Arts, Media, and Entertainment
- Julian Abele, Class of 1902: Prominent African-American architectural designer; he designed or co-designed such works as the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Central Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia, Widener Memorial Library at Harvard University, and much of the campus of Duke University, including Duke Chapel
- Charles Addams: Creator, The Addams Family; he is said to have modeled the Addams Family mansion after Penn's College Hall
- Elizabeth Alexander: Poet who recited at the 2009 inauguration of President Barack Obama
- Kevin Allen: Contestant of NBC reality show The Apprentice 2
- Ron Allen: NBC News national correspondent
- Maryanne Amacher: American composer
- Howard Arenstein: CBS news national correspondent
- Michael Ashkin: Noted sculptor
- Ti-Grace Atkinson: Author, feminist
- Hannah August: Press Secretary for the First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama
- Jon Avnet: Film and television director, producer and writer
- Evelyn Margaret Ay: Miss America 1954
- Benjamin Franklin Bache, Class of 1787: Grandson of Benjamin Franklin and an early champion of the First Amendment
- William J. Bain: Noted architect, co-founder of global architecture firm NBBJ.
- Elizabeth Banks - Emmy Award-nominated actress, best known for starring in the 2012 film The Hunger Games, as well as the lead actress in the 2006 sports movie Invincible, and as Laura Bush in the 2008 film W.
- Leslie Esdaile Banks: Popular African-American author
- Ralph Barbieri: Radio personality
- Albert C. Barnes: Inventor of Argyrol, and founder of the Barnes Foundation, one of the most valuable art collections in the world
- Peter Barnes: Senior Washington correspondent for the Fox Business Network
- Jack Barry: Television producer and host, 1950s-1984
- Vanessa Bayer: Saturday Night Live cast member, 2010-
- Eric Bazilian: Singer, songwriter, guitarist, member of The Hooters
- Willow Bay: Former CNN and ABC anchorwoman, and fashion model
- David Bell (publisher): Past Chairman of the Financial Times
- James Berardinelli: Film critic
- Candice Bergen: Emmy Award-winning and Academy Award-nominated actress, best known as TV's Murphy Brown. (Attended)
- Alfred Bester: Recipient of the first Hugo Award for a Science Fiction Novel: The Demolished Man (1953), Science Fiction Grand Master (1988), and author of The Stars My Destination (1956)
- Jeffrey Birnbaum: American journalist and Managing Editor of Digital of the Washington Times
- H.G. Bissinger: Author of Friday Night Lights and Pulitzer Prize winning journalist
- Max Blumenthal: Investigative journalist
- Frank L. Bodine: American architect
- Beverly Bower: operatic soprano
- John Bowker: BBC broadcaster
- Andrea Brody: Co-host of U.S. television's George Michael Sports Machine
- Denise Scott Brown: Prominent architect; principal in Venturi, Scott Brown & Associates, and wife of architect Robert Venturi
- Ron Brown (broadcaster): NBC International Affairs correspondent
- Tory Burch: Fashion designer and socialite
- Alfred Butts: Inventor of the board game Scrabble
- Gregg Carey: Contestant on Survivor: Palau
- Eduardo Catalano: Architect
- Rick Chertoff: Music producer
- J. Michael Cobb: International Urban Planner-Designer, Jubail New City, Saudi Arabia
- Claudia Cohen: Former Page Six gossip columnist for the New York Post
- Nancy Cordes: CBS news national correspondent
- Adrian Cronauer: Radio Personality and subject of biopic Good Morning Vietnam
- Mark Cronin: Television producer and writer
- Whitney Cummings: Comedienne
- Laurence S. Cutler: Co-founder with wife and fellow alum Judy Goffman Cutler of the National Museum of American Illustration
- Frank Miles Day: Prominent architect who made major additions to the campuses of the University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania State University, Princeton University and Wellesley College, among others; he was national president of the American Institute of Architects, 1906–07; and a founding editor of House & Garden (magazine)
- Pamela Day: Businesswoman and contestant of NBC reality show The Apprentice 2
- James DePreist: Permanent conductor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, director of conducting and orchestral studies at the Juilliard School and laureate music director of the Oregon Symphony
- Bruce Dern: Academy Award-nominated Actor
- John S. Detlie: Academy Award-nominated art director/set designer
- Celeste DiNucci: Winner of the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions in 2007
- Guitarist Jon Gutwillig and ex-drummer Sam Altman of the trance-fusion band the Disco Biscuits. Bassist Marc Brownstein and Keyboardist Aron Magner attended the university, but never graduated.
- Gail Dolgin: Academy Award-nominated documentary filmmaker (Daughter from Danang)
- John Doman: Actor, star of HBO's series The Wire
- Yochi Dreazen: Journalist, The Wall Street Journal, National Journal
- Jennifer Egan: Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist; National Book Award finalist
- Keith Epstein: Investigative journalist for BusinessWeek magazine
- Joseph Esherick: Prominent Bay Area architect; Professor, University of California, Berkeley
- Jabari Evans: rapper known as Naledge, member of hip-hop group Kidz in the Hall
- Ray Evans: Academy Award-winning songwriter
- Jonathan Leo Fairbanks: Founding Curator of the American decorative arts and sculpture department at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
- Jessie Fauset: prominent author and contributor to the Harlem Renaissance.
- Wendy Finerman: Academy Award-winning movie producer, she won the Oscar for the film Forrest Gump in 1994
- Stanley Fish: New York Times Op-ed columnist
- Melissa Fitzgerald: American actress best known for her role on the TV program The West Wing as Carol Fitzpatrick
- Frank Ford: Long-time Philly radio talk show host, and co-founder of the Valley Forge Music Fair and the Westbury Music Fair
- Stephen J. Friedman: Movie producer
- Zenos Frudakis: Sculptor whose works are featured at institutions around the world
- Richard Garfield: Inventor of the popular trading card game Magic: The Gathering.
- Robert Gant: Actor, best known as Ben on Queer as Folk
- Adam Garfinkle: editor of The American Interest, a public policy quarterly magazine
- Nikki Giovanni: Poet and author, she attended Penn but did not earn a degree
- Stephen Glass: Former reporter for The New Republic, author of The Fabulist
- Benjamin Glazer: Academy Award-winning screenwriter, and founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
- Jeffrey Goldberg: Award winning journalist. Writer for the Atlantic and The New Yorker
- Leonard Goldberg: Former Chairman of 20th Century Fox, TV and Movie Producer
- Osvaldo Golijov: Grammy Award-winning composer of classical music
- Bruce Graham: Architect who designed the Sears Tower, the John Hancock Center, and the Inland Steel Building in Chicago, and also the U.S. Bank Center in Milwaukee (currently the tallest building in the state of Wisconsin)
- Archie Green: American folklorist and musicologist
- Zane Grey: Prolific author of Western novels
- Shelly Gross: Broadway producer and co-founder of the Valley Forge Music Fair and the Westbury Music Fair
- Charles Gwathmey, FAIA, famous architect who studied at Penn, and later at Yale
- Joseph Hallman: Philadelphia classical and pop music composer. Student of the LPS Division, in the MLA program.
- George Harold Waldo Haag, FAIA, school architect, class of 1934
- Mark Haines: CNBC business news anchor
- William Stanley Haseltine: Acclaimed 19th century American painter, his works are included in the collections of museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., among others
- George Hedges: Celebrity lawyer, and archeologist who discovered the ancient city of Ubar
- Jennifer Higdon: Grammy Award-winning flutist and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer of classical music
- Doc Holliday: Gunman and gambler in western US in 1870s and 1880s; colleague of the Earp brothers; participated in the OK Corral gunfight. Graduated from Philadelphia College of Dentistry (1872), which merged into Penn in 1909.
- Ariel Horn: Novelist
- Kristin Hunter: African-American novelist
- Abby Huntsman: Host and producer at HuffPost Live, and political commentator on MSNBC, CNN and ABC News, and daughter of 2012 presidential candidate Jon Huntsman, Jr.
- Tetsugo Hyakutake: Award-winning Japanese photographer
- Rob Hyman: Singer, songwriter, keyboard player, member of The Hooters
- Alberto Ibarguen: Chairman of the Board of the Newseum in Washington, D.C., and former publisher of the Miami Herald
- Moe Jaffe: Songwriter
- George Clarke Jenkins: American Academy Award-winning production designer and three-time Tony Award nominee
- Amandus Johnson: Founding curator of the American Swedish Historical Museum
- Louis Kahn: Noted architect, works include the Yale University Art Gallery and Jatiyo Sangsad Bhaban National Assembly Building, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
- Aaron Karo: Popular college humorist who details Penn life in books and on the CollegeHumor website.
- Andrea Keller: Architect; Contestant on Bravo's Top Design (placed 3rd)
- Duncan Kenworthy: Producer, Four Weddings and a Funeral, and Notting Hill
- Florence Kirk: American operatic soprano
- Joe Klein: Columnist and political analyst for Time magazine
- Evan Kohlmann: NBC terrorism analyst
- Andrea Kremer: ESPN sports correspondent
- Harry Kurnitz: Screenwriter
- Sara Larkin: Visual artist
- Elliot Lawrence: Tony Award-winning jazz pianist, composer and bandleader
- William Harold Lee: Architect
- John Legend: (birth name John Stephens) Multiple Grammy Award-winning Rhythm and blues singer/songwriter
- Stephanie Lemelin: Canadian actress
- Michael R. Levy: Founder and Publisher of Texas Monthly magazine
- William Link: Television and film writer and producer who co-created and produced the shows Columbo, Mannix, Ellery Queen and Murder, She Wrote
- Caren Lissner: Novelist, author of "Carrie Pilby"
- Betty Liu: Anchorwoman for Bloomberg Television
- Alan W. Livingston: Record producer who signed The Beatles to their first major U.S. contract; he also created the character Bozo the Clown
- Jay Livingston: Academy Award-winning songwriter
- Sari Locker: Television personality and author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Amazing Sex
- John D. MacDonald: Author, famous for his Travis McGee series
- Aron Magner: keyboardist, The Disco Biscuits
- Patrick Maloney: cast member on MTV's reality show Road Rules
- Mary Ellen Mark: American photographer
- Steven Markowitz: Independent American hip-hop artist and rapper. Better known by his stage name Hoodie Allen
- John Masius: Emmy award-winning producer and writer of television series such as Touched by an Angel, St. Elsewhere, and others
- Megan McArdle: Blogger
- James McDaniel: Emmy Award-winning actor
- William McIlvaine, Jr.: American painter whose works are owned by the New York Historical Society and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
- Milton Bennett Medary, Jr.: Prominent architect who designed the Washington Memorial Chapel at Valley Forge National Park and the Bok Singing Tower; and together with fellow alumnus William Charles Hays, he designed Houston Hall, America's first student union
- Toral Mehta: Contestant of The Apprentice 4
- Thor Halvorssen Mendoza: human rights advocate and film producer; Founder, Human Rights Foundation
- Jonah Meyerson: Film and television actor
- Sia Michel: Pop music editor of The New York Times
- Andrea Mitchell: NBC Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent
- David Naughton: Actor best known for starring in the 1981 horror film An American Werewolf in London
- Barton Myers: Architect
- Becki Newton: Actress, Amanda on Ugly Betty
- Ken Olin: Actor, best known for his lead role on thirtysomething and as director & executive producer of Alias
- Charles Ornstein: Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for the Los Angeles Times
- Christina Park: Fox News Channel anchorwoman
- Rob Pearlstein: Academy Award-nominated writer and director
- Norman Pearlstine: Past Editor-in-chief of Time Inc.
- I.M. Pei: Famous modernist architect (attended for a short time in 1935 before transferring to MIT)
- Jim Perry: (birth name: Jim Dooley) U.S. and Canadian television host
- Gina Philips: actress (attended, never graduated)
- Marc Platt: Film, television and theatre producer
- Chaim Potok: Award-winning author, The Chosen, The Promise, My Name Is Asher Lev, and The Gift of Asher Lev
- Ezra Pound: 20th century Modernist poet and promoter of various writers and schools of literature (attended for two years before transferring to Hamilton College). He returned to Penn and earned a master's degree in romance philology.
- Maury Povich: Talk-show host
- Lionel Pries: Influential American architect
- Harold Prince: Famous Broadway Producer with works including West Side Story and The Phantom of the Opera
- Paul Provenza: Actor, comedian, and director of The Aristocrats
- Alan Rachins: Actor (L.A. Law and Dharma and Greg)
- David Raksin: Composer
- Jonathan Rand: Playwright
- Alan Richman: Journalist and food writer
- Tom Rinaldi: ESPN reporter and winner of three Regional Emmy Awards
- Melissa Rivers (Birth name: Melissa Rosenberg): Actress and daughter of comedian Joan Rivers
- John P. Roberts: Producer who bankrolled the Woodstock Festival
- Mark Rosenthal: Screenwriter, Mona Lisa Smile, Planet of the Apes, Mighty Joe Young, etc.
- Eric J. Savitz: West Coast Editor of Barron's Magazine
- Mary B Schuenemann: Award-winning 20th century American watercolorist
- Alan Schwarz: Pulitzer Prize-nominated reporter for the New York Times
- Lisa Scottoline: Popular American author of many legal thrillers; New York Times best-seller list author
- Matt Selman: Long-time writer for the Award-winning animated series The Simpsons
- Peter Shelton: Award-winning architect and interior designer
- Sylvan Shemitz: American lighting designer best known for his work on Grand Central Terminal in New York City and the Thomas Jefferson Memorial in Washington D.C
- Franklin L. Sheppard: (1872) Christian hymn composer who set This is My Father's World to music
- Trish Sie: Grammy Award-winning American choreographer and director
- Grover Simcox: Illustrator, naturalist and polymath
- Linda Simensky (1985): Producer of animated works
- Michael Smerconish: Radio host and political pundit
- Yakov Smirnoff: Comedian and Painter
- Martin Cruz Smith: Author of Gorky Park
- Jerome Socolovsky: Religion reporter for Voice of America
- Jordan Sonnenblick: Author of Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie
- Devo Springsteen: Grammy Award winning music producer and songwriter (born Devon Harris)
- Steve Stecklow: Pulitzer Prize winning journalist.
- Emil Steiner: Author and journalist for the Washington Post
- John and Emlyn Stewardson: Brothers and partners in Cope & Stewardson, a prominent architectural firm that designed the University of Pennsylvania Museum and buildings for Bryn Mawr College, Princeton University, and Washington University, including Brookings Hall
- Meredith Stiehm: Emmy Award-winning television producer and screenwriter
- I.F. Stone: Prominent journalist and commentator from the 1940s through the 1960s.
- Jennifer Su: (Birth name: Jennifer Tsou), Television anchor and radio presenter, Hong Kong and Thailand
- Stephanie Sy: ABC News anchor and correspondent
- Michael Tearson: Voice of Philadelphia Radio, DJ for WMMR, WXPN and WMGK.
- Tammi Terrell: a Grammy Award-nominated American soul singer, most notable for her association with Motown and her duets with Marvin Gaye, particularly "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "You're All I Need."
- Brian Tierney: Publisher of the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News
- Lynn Toler: Judge on the TV series Divorce Court
- Garner Tullis: American artist whose works are included in the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Philadelphia Museum of Art
- Bobby Troup: Actor, Songwriter best known for writing the popular standard "(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66", and for his role as Dr. Joe Early in the 1970s TV series Emergency!
- Ivanka Trump: Fashion model, businesswoman, judge of NBC reality show The Apprentice 6, daughter of real estate mogul and Penn alumnus Donald Trump
- Cenk Uygur: Former MSNBC talk show host; radio talk show host, The Young Turks (talk show), Air America Radio and columnist for Huffington Post
- M.G. Vassanji: Canadian novelist and member of the Order of Canada
- David A. Vise: Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
- Amina Wadud: Disputed Imam and author on various Islamic subjects
- David A. Wallace: Prominent architect whose firm Wallace McHarg Roberts & Todd (WMRT) was largely responsible for the revitalization of Baltimore's Inner Harbor
- Mark Waters (director): Director of Mean Girls and other films
- Ted Weems: Bandleader
- Schatar White, now Schatar Sapphira Taylor: Celebrity, Singer, Actress, Songwriter, Movie "High Roller", Contestant on VH1's Charm School
- John Edgar Wideman: Author, Rhodes Scholar
- Anand Wilder, guitarist, Yeasayer
- C.K. Williams: Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winning poet
- William Carlos Williams: Poet
- Dick Wolf: Emmy Award-winning producer and creator of popular Law & Order series
- Aaron Yoo: American actor who starred in the 2007 films Disturbia and American Pastime
- Rick Yune: Actor
- John Zacherle: Horror-show host
- Chip Zien: Actor
- Sidney Zion: Writer, journalist
- David Zippel: Tony Award-winning theatre lyricist
Read more about this topic: List Of University Of Pennsylvania People, Alumni