The following is a list of prominent people who were born in Worcester, Massachusetts, lived in Worcester, or for whom Worcester is a significant part of their identity.
Academics and inventors
Richard T. Antoun (1932–2009), professor emeritus of Anthropology at Binghamton University Harvey Ball (1921–2001), inventor of the smiley face Alan T. Busby (1895–1992), educator and first African-American alumnus of the University of Connecticut Harold W. Chase (1922–1982), educator and United States military officer Robert H. Goddard (1882–1945), father of modern rocketry David Green (born 1963), president of Colby College G. Stanley Hall (1846–1924), first president of Clark University John Kneller (1916–2009), English-American professor and fifth president of Brooklyn College Leonard Morse (born 1929), university professor of clinical medicine Lawrence Park (1873–1924), art historian, architect, and genealogist Francis E. Reed (1852–1917), inventor and industrialist who founded F.E. Reed & Co. Joshua C. Stoddard (1814–1902), inventor and beekeeper Daniel B. Wesson (1825–1906), gunsmith, co-founder of Smith & Wesson
Actors and artists
John Wolcott Adams (1874–1925), artist Nubar Alexanian (1950–), Armenian-American documentary photographer Edith Ella Baldwin (1846–1920), artist H. Jon Benjamin, actor best known as the voices of Sterling Archer on Archer, Bob Belcher on Bob's Burgers, and Can of Vegetables in the Wet Hot American Summer franchise Christopher Boffoli, photographer Elbridge Boyden, architect of Mechanics Hall Zara Cully, actress best known for The Jeffersons Stephen DiRado, photographer Stephen C. Earle, architect Paul Fontaine, abstractist colorist painter Joslyn Fox, drag queen, contestant on Rupaul’s Drag Race season 6 Ryan Idol, adult film actor Rita Johnson, actress, co-starred opposite Spencer Tracy in Edison, The Man Jean Louisa Kelly, actress from Yes, Dear Arthur Kennedy, Oscar-nominated, Tony Award-winning actor Dorothy Stratton King, painter and printmaker Diane and Elaine Klimaszewski, actresses and models best known as the "Coors Light Twins" Jarrett J. Krosoczka, children's book author and illustrator; his Punk Farm optioned by DreamWorks Animation Denis Leary, actor and comedian Tom Lewis, artist and activist Joyner Lucas, rapper John Lurie, actor, musician, and composer Nora Marlowe (1915–1977), actress Eddie Mekka, actor best known for playing Carmine Ragusa on Laverne and Shirley Alisan Porter, former child actress and winner of Season 10 of The Voice Terri Priest, artist Sam Qualiana, actor and filmmaker involved with many low-budget horror films, including Snow Shark (2012) Joyce Reopel, artist Renee Sands, former child actress and singer from Kids Incorporated and Wild Orchid Sam Seder, podcast host of The Majority Report, actor, writer and director Joseph Skinger, silversmith, sculptor Doug Stanhope, comedian known for abrasive style and for The Man Show Lewis Stone (1879–1953), actor, The Secret Six, Grand Hotel, Andy Hardy series Erik Per Sullivan, actor, Malcolm in the Middle Wu Tsang, filmmaker, artist, and performer David Whitney, art curator Alicia Witt, actress, singer-songwriter Hildegard Woodward, children's book illustrator
Athletes
Jerry Azumah, former NFL defensive back Tyler Beede (born 1993), baseball pitcher for the San Francisco Giants Michael Bradley, professional basketball player and businessman Frank Carroll, US figure skater and coach, 1960 graduate of the College of the Holy Cross, actor Tim Collins, relief pitcher for the Kansas City Royals Alana Cook, soccer player for the United States national team Bob Cousy, Hall of Fame basketball player; attended the College of the Holy Cross; currently lives in Worcester Jay Cutler, former professional bodybuilder and 4x Mr. Olympia Ken Doane, professional wrestler Oliver Drake, relief pitcher, free agent Mark Fidrych, nicknamed "the Bird", professional baseball Rich Gedman, Boston Red Sox catcher, manager of the Worcester Tornadoes Bill Guerin, former Pittsburgh Penguins right winger Aaron Haddad, professional wrestler in WWE Tom Heinsohn, NBA Hall of Fame, Boston Celtics great; attended College of Holy Cross Gordon Lockbaum, attended Holy Cross College; twice finished in the top five in the Heisman Trophy ballotingGlassboro High School Hall of Fame (1989 Inductees). Accessed August 6, 2007. Dwayne McClain, former NBA/professional basketball player; starred at Villanova in the early/mid-1980s; attended Holy Name Catholic Central Stephen Nedoroscik, artistic gymnast, two-time Olympic medalist Tom Poti, former NHL defenseman J.P. Ricciardi, MLB executive, former general manager of the Toronto Blue Jays José Antonio Rivera, WBA light middleweight champion Richard Rodgers, 3rd-string tight end for the Philadelphia Eagles; played for St. John's High School Edwin Rodríguez, boxer Rosy Ryan, professional baseball pitcher, played ten seasons, known for his time with the World Series Champion New York Giants Tanyon Sturtze, former MLB pitcher Major Taylor, track cycling champion Bill Toomey, gold medal decathlete, 1968 Olympics; attended Worcester Academy Leah Van Dale, professional wrestler better known by her ring name Carmella Ryan Ward, outfielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers Vinnie Yablonski, NFL player
Musicians
John Adams, popular composer Duncan Arsenault, musician Norman Bailey, big band trumpet player from The Lawrence Welk Show Jaki Byard, jazz pianist, composer and recording artist Frank Capp, jazz drummer and bandleader Luke Caswell, better known as Cazwell, rapper Wendell Culley, jazz trumpeter from Worcester who played with Noble Sissle, Lionel Hampton, and Count Basie's Orchestra, and many others Warren Ellsworth (1950–1993), operatic tenor Don Fagerquist, jazz trumpeter Four Year Strong, rock band J. Geils, lead in J. Geils Band, attended Worcester Polytechnic Institute J. Geils Band, formed in Worcester as a fraternity party band at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, as Snoopy and the Sopwith Camels Georgia Gibbs, 1950s pop singer The Hotelier, rock band Jordan Knight, member of the boy band New Kids On The Block Duke Levine, guitarist Joyner Lucas, rapper Arun Luthra, jazz saxophonist, konnakol artist, composer, arranger, band leaderHeraldSun.com.-Cliff Bellamy Miriam "Mamie" Moffitt, jazz pianist and band leader of Mamie Moffitt and Her Five Jazz Hounds, the first professional jazz ensemble in Worcester Orpheus, band that enjoyed popularity in the 1960s and early 1970s Cole Porter, Broadway composer, student at Worcester Academy ca. 1912, born in Peru, Indiana Andy Ross, guitarist for rock band OK Go Matt Scannell, lead vocalist, lead guitarist and founding member of the alternative rock band Vertical Horizon Maureen Steele, pop singer and songwriter, one of the very few white artists signed to Motown during the mid-1980s Einar Swan, multi-instrumental jazz musician and songwriter of "When Your Lover Has Gone" Boots Ward, jazz drummer, band leader, and Worcester jazz club owner
Politicians
Charles Allen (1797–1869), United States congressman from Massachusetts George Bancroft, 17th United States secretary of the navy, founder of the US Naval Academy at Annapolis, author of the first comprehensive history of the United States John Binienda, Massachusetts state legislatorVotesmart.org.-John Binienda, Sr. Alexander H. Bullock, governor of Massachusetts (1866–1868) Anthony J. Burke, member of Massachusetts House of Representatives Kate Campanale, member of Massachusetts House of Representatives from District 17 Joseph Casello, member of the Florida House of Representatives John Curtis Chamberlain, U.S. representative John Davis, 17th Governor of Massachusetts Dorothea Dix, reformer and activist Abby Kelley Foster, abolitionist, suffragette Dwight Foster, Massachusetts attorney general and associate justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Roger Sherman Baldwin Foster, lawyer Emma Goldman, Lithuanian-American anarchist; owned ice cream parlor in Worcester Joseph T. Higgins, member of the New York State Assembly Thomas Wentworth Higginson, abolitionist, literary mentor to Emily Dickinson Abbie Hoffman, radical activist Bertha Knight Landes, first female mayor of a major American city (Seattle) Levi Lincoln Jr., governor of Massachusetts Levi Lincoln Sr., revolutionary Jim McGovern, U.S. representative from Massachusetts's 2nd congressional district William D. Mullins, state representative and baseball player Albert L. Nash, politician and businessman'1973-1974 Public Officials of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Biographical Sketch of Albert L. Nash, pg. 252 Richard Neal, U.S. representative from Massachusetts's 1st congressional district Kenneth P. O'Donnell, appointments secretary and political adviser to President John F. Kennedy Robert Owens, businessman and Massachusetts state senator Frances Perkins, workers-rights advocate and first female member of a presidential cabinet John Rucho, politician and businessman1977-1978 Public Officials of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Biographical Sketch of John Rucho, pg. 282 Charles F. Sullivan, mayor of Worcester and lieutenant governor of Massachusetts, 1949–1953 Benjamin Swan, longest-serving Vermont state treasurerHenry Swan Dana, History of Woodstock, Vermont, 1889, page 485 Charles G. Washburn, member of the U.S. House of Representatives
Writers and journalists
Jane G. Austin, writer Mike Barnicle, print and broadcast journalist, social and political commentator S. N. Behrman, playwright, author of memoir The Worcester Account Robert Benchley, writer and member of the Algonquin Round Table Elizabeth Bishop, poet and writer John D. Casey, novelist and translator John Dufresne, novelist and screenwriter Alice Morse Earle, writer Esther Forbes, writer Samuel Fuller, screenwriter, producer and director John Michael Hayes, writer of the Alfred Hitchcock films Rear Window, To Catch a Thief, The Trouble with Harry, and The Man Who Knew Too Much Isabel Hornibrook, children's literature writer Omar Jimenez, CNN reporter, known for being arrested on live TV while reporting on the George Floyd protests in Minneapolis Judith Katz, American playwright, thespian, and novelist Stanley Kunitz, Poet Laureate Frank O'Hara, poet Charles Olson, modernist poet Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, poet, writer, educator, and social activist Charlie Pierce (born 1953), writer/journalist, and panelist on NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me Normand Poirier, writer Olive Higgins Prouty, writer, known for "Now, Voyager" and "Stella Dallas" Ernest Lawrence Thayer, poet and journalist, known for "Casey at the Bat" Isaiah Thomas, publisher of the Massachusetts Spy Stanley Woodward, newspaper editor and sportswriter
Other
Lillian Asplund, last survivor of the Titanic who remembered the actual sinking. Also last American survivor Nathaniel Bar-Jonah, convicted child molester, possible serial killer and cannibal Timothy Bigelow, Revolutionary War patriot Paul Bilzerian (born 1950), financier convicted of securities fraud William Austin Burt, 19th-century explorer and surveyor in Michigan Jonas Clark, founder of Clark University Edmund L. Daley (1883–1968), U.S. Army major general Edgar C. Erickson (1896–1989), United States Army major general and chief of the National Guard Bureau Catherine Fiske (1784–1837), school founder John Stanley Grauel (1917–1986), Christian Zionist leader Samuel Fisk Green (1822–1884), physician and medical missionary, served with the American Ceylon Mission 1847–1873 Samuel R. Heywood, founder of the Heywood Boot & Shoe Company Myra Kraft, philanthropist, wife of New England Patriots owner Bob Kraft Royal B. Lord (1899–1963), United States military officer Joe Morrone, Connecticut Huskies soccer coach