List of people from Brooklyn
This is a list of people who were either born or have lived in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City at some time in their lives.
A
- Aaliyah – actress, dancer and singer
- Cal Abrams – Major League Baseball player
- Lyle Alzado – NFL All-Pro football player
- Robert Asencio – Florida politician
- Romeo Alaeff – visual artist
- Marv Albert – sportscaster
- Tatyana Ali – actress
- Woody Allen – film director, actor and screenwriter
- Franco Ambriz – playwright
- Barbara Anderson – actress
- Carmelo Anthony – National Basketball Association player
- Jack Armstrong – sportscaster Toronto Raptors; former coach Niagara University
- Darren Aronofsky – film director
- Isaac Asimov – author and biochemist
- Madeline Astor – Titanic survivor, wife of John Jacob Astor IV
- W.H. Auden – poet
- Red Auerbach – National Basketball Association coach and general manager, member of Hall of Fame
- Ken Auletta – journalist and writer
- Paul Auster – author
B
- Adrienne Bailon – actress
- Scott Baio – actor
- Ralph Bakshi – film director
- Jean-Michel Basquiat – artist
- Noah Baumbach – film director and writer
- Gary Becker – economist; Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences
- Henry Ward Beecher – clergyman and social reformer
- Lyman Beecher – clergyman and father of Henry Ward Beecher, Thomas K. Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe
- Begushkin – folk rock band
- Joy Behar – comedian and talk-show host
- Paul Ben-Victor – actor
- Pat Benatar – singer
- Bill Benulis – penciller and inker
- Walter Berndt – cartoonist
- Paul Bettany - actor
- Bjork – singer-songwriter
- Lloyd Blankfein – investment banker; chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs
- Corbin Bleu – actor
- Emily Blunt – actress
- Joseph Bologna – actor
- Clara Bow – actress
- Riddick Bowe – boxer, heavyweight champion
- Barbara Boxer – politician; U.S. Senator from California
- Harry Boykoff – basketball player
- Steve Bracey — basketball player
- Scott Brady – actor
- Mark Breland – boxer; five-time New York Golden Gloves champion
- Shannon Briggs – boxer, heavyweight champion
- Gail Brodsky – tennis player
- Mel Brooks – actor, comedian, film director, film producer and screenwriter
- Foxy Brown – actress, model and rap artist
- Larry Brown – basketball player and coach, point guard, three-time All-Star, three-time assists leader, Olympic champion, NCAA and NBA head coach
- Elliott Buckmaster – U.S. Navy officer; naval aviator during World War I and World War II
- Buckshot – rapper
- Terry Burrus – musician; composer, conductor, producer
- Steve Buscemi – actor, film director and screenwriter
- Busta Rhymes – rapper
C
- Red Cafe– rapper
- Charlie Callas – comedian
- Giovanni Capitello – actor/filmmaker
- Al Capone – gangster
- Truman Capote – writer
- Jack Carter – comedian
- Fabiano Caruana – youngest chess grandmaster in United States history
- Jack Catran – industrial designer and linguist
- Roz Chast – Cartoonist
- Bea Chester – All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player
- Shirley Chisholm – first female African American U.S. Representative and first African American major-party candidate for U.S. President
- Andrew Dice Clay – comedian
- Cheryl "Coko" Clemons – gospel singer and lead singer of R&B group SWV
- Abram Cohen – Olympic fencer
- David Cohen, a member of the US Army, a liberator of the Ohrdruf concentration camp, and a schoolteacher
- Herbert Cohen – Olympic fencer
- Maino – rapper
- Norm Coleman – U.S. Senator from Minnesota from 2003 until 2009
- Kim Coles – comedienne, actress from Living Single
- Jennifer Connelly - actress
- Chuck Connors – actor
- George H. Cooper – United States Navy rear admiral
- Pat Cooper – comedian
- Aaron Copland – composer
- Larry Corcoran – Major League Baseball player
- John Corigliano – Academy Award-, Pulitzer Prize for Music- and Grammy Award-winning composer
- Howard Cosell – sportscaster
- William R. Cosentini – Mechanical Engineer and founder of Cosentini Associates
- Delilah Cotto – dancer, model and actress
- Jonathan Coulton – musician
- Hart Crane – poet
- Melora Creager – singer
- Jimmy Crespo – former Aerosmith guitarist
- Peter Criss – musician
D
- Da Beatminerz – hip-hop production team
- Da Bush Babees – hip-hop group
- Matt Damon – actor and screenwriter
- Dana Dane – rapper
- Tony Danza – actor
- John D'Aquino – actor
- John Henry Davis – U.S. weightlifter 6 time world champion and 2 time Olympic gold medalist
- Thomas Darden – U.S. Navy Rear admiral, 37th Governor of American Samoa
- Larry David – writer, producer, actor, and comedian
- Noach Dear - New York Supreme Court Judge
- Mos Def – actor and rapper
- David DeJesus – MLB player
- Dom DeLuise – comedian and actor
- Alan Dershowitz – lawyer, professor, author
- C.C. Deville – musician
- Kevin Devine – musician
- Neil Diamond – singer
- Mary E. Dillon an American engineer and President of Brooklyn Borough Gas Company
- Michael A. DiSpezio – writer, performer, and broadcast host
- Vincent D'Onofrio – actor
- Valerie D'Orazio – writer and blogger
- David Draiman – singer
- Richard Dreyfuss – actor
- Don Dubbins – actor
- Lena Dunham – actress and writer
- Kyle Bobby Dunn – composer, musician, artist
- Jimmy Durante – actor and comedian
E
- Easy Mo Bee – hip-hop and R&B producer
- William J. Ecker – U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral
- Harry Eisenstat – Major League Baseball player
- Erick Arc Elliott – rapper, producer
- The Epochs – rock band, formed in 2002
- Etika – YouTuber and online streamer
F
- Fab 5 Freddy – hip-hop pioneer
- Fabolous – rapper
- Edie Falco – actress
- Jimmy Fallon – actor and comedian
- Anthony Fauci – Infectious disease expert, director of NIAD at National Institutes of Health
- Lotta Faust – musical comedy actress
- Lillian Feickert – suffragette and politician
- Bob Ferguson – MLB player
- Jerry Ferrara – actor
- Frank Ferrer – Guns N' Roses drummer
- Lou Ferrigno – former bodybuilder, actor
- Martin Fettman – astronaut
- Ailene Fields – sculptor
- Harvey Fierstein – actor and playwright
- Bobby Fischer – champion chess player
- Percy Keese Fitzhugh – author of children's books
- Rolf G. Fjelde – playwright, educator and poet
- Farrah Fleurimond – singer, songwriter and member of R&B group Lyric
- James Florio – 49th Governor of New Jersey, 1990 until 1994
- Jonathan Safran Foer – novelist
- Cristina Fontanelli – opera singer
- Yuri Foreman – world champion boxer
- John Forsythe – actor
- Steve Franken – actor
- Bruce Franklin – professor
- Frank Frazetta – artist
- Gary William Friedman – composer
- Milton Friedman – Nobel Prize-winning economist
- Fu-Schnickens – rapper
- Full Force – 1980s R&B and production group
G
- Ellis Gallagher – graffiti artist
- Vincent Gardenia – actor
- M. Elsa Gardner – Engineer
- Ina Garten – Food Network television chef, cookbook author; known as the Barefoot Contessa
- Shad Gaspard – professional wrestler
- David Geffen – media mogul
- Sylvia Gerrish – 19th-century musical comedy performer
- George Gershwin – composer and younger brother of Ira Gershwin
- Murray Gerstenhaber – mathematician and lawyer
- Deborah Gibson – singer and songwriter
- Taj Gibson – NBA player
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg – Associate Justice, United States Supreme Court
- Johnny Gioeli – singer
- Rudy Giuliani – former United States Attorney, former Mayor of New York; 2008 Republican presidential candidate
- Jackie Gleason – actor and comedian
- Marty Glickman – Olympian and broadcaster
- James Newton Gloucester – African-American abolitionist
- Jerry Goldstein – physicist
- Ben Goldwasser – member of the band MGMT
- Sid Gordon – two-time All-Star baseball player
- Louis Gossett, Jr. – Oscar-winning actor
- Alfred Gottschalk – President of Hebrew Union College and leader in the Reform Judaism movement
- Elliott Gould – actor
- Yossi Green – composer
- Kai Greene – bodybuilder
- Adrian Grenier – actor
- Bill Griffith – cartoonist
- David Grimm – award-winning playwright and screenwriter
- Leib Groner - Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbai and secretary to Menachem Schneerson
- Robert Grossman – illustrator
- Bob Guccione – adult-magazine publisher
- Louise Gunning – singer, actress
- Sigrid Gurie – actress
- Arlo Guthrie – singer
- GZA – rapper
- Maggie Gyllenhaal – actress
H
- Buddy Hackett – actor and comedian
- Adelaide Hall – jazz singer, songwriter, actress
- Bobby Hambel – guitarist, Biohazard
- Marvin Hamlisch – Oscar-winning composer of film scores
- Andrew P. Harris – Maryland politician
- Barbara Grizzuti Harrison – author
- Anne Hathaway – Oscar-winning actress
- Knut Haukelid – Norwegian resistance movement soldier
- Richie Havens – folk singer-songwriter, actor; first performer at the original Woodstock
- Susan Hayward – Oscar-winning actress
- Rita Hayworth – actress
- Leona Helmsley – businessperson and real estate investor
- Heltah Skeltah – hip-hop duo
- Sidney Hertzberg – pro basketball player
- Robert Hess – sculptor
- Robert Hess – President of Brooklyn College
- Henry Hill – mobster, subject of Goodfellas
- Russel Hobbs – drummer; member of Gorillaz
- William E. Hoehle – member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
- Steven Hoffenberg – fraudster
- Zander Hollander – sportswriter, journalist, editor and archivist
- Red Holzman – Hall of Fame NBA two-time All-Star and coach
- Homicide – ring name of Nelson Erazo, professional wrestler signed to Ring of Honor
- Lena Horne – singer and actress
- Curly Howard – comedian; member of The Three Stooges
- Moe Howard – comedian; leader of The Three Stooges
- Shemp Howard – comedian; member of The Three Stooges
- William G. Hundley – criminal defense attorney for high-profile clients, reared in Brooklyn
I
- Anthony Ingrassia – playwright, producer and director
- Jimmy Iovine – entrepreneur, record producer and film producer
- Breuk Iversen – designer and writer
J
- Mark Jackson – basketball player
- Cheryl James – rapper and actress
- Shawn James – basketball player for Maccabi Tel Aviv
- Tama Janowitz – novelist
- Jay Z – rapper and entrepreneur
- Jaz-O – rapper
- Charles Jenkins – NBA player
- Jennie Jerome – Lady Randolph Churchill, mother of Winston Churchill
- Jeru the Damaja – rapper
- Joey Badass – rapper
- Tamara "Taj" Johnson-George – member of R&B group SWV
- Norah Jones – musician, actress
- Susannah Mushatt Jones – oldest living New Yorker
- E. Bernard Jordan – founder of Zoe Ministries
- Michael Jordan – basketball player
- Zab Judah – professional boxer
- Just-Ice – rapper
K
- KA – rapper
- Meir Kahane – Orthodox Jewish rabbi, activist and founder of the Jewish Defense League
- Roger Kahn – sportswriter and author of The Boys of Summer
- Big Daddy Kane – rapper
- Eric Kaplan – writer
- Gabe Kaplan – actor and comedian
- KAWS, born Brian Donnelly – graffiti artist, limited-edition clothing and toy designer
- Danny Kaye – actor and comedian
- Lainie Kazan – actress and singer
- Monica Keena – actress
- Harvey Keitel – actor
- Steven G. Kellman – author and critic
- David M. Kennedy – professor of criminology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, author of Don't Shoot
- The Kid Gashi – rapper
- Jimmy Kimmel – comedian and television talk-show host
- Bernard King – NBA Hall Of Famer
- Carole King – singer-songwriter
- Larry King – television talk-show host and interviewer
- Marvin Kitman – television critic, humorist, and author
- Brian Kokoska – artist
- C. Everett Koop – U.S. Surgeon General
- Sandy Koufax – Hall of Fame baseball pitcher for Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers
- John Krasinski – actor and director
- Talib Kweli – rapper and producer
L
- Jeffrey Laitman – anatomist
- Pierre Lallement – inventor
- Sylven Landesberg – American-Israeli basketball shooting guard
- Abbe Lane – singer, dancer, actress
- Rudy LaRusso – five-time All-Star NBA basketball player
- Reuben Lasker – marine biologist
- Arthur Laurents – writer and director
- Steve Lawrence – singer and actor
- Heath Ledger – actor
- Spike Lee – film director, screenwriter and actor
- Shulem Lemmer - singer
- Jonathan Lethem – author
- Andrew Levane – NBA basketball player
- Lewis – former 19th-century professional baseball player
- Emmanuel Lewis – actor
- Tillie Ehrlich Lewis – businesswoman
- Nancy Lieberman – WNBA basketball player, coach and broadcaster; Hall of Fame
- Lil' Kim, born Kimberly Denise Jones – Grammy Award-winning rapper
- Lil Mama – rapper
- O. Winston Link – photographer
- Paul Lo Duca – MLB baseball player
- Robert Logan – actor
- Robert K. Logan – scientist
- "The Brooklyn Brawler" Steve Lombardi – professional wrestler
- Vince Lombardi – Pro Football Hall of Fame coach
- Nia Long – actress
- Jackie Loughery – Miss New York USA 1952, Miss USA 1952
- Mynette Louie – film producer
- Low Ki – ring name of Brandon Silvestry, professional wrestler
- Sid Luckman – NFL quarterback and Pro Football Hall of Fame
- MC Lyte – actress and rapper
M
- M.O.P. – hip-hop duo
- John Buffalo Mailer – playwright and youngest child of author Norman Mailer
- Norman Mailer – author and playwright
- Paul Malignaggi – boxer
- Barry Manilow – singer-songwriter
- Stephon Marbury – NBA player
- Mario – fictional video-game character
- Marty Markowitz – Borough President of Brooklyn, New York City
- Constantine Maroulis – singer
- Branford Marsalis – saxophonist
- Duane Martin – actor
- George Willard Martin – mycologist
- Angie Martinez – radio personality, former rapper and actress
- Amy Upham Thomson McKean – pianist, songwriter and composer
- Masta Ace – rapper
- Carson McCullers – writer
- Meechy Darko – rapper
- Ronald Mellor – historian
- Boyd Melson – boxer
- Richard Merkin – painter and illustrator
- Robert Merrill – opera singer
- Debra Messing – actress
- Sean Michaels – pornographic actor and director
- Thomas Mignone – film director, music video director, screenwriter
- Alyssa Milano – actress
- Arthur Miller – Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright
- Henry Miller – author and raconteur
- Jarrell Miller – kickboxer
- Matthew Paul Miller – reggae singer
- Walter Miller – jockey
- Wentworth Miller – actor
- Stephanie Mills – singer
- Irv Mondschein – track and field champion
- Lenny Montana – actor and professional wrestler
- Mary Tyler Moore – actor
- Esai Morales – actor
- Ed Morris – 19th-century MLB pitcher
- Joel Moses – former provost, MIT
- Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire – rapper
- Chris Mullin – NBA player and executive, Hall of Fame
- Uncle Murda – rapper
- Charlie Murphy – actor and comedian
- Eddie Murphy – actor and comedian
- Maxwell – singer-songwriter, producer, musician
N
- Boris Nachamkin – NBA basketball player
- Sam Nahem – Major League Baseball pitcher
- Larry Namer – founder of E! Entertainment TV networks
- Nas – rapper, born Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones
- Jack Newfield – writer
- Mark Newgarden – artist, cartoonist, writer, creator of Garbage Pail Kids, author of We All Die Alone and How to Read Nancy
- Ed Newman – NFL All-Pro football player
- Harry Nilsson – singer-songwriter
- Joakim Noah – NBA basketball player
- Peggy Noonan – author, columnist
- The Notorious B.I.G. – rapper, born Christopher George Latore Wallace; Biggie, Biggie Smalls
- Lupita Nyong'o – actress
O
- O.C. – rapper
- Henry Obst – football player
- Tasker Oddie – 12th Governor of Nevada and a United States Senator; born in Brooklyn
- Ol' Dirty Bastard – rapper
- Originoo Gunn Clappaz – hip-hop group
- Dave Orr – born in Brooklyn, MLB player
- Joell Ortiz – rapper and producer
- Adam Ottavino – MLB pitcher for the New York Yankees
P
- Peter Pace – Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
- Papoose – rapper
- Joseph Papp – theatrical impresario who created New York City's Public Theater
- Lana Parrilla – actress
- Ben Parris – author
- Joe Paterno – football coach at Penn State in College Football Hall of Fame
- Angela Paton – theatre, TV and film actress
- Jayson Paul – professional wrestler
- Dickey Pearce – MLB player
- Rosie Perez – actress and choreographer
- Rhea Perlman – actress
- Harold Perrineau – actor
- Lip Pike – home run champion baseball player
- Michael Pitt – actor and musician
- Suzanne Pleshette – actress
- Charles Millard Pratt – oil industrialist and philanthropist
- Frederic B. Pratt – president of Brooklyn's Pratt Institute
- George Dupont Pratt – conservationist and philanthropist
- Harold Pratt – oil industrialist
- Herbert L. Pratt – oil industrialist
- John Pratt – lawyer, philanthropist, music impresario and financier
- DJ Premier – hip-hop disc jockey, producer, co-founder and member of hip-hop duo Gang Starr
R
- Eddie Rabbitt – singer-songwriter
- Marky Ramone – drummer of the punk band The Ramones
- Lou Reed – singer-songwriter
- Paul Regina – actor
- Leah Remini – actress
- Bebe Rexha – singer, songwriter and record producer
- Buddy Rich – drummer and big-band leader
- Adam Richman – actor, host of reality-television series Man vs. Food
- Joan Rivers – comedian
- Phil Rizzuto – Major League Baseball player and broadcaster
- Mary Fanton Roberts – journalist, writer
- Chris Rock – actor and comedian
- Tony Rock – actor and comedian
- Steve Rogers – American Hero, federal official, intelligence operative, former soldier
- Saul Rogovin – Major League Baseball pitcher
- Mickey Rooney – five-time Oscar-nominated actor
- Mike Rosen – radio talk show host and newspaper columnist
- Wayne Rosenthal – Major League Baseball pitcher and coach
- Steve Ross – chairman of Time Warner
- Mark Roth – bowler
- Rowdy Rebel – rapper from GS9
- David Ruggerio – chef
- Brenda Russell – singer
- Chris Rush – stand-up comedian
- Sam Rutigliano – football coach
- Carl Hancock Rux – writer, actor, and director
- RZA – rapper
S
- Peter Sarsgaard – actor
- Carl Sagan – scientist, author, educator
- Saigon – actor and rapper
- Dmitri Salita – boxer
- Bernie Sanders – Independent U.S. Senator from Vermont
- Adam Sandler – actor and comedian
- Evie Sands – singer, songwriter and musician
- Roger Schank – education reformer, artificial-intelligence expert
- Kenny Scharf – graffiti artist
- Ossie Schectman – NBA basketball guard
- Thomas D. Schiano – organ-transplantation specialist
- Vincent Schiavelli − actor, food writer
- Steve Schirripa – actor
- Andre-Michel Schub – pianist
- Chuck Schumer – U.S. Senator from New York
- Seymour Schwartzman – opera singer and cantor
- Raymond Scott – composer, bandleader, pianist, electronic-music pioneer
- Neil Sedaka – singer-songwriter
- Alonzo Bertram See — businessman
- Erich Segal – author, Academy Award-nominated screenwriter, and educator
- Jerry Seinfeld – actor and comedian
- Hubert Selby, Jr. – author
- Cletus Seldin – boxer
- Phil Sellers – former NBA player
- Greg Serano – actor
- Shabazz the Disciple – rapper
- Ruth Shafer, engineer
- Neal Shapiro – equestrian and Olympic medalist
- Francis Ethelbert Sharkey – fictional character played by Terry Becker in the 1964–68 ABC television series Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
- Judith Sheindlin – television personality, Judge Judy
- Allie Sherman – NFL player and coach
- Bobby Shmurda – rapper from GS9
- Michael Showalter – actor and comedian
- Gabourey Sidibe – actress
- Bugsy Siegel – gangster
- Raymond Siller – television writer, political consultant
- Beverly Sills – opera singer
- Dean Silvers – film director, film producer, screenwriter, and author
- Phil Silvers – actor and comedian
- David Sive – attorney, environmentalist, and professor of environmental law
- Skoob – half of rap duo Das EFX
- Justine Skye – singer, songwriter, dancer and model
- Smif-n-Wessun – hip-hop duo
- Jimmy Smits – actor
- Smothers Brothers born on Governors Island
- Ralph Snyderman – physician, scientist, administrator
- Robert Solow – economist; winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences
- Paul Sorvino – actor
- Carl Søyland – editor-in-chief of Nordisk Tidende
- Paul Spatola – musician
- DJ Spinderella – DJ and rapper
- Barbara Stanwyck – Oscar-winning actress
- Peter Steele – bassist and singer
- Gary Stephan – artist
- Lance Stephenson – basketball player
- Stuart Sternberg – owner of the Tampa Bay Rays
- Connie Stevens – actress and singer
- Neil M. Stevenson – Chief of Chaplains of the U.S. Navy
- Sticky Fingaz born Kirk Jones – of the rap group Onyx
- Jerry Stiller – actor, father of Ben Stiller
- David Stones – rapper
- Barbra Streisand – Oscar-winning actress, singer, director, political activist
- Eric Stuart – voice actor, voice director, musician, singer and songwriter
- Ray Suarez – journalist
- Jason Sudekis – actor and comedian
- Harold Syrett – President of Brooklyn College
T
- Sid Tannenbaum – professional basketball player
- Tazz – ring name of Peter Senerchia, former professional wrestler
- Sebastian Telfair – NBA player
- Roy M. Terry – Chief of Chaplains of the U.S. Air Force
- Tanisha Thomas – reality television participant, television show host
- Adrianne Tolsch – Comedian, writer and graphic artist
- Marisa Tomei – Oscar-winning actress
- Joe Torre – Major League Baseball player, New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers manager, Hall of Fame
- Rachel Trachtenburg – actress, singer, musician
- John Turturro – actor and director
- Nicholas Turturro – actor
- Mike Tyson – heavyweight boxing champion
U
- Uncle Murda – gangster rapper
- UTFO – 1980s rap group
V
- Lou Vairo – ice hockey coach and inductee into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame
- Andrew VanWyngarden – member of MGMT
- Alan Veingrad – NFL player
- Guido Verbeck - political advisor, educator, and missionary
- Edward Vick – former CEO of Young & Rubicam
- Idara Victor – actress
- Tony Visconti – musician, producer
W
- Eli Wallach – actor
- Mickey Welch – MLB player
- Mae West – actress, playwright, and comedian
- Randy Weston – pianist and composer
- Colson Whitehead – novelist and MacArthur Fellow
- Walt Whitman – poet, best known for Leaves of Grass; journalist and Brooklyn Eagle editor; essayist and humanist
- Whodini – 1980s rap group
- Olivia Wilde – actress
- Michael K. Williams – actress
- Michelle Williams – actress
- Jan Wilsgaard – chief automotive designer, Volvo Cars, 1950–1990
- Robert Anton Wilson – author
- Shelley Winters – Oscar-winning actress
- Paula Wolfert – cookbook author, specialist in Mediterranean cuisines
- Wolfman Jack – 1970s disc jockey
- BD Wong – actor
- Lloyd R. Woodson – arrested in 2010 with military-grade weapons and a detailed map of the Fort Drum military installation
- Harold G. Wren – dean of three law schools
Y
- Adam Yauch – rapper, founding member of the Beastie Boys
- Henny Youngman – comedian
Z
- Max Zaslofsky – NBA guard/forward, one-time FT% leader, one-time points leader, All-Star, ABA coach
- Zombie Juice – rapper
- Shlomo Zev Zweigenhaft - Rabbi