Famous People Born in New York a to z

The oldest of the Marx Brothers, Chico Marx had an antic personality and a savvy eye for how to keep the group going, but that was also because he had a weakness for both gambling and chasing women.

Comedian and film actor Groucho Marx was one of the Marx Brothers. He spent nearly seven decades making people laugh with his snappy one-liners and sharp wit.

Often referred to as the "forgotten" Marx brother, Gummo Marx was the first to leave the act to enlist in World War I and become a businessman.

Harpo Marx was a talented comedian and mime best known for his performances as part of the Marx Brothers comedy act.

The youngest of the Marx Brothers, Zeppo Marx was the handsomest sibling, but often underappreciated as the straight man and young romantic lead. He left the famous comedic team to become a millionaire inventor.

U.S. Psychologist Abraham Maslow was a practitioner of humanistic psychology. He is known for his theory of “self-actualization.”

Mobster Joseph Massino became boss of the Bonanno crime family when other crime bosses were being sent to jail for life. The press called him "the Last Don."

Walter Matthau was an actor known for his gruff on-screen demeanor in such films as The Odd Couple and Grumpy Old Men.

Robert C. Maynard was a journalist and publisher best known for being the first African American to own and publish a major daily newspaper (Tribune).

Linda McCartney was a photographer who became widely known as the wife of Beatle Paul McCartney.

Billy the Kid is best known for his time as a thief and gunfighter, constantly on the run from law enforcement.

Pulitzer Prize winning author Frank McCourt wrote the biography Angela’s Ashes after retiring from teaching for 30 years in New York City.

Kenneth McGriff was the leader of the Supreme Team gang, a main player in the Baisley Park crack-cocaine scene. In 2007, he was sentenced to life in prison.

Actress Nancy McKeon played Jo on the long-running 1980s sitcom The Facts of Life.

Jackie McLean was an American jazz alto saxophonist and also an educator. His personal style included short phrases or irregular length.

Timothy McVeigh was convicted of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, one of the deadliest acts of terrorism in American history. He was executed for his crimes.

Herman Melville wrote the classic American novel Moby-Dick (1851), a whaling adventure which regarded as one of the greatest literary works of all time.

Ethel Merman is best known as a gutsy, powerful musical comedy performer and remembered for her brassy style and powerful mezzo-soprano voice.

Alyssa Milano started her career as a child star, appearing on TV's Who's the Boss? and onstage in Annie. She returned as an adult to the drama Charmed.

Harvey Milk became one of the first openly gay officials in the United States in 1977, when he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Tragically, he was killed the following year.

Arthur Miller was an American playwright whose bitting criticism of societal problems defined his genius. His best known play is Death of a Salesman.

Henry Miller was a 20th century American writer, who created a new sort of novel—later characterized as a fictionalized autobiography.

Sal Mineo was an American was best known for playing a key role in the classic teen film Rebel Without a Cause alongside James Dean.

Elizabeth Monroe was popular in France as the wife of diplomat James Monroe. As first lady, her sophisticated style was often mistaken for aloofness.

J.P. Morgan Jr. was a finance executive who followed in his father’s footsteps to head the firm J.P. Morgan and Co.

Comedic actor Tracy Morgan, known for his unpredictable antics, got his big break on Saturday Night Live. His 30 Rock character is loosely based on his over-the-top personality.

Stage, television and screen actor Zero Mostel won a Tony Award playing Tevye in Jerome Robbins' Fiddler on the Roof, and starred in Mel Brooks' film The Producers.

Tommy Mottola is a high-powered music executive who is credited with launching the careers of Mariah Carey, Beyoncé, and Celine Dion, among others.

Actor and comedian Eddie Murphy began doing stand-up as a teenager. He became a popular Saturday Night Live cast member and starred in several box-office hits.

James Nachtwey is an American photographer best known for his work documenting wars, civil strife and other social conflicts. His work has appeared in Time magazine and in international solo exhibitions.

Janet Napolitano was the Democratic governor of Arizona before becoming Secretary of Homeland Security under Barack Obama in 2009.

East Coast rapper Nas made it big with albums Illmatic (1994), It Was Written (1996) and Stillmatic (2001).

Twice appointed the United States' poet laureate, Howard Nemerov was a writer with wit and illuminating irony.

Cynthia Nixon is an Emmy and Tony Award-winning actress best known for her role as Miranda Hobbes on the television and film series Sex and the City.

Laura Nyro is best known for her musical career as a singer-songwriter, which began in the 1960s.

Carroll O’Connor played Archie Bunker on the 1970s sitcom All in the Family. His comedic role as close-minded Archie made fun of bigoted opinions.

Rosie O'Donnell is a comedian who made the move to the big screen with 1992's A League of Their Own, going on to co-host TV's The View

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Walter O'Malley was the influential president of the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers for nearly 30 years.

Bill O'Reilly is best known for his cable news program, The O'Reilly Factor, which has been airing on Fox News since 2001, and is also a bestselling author of several books. Until 2009, he ran a popular radio show, The Radio Factor.

Lamar Odom is an American basketball player for the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers, best known for playing seven seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, and for marrying reality star Khloé Kardashian.

Sportscaster and newscaster Keith Olbermann is best known for hosting ESPN's SportsCenter and his own MSNBC/Current TV nightly news program, Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, noted for her style and elegance, was the wife of President John F. Kennedy and a U.S. first lady. She later married Aristotle Onassis.

J. Robert Oppenheimer is often called the "father of the atomic bomb" for leading the Manhattan Project, the program that developed the first nuclear weapon during World War II.

Jerry Orbach was a Tony Award-winning American actor best known for his role as Detective Lennie Briscoe on Law & Order.

American Gymnast John Orozco is best known for his rise to the top of the gymnastics world and participation in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England.

Broadcast journalist Charles Osgood anchored CBS Morning News, the Sunday Night News and Sunday Morning. More recently, he has hosted The Osgood File.

Mary White Ovington was a civil rights activist and one of the white reformers who helped found the NAACP.

American actor Al Pacino has kept moviegoers riveted since the 1970s, with roles in movies like The Godfather, Serpico and Scent of a Woman.

Keke Palmer is an actress and singer who made her first splash in Barbershop 2: Back in Business. She's gone on to star in several films and made for TV movies.

Famed pianist and composer Eddie Palmieri won nine Grammy Awards throughout his career, for albums like The Sun of Latin Music, Solito and Masterpiece.

Actor Chazz Palminteri starred opposite Robert De Niro in the 1993 film adaptation of A Bronx Tale, and performed in Woody Allen’s Bullets Over Broadway (1994).

Hayden Panettiere is the young American actress who became famous for her role as the cheerleader in the television show Heroes.

As head football coach at Pennsylvania State University, Joe Paterno was one of the most successful coaches in the history of collegiate football.

James Patterson is an author of popular thrillers. He is best known for the Womens Murder Club series, and for his books starring psychologist Alex Cross.

New York City resident Etan Patz disappeared in 1979, when he was 6 years old. Nearly 33 years later, in May 2012, New Jersey resident Pedro Hernandez confessed to the murder.

Anthony Perkins is an Oscar-nominated stage and film actor who is best known for his role as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho.

With bright eyes and bee-sting lips, Bernadette Peters is best know for her comedic musical performances, especially in period roles.

U.S. Army General David Petraeus became director of the CIA in 2011. He resigned from the post in 2012, after his extramarital affair with Paula Broadwell was publicized.

Mekhi Phifer is an African-American actor whose first role was in the Spike Lee film Clockers, and who was featured on ER for six seasons.

Regis Philbin is a well-known TV personality who co-hosted his own daytime talk show for almost three decades, also working in prime time and writing several books.

Mobster Thomas Pitera was a hitman for the Gambino and Bonanno organized crime families. Notorious for his brutal crimes, he is nicknamed “The Butcher.”

Suzanne Pleshette was an Emmy Award-nominated actress known for roles in films like The Geisha Boy and The Birds, as well as the television series The Bob Newhart Show.

Amanda Plummer is an actress best known for her work on stage and in films such as The Fisher King, Pulp Fiction and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

Inventor Ron Popeil pioneered the TV sales pitch with products like the Ronco Chop-O-Matic and phrases like "But wait, there's more."

Zac Posen is a fashion designer who became the Next Big Thing before he even had his first runway show.

Rabbi and author Chaim Potok wrote The Chosen, along with several other novels featuring characters grappling with clashing secular and religious views.

Colin Powell was the first African American appointed as the U.S. Secretary of State, and the first, and so far the only, to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Priscilla Presley is an American businesswoman and actress, best known for marrying Elvis Presley, with whom she had daughter Lisa Marie Presley.

Sharon Preston is a media planner and author who has said that she is the daughter of legendary jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong.

Tito Puente was a musical pioneer, mixing musical styles with Latin sounds and experimenting in fusing Latin music with jazz.

Mario Puzo became famous when he adapted his novel The Godfather into a screenplay for director Francis Ford Coppola in the 1960s.

Thomas Pynchon is an award-winning novelist known for works like The Crying of Lot 49 and Gravity's Rainbow.