Famous Harlem Residents a to z

Hall of Fame basketball center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the NBA's all-time leading scorer. He won six NBA titles, five with the Los Angeles Lakers, over 20 years.

Maya Angelou is a poet and prize-winning memoirist. She is the author of the critically acclaimed I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

Louis Armstrong was a trumpeter, bandleader, singer, soloist, film star and comedian. Considered one of the most influential artists in jazz history, he is known for songs like "Star Dust," "La Via En Rose" and "What a Wonderful World."

James Baldwin was an essayist, playwright and novelist regarded as a highly insightful, iconic writer with works like The Fire Next Time and Another Country.

Imamu Amiri Baraka is an African-American poet and scholar. He has served as professor emeritus of Africana Studies at the State Unversity of New York at Stony Brook.

Considered one of history's most influential jazz musicians, Count Basie was known for his piano style and command of big bands such as the Count Basie Orchestra, and for songs like "Jumpin' at the Woodside," "Taxi War Dance" and "Miss Thing."

Angela Bassett is an Academy Award- and Emmy Award-nominated actress known for roles in What's Love Got to Do With It, Waiting to Exhale, Malcolm X and The Rosa Parks Story.

Harry Belafonte has achieved lasting fame for such songs as "The Banana Boat Song (Day-O)," and for his humanitarian work.

Actor Humphrey Bogart became a legend for his roles in 1940s-era films like Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon and To Have and Have Not.

Ron Brown was a lawyer and Democratic politician who served as commerce secretary under the administration of President Bill Clinton.

Aaron Burr was the third vice president of the United States, serving under President Thomas Jefferson. Burr fatally shot his rival, Alexander Hamilton, during a duel.

Actor, writer, and comedian George Carlin was known for his stand-up routines as well as TV appearances and roles in such films as 1987's Outrageous Fortune.

Chevy Chase is a comedic actor who is best know for his appearances on Saturday Night Live and his starring roles in the films Caddyshack and Fletch.

Entrepreneur Sean Combs has produced big-name artists like Mariah Carey, created the Sean John clothing line, and recorded his own platinum albums.

Ossie Davis was an American actor, writer, social activist and humanitarian. He often performed with wife Ruby Dee in plays, in film and on television.

Sammy Davis Jr. was an actor, comedian, singer and dancer, and part of the Rat Pack with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, with whom he starred in several films.

Cecil B. DeMille was an actor, director and producer who became a giant of the 20th century film industry, known for epics like The Ten Commandments.

David Dinkins was the mayor of New York City from 1990 to 1994, and he was the first black mayor of the city.

W.E.B. Du Bois was one of the most important African-American activists during the first half of the 20th century. He co-founded the NAACP and supported Pan-Africanism.

An originator of big-band jazz, Duke Ellington was an American composer, pianist and bandleader who composed thousands of scores over his 50-year career.

Ralph Ellison was a 20th century African-American writer and scholar best known for his renowned, award-winning novel Invisible Man.

American short-story writer and novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald is known for his turbulent personal life and his famous novel The Great Gatsby.

George Gershwin was one of the most significant American composers of the 20th century, known for popular stage and screen numbers as well as classical compositions.

Tennis star Althea Gibson was the first African American to play at Wimbledon. She also broke racial barriers in professional golf.

Alexander Hamilton, a delegate to the Constitutional Convention and major author of the Federalist papers, was the United States' first secretary of the treasury.

Lyricist and librettist Oscar Hammerstein II collaborated with Richard Rodgers on the Pulitzer Prize–winning musicals Oklahoma! and South Pacific.

Academy Award–winning actor Dustin Hoffman starred in films like The Graduate (1967), Tootsie (1982), and Meet the Fockers (2004).

Billie Holiday was one of the most influential jazz singers of all time. She had a thriving career for many years before she lost her battle with addiction.

Actress and singer Lena Horne was one of the most popular performers of her time, known for films such as The Wiz and her trademark song, "Stormy Weather."

Harry Houdini's grand illusions and daring, spectacular escape acts made him one of the most famous magicians of all time.

Langston Hughes was an American poet, novelist, and playwright whose African-American themes made him a primary contributor to the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s.

Charlayne Hunter-Gault is best known as one of two African-American students first admitted to the University of Georgia and is an award-winning journalist.

Anthropologist and novelist Zora Neale Hurston was a fixture of the Harlem Renaissance before writing her masterwork, Their Eyes Were Watching God.

Samuel L. Jackson is known as one of the hardest-working Hollywood actors. In 2011, he was named the highest-grossing actor of all time.

The world heavyweight boxing champion from June 22, 1937, until March 1, 1949, Joe Louis held the title longer than anyone else in history.

Thurgood Marshall was instrumental in ending legal segregation and became the first African-American justice of the Supreme Court.

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.

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

S. Epatha Merkerson is an Emmy-Award-winning actress who’s starred on the TV series Law & Order for 17 years.

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

Gordon Parks was an African-American photographer, filmmaker and author, best known for his work published in LIFE magazine and for directing the hit movie Shaft.

A lifelong governmental and political figure, David Paterson was the first African American governor of New York state.

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.

Sidney Poitier became the first black Academy Award winner in 1964, receiving the honor for his performance in Lilies of the Field (1963).

Adam Clayton Powell Jr. was a 20th century clergyman and U.S. representative who was a major force in establishing civil rights for African Americans.

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

A. Philip Randolph was a labor leader and social activist who fought for the rights of African-American laborers, including better wages and working conditions.

Bill "Bojangles" Robinson was an iconic African-American tap dancer and actor best known for his Broadway performances and film roles.

Sugar Ray Robinson was an American professional boxer who is frequently cited as the greatest boxer in history.

With his landmark novel Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger was an influential 20th-century American writer.

A hip-hop legend, with explicit and controversial lyrics, Tupac Shakur was embroiled in a feud between East Coast and West Coast rappers.

Roy Wilkins was best known as the executive director of the NAACP and a leader of the African-American civil rights movement.

African-American leader and prominent figure in the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X articulated concepts of race pride and black nationalism in the 1950s and '60s.