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List of people from Newton, Massachusetts

Newton, Massachusetts has been the home of many notable people.

Academics

Michael Rosbash, geneticist and chronobiologist at Brandeis University, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2017
Daron Acemoglu, economist and professor of economics at MIT
Frederick M. Ausubel, molecular biologist, professor at Harvard Medical School
David Berson, neurobiologist, professor at Brown University
Jean Briggs, anthropologist and expert on Inuit languages, raised in Newton
J. Walter Fewkes, ethnologist and archaeologist
Stanley Fischer, former governor of the Bank of Israel, former professor at the MIT Department of Economics
Alexandra I. Forsythe, author of the first computer science textbook; helped found the Stanford University Department of Computer Science
William Tudor Gardiner, 55th Governor of Maine, January 2, 1929 – January 4, 1933
Caroline D. Gentile, associate professor emeritus of education, University of Maine at Presque Isle
Michael Hammer, one of the founders of the management theory of business process reengineering
H. Robert Horvitz, MIT professor of biology; won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 2002 together with Sydney Brenner and John Sulston
Steven Hyman, neuroscientist and Provost of Harvard University
Ruth Langer, professor of theology at Boston College; expert on Jewish Liturgy and on Christian-Jewish relations
Robert C. Lieberman, political scientist and provost of the Johns Hopkins University
William Stetson Merrill, classifier at Newberry Library; expert on classification of library books, author of A Code for Classifiers
Arnold A. Offner, historian, author, and former professor
Rosalind Picard, director of the Affective Computing Research Group at the MIT Media Lab
Jeffrey Sachs, Harvard professor, 1980–2002; current director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University
Ruggero Santilli, Center for Theoretical Physics of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Jonathan Sarna, Joseph H. Braun and Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History in the department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies at Brandeis University
Andrei Shleifer, economist and professor of economics at Harvard
Isadore Singer, mathematician, recipient of the Abel Prize (2004) and National Medal of Science (1983), and Institute Professor in the Department of Mathematics at MIT
Lawrence Summers, former Harvard president, former secretary of the treasury, and nephew of the Nobel Prize laureate Paul Samuelson
Scott Sumner, economist and professor of economics at Bentley University
Susumu Tonegawa, MIT professor; won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1987
Edward Wagenknecht, literary critic, prolific writer and Boston University professor, lived on Otis Street in West Newton
Melvin M. Weiner, electrical engineer, author, inventor, he was the first to reduce pass-bands and stop-bands in photonic crystals to practice
Victor Weisskopf, theoretical physicist; worked with Heisenberg, Schrödinger and Niels Bohr; group leader of the Theoretical Division of the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos
Howard Zinn, radical historian and author of A People's History of the United States

Actors and actresses

Peggy Bernier, actress and comedienne
Virginia Bosler, actress
Louis C.K., born Louis Szekely, stand-up comedian, Louie TV series, actor and writer
Jessica Chaffin, actress, comedienne, and writer
Priyanka Chopra, actress
Matt Damon, actor, film producer, philanthropist and screenwriter
Dimitri Diatchenko, actor and musician
Anne Dudek, actress, played Dr. Amber Volakis in TV series House
Kathryn Erbe, actress, star of Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Marin Hinkle, actress, best known for playing Judith Harper on CBS's Two and a Half Men
Josephine Hull, actress
Jennifer Dundas Actress
Alex Karpovsky, actor, best known for playing Ray Ploshansky on HBO's Girls
Jonathan Katz, actor, best known for his starring role on the animated sitcom Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist
Karen Kondazian, actress and author
John Krasinski, actor, best known for playing Jim Halpert on NBC's The Office
Ben Kurland, actor
Matt LeBlanc, actor, best known for role on sit-com Friends
Jack Lemmon, Oscar-winning actor
Christopher Lloyd, actor, best known for playing Rev. Jim in TV series Taxi and as "Doc" (Emmett Brown) in Back to the Future films
Robert Morse, actor, star of How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and Mad Men
Olga C. Nardone, actress, best known for playing three parts in The Wizard of Oz
Hari Nef, actress, model, and writer
B. J. Novak, comedian, writer, best known for playing Ryan Howard on The Office
Rebecca Pidgeon, actress, singer and songwriter, wife of playwright David Mamet
Amy Poehler, actress and comedian, Saturday Night Live and Parks and Recreation
Robert Preston, actor, "Professor" Harold Hill in The Music Man
James Remar, actor, known for many films and TV series Dexter
Joe Rogan, actor and comedian
Eli Roth, film director, producer, writer and actor
John Slattery, actor, best known for playing Roger Sterling in Mad Men
Arnold Stang, comic actor
Brian J. White, actor, best known for his role in The Shield

Artists

David Bowes, painter
Mickie Caspi, artist, calligrapher
Tama Hochbaum, artist and photographer
Plane Jane (Andrew Dunayevsky), drag performer and competitor on season 16 of RuPaul's Drag Race
Roger Kellaway, Oscar-nominated and Grammy-winning composer, arranger, and pianist
Bow Sim Mark, wushu practitioner; mother of actor Donnie Yen
Florence Maynard, photographer
Arthur Polonsky, draughtsman, painter and academic
Nancy Schön, sculptor of the Make Way for Ducklings statues on Boston Common; also did statues of Winnie-the-Pooh and Eeyore at the Newton Free Library
Sidewalk Sam (Robert Guillemin), folk artist
Edwin Lord Weeks, painter
Morgan Bassichis, American comedic performer, writer, and artist

Authors, writers, journalists, poets

Binyamin Appelbaum, journalist
Tom Ashbrook, journalist and radio broadcaster
Isaac Asimov, prolific science fiction and non-fiction writer
Russell Banks, writer of fiction and poetry
Alex Beam, columnist for the Boston Globe
Thomas Bulfinch, author of Bulfinch's Mythology
Ty Burr, film critic for the Boston Globe
Virginia Lee Burton, illustrator and author of children's books
Russell Gordon Carter, writer
Anita Diamant, author of fiction and nonfiction books
Ralph Waldo Emerson, essayist, poet, lecturer, philosopher
Bill Everett, comic book writer, artist (creator of Sub-Mariner, co-creator of Daredevil)
Ellen Goodman, Pulitzer Prize-winning syndicated columnist
Ann Warren Griffith, writer
Dan Harris, correspondent for ABC News; anchor for Nightline; co-anchor for the weekend edition of Good Morning America
Nate Kenyon, author
Raymond Kurzweil, writer, futurist, inventor
Don Lessem, author
Barry Levy, screenwriter, best known for the 2008 film Vantage Point
Bill Lichtenstein, Peabody Award-winning journalist and filmmaker
Melissa Lozada-Oliva, poet and spoken word artist
David Mamet, playwright, screenwriter and film director
Adam Mansbach, novelist
Elizabeth McCracken, author
Tova Mirvis, novelist
Diana Muir, writer and historian
Charles J.V. Murphy, journalist and author
Michael Novak, author
William Novak, author
Robert Pinsky, former Poet Laureate of the United States
Caroline Mehitable Fisher Sawyer, writer, editor
Anne Sexton, poet, writer
Edward Sheehan, journalist and author
Samuel Shem, playwright
Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom's Cabin
Andrew Szanton, collaborative memoirist
Celia Thaxter, poet and writer
Ben Ames Williams, novelist
Jonathan Wilson, novelist and critic

Business and industry

Roger Berkowitz, owner of Legal Sea Foods
Charles Bilezikian, co-founder of Christmas Tree Shops
Elizabeth Boit, textile manufacturer
Richard B. Carter, head of Carter's Ink Company 1905–1949
Jim Davis, CEO of New Balance
Semyon Dukach, professional gambler, entrepreneur, writer
Leo Kahn, co-founder of Staples
Jim Koch, co-founder and chairman of the Boston Beer Company
Louis K. Liggett, drug store magnate
Eddie Lowery, golf caddy, auto dealer
John Palmer Parker, early Hawaiian rancher, married into Hawaiian royal family
Sumner Redstone, global media businessman
Francis Edgar Stanley (1849–1918), co-inventor of the Stanley Steamer
Freelan Oscar Stanley (1849–1940), co-inventor of the Stanley Steamer and builder of the Stanley Hotel
Donald Valle, founder and owner of Valle's Steak House
Richard Valle, restaurateur; son of Donald Valle; owner of Valle's Steak House
Peter Lynch, Mutual Fund Manager & Philanthropist; Managed Fidelity Magellan Fund 1977-1990

Colonial figures

Waban, 17th-century American Indian tribal chief; lived in Nonantum
Ephraim Williams, colonel in the colonial militia during the French and Indian War and benefactor of Williams College
Thomas Wiswall (1601–1683), prominent early citizen of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and Cambridge Village, Massachusetts

Environmentalists

Francis P. Farquhar (1887–1974), former president of the Sierra Club

Government, education and politics

Benigno Aquino Jr. and Corazon Aquino, Filipino public intellectual and political figures; lived with their five children in Newton, 1980–1983; Corazon eventually became the first woman president of the Philippines (1986–1992); their third child and only son, Benigno III or "Noynoy", was elected president in 2010
Benigno Aquino III, 15th president of the Philippines (assumed office June 2010; term ended June 2016), lived in Newton 1980–1983
Jake Auchincloss, member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Massachusetts's 4th congressional district
Thomas Cardozo, first African American State Superintendent of Education in Mississippi (1874–1876)
Evan Falchuk, founder of the United Independent Party and candidate for governor of Massachusetts in 2014
Barney Frank, former U.S. Representative for Massachusetts's 4th congressional district
Joseph Healy, U.S. Representative from New Hampshire
Joseph Kennedy III, son of Joseph P. Kennedy II and former U.S. Representative for Massachusetts's 4th congressional district
Richard Lakin, Freedom Rider, school principal, terrorism victim
Horace Mann, public educator, college president (Antioch College) and U.S. Representative from Massachusetts
Lisa Monaco, United States Deputy Attorney General and former Homeland Security Advisor
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran; exiled after Ayatollah Khomeini took power; lived for a short time in Newton
Cyrus Peirce, public educator, college president of Framingham State College (once located in West Newton); namesake of the Peirce School in West Newton
John Pigeon, representative of Newton to the Massachusetts Provincial Congress and served as Massachusetts Commissary General while a resident
Roger Sherman, only person to have signed all four basic documents of American sovereignty: the Continental Association of 1774, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the United States Constitution; born and spent his first two years in Newton
Henry Lawrence Southwick, author, actor and 3rd President of Emerson College (1908–1932)
Nguyen Van Thieu, exiled President of South Vietnam
Rochelle Walensky, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
John W. Weeks, mayor of Newton; U.S. Congressman and U.S. Senator from Massachusetts; U.S. Secretary of War under Harding
Sinclair Weeks, son of John W. Weeks; born in West Newton; like his father, served as mayor of Newton and U.S. Senator; U.S. Secretary of Commerce under President Dwight Eisenhower
Harry F. Stimpson Jr., lawyer who was the United States Ambassador to Paraguay

Military

James S. Gracey, Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard

Music

Leonard Bernstein, composer, conductor, pedagogue, pianist.
Robert Beaser, composer, professor, The Juilliard School
Dai Buell, pianist, performed the first piano recital on radio in 1921, lived at the Aloha Bungalow
Ralph Burns, songwriter, bandleader, composer, conductor, arranger and bebop pianist
Rob Chiarelli, multiple Grammy Award winner
Catie Curtis, folk/pop singer
Stephen Custer, cellist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, grew up in Newton
Fat Mike, lead singer and bassist of punk rock band NOFX
Alfred Genovese, principal oboist of Metropolitan Opera and Boston Symphony Orchestra
Osvaldo Golijov, Grammy award-winning composer of classical music
Avi Jacob, singer-songwriter
Mike Mangini, drummer for Dream Theater
Vaughn Monroe, singer, trumpeter and big band leader
Jane Morgan, popular singer, specializing in traditional pop music
Jesse Novak, composer
Aoife O'Donovan, singer-songwriter, lead singer of band Crooked Still
Seiji Ozawa, Boston Symphony Orchestra Music Director Laureate
Horatio Parker, composer, first Dean of Yale School of Music, born in Auburndale (a village of Newton)
Rachel Platten, singer and songwriter
Seth Putnam, singer and leader of grindcore band Anal Cunt
Fritz Richmond, jug and washtub bass player
Mark Sandman, lead singer of the alternative rock band Morphine
Jason Solowsky, composer

Philosophy, religion and spirituality

Ram Dass (Dr. Richard Alpert), author, philosophic and religious guru
Mary Baker Eddy, founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist; her last home has been preserved as the Dupee Estate-Mary Baker Eddy Home
Timothy Leary, author, psychologist, lecturer at Harvard, advocate of L.S.D.-25 (i.e., lysergic acid diethylamide) and other entheogens

Physicians

Donald Berwick, former Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; candidate for Massachusetts Governor in 2014
Atul Gawande, general and endocrine surgeon at Brigham and Women's Hospital
Kurt Julius Isselbacher, M.D., American physician and the former Mallinckrodt Distinguished Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Director Emeritus of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center
Sara Murray Jordan, gastroenterologist

Political activists

Charles Jacobs, founder of the American Anti-Slavery Group and of The David Project Center for Jewish Leadership
Andrea Levin, director of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America
Leonard Zakim, prominent New England religious and civil rights leader

Producers and directors

Brad Falchuk, writer, director, and producer of Nip/Tuck and Glee
Andrew Bujalski, film director, screenwriter, and actor
Lyn Greene, writer, director and producer of Nip/Tuck, Boss and Masters of Sex
Eli Roth, film director, producer, actor
Bruce Sinofsky, director of documentary films, Brothers Keeper, The Paradise Lost Trilogy, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster (TV series), Iconoclasts
Julie Taymor, director of Broadway theatre and film

Psychologists and psychiatrists

Julian Jaynes, psychologist
Kenneth Levin, psychiatrist and historian
Kurt Lewin, "the father of social psychology"

Radio, television personalities

Paula S. Apsell, television producer
Tom Ashbrook, host of the NPR radio show On Point
Maria Lopez, former judge, TV personality
Jade McCarthy, ESPN sportscaster
Suzyn Waldman, color commentator for New York Yankees

Science, medicine and technology

Michael Rosbash, geneticist and chronobiologist at Brandeis University, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2017
Dan Bricklin, with Bob Frankston, co-creator of VisiCalc, the first spreadsheet
Charles Stark Draper, inventor of the aircraft inertial guidance system; founder of MIT's Draper Labs
Wes Hildreth, a USGS geologist born in Newton.
Reginald Fessenden (1866–1932), inventor and radio pioneer; his house at 45 Waban Hill Road is listed in the National Register of Historic Places
Bob Frankston, with Dan Bricklin, co-creator of VisiCalc, the first spreadsheet
Atul Gawande, surgeon, writer for The New Yorker
Ashish Jha, Dean of Brown University School of Public Health and White House COVID-19 pandemic Response Coordinator
Jonathan Mann, head of the World Health Organization's global AIDS project
Charles Johnson Maynard, naturalist and ornithologist; lived in the Charles Maynard House
Thomas C. Peebles, physician, responsible for first isolating the measles virus, setting the stage for the development of a vaccine
Judy Smith, nurse who disappeared from Philadelphia in 1997; found murdered in North Carolina five months later
Rochelle Walensky, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and former Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital
Frank E. Winsor, civil engineer and chief engineer of the Quabbin Reservoir project

Songwriters

Katharine Lee Bates, professor of English at Wellesley College and author of the lyrics to "America the Beautiful"
Samuel Francis Smith, Baptist minister and author of the lyrics to My Country, 'Tis of Thee, also known as "America"

Sports

Auto racing

Pete Hamilton, NASCAR racer, winner of the 1970 Daytona 500

Baseball

The following are current and former players of the Boston Red Sox:
- Matt Clement (former)
- Jim Corsi (former) (born in Newton)
- John Curtis (former) (born in Newton)
- Hal Deviney (former) (born in Newton)
- JD Drew (former)
- Bob Gallagher (former) (born in Newton)
- Gabe Kapler (former)
- Mark Loretta (former)
- Doug Mirabelli (former)
- Trot Nixon (former)
- David Ortiz (former)
- Wily Mo Peña (former)
- Jimmy Piersall (former)
- Jason Varitek (former)
- Ted Williams (former)

The following also played Major League Baseball:
- Bob Barr (born in Newton)
- Sean DePaula (born in Newton)
- Bob Dresser (born in Newton)
- Jake Fishman (born in Newton)

The following play for a national team:
- Jake Fishman, American-Israeli (born in Newton; plays for Team Israel)
- Ben Wanger, American-Israeli baseball pitcher (born in Newton; plays for Team Israel)

Basketball

Geoffrey Gray (born 1997), American player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
Tom Heinsohn (1934–2020), NBA player
Jayson Tatum, NBA player

Boxing

Joe DeNucci, middleweight boxer and MA State Auditor

Fencing

Paul Friedberg, Olympic fencer

Figure skating

Tenley Albright (born 1935 in Newton Centre), first American female skater to win an Olympic gold medal; other titles included 1952 Olympic silver medal, 1953 and 1955 World Champion, 1953 and 1955 North American champion, and 1952–1956 U.S. national champion
Gracie Gold, 2014 and 2016 U.S. champion, Olympic team bronze medalist, born in Newton
Jennifer Kirk, 2000 World Junior champion, born in Newton
John Summers, 1978–80 national champion in ice dancing