List of Famous people born in Massachusetts, United States of America

James Lord Pierpont was a New England-born songwriter, arranger, organist, Confederate Soldier, and composer, best known for writing and composing "Jingle Bells" in 1857, originally entitled "The One Horse Open Sleigh". He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and died in Winter Haven, Florida. His composition "Jingle Bells" has become synonymous with the Christmas holiday and is one of the most performed and most recognizable songs in the world.

Ronald Ludington was an American figure skating coach and pair skater. With Nancy Rouillard Ludington, he was the 1960 Olympic bronze medalist, 1959 World bronze medalist, and a four-time U.S. national champion.

Fitz-John Winthrop, was the governor of the Colony of Connecticut from 1698 until his death on November 27, 1707.

Louis John Papan was a Democratic California politician. He was known as the "Dean of the Assembly" for his 20 years in the California State Assembly.

Michael Scully is an American television writer and producer. He is known for his work as executive producer and showrunner of the animated sitcom The Simpsons from 1997 to 2001. Scully grew up in West Springfield, Massachusetts and long had an interest in writing. He was an underachiever at school and dropped out of college, going on to work in a series of jobs. Eventually, in 1986, he moved to Los Angeles where he worked as a stand-up comic and wrote for Yakov Smirnoff.

Moses Gill was a Massachusetts politician who briefly served as the state's Acting Governor. He is the state's only acting governor to die in office. A successful businessman, he became one of the leading settlers of Princeton, Massachusetts, entering politics shortly before the American Revolutionary War. He served on the Massachusetts Provincial Congress's executive committee until the state adopted its constitution in 1780, after which he continued to serve on the state's Governor's Council.

Edith Barrett was an American actress. She was a romantic star on Broadway and in the Little Theatre Movement in New England summer stock from the mid-1920s to the late 1930s. Here repertoire included plays by James M. Barry, William Shakespeare, Noël Coward, Robert Browning, A.A. Milne, and George Bernard Shaw. Her best-known cinematic work includes I Walked with a Zombie (1943), Ruthless (1948) and Jane Eyre (1943).

Maryann Plunkett is an American actress. Plunkett has performed on the stage both on Broadway and Off-Broadway. She has appeared in all of the Richard Nelson Apple Family Plays.

Richard Sheldon Palais is a mathematician working in geometry who introduced the Principle of Symmetric Criticality, the Mostow–Palais theorem, the Lie–Palais theorem, the Morse–Palais lemma, and the Palais–Smale compactness condition.

Katharine Dukakis, known as Kitty Dukakis, is an American author. She is the wife of former Massachusetts governor and U.S. presidential candidate Michael Dukakis.