List of people from Harlem

This is a list of people from Harlem in New York City.

The early period (pre-1920)

• John James Audubon – Naturalist^[1]
• Frederic Alexander Birmingham – Editor of Esquire magazine from 1945–1957, grew up in Harlem^[2]
• Richard Croker – Tammany Hall politician,^[3] lived at 26 Mount Morris Park West^[4]
• James Reese Europe – musician, credited with inventing jazz. 67 West 133rd Street^[1][5]
• Thomas Gilroy – New York mayor^[4]
• Alexander Hamilton – politician, lived in Harlem at the end of his life
• Hubert Harrison – "The Father of Harlem Radicalism"
• Scott Joplin – pianist/composer, lived at 133 West 138th Street in 1916, then at 163 West 131st Street until his death in 1917. Had a studio at 160 West 133rd Street.^[6]
• Alfred Henry Lewis – cowboy author^[7]
• Vincent James McMahon – Founder of the World Wide Wrestling Federation.
• Paul Meltsner – WPA era painter and muralist grew up in Harlem
• Thomas Nast – artist^[1]
• Philip A. Payton, Jr. – real estate entrepreneur. Lived at 13 West 131st Street.^[8]
• Norman Rockwell – lived as a child at 789 St. Nicholas Avenue.^[9]
• Norman Thomas – radical activist^[10]
• Daniel Tiemann – New York mayor^[11]
• Robert Van Wyck – New York mayor^[4]
• Cornelius Van Wyck Lawrence – New York mayor^[11]

Jewish, Italian, Irish Harlem (circa 1900–30)

Moe Berg

• Sholem Aleichem – writer, 110 Lenox Avenue^[12]
• Moe Berg – Major League Baseball catcher, and spy
• Milton Berle – born in a five-story walkup at 68 West 118th Street.^[13]
• Fanny Brice – actress, houses at West 128th Street and West 118th Street^[14]
• Art Buchwald – writer^[10]
• Bennett Cerf – publisher,^[15] was born at 68 West 118th Street on May 25, 1898.^[16] The address is the same as Milton Berle's.
• Morris Raphael Cohen – philosopher, 498 West 135th Street^[17]
• Milt Gabler - record producer, responsible for many innovations in the recording industry of the 20th century.^[18]
• Don Giosuele Galluci – gangster, 318 East 109th Street^[17]
• George and Ira Gershwin: composers, grew up in Harlem. Lived at 108 West 111th and other addresses.^[19] George wrote his first hit song, "Swanee", at his home at 520 W. 144 Street in 1919.^[9] The pair were living at 501 Cathedral Parkway in 1924, and it was in this apartment that George wrote Rhapsody in Blue.^[20]
• Lorenz Hart – lyricist, 59 West 119th Street.^[21]
• Oscar Hammerstein I – inventor and theatrical entrepreneur, lived at 333 Edgecombe Avenue^[9]
• Oscar Hammerstein II – writer and theatrical producer, addresses on East 116th Street and 112th Street^[22]
• Lorenz Hart - lyricist half of the Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart^[23]
• Harry Houdini – magician, lived at 278 West 113th Street from 1904 until his death in 1926^[24]
• Frank Hussey – Olympian, 129th Street^[25]
• Burt Lancaster – actor^[10]
• Solomon Libin – writer in Yiddish^[12]
• Seymour Martin Lipset - political sociologist, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and Hazel Professor of Public Policy at George Mason University^[26]
• Marx Brothers – comedians, 239 East 114th Street^[13]
• Arthur Miller – playwright, 45 West 110th Street^[27][28]
• Giuseppe Morello – gangster, 323 East 107th Street^[29]
• Belle Moskowitz - political advisor to New York Governor and 1928 presidential candidate Al Smith^[30]
• Al Pacino – Academy Award winning actor
• Charlie Pilkington - three time New York champion boxer, East 102nd Street
• David Rappaport - fashion manufacturer, designer and painter^[31]
• Richard Rogers – composer, 3 West 120th Street^[1][15]
• Henry Roth – writer, 108 East 119th Street^[12]
• Moses Reicherson – linguist, East 106th Street^[32]
• Yossele Rosenblatt – celebrated cantor^[33]
• Ignazio Lupo – counterfeiter, gangster^[29]
• Jessie Sampter – poet^[25]
• John Sanford, born Julian Lawrence Shapiro - screenwriter and author who wrote 24 books^[34]
• Pasquarelli Spinelli – gangster, 318 East 109th Street^[17]
• Arthur Sulzberger – publisher of the New York Times ^[33]
• Henrietta Szold – founder of Hadassah^[25]
• Vincent and Ciro Terranova – gangsters, 352 East 116th Street^[35]

The Harlem Renaissance and World War II (1920–1945)

409 Edgecombe Avenue

• Louis Armstrong – Musician^[36]
• Count Basie – Bandleader and pianist. Lived at 555 Edgecombe Avenue.^[37][38]
• George Wilson Becton – Religious cult leader^[39]
• Julius Bledsoe – Singer, lived at 409 Edgecombe Avenue^[38]
• Arna Bontemps – Writer
• William Stanley Braithwaite – Poet and essayist, lived at 409 Edgecombe Avenue^[38]
• [[<ref>S.C. HR 3443</ref> Charles David Brooks, Jr. (III)]] – Director and Professor of Theatre, Harlem Hospital lived at 53 lenox Avenue b. 1939
• Eunice Carter – New York state judge, lived at 409 Edgecombe Avenue^[38]
• John Henrik Clarke – Editor of Freedomways Magazine and of several books, sometime professor. Moved to Harlem in 1933.^[40]
• Collyer brothers – Compulsive hoarders, lived in a townhouse at 128th Street and Fifth Avenue in Harlem their entire adult lives
• Countee Cullen – Poet^[36]
• Aaron Douglas – Painter, lived at 409 Edgecombe Avenue^[38][40]
• W. E. B. Du Bois – Activist, writer. Lived at 409 Edgecombe.^[37][38]
• Duke Ellington – Composer, band leader. Lived on Riverside Drive in Harlem and, at another point, at 555 Edgecombe.^[37][41]
• Father Divine – Religious leader^[41] Lived in several locations in Harlem, including on Astor Row, and maintained offices at 20 West 115th Street^[42]
• Rudolph Fisher – Writer^[40]
• Marcus Garvey – Political figure, black separatist. Home at 235 West 131st Street^[43]
• Charles Manuel "Sweet Daddy" Grace – Evangelist, born in Cape Verde Islands but became prominent in Harlem in the 1920s^[41]
• Lillian Harris Dean – Entrepreneur known as Pigfoot Mary
• Lionel Hampton – Jazz musician. Lived in Harlem through World War II and for some years thereafter.^[40]
• Hubert Harrison – "The Father of Harlem Radicalism"
• Coleman Hawkins – Musician, saxophone player. Lived at 555 Edgecombe Avenue.^[44]
• Johnnie Hodges – Musician, lived at 555 Edgecombe.^[37]
• Billie Holiday – Singer, lived with her mother at 108 West 139th Street^[45]
• Casper Holstein – Gangster
• Lena Horne – Singer and actress. Lived at 555 Edgecombe Avenue.^[44]
• Langston Hughes – Writer^[46]
• Zora Neale Hurston – Writer^[46]
• Bumpy Johnson – Gangster, lived in Lenox Terrace at 132nd Street and Lenox Avenue near the end of his life.^[47]
• James P. Johnson – Pianist
• James Weldon Johnson – Author, activist, composer. Lived at 187 West 135th Street.^[37]
• Donald Jones (actor) – Actor and dancer born in Harlem but moved to the Netherlands
• Fiorello La Guardia – New York Mayor, from East Harlem
• Cora La Redd – Dancer^[36]
• Alain Locke – Editor^[36]
• Joe Louis – Boxer, lived at 555 Edgecombe Avenue^[44]
• Claude McKay – Poet and novelist. Born in Jamaica but moved to Harlem and wrote the famous novel Home to Harlem, West 131st Street^[48]
• Florence Mills – Entertainer
• Adam Clayton Powell, Sr. – Religious, civic leader^[41]
• A. Philip Randolph – Activist, labor organizer
• Paul Robeson – Singer and actor, lived at 555 Edgecombe Avenue.^[37][38]
• Bill "Bojangles" Robinson – Dancer, lived on Strivers' Row.^[37]
• James Herman Robinson – Pastor of the Church of the Master on 122nd St., founder of Operation Crossroads Africa, a forerunner of the Peace Corps
• Willie "The Lion" Smith – Pianist
• Stephanie St. Clair – Criminal leader, lived at 409 Edgecombe Avenue.^[49]
• Wallace Thurman – Writer^[36]
• Jean Toomer – Writer^[40]
• James Van Der Zee – Photographer^[41]
• Fats Waller – Pianist, born at 107 West 134th Street^[50]
• Madam C.J. Walker – Philanthropist and tycoon
• A'Lelia Walker – Socialite and businesswoman
• Ethel Waters – Singer, actress. Born in Chester, Pennsylvania
• Walter Francis White – Civil rights leader^[51]
• Bert Williams – Vaudeville actor. Born in Antigua. Died in 1922, near the start of the Harlem Renaissance.
• Mary Lou Williams – Pianist, lived at 63 Hamilton Terrace^[45]

Famous after World War II

• Miles Aiken, basketball player
• James Baldwin – Novelist, lived at one time at 131st Street and Adam Clayton Powell Blvd. (which was called "seventh avenue" when Baldwin still lived there)^[52]
• Romare Bearden – Artist, primarily working in collage.
• Harry Belafonte – Calypso musician
• Claude Brown – Novelist, wrote Manchild in the Promised Land
• Ron Brown – U.S. Secretary of Commerce, grew up in the Hotel Theresa.^[53]
• Kareem Campbell – Pro Skateboarder
• George Carlin – Comedian, 121st Street between Amsterdam and Broadway^[54]
• Jimmy Castor – R&B/funk bandleader
• Chevy Chase – comedian, raised in East Harlem.^[55]
• Dr. Kenneth Clark – Psychologist and activist, lived at 555 Edgecombe Avenue.^[38]
• Evelyn Cunningham – civil-rights-era journalist and aide to Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller of New York^[56]
• Jules Dassin – Movie director^[1]
• Benjamin J. Davis – New York city councilman, ultimately sent to jail for violations of the Smith Act^[40]
• Ossie Davis – Actor, lived in Harlem in the late 1930s and mid-1940s
• Sammy Davis, Jr. – Singer, member of Rat Pack, born in Harlem Hospital in 1925.^[57]
• Roy DeCarava – Photographer, born in Harlem in 1919.^[58]
• Wanda De Jesus (born August 26, 1960) is an American actress.
• David Dinkins – Mayor of New York, lived in the Riverton Houses.^[59]
• Ralph Ellison – Novelist, wrote Invisible Man, about a man who moves from the deep south to Harlem. Lived at 730 Riverside Drive in Harlem.^[60]
• Erik Estrada – Actor, from East Harlem
• Jack Geiger – Physician, cofounder of Physicians for Social Responsibility; lived with Canada Lee for a year at 555 Edgecombe Avenue.^[61]
• Althea Gibson – Professional tennis player. Lived at 115 West 143rd Street.^[37]
• Oscar Hammerstein II – Writer and theatrical producer^[1]
• W. C. Handy – Composer and bandleader, lived on Strivers' Row in Harlem towards the end of his life.^[37]
• Bennie Harris – Musician, trumpet^[62]
• Lorenz Hart – Lyricist^[1]
• Johnny Hartman – Vocalist – Born in Louisiana, grew up in Chicago, moved to Harlem's Sugar Hill in 1950's
• Evan Hunter (a.k.a. "Ed McBain") – writer, grew up in East Harlem.^[63]
• Roy Innis – Head of the Congress of Racial Equality. Lived in Harlem but ultimately moved to Brooklyn. "Forget Harlem. Brooklyn is now the world's black capital."^[64]
• JTG – WWE wrestler
• LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka – Dancer/poet/activist
• June Jordan – Caribbean American poet, novelist, journalist, biographer, dramatist, teacher and committed activist
• Charles Kenyatta – Activist, pastor, bodyguard and confidant of Malcolm X^[41]
• Ben E. King – Soul singer and former lead tenor of The Drifters, best known for the song, "Stand By Me"
• Canada Lee – Actor, lived at 555 Edgecombe Avenue.^[61]
• Frankie Lymon – Lead tenor of The Teenagers, best known for the song, "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?"
• Frank Lucas – Drug dealer
• Carl McCall – One-time New York State Senator, and Comptroller of New York State^[41]
• Jackie McLean – Musician, alto saxophone^[62]
• Malcolm X – Preacher, revolutionary
• Earl Manigault – Basketball player
• Thurgood Marshall – Supreme Court justice, lived at 409 Edgecombe Avenue.^[37][38]
• Arthur Miller – playwright^[1]
• Moby – Musician, born in Harlem
• Alice Neel – Artist, lived in East Harlem^[1]
• Eleanor Holmes Norton – One-time head of the Commission of Human Rights for New York City, now non-voting Delegate from the District of Columbia to the United States House of Representatives. "There is something magical about Harlem."^[41]
• Elaine Parker – Community organizer and activist, Chairperson of Harlem C.O.R.E. Director of the Manhattan Borough President's Office, Special Assistant to the City Council President City of NY.^[65]
• Gordon Parks – Film director and photographer^[41]
• Basil Paterson – New York state senator, New York City deputy mayor for labor relations, Vice-Chairman of the Democratic National Committee^[41][66]
• Samuel Pierce – Ronald Reagan's Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, lived in the Riverton Houses.^[59]
• Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. – Politician
• Bud Powell – Musician, pianist^[62]
• Tito Puente, Sr. (April 20, 1923 – June 1, 2000), Musician Spanish Harlem
• Isiah Robinson – One-time president of the New York City Board of Education^[41]
• Gene Anthony Ray – Dancer and actor^[67]
• Sugar Ray Robinson – Boxer, Harlem entrepreneur. Moved to Harlem at age 12.
• Sonny Rollins – Musician, tenor saxophone^[62]
• Steve Rossi – Comedian, former manager for Howard Stern^[68]
• Henry Roth – novelist^[1]
• J. D. Salinger – Novelist, lived at 3681 Broadway until he was nine years old.^[69]
• Hazel Scott – Pianist, one-time wife of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., first African American woman with her own television show.^[41]
• Nina Simone – Singer. Lived, for a time, in Duke Ellington's old house in Harlem.^[41]
• Thomas Sowell – Professional economist and author
• Percy Sutton – One-time Borough President of Manhattan. "If I were offered a million dollars, I wouldn't leave Harlem."^[41]
• Billy Strayhorn Jazz Composer/Arranger/ Songwriter
• Clarice TaylorActress on the Cosby Show
• Billy Taylor – Jazz pianist, lived in the Riverton Houses.^[59]
• Dinah Washington – "Queen of the Blues", born in Alabama but became famous when she lived in Harlem.^[41]
• Roy Wilkins – Civil rights leader, lived at 409 Edgecombe.^[37]
• Louis T. Wright – Influential physician, chairman of the board of the NAACP^[51]
• Morrie Yohai – Rabbi, inventor of Cheez Doodles.^[70]

Rap, hip hop, R&B and reality

• 40 Cal – Rapper
• ASAP Rocky-Rapper From Harlem (Member of ASAP Mob crew)
• Azealia Banks – Rapper/Singer/Lyricist
• Black Rob-Rapper from Spanish Harlem
• Cam'ron – Rapper (Owner of Diplomat Records)(Dipset)
• Crash Crew – Old school rap group
• Yaya DaCosta – ANTM contestant/model
• Damon Dash – (Former CEO of Roc-A-Fella Records)
• DJ Red Alert – DJ/Hip Hop Pioneer
• DJ Hollywood – VH-1 Hip Hop Honoree, & Rap/Hip Hop Pioneer
• Kool Moe Dee – Old school rapper and one third of the Treacherous Three
• Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock – Rap duo best known for their hit "It Takes Two"
• Fatman Scoop – Grammy/MTV Award Winner/Radio Personality/Reality TV Star
• Fearless Four – Pioneer rap group
• Doug E. Fresh – 80's rapper, runs a waffle house in Harlem
• Spoonie Gee – Pioneer rapper
• Charles Hamilton – Rapper
• Ilacoin -Hip Hop Artist, Creator of the "Pause" game
• Freddie Jackson – Singer
• Jim Jones (rapper) – Rapper (Co-CEO of Diplomat Records) (Dipset)
• Kelis – R&B singer and songwriter
• Big L – Legendary Deceased rapper
• Puff Daddy – Rapper/producer
• Jae Millz – Rapper
• Lil Mama – Rapper and judge of America's Best Dance Crew
• Darlene Lewis - Writer/lyricist, model, First Female producer/host Hiphop music video talk shows circa 1984- present
• Mase – Rapper
• Freekey Zekey – Rapper (Owner/CEO of 730 Dips Records)
• Immortal Technique – Rapper
• Biz Markie – Rapper/disc jockey
• Cannibal Ox – Rap duo
• Kurtis Blow – Rapper
• P-Star – Rapper/singer/actress
• Ebony Haith – ANTM contestant/model
• Teddy Riley- Producer, artist
• Carl Hancock Rux- Writer/Performer
• Sheena Sakai – ANTM contestant/model
• Isabel Sanford- Actor and Co-Star of The Jeffersons
• Juelz Santana – Rapper (Owner/CEO of Skull Gang Records)
• Bre Scullark – ANTM contestant/model
• Tupac Shakur- Rapper/Actor/Poet
• Smoke DZA- Rapper
• Dani Stevenson – Singer
• Keith Sweat – Singer
• Teyana Taylor – Singer/Rapper signed to Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Music label
• Treacherous Three – Old school rap group
• T-Rex – Battle Rapper (Member Of Dot Mob)
• Vado – Rapper (We The Best Records)
• Billy Dee Williams – Actor
• JR Writer – Rapper (Dipset Member)
• Charlie Clips - Battle Rapper
• Murda Mook - Battle Rapper (Member Of Dot Mob)
• Loaded Lux - Battle Rapper

21st century residents

• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – Basketball player, moved into a Mount Morris brownstone at 30 West 120th Street^[71] in September 2006.^[72]
• Lorraine Adams – writer and journalist^[73]
• Maya Angelou – Author, owns a home on 120th Street in Mount Morris Park district. "I never agreed with Thomas Wolfe. I never thought you can’t go home again. I've been coming home to Harlem for 50 years."^[74]
• Angela Bassett – Emmy and Academy Award-nominated actress, and Golden Globe winning actress.
• Charlotte d'Amboise – actress and dancer.
• Jonathan Franzen – Author, lived on 125th Street when he wrote his book The Corrections^[75]
• Marcia Gay Harden – Actress^[46][76]
• Neil Patrick Harris – actor, lives near Morningside Park when not in Los Angeles.^[77]
• Terrance Mann – actor and dancer.
• Cameron Mathison – Actor on All My Children and contestant on Dancing with the Stars, 136 West 130th Street^[78][79]
• S. Epatha Merkerson – Actress ^[46]
• Mandy Patinkin – Actor^[46]
• Adam Clayton Powell IV – New York City council member
• Richard Price – writer^[73]
• Marcus Samuelsson – Chef and restauranteur, living in a duplex near Frederick Douglass Boulevard as of 2010.^[80]
• Akhnaten Spencer-El – Olympic fencer^[81]
• Stephen Spinella – Tony Award-winning actor^[82]
• Joel Steinberg – Famously killed his adopted daughter, moved to Harlem after his 2004 release from prison^[83]
• Khalid Yasin – in Harlem, New York, raised in Brooklyn, is a teacher and lecturer of Islam.
• Alton White – Hockey player

Representatives

• Charles B. Rangel – United States House of Representatives, lives in Lenox Terrace at 132nd Street and Lenox Avenue. "I've always lived in Harlem. Never wanted to go anywhere else."^[47]
• David Paterson – New York State Governor
• José M. Serrano – New York State Senate
• Keith L.T. Wright – New York State Assembly
• Adam Clayton Powell IV – New York State Assembly
• Robert Jackson – New York City council
• Inez Dickens- New York City Council

References