Famous People Born in Rhode Island
See our top list of the most famous people from Rhode Island. We’ve chosen people like athletes, actors, civil rights activists, scientists and people from other walks of life that have come from the “The Ocean State” state.
Harry Anderson actor, Newport
George M. Cohan actor, dramatist, Providence
Eddie Dowling actor, stage producer, Woonscocket
Nelson Eddy baritone, actor, Providence
Peter Farrelly writer, director, Cumberland
Jabez Gorham silversmith, Providence
Robert Gray sea captain, Tiverton
Spalding Gray writer, performance artist, Barrington
Bobby Hackett trumpeter, Providence
David Hartman TV newscaster, Pawtucket
Ruth Hussey actress, Providence
Thomas H. Ince film producer, Newport
Van Johnson actor, Newport
Galway Kinnell poet, Providence
Irving R. Levine news correspondent, Pawtucket
H. P. Lovecraft author, Providence
Ida Lewis lighthouse keeper, Newport
Dana C. Munro educator, historian
Matthew C. Perry naval officer, Newport
Oliver Hazard Perry naval officer, South Kingstown
Gilbert Stuart painter, North Kingstown
Stephen Wilcox inventor, Westerly
Jemima Wilkinson religious leader, Cumberland
Leonard Woodcock labor union official, Providence