List of people from Erie, Pennsylvania explained

The following is a list of notable persons who were born, or who have lived a significant part of their lives, in Erie, Pennsylvania.

Art and Literature

• Richard Anuszkiewicz, founder and foremost artist of Op Art movement
• Moses Billings, early American portrait painter
• Marc Brown, children's book author and illustrator, creator of the Arthur book series
• John Silk Deckard, painter, printmaker, sculptor
• David Greenberger, artist
• Thom Hatch, author and novelist who specializes in the history of the American West, the American Civil War, and the Plains Indian Wars
• Eugene Iverd, illustrator and teacher
• Ron Larson, author of several dozen mathematics textbooks
• Leon Ray Livingston, known as "King of the Hobos"
• Ruth Eleanor Newton, illustrator and designer
• Joseph Plavcan, painter and teacher
• Chuck Rosenthal, author
• Belle Silveira, artist known for her pencil portraits
• Ida M. Tarbell, author, journalist, "muckraker"
• John Totleben, comic book illustrator, known for covers of DC Comics' Swamp Thing
• Michael J. Varhola, author
• Charles Erskine Scott Wood, author and leading civil liberties advocate, best known for "Heavenly Discourse"

Athletics

• Sig Andrusking, professional football player
• Art Baker, professional football player, Buffalo Bills, All-American and NCAA National Championship winner in both football and wrestling, pioneering African-American athlete
• Bruce Baumgartner, heavyweight Olympic wrestler, most decorated American wrestler of all time, member of National Wrestling Hall of Fame
• Lou Bierbauer, 19th-century Major League Baseball player
• Dana Bible, former American football coach
• Fred Biletnikoff, professional football player, Oakland Raiders, Super Bowl MVP, Pro Football Hall of Fame
• James Carr, youngest-ever American Olympic wrestler, member of National Wrestling Hall of Fame
• Nate Carr, Olympic wrestler (bronze medalist in 1988), three-time NCAA champion at Iowa State University, member of National Wrestling Hall of Fame
• Rick Chartraw, professional ice hockey player, Montreal Canadiens
• James Conner, professional football player, Arizona Cardinals
• Clifton Crosby, professional football player, Indianapolis Colts
• Ed Cushman, professional baseball player, Buffalo Bisons, Milwaukee Brewers, Philadelphia Athletics, New York Metropolitans, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Toledo Maumees
• Dell Darling, professional baseball player, Buffalo Bisons, Chicago White Stockings, and St. Louis Browns
• Tim Federowicz, professional baseball player, Los Angeles Dodgers
• Bill Finneran, early professional baseball umpire
• George Flint, professional football player, Buffalo Bills
• Fernando Frye, college football player
• Eric Hicks, professional football player, Kansas City Chiefs
• Essie Hollis, professional basketball player, Detroit Pistons
• Sam Jethroe, Negro leagues and Major League baseball player from 1938 to 1966
• Jovon Johnson, professional football player, Ottawa Redblacks, CFL's Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award
• Caryn Kadavy, figure skater, 1987 World Bronze Medalist, 1988 Olympian
• Eddie Klep, professional baseball player, first white American to play in the Negro leagues
• Jack Laraway, professional football player, Buffalo Bills, Houston Oilers
• Tom Lawless, professional baseball player, St. Louis Cardinals, Toronto Blue Jays, and Montreal Expos
• Bob Learn, Jr., professional bowler, 1999 U.S. Open champion who also rolled the PBA's 10th televised 300 game
• Frank Liebel, professional football defensive back for NFL's New York Giants and Chicago Bears
• Matt Lynch, as of 2024 the only out gay head coach in college men's basketball^[1]
• Kayla McBride, professional basketball player, Minnesota Lynx, first-team All-American, Notre Dame
• Mike McCoy, professional football player, Green Bay Packers, unanimous first-team All-American for Notre Dame and 1969 Heisman Trophy candidate
• Curt Miller, WNBA professional basketball coach
• Mike Morrison, professional baseball player, Cleveland Spiders, Syracuse Stars and Baltimore Orioles
• Peter Nyari, professional baseball and Olympic athlete
• Bob Raudman, professional baseball player
• Bob Sanders, professional football player, Indianapolis Colts
• Brian Stablein, professional football player, Indianapolis Colts and Detroit Lions
• Mark Stepnoski, professional football player, Dallas Cowboys and Houston/Tennessee Oilers
• Woody Thompson, professional football player, Atlanta Falcons
• Blidi Wreh-Wilson, professional football player, Tennessee Titans and Atlanta Falcons

Business and politics

• Henry Alden Clark, U.S. Congressman
• Edward M. Baker, investment broker
• Judah Colt, pioneer
• Kathy Dahlkemper, U.S. Congresswoman and Erie County Executive
• Samuel A. Davenport, U.S. Congressman
• Daniel Dobbins, builder of the U.S. naval fleet for Battle of Lake Erie
• Thomas B. Hagen, Chairman of Erie Insurance
• William Himrod, iron industry pioneer and abolitionist
• Warren Kitzmiller, Vermont state legislator
• Michael Liebel, Jr., Mayor of Erie 1906–1911; Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania 1915–1917
• Reinhard Liebel, President of South Erie Iron Works; member of the Board of Fire Commissioners, Common Council and Select Council of Erie
• Harry Markopolos, blew whistle in Madoff securities fraud
• Louis Marx, toy maker and founder of Louis Marx and Company; established first factories in Erie and was a part-time resident
• Norman Morrison, Vietnam protester who self-immolated
• Joseph D. Pistone, aka Donnie Brasco, FBI agent who infiltrated Bonanno crime family
• Adena Miller Rich, suffragist, social worker in Chicago, director of Immigrants' Protective League
• Tom Ridge, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Governor of Pennsylvania, and U.S. Congressman
• James Patrick Rossiter, lawyer and politician
• William Lawrence Scott, 19th-century politician and wealthy businessman
• Milton Shreve, U.S. Congressman
• Thomas Sill, U.S. Congressman

Film, stage, and television

• Nick Adams, Broadway actor
• Alaska Thunderfuck 5000, drag performer and recording artist
• Billy Blanks, inventor of Taebo and martial arts film actor
• Marc Blucas, actor
• Marilyn Burns, actress, known for role as Sally in 1974 movie The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
• Bob Chitester, public television and documentary film producer, known as "...the man who made Milton Friedman a star..."^[2]
• Ann B. Davis, actress, known for role as Alice on TV's Brady Bunch
• Dorothy Dietrich, magician and escapologist
• Kurt Doss, child actor
• Christine Estabrook, television and film actress
• Ish Kabibble, comedian and actor
• Harry Kellar, magician
• Tina LeBlanc, ballet dancer, teacher and ballet master
• Emily Matson, journalist
• Julianna McCarthy, original cast member of The Young and the Restless
• Dan Rice, 19th century entertainer and clown
• Maria Sansone, television host of Good Day LA
• Steve Scully, host, political editor, and senior producer of C-SPAN's Washington Journal
• Jonathan Stark, actor and screenwriter
• Denman Thompson, playwright and actor
• Kay Williams, actress
• Walker Scobell, actor

Military and aerospace

• John Boyd, fighter pilot and military strategist who developed the OODA Loop and helped with the success of the Persian Gulf War
• Paul K. Carlton, general United States Air Force; commander in chief of the Military Airlift Command
• Philip Cochran, colonel United States Army Air Corps; commander of the 1st Air Commando Group in World War II; inspiration for the characters of "Flip Corkin" and "General Philerie" in comic strips by Milton Caniff
• Charles A. Curtze, rear admiral United States Navy
• Richard E. Ellsworth, U.S. Air Force Brigadier General
• Charles Vernon Gridley, U.S. Navy Commander, Captain, U.S.S. Olympia, Battle of Manila Bay; adopted Erie as his home after taking command of the USS Michigan there
• Louis J. Magill, Spanish–American War veteran; recipient of the Marine Corps Brevet Medal
• Seth Reed, Lt. Colonel, fought at Bunker Hill; instrumental in adding "E Pluribus Unum" to U.S. coins; founded Erie, as its first settler with his family, in 1795, at Presque Isle
• Strong Vincent, Union brigadier general; killed at Gettysburg; Harvard graduate; practiced law in Erie from Waterford, Erie County
• Anthony Wayne, American Revolutionary War general
• Paul J. Weitz, U.S. Naval aviator; NASA astronaut; Skylab 2 pilot; STS-6 (Shuttle Challenger) Commander
• William Maxwell Wood, first Surgeon General of the US Navy

Music

• Alan Baer, tuba, New York Philharmonic
• Harry Burleigh, classical music composer
• Walter Hendl, conductor, composer and pianist
• Peter Mennin, composer and teacher
• Patrick Monahan, lead singer of Train; solo artist; Grammy Award winner
• Chris Vrenna, drummer of rock band Nine Inch Nails
• Jack Stauber, Solo Musician and Songwriter
• War of Ages, Christian metal band

Naturalists

• Joe Root, 19th-century naturalist who lived at Presque Isle State Park

Religion

• Joan Chittister, Benedictine nun, author, and lecturer
• Max C. Currick, Reform rabbi
• Mary Lou Kownacki, Benedicine nun, activist, and writer
• John Mark Gannon, Catholic archbishop
• Theodore Jurewicz, Russian Orthodox priest and Byzantine iconographer

Science, medicine, and academia

• Richard Beals, Yale professor and author of several mathematical textbooks
• David Dausey, professor, author and epidemiologist
• Millicent Goldschmidt, microbiologist, professor emerita at University of Texas
• John Kanzius, inventor; radio and TV engineer and executive
• Tara Keck, professor at University College London, published numerous scholarly articles on neuroplasticity
• Artemas Martin, mathematician, published numerous scholarly articles on diophantine analysis
• Paul Siple, Antarctic explorer who developed the wind chill factor

Notes and References

1. News: Witz . Billy . 2024-03-08 . This Man Turned the Worst Job in College Basketball Into a Slam Dunk . 2024-03-09 . . en-US . 0362-4331.
2. News: McGurn . William . The Man Who Made Milton Friedman a Star . Wall Street Journal . 30 October 2020 . The Wall Street Journal . 22 June 2022.