List of people from Syracuse, New York

See also: List of Syracuse University people

The following people are from Syracuse, New York.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by editing the page to add missing items, with references to reliable sources.

Born or brought up in the City of Syracuse

Tom Cruise

Jon Fishman

Richard Gere

Bobcat Goldthwait

Megyn Kelly

Post Malone

David Muir

Rod Serling

• Keith B. Alexander – four-star general in the Army and director of the NSA
• Jabe B. Alford – mayor of Madison, Wisconsin
• Will Allen – professional football player
• Jeff Altman – stand-up comedian and actor
• Maltbie Davenport Babcock – clergyman and author
• Dylan Baker – actor
• John William Barker – brigadier general in the Army ^[1]
• Marcus H. Barnum – lawyer, businessman, and politician
• Bill Beagle – state senator for the 5th district of the Ohio
• Kathryn Beare – professional baseball player
• John Berendt – author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
• Timothy Betar - live streamer and YouTube personality
• Carlyle Blackwell – silent film actor, director, and producer
• Andray Blatche – professional basketball player
• Scott Blewett – professional baseball player
• Richard Bock – jazz record producer
• Alex Bono – professional soccer player ^[2]
• Tyvon Branch – professional football player
• Charles F. Brannock – inventor and manufacturer
• Frederick C. Brower – locksmith, inventor, and businessman
• Rick Brunson – professional basketball player and coach
• Ben Burtt – sound designer, film director and editor, screenwriter, and voice actor
• Marty Byrnes – professional basketball player
• Georgia Campbell – professional baseball player
• Jean Campbell – professional baseball player
• Eric Carle – children's author
• Jimmy Cavallo – musician
• Rory Cochrane – actor
• Michael Cole – professional wrestling commentator
• Jimmy Collins – professional basketball player and college coach
• Jackie Coogan – actor and comedian ^[3]
• Bruce Coville – children's author
• Tom Cruise – Oscar-nominated, Golden Globe Award-winning actor and producer
• Rick Cua – singer, songwriter, bassist, author, and ordained minister
• Kelly Cutrone – publicist, television personality, and author
• Mabel Potter Daggett – writer, journalist, editor, and suffragist
• Nina Davuluri – public speaker, advocate, and beauty queen
• Robert De Niro Sr. – abstract expressionist painter and father of actor Robert De Niro
• Mark Didio – professional football player
• Blanche Dillaye – artist
• Bill Dinneen – professional baseball player and umpire
• Frank DiPino – professional baseball player
• Jo-Lonn Dunbar – professional football player
• Robert F. Engle – economist and winner of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Economics
• Joe English – musician, vocalist, and songwriter
• Jeanette Epps – aerospace engineer and NASA astronaut
• Walter Farley – author of The Black Stallion
• David B. Feinberg – writer and AIDS activist
• Thom Filicia – interior designer
• Jon Fishman – drummer and founding member of Phish
• Eliot Fisk – classical guitarist
• Frank Gabrielson – stage, film, and television writer
• John L. Gaunt – photographer and winner of the 1955 Pulitzer Prize for Photography
• Richard Gere – Golden Globe Award-winning actor
• Helena Theresa Goessmann – lecturer, academic, and writer
• Bobcat Goldthwait – actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter
• John Robert Greene – historian and writer
• David Greenman – actor
• Henry Grethel – fashion designer, merchandiser, and marketer
• Bob Gualtieri – law enforcement officer, lawyer, and politician
• Borys Gudziak – metropolitan-archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia
• Jaclyn Hales – actress ^[4]
• Muhammad Hassan – professional wrestler
• Michael Herr – writer and war correspondent
• Theodore Hesburgh – president of the University of Notre Dame
• Mary Dana Hicks – art educator
• Siobhan Fallon Hogan – actress and comedian
• Bob Holz – drummer and composer
• Jimmy Howard – professional ice hockey player
• Charley Hyatt – college basketball player
• David Jennings – member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
• Grace Jones – model, singer, and actress
• Mark Kaplan – violinist
• John Katko – attorney and politician
• Megyn Kelly – journalist and media personality
• Mr. Kenneth – world's first celebrity hairdresser
• Tom Kenny – actor and comedian
• Doris Kenyon – actress
• Phyllis Kirk – actress
• David Klein – confectioner and developer of Jelly Belly
• Zane Lamprey – comedian, actor, writer, editor, and producer
• Dorsey Levens – professional football player
• Alex Levinsky – professional ice hockey player
• Claire Luce – actress
• Clifford Luyk – professional basketball player and coach
• Gordon MacRae – actor, singer, and television and radio host
• Joe Magnarelli – jazz trumpeter and flugelhornist
• Post Malone – rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer
• Christopher Maloney – singer-songwriter, bass guitarist, and music educator
• John Mannion – U.S. representative for New York ^[5]
• Louis Marshall – corporate, constitutional, and civil rights lawyer
• Frank Matteo – professional football player
• Edna May – actress and singer
• Terry McAuliffe – businessman and politician
• William McCoy – sea captain and rum-runner
• Johnny Messner – actor
• Stephen Montague – composer, pianist, and conductor
• Darin Morgan – screenwriter
• David Muir – journalist and the anchor of ABC World News Tonight
• Jonathan Murray – television producer and co-creator of The Real World
• Spencer Murphy – bassist, producer, and composer
• James Nachtwey – photojournalist and war photographer
• Richard Neer – disc jockey and sports radio personality
• Sal Nistico – jazz tenor saxophonist
• Joy Osofsky – clinical and developmental psychologist
• Camille Paglia – social critic and author
• Doe Paoro – singer-songwriter
• Greg Paulus – college basketball player and coach ^[6]
• Steve Perry – musician
• Marco Pignalberi – politician ^[7]
• Rocco Pirro – professional football player and politician
• Jon Ratliff – professional baseball player
• Mark Reed – physicist and professor
• Jamel Richardson – professional football player
• Harold E. Robinson – American botanist and entomologist
• Ed Rombola – stage and television actor
• Mike Rotunda – professional wrestler best known as Irwin R. Schyster
• Ellis Rubin – attorney
• Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage – philanthropist who established the Russell Sage Foundation
• Louis J. Salmon – football player and head coach of the University of Notre Dame
• Danny Schayes – professional basketball player
• George Schuyler – writer, journalist, and social commentator
• Scott Schwedes – professional football player
• Scorey – rapper, singer, and songwriter
• Ray Seals – professional football player
• Rod Serling – screenwriter, playwright, television producer, and narrator
• Martin Sexton – singer-songwriter and music producer
• Craig Shirley – political consultant and author
• Edward C. Stearns – entrepreneur and industrialist ^[8]
• Breanna Stewart – professional basketball player
• Ed Stokes – professional basketball player
• Joseph Stolz – rabbi
• William Strobeck – filmmaker, director, videographer, and photographer
• Kevin Surace – technology innovator and entrepreneur
• Bob Swan – business executive and CEO of Intel
• Charles W. Sweeting – businessman and politician ^[9]
• Bill Tanguay – professional football player
• Tommy Tanner – professional soccer player
• Tsquared – professional gamer
• Toosii – rapper and singer
• Tony Trischka – five-string banjo player
• Jimmy Van Heusen – composer who authored the jazz standard "Darn That Dream"
• Walt Weiskopf – jazz saxophonist, collaborator with Steely Dan and others
• Frank Whaley – actor, film director, screenwriter, and comedian
• John Wilkinson – engineer and inventor ^[10]
• Carl Woese – microbiologist and biophysicist
• Christopher Woodrow – entrepreneur, financier, and movie producer
• Merry Ann Thompson Wright – businesswoman who served as the 42nd president general of DAR
• T. M. Wright – author

Born or brought up in Greater Syracuse

Grover Cleveland

Tim Connolly

• L. Frank Baum – children's author best known for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Chittenango)
• Joey Belladonna – singer best known as the vocalist for Anthrax (Oswego)
• Grover Cleveland – served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States (Fayetteville)
• Tim Connolly – professional ice hockey player (Baldwinsville)
• Ronnie James Dio – singer and member of Black Sabbath and Rainbow (Cortland)
• Pete Dominick – political comedian and talk radio personality (Marcellus)
• Joel Farabee – professional ice hockey player (Cicero)
• Matilda Joslyn Gage – activist known for her contributions to women's suffrage and abolitionism (Fayetteville)
• Irving Gill – pioneer modern architect in Southern California (Tully)
• Tim Green – professional football player, radio and television personality, and author (Liverpool)
• Thomas Harley – professional ice hockey player (Jamesville)
• Mike Hart – professional football player and college coach (Nedrow)
• Gary Holland – musician best known for being the original drummer of Great White (LaFayette)
• Tim Locastro – professional baseball player (Auburn)
• Dave Mirra – professional BMX rider (Chittenango)
• Harvey A. Moyer – entrepreneur and founder of H. A. Moyer Automobile Company (Clay) ^[11]
• Bert E. Salisbury – businessman and president of Onondaga Pottery Company (Geddes) ^[12]
• Horatio Seymour – politician and 18th governor of New York (Pompey) ^[13]
• Alex Tuch – professional ice hockey player (Baldwinsville)
• John Walsh – television personality and host/creator of America's Most Wanted (Auburn)

Others with ties to the Syracuse area

Carmelo Anthony

Joe Biden

• Hervey Allen – author best known for Anthony Adverse , which was made into a movie of the same name, resided in an extant house on James Street
• Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews – author best known for a widely read short story about U.S. president Abraham Lincoln, The Perfect Tribute, resided at Wolf Hollow, the Andrews estate in Taunton
• Carmelo Anthony – basketball player at Syracuse University who delivered the program's first NCAA Championship in 2003
• Danny Biasone – founding owner of the NBA's Syracuse Nationals in 1946
• Joe Biden – served as the 46th president of the United States; graduated from Syracuse University College of Law in 1968
• Lucy Wood Butler – pioneer temperance leader, who was the first president of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union of New York, lived in Syracuse for more than 50 years
• DeWitt Clinton – served as mayor of New York City and the sixth governor of New York; played a significant role in the construction of the Erie Canal ^[14]
• Elizabeth Cotten – folk and blues musician who lived much of her later life in Syracuse and for whom a bronze statue is dedicated
• Asa Danforth – early settler who built a gristmill and sawmill that contributed to the growth of Onondaga County ^[15]
• Asa Danforth Jr. – early settler, land speculator, and highway engineer ^[15]
• Herbert H. Franklin – entrepreneur and automobile manufacturer for whom Franklin Square is named ^[16]
• James Geddes – engineer, surveyor, and politician instrumental in the planning of the Erie Canal who was also at the forefront of the development of the salt industry at Onondaga Lake beginning in 1794 ^[17]
• Theodore E. Hancock – lawyer and politician who served as district attorney of Onondaga County from 1890 to 1892 ^[18]
• Bucky Lawless – professional boxer based in Syracuse from the mid-1920s to the mid-1930s
• Simon Le Moyne – Jesuit priest who, in 1655, founded a mission known as Sainte Marie de Gannentaha, and for whom Le Moyne College is named
• Jermain Loguen – key contributor to the Underground Railroad who helped make Syracuse a leading abolitionist city
• Pierre-Esprit Radisson – explorer and coureur des bois who traveled into Onondaga territory to aid Le Moyne and operate his mission ^[19]
• C. Hamilton Sanford – businessman and president of the Syracuse Trust Company and co-founder of Sanford-Herbert Motor Truck Company ^[20]
• Kim Simmonds – musician and founder of the English blues rock band Savoy Brown
• Comfort Tyler – early settler, businessman, and politician for whom Comfort Tyler Park is named ^[21]
• William Van Wagoner – bicycle racer and automobile designer ^[22]
• David Foster Wallace – author who wrote much of his landmark novel Infinite Jest while living in an apartment on Kensington Road across from the food co-op
• Ephraim Webster – first white settler in Central New York who arrived in 1786 to an area later named Syracuse ^[23]
• John Wilkinson – lawyer and politician who gave Syracuse its name and founded the Syracuse Bank ^[24]
• Steve Wynn – casino and hotel tycoon who attended The Manlius School

References

1. Barker, Robert M. (1930). "Obituary, John William Barker". Sixty-first Annual Report of the Association of the Graduates of the United States Military Academy. Newburgh, NY: Moore Printing Company. pp. 239–242 – via West Point Digital Library.
2. "Alex Bono". Major League Soccer . Retrieved February 4, 2025.
3. "Who was the first guest at the Hotel Syracuse?". January 30, 2023.
4. "21 Questions: Jaclyn Hales [Unicorn City]" (Interview). Interviewed by Luke Goss. December 9, 2011. Retrieved August 19, 2016.
5. "MANNION, John W." Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved August 25, 2025.
6. "Greg Paulus". Syracuse University. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
7. 'Haines borough manager dies, 58,' The Juneau Empire, Malanie Plenda, December 10, 2002
8. "Stearns genealogy and memoirs, Volume 2". archive.org. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
9. 'Wisconsin Blue Book 1897,' Biographical Sketch of Charles W. Sweeting, pg. 584
10. "Revolutionary War veteran's son gave city its name". Syracuse, Post-Standard. Syracuse, New York. August 27, 2002.
11. "Moyer Heritage – Love for Autos Runs in Family". Syracuse Post-Standard . Syracuse, New York. March 16, 1966.
12. Reed, Cleota & Skoczen, Stan (November 1997). Syracuse China. Syracuse University Press, 1997. ISBN   9780815604747 . Retrieved August 20, 2010.
13. Mitchell, Stewart (1938). Horatio Seymour of New York . Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, p. 33.
14. "Little Short of Madness". American Heritage, Winter 2010. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
15. "Plan to Place More Tablets To Mark Spot Where First White Settler Lived". Syracuse Herald . Syracuse, New York. September 12, 1915.
16. "A Man and an Automobile – The Story of Herbert Franklin". Syracuse Herald-Journal . Syracuse, New York. April 19, 1956.
17. "New York – Syracuse". madeinatlantis.com. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
18. Kestenbaum, Lawrence. "The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Hancock to Hancox". politicalgraveyard.com. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
19. Nute, Grace Lee (1978). Caesars of the Wild, p. 50. ISBN   9780873511285.
20. "Funeral Services Are Held For C. Hamilton Sanford". Syracuse Herald Journal . Syracuse, New York. February 17, 1942.
21. Crowell, Kathy. "History of the Town of Onondaga". rootsweb.ancestry.com. Retrieved August 19, 2017.
22. David Burgess Wise. The New Illustrated Encyclopedia of Automobiles. Atlantic, 1992.
23. "Syracuse.com: Indian Land Claim". Archived from the original on February 3, 2013. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
24. "Revolutionary War veteran's son gave city its name". The Post-Standard . Syracuse, New York. August 27, 2002.