Famous People From Pittsburgh
Actresses
Actors
Comedians
Reporters and Anchors
Media Personalities
Producers, Directors, and effects
- Antoine Fuqua – director
- John P. Harris – invented the first movie theater
- David Hollander – TV and movie producer, director
- Carl Kurlander – film producer, writer
- Sally Lapiduss – producer
- Rob Marshall – director,
Chicago
- Greg Nicotero – actor, director, producer, special effects and makeup artist
The Walking Dead
- Eric Red – screenwriter and director
- Ford Riley – producer, screenwriter and lyricist; created
The Lion Guard
- George A. Romero – director, best known for
Night of the Living Dead
- Richard Rossi – director
- Tom Savini – actor, stunt man, director, special effects and makeup artist
- Lou Scheimer – animator, voice actor, co-founder of animation studio
Filmation
- David O. Selznick – film producer,
Gone with the Wind
- Lewis J. Selznick – film producer
- Myron Selznick – producer, talent agency head
Music
Classics and Standards
Rock and Alternative
Classical
Country and Folk
Pop
Rap and hip-hop
Dancers and Choreographers
Visual Arts
Authors
- Joseph Bathanti – poet, writer, professor;
NC Poet Laureate, 2012–2014
- Nellie Bly – Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist and writer
- Kenneth Burke – literary theorist
- Willa Cather – author,
Pulitzer Prize winner
- Michael Chabon – Pulitzer Prize-winning author
- Murray Chass –
New York Times baseball writer, author
- Stephen Chbosky – author
- Malcolm Cowley – poet, critic
- Melanie Craft – novelist; wife of
Larry Ellison of Oracle
- Stephen Dau – writer
- Annie Dillard – author and
Pulitzer Prize winner
- Harry Dolan – writer
- Zak Ebrahim – Author, Peace Activist, Public Speaker
- Jack Gilbert – poet
- Beth Gylys – poet and professor
- Samuel Hazo – poet and professor
- Kerry Hannon – author
- Lori Jakiela – author
- George S. Kaufman – humorist, playwright
- Joseph Koerner – art historian and film-maker
- David Leavitt – novelist
- Stephen Manes – magazine writer, author
- David McCullough – historian and author and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner
- Burton Morris – painter
- Elizabeth Moorhead – novelist
- Stewart O'Nan – author
- Peter Oresick – poet
- Mary Roberts Rinehart – mystery writer
- Gladys Schmitt – writer
- Jim Shooter – comic book writer, editor and publisher
- Michael Simms – poet in Pittsburgh since 1987
- George Smith – gambler, handicapper
- Gertrude Stein – writer, poet, playwright, and
feminist
- Gerald Stern – poet
- Kathleen Tessaro – novelist
- John Edgar Wideman – author and professor
- August Wilson – Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright
- Baseball
- Glenn Beckert – second baseman
- Buddy Bell – third baseman (1972–89)
- Bill Blair
- Dave Bush[5]
- Ollie Carnegie – 1931–45
- Betty Jane Cornett (1932–2006) – third base (1950–1952) All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
- Bill Doak – Cardinals and Dodgers, inventor of the modern baseball glove
- Ryan Garko – first baseman Giants
- Josh Gibson – Negro league player, Pittsburgh Crawfords and Homestead Grays
- Gary Green
- Howdy Groskloss – shortstop 1930–32
- Ian Happ – Chicago Cubs
- Art Howe – managed Astros and A's
- Derek Law pitcher
- Bobby Lowe – first MLB player with 4 home runs in a game[6]
- Heinie Smith
- Sam McDowell
- Marguerite Pearson – utility player 1948–1954, All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
- Trent Thornton – pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays
- Harold Joseph "Pie" Traynor – Pirates Hall of Fame member
- Honus Wagner – shortstop, Hall of Fame member
- Neil Walker – second baseman for the Miami Marlins
- Bobby Wallace – Hall of Fame inductee
- John Wehner – Pirates infielder, broadcaster
- Josh Wilson – 2005–present
- Baseball contributors
- Bill Benswanger – Pirates owner, vocal advocate for integration
- Chuck Greenberg – Rangers former owner
- Gus Greenlee – Crawfords founder
- John P. Harris – Boston Braves owner
- Ray Kennedy – scout and GM
- Tony LaCava – longtime scout and assistant general manager
- Basketball
- Coaches
- Dick Bennett – Wisconsin, Washington State 1976–2006
- Paul Birch
- Eddie Cameron – Duke 1929–49 until 1972, Cameron Indoor Stadium, founding member of the ACC, football coach and Olympic selector
- Suzie McConnell-Serio – WNBA player 1998–2000, head coach 2004–06, Duquesne 2007–2013
- Dudey Moore
- Skip Prosser – Loyola (MD), Xavier, and Wake Forest 1993–2007
- Herb Sendek – NC State and Arizona State 1994–2015
- Forwards and Centers
- John Abramovic – 1946–48
- DeJuan Blair – Pitt All-American, Spurs 2009–13, Mavericks 2013–
- Chuck Cooper – 1950–56; first drafted African-American
- Jakim Donaldson (born 1983) - player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
- Ken Durrett – 1971–75 NBA
- Paul Grant – 1997–2004
- Maurice Lucas – 1975–88
- Walt Miller – 1946–47
- Maurice Stokes – Rochester/Cincinnati Royals 1955–58; Hall of Famer
- Walt Szczerbiak – 1971–72 NBA
- Michael Young (born 1994) - Ironi Nahariya of the Israeli Basketball Premier League
- Guards
- Moe Barr – 1970–71 NBA
- Paul Birch
- Ron Carter – 1978–80 NBA
- Calvin Fowler – 1969–70
- DeAndre Kane
- T. J. McConnell – Arizona Wildcats and Philadelphia 76er and Indiana Pacers
- Jack Twyman – 1955–66, Hall of Famer
- Basketball contributors
- Mark Cuban – Mavericks owner
- Tim Grgurich – Pitt coach
- Ted Stepien – Cavs former owner
- Boxing
- Bob Baker – heavyweight contender
- Eddie Chambers – Heavyweight and Cruiserweight Contender, 2008–2016
- Billy Conn – light-heavyweight champ 1939–41
- Andy DePaul – middleweight contender, referee
- Harry Greb – middleweight champ 1923
- Frank Klaus – middleweight champ 1904
- Paul Spadafora – lightweight champ, 1999
- Jackie Wilson – featherweight champ, early 1900s (decade)
- Teddy Yarosz – middleweight champ, 1934
- Fritzie Zivic – welterweight champ, 1940
- Figure skating
- Michael Seibert – five-time gold medalist at U.S. Figure Skating Championships; three bronze medals at World Championships
- Jamie Silverstein – ice dancing
- Taylor Toth – pairs skating
- Football
- Coaches: Primarily NFL
- Joe Bugel – assistant and head coach 1975–present; founder of the "Hogs" of the 1980s
- Jim Haslett – head coach Saints (2000–2005), Rams D.C. (2006–08)
- Mike McCarthy – Packers head coach 2005–2018
- Herb McCracken – college 1920s and 1930s
- Mike Miller – assistant 1999–present
- Dick Nolan – head coach, San Francisco 49ers and New Orleans Saints
- Coaches: other Football
- Frank Cignetti, Jr. – Rutgers
- Tom Davies – 1922–47
- Rich Lackner – Carnegie Mellon 1986–present
- Quarterbacks
- Marc Bulger – 2000–2011, Super Bowl[7]
- Chuck Fusina – NFL 1979–86
- Bruce Gradkowski – Steelers, Bucs, Raiders 2006–16
- Major Harris – record-setter in college and CFL
- Leon Hart – Heisman Trophy, College Hall of Fame
- Al Jacks
- Jim Kelly – 1986–96, Hall of Fame, 4 Super Bowl appearances
- Dan Marino – 1983–99, Hall of Fame 1 Super Bowl appearance
- Mike McMahon – 2001–present
- Rod Rutherford – 2003–present
- Matt Schaub – 2004–present
- Johnny Unitas – 1956–73, Hall of Famer, two Super Bowls
- Alex Van Pelt – 1995–2003
- Scott Zolak – 1991–99 1 Super Bowl appearance
- Running Backs
- Kevan Barlow
- Cookie Gilchrist – AFL and CFL
- Warren Heller – 1930s
- William F. Knox
- Roger Kochman – 1963
- Curtis Martin – 1995–2006, Super Bowl
- Harry McChesney – 1900s (decade) NFL
- Eugene "Mercury" Morris – 70s Dolphins; two Super Bowls
- Ray Zellars – Saints
- Receivers and Tight Ends
- Brian Baschnagel – originally a running back, Ohio State, Bears 1976–1984
- Darnell Dinkins – NFL tight end in the 1990s and 2000s (decade)
- John Frank – NFL tight end in the 1980s
- Gregg Garrity – Penn State, NFL 1983–89
- Ken Herock – NFL tight end 1963–69, Super Bowl
- Brandon Marshall – NFL wide receiver 2006–present
- Rasheed Marshall – NFL wide receiver 2005–present
- Joel Williams – NFL tight end, 1987
- Offensive Linemen
- Adam Bisnowaty – NFL offensive linesman for the New York Giants
- Dean Caliguire – NFL lineman in 1991
- Bill Fralic – offensive lineman for Atlanta Falcons, '80s All-Decade Team
- Gary Greaves – tackle 1960
- Leander Jordan – offensive lineman Carolina Panthers, San Diego Chargers, Atlanta Falcons, Jacksonville Jaguars
- Mose Lantz NFL center 1933
- William R. Moore – NFL guard in the 1940s
- Bull Polisky NFL guard 1929
- Tom Ricketts – NFL tackle 1980s and 1990s
- Mike Rosenthal – NFL tackle 1999–2007
- Jack Sack – NFL guard in the 1920s
- Defensive Linemen
- Mike Barnes – Pro bowler 1973–1981
- Bob Buczkowski – NFL defensive end in the 1980s
- Sam Clancy – NFL defensive end in the 1980s and 1990s
- Ave Daniell – NFL tackle in the 1930s
- Aaron Donald – NFL defensive tackle
- Jack Dugger – NFL lineman 1946–49
- Art Gob – NFL defensive end, 1950s and 1960s
- Cameron Heyward – NFL 2011–present
- Tyrique Jarrett – NFL defensive tackle
- David Logan – defensive tackle 1970s and 1980s
- Leo Skladany – NFL defensive end 1940s and 1950s
- Jason Taylor – defensive end; five-time Pro Bowler for Miami Dolphins
- Randy White – defensive lineman 1975–88; three Super Bowls, Hall of Fame
- Defensive Backs and Linebackers
- LaVar Arrington – NFL linebacker 2000–06
- Jack Butler – cornerback 1951–59, Pro Football Hall of Fame
- Jim Flanigan Sr. – NFL linebacker 1960s and 1970s
- Don Graham Penn State, NFL 1987–89
- Justin King – NFL 2008–present
- Sean Lee – linebacker for Dallas Cowboys
- Mike Logan – NFL safety 1996–2006, Super Bowl
- Paul Martha – NFL safety in the 1960s
- Dick McCabe – NFL safety in the 1950s and 1960s
- Ryan Mundy – NFL safety
- Paul Posluszny – Dick Butkus Award winner from Penn State, linebacker for Buffalo Bills
- Scott Radecic – Penn State and NFL linebacker 1984–95
- Bryant Salter – NFL safety in the 1970s
- Joe Schmidt – linebacker 1953–65, Hall of Fame
- Raymond Ventrone – safety, Cleveland Browns
- Eric Wicks – safety, finalist for Bronko Nagurski Award in 2007
- Football Specialists
- Pat McAfee – All Pro NFL punter, 2010’s all decade team
- Don Silvestri – kicker in the 1990s
- Football Contributors
- Dave Berry – pro football pioneer
- Kevin Colbert – director of football operations (2 Super Bowls)
- Dale Hamer – NFL referee 1978–2001, 3 Super Bowls
- Shaun Herock – NFL executive
- Bill Nunn – Steelers scout since 1967
- Art Rooney – owner and founder of Pittsburgh Steelers Duquesne University
- Dan Rooney – second chairman of the Pittsburgh Steelers, member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame
- Golf
- Scott Dunlap – PGA and Champions Tour
- Bob Friend – PGA and Nationwide Tour
- Jim Simons – as an amateur nearly won 1971 U.S. Open; first tournament winner using a metal driver
- Brendon Todd – PGA Tour
- Hockey
- Centers and Wingers
- Riley Barber – Capitals winger, 2017–
- Ryan Malone – Penguins, Lightning, Rangers winger 2003–15; 2017
- Gerry O'Flaherty – Leafs, Canucks, Flames 1971–79
- Brandon Saad – Colorado Avalanche winger 2011–
- Henrik Samuelsson – Coyotes winger 2014–
- William Thomas – Anyang Halla winger 2005–
- Vincent Trocheck – Panthers 2014-2020, Hurricanes 2020-
- R. J. Umberger – Flyers, Jackets center 2005–
- Defense
- Matt Bartkowski – Iowa Wild
- Bob Beers – Bruins, Lightning, Oilers, Islanders defenseman 1989–97
- Dylan Reese – Rangers, Islanders, Penguins 2007–
- Mike Weber – former NHL defenseman.
- Goalies
- John Gibson – player for Anaheim Ducks
- Hockey Contributors
- James Wallace Conant – managed Duquesne Gardens
- Motorsports
- Chip Ganassi – former driver, now team owner in IndyCar and NASCAR
- Dick Linder – 1950s NASCAR driver
- Olympic Sports
- Kurt Angle – 1996 gold medalist in freestyle wrestling, became professional wrestler
- Robert "Bob" Blum (born 1928), Olympic fencer
- Herb Douglas – long jump bronze medalist at 1948 Summer Olympics; inducted into Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame 1992
- Suzie McConnell-Serio – basketball 1988 and 1992
- Allison Schmitt – competitive swimmer, four time Olympian[8]
- Leah Smith – swimming, gold and bronze medalist in 2016 Olympics
- Amanda Polk – rowing, gold medalist W8+ in 2016 Olympics
- Soccer
- Meghan Klingenberg – player for the Portland Thorns FC and United States women's national soccer team
- A. J. Wood – MLS player
- Marvell Wynne II
- Tennis
- Bjorn Fratangelo – French Open boys' champion[9]
- Bonnie Gadusek – pro tennis player, reached U.S. Open quarterfinals
- Gretchen Magers – reached Wimbledon and French Open quarterfinals
- Alison Riske -WTA player, reached 4th round of U.S. Open
- Wrestling
- Kurt Angle – WWE wrestler and Olympic gold medalist
- Rob Conway – WWE wrestler on RAW brand
- Johnny De Fazio – known as "Jumping" Johnny De Fazio
- Dominic DeNucci – WWWF wrestler and trainer
- Shane Douglas – WCW and WWWF wrestler
- Corey Graves – wrestler, WWE commentator
- Mike Jones – known as Virgil in WWE; worked as Vincent, Shane and Curly Bill in WCW
- Cody Michaels – former USWA tag team champion, ECW, WSX producer
- John Minton – WWF aka Big John Studd
- Jeffrey Sciullo – WWE wrestler known as Elias (formerly Elias Samson)
- Bruno Sammartino – two-time World Wide Wrestling Federation champion
- Mike Scicluna – known as Baron Mikel Scicluna
- John Sullivan – known as Johnny Valiant
- Newton Tattrie – known as Geeto Mongol
- Larry Zbyszko (real name Larry Whistler) – director of authority on Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
- Other Sports
- Danny Chew – cyclist, winner of Race Across America (1996, 1999)
- Joseph Kearney – athletic administrator
- George Smith – horse racing
- Tom Wallisch – professional skier
- Aviation
- Paige Kassalen – electrical engineer on Solar Impulse
- Willard Rockwell – formed Rockwell Intl.
- Calbraith Perry Rodgers – made the first transcontinental flight
- Steel and Metals
- James W. Brown – Crucible Steel
- Andrew Carnegie – steel tycoon and philanthropist, founded what became U.S. Steel
- William Donner – steel tycoon, founded Monessen and Donora, daughter married FDR's son in 1932
- George Washington Gale Ferris Jr. – steel engineer, businessman and inventor of the Ferris wheel
- Henry Clay Frick – steel tycoon, chief operation officer of what became U.S. Steel
- Charles Martin Hall – aluminum producer and founder of Alcoa
- Julian Kennedy – mechanical engineer in steel
- George Lauder – Scottish-American billionaire industrialist; partner in the Carnegie Steel Company; board member of U.S. Steel; cousin-brother of Andrew Carnegie
- James H. Laughlin – Jones & Laughlin Steel
- John Leishman – executive at Carnegie Steel
- William Metcalf – Fort Pitt foundry
- Charles M. Schwab – founder of Bethlehem Steel
- John P. Surma – U.S. Steel
- Thomas Usher – CEO of U.S. Steel and chairman of the board of Marathon Oil
- John Walker – iron and steel industrialist
- Energy
- Walter Arnheim – Mobil executive and corporate and non-profit advisor
- Frederick Bausman
- E. W. Marland – oilman, founded what would become Conoco, also became the governor of Oklahoma
- William Mellon – co-founded Gulf Oil
- Transport
- Erik Buell – Buell Motorcycle Company
- Alexander Cassatt – Pennsylvania Railroad
- Louis Semple Clarke – steamboats
- John E. Connelly – Gateway Clipper Fleet
- Mike Fink – river boatman
- Robert Pitcairn – Pennsylvania Railroad
- Samuel Rea – Pennsylvania Railroad
- Finance
- John F. Donahue – chairman, Federated Investors
- Stanley Druckenmiller – hedge fund manager
- Thomas Marshall Howe – 19th-century politician
- Richard B. Mellon – banker, philanthropist
- Thomas Mellon – founded Mellon Financial
- David Tepper – businessman, hedge fund manager, philanthropist, and owner of the Carolina Panthers
- William Thaw – 19th-century banker
- Technology and Communications
- William Bullock – printing press innovator
- Charlie Cheever – co-founder of Quora
- Brendan Eich – Mozilla, creator of JavaScript
- Caterina Fake – co-founder of Flickr and Hunch
- John P. Harris – theater owner
- Regis McKenna – high technology marketing guru
- Willard Rockwell – pioneer of Rockwell Intl.
- Richard Mellon Scaife – Tribune-Review
- Rich Skrenta – computer programmer
- George Westinghouse – electrical industry pioneer
- Mark Whitaker – CNN Worldwide chief[10]
- Jamie Zawinski – hacker
- Consumer goods
- Peter Chartier (Chartiers Town and Tarentum) – fur trader 1734–43
- David L. Clark
- H. J. Heinz II – CEO of H.J. Heinz Co.
- Henry J. Heinz – founder of H. J. Heinz Company
- Edgar J. Kaufmann – Kaufmann's
- Billy Mays – TV pitchman
- James Sinegal – Costco
- Patricia A. Woertz – ADM[11]
- Other Industries
- William D. Boyce – founder of Boy Scouts of America
- Dr. Herbert Boyer – co-founder of Genentech
- John Baptiste Ford – PPG Industries
- Ed Grier – Disneyland
- Joseph A. Hardy III – 84 Lumber
- Bob Stupak – Vegas Stratosphere
- Labor
- David J. McDonald – president of steelworkers union
- Fannie Sellins – union organizer
- Joseph Yablonski – UMW
- Joseph "Chip" Yablonski – UMW attorney
- Kenneth Yablonski – attorney
- Religion
- Catherine Anne Cesnik (1942-1969), Catholic nun who was murdered
- Cardinal Daniel DiNardo – archbishop of Galveston-Houston
- Thomas Dolinay – archbishop
- Joseph R. Lamonde
- Cardinal Adam Maida – Emeritus Archbishop of Detroit
- Janice McLaughlin – Catholic nun and human rights activist
- Madalyn Murray O'Hair – founder of American Atheists
- William Passavant
- George Rapp – founder of the religious sect Harmonists
- Charles Owen Rice
- Charles Taze Russell – founder of Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society
- R. C. Sproul – theologian
- Thomas J. Tobin – auxiliary bishop of Pittsburgh, bishop of Youngstown OH, and current bishop of Providence, Rhode Island
- Cardinal Donald Wuerl – eleventh bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, current Archbishop of Washington
- David Zubik – twelfth and current bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh
- Science and Research
- Ross Allen – herpetologist
- Frederick S. Billig – scramjet pioneer
- Daniel Chamovitz – biologist, author of What a Plant Knows, and President of Ben Gurion University of the Negev[12]
- Yuan Chang – virologist, co-discoverer of causes of several viral cancers, including Kaposi's sarcoma
- Norman Christ – physicist
- Childs Frick
- George Otto Gey – scientist who propagated the HeLa cell line
- William Jacob Holland – entomologist and chancellor of the Western University of Pennsylvania
- Randy Pausch, founder of Alice, and man behind the Last Lecture
- David M. Pozar – electrical engineer and academician[13]
- Jonas Salk – physician, inventor of first polio vaccine
- Alex Shigo – arboriculturist and horticulturist
- Clifford Shull – Nobel Prize winner
- Herbert A. Simon – Carnegie Mellon University professor; winner of Nobel Prize for Economics
- Thomas Starzl – pioneering transplant surgeon in liver and multiorgan transplantation
- Jesse Steinfeld – United States Surgeon General under Nixon
- Otto Stern – German-American physicist and Nobel laureate, known for his studies of molecular beams; Carnegie Institute of Technology professor
- Nicholas E. Wagman
- Sandra Welner (1958–2001) – physician, advocate for disabled women's healthcare
- Jerome Wolken (1917–1999) – biophysicist[14]
- Jamie Zawinski
- Jonathan Zittrain – professor of Internet law and computer science at Harvard
- Vladimir Zworykin – engineer and inventor, developed an early form of television;
- Governors and Mayors
- Bob Cranmer – Allegheny County Commissioner
- Bob Filner – San Diego Mayor
- John F. Forward Sr. – 12th mayor of San Diego
- John F. Forward Jr. – 21st mayor of San Diego
- Barbara Hafer – first female Allegheny County Commissioner
- E. W. Marland – Governor of Oklahoma
- John Martin (Fayette) – Governor of Kansas, founder of the abolitionist movement
- Elliot S. N. Morgan (Allegheny) – Wyoming governor
- Janet Napolitano (Allegheny) – Arizona governor
- Joshua G. Newbold (Fayette) – Iowa governor
- Tom Ridge (Allegheny) – Governor 1995–2001; first Secretary of Homeland Security
- John F. Seymour (Allegheny) – Mayor of Anaheim 1978–82
- John K. Tener (Allegheny) – Governor, former MLB pitcher
- Dick Thornburgh – Governor 1979–87; U.S. Attorney General 1987–91
- Tom Vilsack – Iowa Governor, 1999–2007; Agriculture Secretary, 2009–2017
- Congressmen and Senators
- John Dalzell – Congressman 1887–1913; Chairman of the Ways and Means committee 1898–1913
- Harmar Denny – Congressman 1825–37
- Bob Filner – California Congressman 1993–2012
- Orrin Hatch – Utah Senator, 1977–2019
- John Heinz – Congressman 71–77, Senator 1977–91
- Thomas Marshall Howe – Congressman 1851–55
- John Kasich – Ohio Congressman 1983–2001, Governor 2011–2019
- Philander C. Knox – Senator 1901–04, 1917–21, United States Attorney General from 1901–04, Sec. of State from 1909–13
- Robert McKnight – Congressman 1859–63
- George T. Oliver – Senator 1909–17
- Rand Paul – Kentucky Senator 2011–present, Tea Party leader
- Ron Paul – Texas Congressman, presidential candidate
- David A. Reed – Senator
- Rick Santorum – Congressman 1991–95, Senator 1995–2007
- Claudine Schneider – Congresswoman Rhode Island 1981–91