth, Revolutionary War general

Politics

William P. Fessenden, Secretary of the Treasury for Abraham Lincoln

Senator and diplomat George Mitchell

• Joseph Adams, state legislator
• Justin Alfond, President of the Maine Senate
• George H. Allan, state legislator and women's suffrage proponent
• Daniel W. Ames, Civil War veteran and state legislator
• James Appleton, state legislator and activist
• Joseph E. Brennan, 70th Governor of Maine
• Michael F. Brennan, Mayor and state legislator
• Joshua Chamberlain, Civil War veteran, governor, served as Surveyor of the Portland Port
• W. Edward Crockett, state legislator
• Winfred Thaxter Denison, United States Assistant Attorney General and Secretary of the Interior for the Philippines; born in Portland
• Santo DiPietro, Maine state legislator and businessman; born in Portland
• Neal Dow, mayor of Portland; Civil War general; temperance movement leader
• John Eder, state legislator and Maine Green Independent Party organizer
• William P. Fessenden, U.S. Senator
• Fletcher Hale, U.S. Congressman from New Hampshire
• Charles Harlow, mayor of Portland; state legislator
• Anne Haskell, state legislator
• Jon Hinck, state legislator and attorney
• John Lynch, U.S. Congressman
• George Mitchell, U.S. Senate Majority Leader (1989 to 1995); chairman of Walt Disney; U.S. special envoy to the Middle East
• Merle Nelson, state legislator
• William Pitt Preble, Justice of the Maine Supreme Court; U.S. Minister to the Netherlands; President of the St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad
• Anne Rand, state legislator
• Thomas Brackett Reed, U.S. Congressman; Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
• George Ruby, Black Republican legislator in Reconstruction-era Texas; raised in Portland
• James E. Thorne, state legislator ^[6]
• Charles W. Walton, U.S. Congressman
• Herman W. Waterman, politician from Wisconsin

Professionals

• Edville Gerhardt Abbott, surgeon
• Oscar Cox, lawyer
• Walter M. Fleming, physician, founder of the Shriners
• Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow Jr., architect
• Robert E. McAfee, physician
• Alexander Parris, architect
• Lois Rice, College Board executive & education scholar
• Thomas J. Sparrow, architect
• Henry Aiken Worcester, 19th century minister & vegetarian

Sports

Major League Baseball player Ryan Flaherty

• Mike Brown (born 1975), mixed martial arts fighter
• Nik Caner-Medley (born 1983), basketball forward
• Dick Capp (born 1942), American football tight end and linebacker
• Ian Crocker (born 1982), Olympic swimmer
• Rob Elowitch (born 1943), wrestler
• Terry Farnsworth (born 1942), Canadian Olympic judoka
• Ryan Flaherty (born 1986), baseball second baseman
• Charlie Furbush (born 1986), baseball pitcher
• Rip Jordan (1889–1960), baseball pitcher
• Pete Ladd (born 1956), baseball pitcher
• Gary McAdam (born 1955), ice hockey forward
• Quinton Porter (born 1982), American football quarterback
• Joan Benoit Samuelson (born 1957), marathon runner
• Bob Stanley (born 1954), baseball pitcher
• Coley Welch (1919–2000), middleweight boxer

Other

• Cornelia Dow (1842–1905), philanthropist, temperance activist; born and died in Portland, Maine
• Sarah E. Fuller (1838-1913), national president, Woman's Relief Corps; born in Portland, Maine
• Nathaniel Gordon, only American slave trader to be tried, convicted, and executed under the Piracy Law of 1820 "for being engaged in the Slave Trade"
• L. Isabel Heald (1842–1932), social leader and philanthropic worker
• Ellen Martin Henrotin, social reformer; born in Portland, Maine
• Augusta Merrill Hunt (1842-1932), philanthropist, suffragist, temperance leader; lived in Portland her entire life
• Lois Galgay Reckitt (born 1944), executive director of Family Crisis Services, Portland, Maine
• Frederick L. Small (1866–1918), stockbroker; convicted and hanged by the state of New Hampshire for the murder of his wife

References

1. "Obituaries: William H. Brown Jr.". Evening Express . June 10, 1982. p. 35. Retrieved February 1, 2025.
2. King, Joe D. (March 14, 1955). "He's High Up on TV ... Portlander Director of Studio One Dramas; Bill Brown Started as Playwright While Student at Bowdoin; Portland Man Directs Star". Evening Express. p. 23. Retrieved February 1, 2025.
3. "Who's That Girl?". Women's Wear Daily. March 31, 1992. p. 7. ProQuest   1445659272. One new face everybody wants is Liv Tyler, the 14-year-old daughter of Aerosmith's lead singer, Steven Tyler, and model Bebe Buell.
4. Condon, Garret (February 17, 1985). "BOOKS: Books & Authors Comic Book Ninja Turtles Make a Hit". The Hartford Courant. p. G3. ProQuest   755872877. The two creators of 'Turtles' are illustrators Peter Laird, 31, and Kevin Eastman, 22, of Sharon, who worked on issue No. 1 last May when both were living in Dover, N.H.
5. Davis, Henry Blaine Jr. (1998). Generals in Khaki. Raleigh, NC: Pentland Press. pp. 140–141. ISBN   978-1-57197-088-6.
6. "James Thorne (Maine)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2024-03-27.