Notable Residents
For more information, see List of people from Darien, Connecticut.
Several people notable for their esteemed place in American history have called Darien home: Charles Lindbergh the late aviator, and his wife, author Anne Morrow Lindbergh lived on Tokeneke Trail. Steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie vacationed for several summers at what became the Convent of the Sacred Heart (divided into many private estates in the 1970s) at Long Neck Point. Christopher Shays, the former Republican congressman representing Connecticut's Fourth District, was born in Darien (and now lives in Bridgeport).
Actors and actresses who have lived in town include former resident Christopher Plummer, Kate Bosworth, Topher Grace, and Chloë Sevigny. Actress Carol Kane attended Cherry Lawn School in Darien until 1965. Film director Gus Van Sant also went to high school in Darien. Jazz saxophonist Gerry Mulligan lived in Darien in later life and died there in 1996. Guitarist Chris Risola grew up in Darien. Musician Moby lived in Darien during his adolescence. Rudolph Valentino was said to have had a Spanish-style home at the entrance of Salem Straits. Emmy-winning television producer and writer Tom Gammill also grew up in Darien.
People famous in other fields have also called Darien home: Leslie Groves – military head of the Manhattan Project, lived in town after the project ended. Paul Manship, sculptor of the Prometheus figure at Rockefeller Center, spent summers living on Leroy Avenue and working on his art in the early 1930s. Photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White lived in town first with author Erskine Caldwell, then in the same home after their divorce. Helen Frankenthaler, a major American Abstract Expressionist painter, lived in Darien in later life and maintained her primary studio there. Novelist and playwright Richard Bissell lived in Darien from the early 1950s to the mid-1970s. Artist John Stobart lived on Crane Road for many years, and prints of his historical painting of Ring's End Landing were popular in the 1970s, after the town's 150th anniversary. Producer and NBC executive Grant Tinker reared his family there in the 1950s. Former Benton & Bowles advertising agency executive and noted big band radio broadcaster G. Emerson Cole lived in Darien for 35 years. Kiss drummer Peter Criss once had a home in Darien. Emily Barringer (1876–1961),the world's first female ambulance surgeon and the first woman to secure a surgical residency resided in Darien (and New Canaan) until her death.
Current notable residents include New York Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman in addition to Steve Wilkos, host of The Steve Wilkos Show, along with his wife Rachelle Wilkos, Executive Producer for both The Jerry Springer Show and The Steve Wilkos Show. 60 Minutes correspondent and CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley also lives in town as does Rob Morrison, anchor of CBS 2 News This Morning and CBS 2 News At Noon. Local news anchor Rebecca Surran of News 12 Connecticut is also resident of Darien.
One infamous native of Darien is convicted rapist Alex Kelly, who fled the United States to escape prosecution. His story was dramatized in the television movie Crime in Connecticut: The Story of Alex Kelly.
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“Most of the folktales dealing with the Indians are lurid and romantic. The story of the Indian lovers who were refused permission to wed and committed suicide is common to many places. Local residents point out cliffs where Indian maidens leaped to their death until it would seem that the first duty of all Indian girls was to jump off cliffs.”
—For the State of Iowa, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)