Springfield, Massachusetts - Notable Residents

Notable Residents

• Creighton Abrams, U.S. Army general, Chief of Staff of the United States Army, and Commander of Operations during the Vietnam War
• Weston Adams, longtime President of the NHL's Boston Bruins
• Johnny Appleseed, American folk hero, spent his childhood and young adulthood in Springfield
• Joe Arpaio, "America's Toughest Sheriff," currently famous for his "tent city" prison in Maricopa County, Arizona
• Adele Addison, famed soprano, acclaimed in classical music during the 1950s–1960s
• Joel Asaph Allen, American zoologist
• George Ashmun, founder of the U.S. Republican Party and Springfield lawyer
• Travis Best, National Basketball Association player
• Alfred Ely Beach, the inventor of New York City's subway system
• R. P. Blackmur, poet and literary critic
• Nina Blackwood, original MTV VJ and Sirius Satellite Radio DJ
• Ran Blake, avante garde jazz pianist
• Thomas Blanchard, inventor of the lathe (1819), which led to the technological advances known as interchangeable parts and assembly line manufacturing. Also, inventor of the first modern car – powered by steam (1825).
• Herbert Blomstedt, famed orchestra conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, and symphony orchestras in San Francisco and Stockholm, Sweden
• Chester Bowles, former Governor of Connecticut
• Samuel Bowles (journalist), renowned journalist, founder of the Springfield Republican, and one of the founders of the United States Republican Party
• Lloyd Wheaton Bowers, lawyer and former U.S. Solicitor General
• Ron Brace, National Football League player
• Milton Bradley, internationally renowned inventor of parlor games and game-manufacturer
• Chuck Bresnahan, NFL Football coach
• John Brown, internationally renowned abolitionist
• Harold R. Bull, completed the weather report that enabled the D-Day launch during World War II
• Nick Buoniconti, National Football League Hall of Famer
• Thornton Burgess, children's author, famous for "Peter Cottontail"
• Tom Burke, Wrestling Historian
• Chris Capuano, pitcher for Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers
• John Cena, WWE wrestler
• Amzi Chapin, cabinetmaker, singing-school teacher and shapenote composer
• Chester W. Chapin, railroad magnate
• Deacon Samuel Chapin, early settler of Springfield, 1642
• Thornton Chase, the first American convert to the Bahá'í Faith
• Shamus Culhane, lead animator at Walt Disney Studios, who produced such classics as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
• Billy Curtis, actor, best known for his role as a Munchkin in "The Wizard of Oz", and "Terror of Tinytown"
• Bill Danoff, member of Starland Vocal Band and wrote No. 1 hit "Afternoon Delight"
• Donald Davidson, philosopher, famous for his studies regarding communication
• Jim Douglas, Governor of Vermont from 2003 to 2010
• Vinny Del Negro, National Basketball Association player and head coach
• David W. Evans, Professor of psychology and neuroscience, Bucknell University
• Raffael Ferri, Author of works on DNA
• Theodore Foley, Roman Catholic priest, nominated for sainthood in 2008
• June Foray, voice actress for animated films
• Bertram Forer, psychologist, known for the Forer effect
• Carole Fredericks, a popular French musician; her brother was Springfield blues great, Taj Mahal
• John Garand, weapons inventor
• Theodor Seuss Geisel (a.k.a. Dr. Seuss), American writer and cartoonist best known for his classic children's books
• Charles Goodyear, inventor of vulcanized rubber
• Mike Gravel, Senator from Alaska
• Chester Harding, America's most famous portrait painter during the 19th century
• Richard F. Heck, awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2010
• Elizur Holyoke, early explorer of Western Massachusetts, for whom Holyoke, Massachusetts and the Holyoke Range are named
• Joseph French Johnson, American economist, wrote the inspirational "The Price of Success"
• Alan Kay, computer scientist
• Derek Kellogg, University of Massachusetts men's basketball head coach
• Peter King, American sportswriter
• Stanley King, eleventh president of Amherst College
• Bob Kudelski, professional hockey player
• Timothy Leary, writer, psychologist and advocate of psychedelic drug research and use
• Norman Leyden, conductor and clarinetist
• Edward Tsang Lu, U.S. astronaut
• Arthur MacArthur, Jr., Army general, father of Douglas MacArthur
• William Manchester, historian, author of The Death of a President and other renowned literary works
• Rabbit Maranville, professional baseball player, inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1954
• Tim Mayotte, professional tennis player
• Miles Morgan, hero of King Phillip's War of 1675, a statue of Morgan stands in Springfield's Court Square
• Horace A. Moses, Philanthropist and paper pioneer
• James Naismith, inventor of basketball
• Tom Newberry, football player
• Lowell North, Olympic Gold Medalist in Sailing
• Larry O'Brien, Postmaster General, Democratic National Committee chairman and Commissioner of the National Basketball Association.
• Robert B. Parker, author
• Joe Philbin, Head Coach of the NFL Miami Dolphins
• Eleanor Powell, actress, famous tap dancer
• William Pynchon, founder of the City of Springfield; earlier founded Roxbury, Massachusetts; in 1649, wrote America's first banned book
• Caleb Rice, first Mayor of Springfield, President of MassMutual
• George Washington Rice, founder of MassMutual Life Insurance
• William Marsh Rice, founder of Rice University, Houston, Texas
• Stephen Rivers (1955–2010), political activist and publicist.
• Peter Robinson, actor and freak show performer
• Kurt Russell, actor
• Julia Sanderson, famous actress, vaudevillian, and namesake of Springfield's Julia Sanderson Theater (now The Paramount Theater)
• Chloë Sevigny, American actress
• Mike Scully, writer and producer for The Simpsons.
• Daniel Shays, leader of Shays' Rebellion
• Eddie Shore, professional hockey player and owner
• Stass Shpanin, contemporary visual artist included in the Guinness Book of World Records as the Youngest Professional Artist in the World
• David Socha international soccer referee
• Hypnotist Matthew James, Comedian/Hypnotist
• Tommy Tallarico, video game music composer
• Antonio Thomas, professional wrestler
• George Tomasini, film editor known for work with Alfred Hitchcock
• Mike Trombley, former Major League Baseball Pitcher
• Paige Turco, actress
• Bartolomeo Vanzetti, Sacco and Vanzetti were falsely accused of murder in a famous American legal case that revealed animosity toward immigrants in 1920s Boston
• Lynn Vincent, author
• David Ames Wells, engineer and economist
• Daniel Baird Wesson, weapons inventor and founder of Smith & Wesson
• Maura West, Daytime Emmy award winning soap opera actress
• James McNeill Whistler, American painter
• Terence H. Winkless, Film and Television Director
• Tom Burke, Wrestling Historian
• The Springfield Pervert, LGBT Prank call victim whose voice was made into a soundboard. His trademark lines, such as "Springfeel!" and "Gettin' haaaahd" infuriate countless victims.