List of Famous people born in Pennsylvania, United States of America
Kenneth Frazier
Kenneth Carleton Frazier is an American business executive. He is the chairman and CEO of the pharmaceutical company Merck & Co.. After joining Merck & Co. as general counsel, he directed the company's defense against litigation over the anti-inflammatory drug Vioxx. Frazier is the first African American man to lead a major pharmaceutical company. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2018.
Hank Gathers
Eric Wilson "Hank" Gathers Jr. was an American college basketball player for the Loyola Marymount Lions in the West Coast Conference (WCC). As a junior in 1989, he became the second player in NCAA Division I history to lead the nation in scoring and rebounding in the same season. Gathers was a consensus second-team All-American as a senior in 1990. His No. 44 was retired by the Lions, who also placed a statue of him in his honor outside their home arena Gersten Pavilion.
Bayard Rustin
Bayard Rustin was an American leader in social movements for civil rights, socialism, nonviolence, and gay rights.
Danny Bonaduce
Dante Daniel Bonaduce is an American actor, comedian, radio personality, television personality, and professional wrestler. Bonaduce is the son of veteran TV writer and producer Joseph Bonaduce. Bonaduce became famous as a child actor of the 1970s on the TV sitcom The Partridge Family. He co-starred as Danny Partridge, the wisecracking, redheaded middle son of the singing family band, and he played the fictional pop group's bass guitar player.
DJ Jazzy Jeff
Jeffrey Allen Townes, known professionally as DJ Jazzy Jeff, is an American DJ, record producer, and songwriter who was a member of DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince with Will Smith. He is credited, along with DJs Spinbad and Cash Money, with making the transformer scratch famous.
Eugene Landy
Eugene Ellsworth Landy was an American psychotherapist known for his unconventional 24-hour therapy and especially for his treatment of the Beach Boys co-founder Brian Wilson in the 1970s and 1980s. His treatment of Wilson was deemed unethical by Californian courts and was later dramatized in the 2014 biographical film Love & Mercy, in which Landy is portrayed by Paul Giamatti.
Jack Palance
Jack Palance was an American actor of Ukrainian descent. Known for playing tough guys and villains, Palance was nominated for three Academy Awards, all for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, receiving nominations for his roles in Sudden Fear (1952) and Shane (1953), and winning the Oscar almost 40 years later for his role in City Slickers (1991).
Linda Fiorentino
Clorinda "Linda" Fiorentino is an American actress. Fiorentino made her screen debut with a leading role in the 1985 coming-of-age drama film Vision Quest, followed that same year with a lead role in the action film Gotcha! and an appearance in the film After Hours. Fiorentino gained attention for her lead roles in the erotic thriller Jade (1995), the science-fiction action comedy film Men in Black (1997) and the fantasy comedy Dogma (1999). For her performance in the 1994 film The Last Seduction, she won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress, the London Film Critics' Circle Award for Actress of the Year, and was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.
John Barrymore
John Barrymore was an American actor on stage, screen and radio. A member of the Drew and Barrymore theatrical families, he initially tried to avoid the stage, and briefly attempted a career as an artist, but appeared on stage together with his father Maurice in 1900, and then his sister Ethel the following year. He began his career in 1903 and first gained attention as a stage actor in light comedy, then high drama, culminating in productions of Justice (1916), Richard III (1920) and Hamlet (1922); his portrayal of Hamlet led to him being called the "greatest living American tragedian".
Earl Wild
Earl Wild was an American pianist known for his transcriptions of jazz and classical music.