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, artist, entrepreneur, explorer, and ornithologistREMEMBER: Harlem by Jonathan Gill post Harlem+Bespoke, January 24, 2011. Richard Croker – Tammany Hall politician,Malcolm, Bruce Perry, Station Hill, 1991, p. 154. lived at 26 Mount Morris Park WestJonathan Gill, Harlem, p. 127. James Reese Europe – ragtime and early jazz bandleader, arranger, and composer, credited with inventing jazz; 67 West 133rd StreetJonathan Gill, Harlem, p. 220. Thomas Gilroy – New York City mayor Alexander Hamilton – politician; 1st United States Secretary of the Treasury; lived at 414 West 141st Street in Harlem at the end of his life Hubert Harrison – "The Father of Harlem Radicalism" Scott Joplin – ragtime pianist and 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"Tracing Scott Joplin's Life Through His Addresses", The New York Times, Real Estate, February 4, 2007, p. 2. Vincent James McMahon – founder of the World Wide Wrestling Federation Paul Meltsner – WPA era painter and muralist; grew up in Harlem Thomas Nast – artist, lived at 24 West 125th Street."Harlem’s Thomas “The Father of the American Cartoon” Nast, 1840-1902," Harlem World Magazine, December 2, 2015. Philip A. Payton Jr. – real estate entrepreneur; lived at 13 West 131st Street Norman Rockwell – painter and illustrator; lived as a child at 789 St. Nicholas Avenue Norman Thomas – radical activistJonathan Gill, Harlem, p. 158. Daniel Tiemann – New York mayor; lived at 607 West 127th Street.Jonathan Gill, Harlem, p. 87."Emery Roth's 1909 The Whitestone - 45 Tiemann Place ," Dayton in Manhattan, April 24, 2026. Robert Van Wyck – New York mayor Cornelius Van Wyck Lawrence – New York mayor

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

Sholem Aleichem – author and playwright, 110 Lenox AvenueJonathan Gill, Harlem, p. 146. Moe Berg (1902–1972) – Major League Baseball catcher; spy; lived on 121st Street."https://historynet.com/morris-moe-berg-how-baseballs-odd-man-out-became-an-american-spy/ Morris “Moe” Berg: How Baseball’s Odd Man Out Became an American Spy ," Historynet, January 5, 2021. Milton Berle – comedian and actor, born in a five-story walkup at 68 West 118th StreetJonathan Gill, Harlem, p. 165. Fanny Brice – actress, comedian, and singer; houses at West 128th Street and West 118th StreetJonathan Gill, Harlem, p. 163. Art Buchwald – humorist and writer Bennett Cerf – publisher and writer, born on May 25, 1898, at 68 West 118th Street, the same address as Milton Berle'sBennett Cerf, At Random, p. 2.Jonathan Gill, Harlem, p. 137. Milt Gabler – record producer, responsible for many innovations in the recording industry of the 20th century George and Ira Gershwin – jazz, popular, and classical music composers, grew up in Harlem; lived at 108 West 111th and other addresses. George wrote his first hit song, "Swanee", at his home at 520 W. 144 Street in 1919. The pair were living at 501 Cathedral Parkway in 1924, and it was in this apartment that George wrote "Rhapsody in Blue."plaque outside 501 Cathedral Parkway.Jonathan Gill, Harlem, p. 164. Abe Goldstein (the "Pride of the Ghetto") – boxer, world bantamweight championThe Science of Keeping Ypung, 1926. Oscar Hammerstein I – inventor, composer, and theatrical entrepreneur; lived at 333 Edgecombe Avenue Oscar Hammerstein II – writer, lyricist, librettist, theatrical producer, and director in musical theater; addresses on East 116th Street and 112th StreetJonathan Gill, Harlem, p. 138. Lorenz Hart – lyricist; half of the Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart, 59 West 119th StreetJonathan Gill, Harlem, p. 136. Harry Houdini – magician, escapologist, illusionist, and stunt performer; lived at 278 West 113th Street from 1904 until his death in 1926"The Top of the Park", New York Magazine, February 5, 2007, p. 44. Frank Hussey – Olympic sprinter and gold medalist; 129th StreetJonathan Gill, Harlem, p. 149. Burt Lancaster – Oscar-winning actor and producer; 209 East 106th Street. Benny Leonard (born Benjamin Leiner) – boxer, world lightweight title from 1917 to 1925, International Boxing Hall of FameCircus Queen and Tinker Bell, 2008. Seymour Martin Lipset – political sociologist and political scientist, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and Hazel Professor of Public Policy at George Mason UniversityDouglas Martin, "Seymour Martin Lipset, Sociologist, Dies at 84", The New York Times, January 4, 2007. Ignazio Lupo – counterfeiter, gangster Marx Brothers – comedians, 239 East 114th Street Arthur Miller – playwright and essayist; 45 West 110th StreetJonathan Gill, Harlem, p. 166.Arthur Miller Files, at University of Michigan. Giuseppe Morello – gangster, 323 East 107th StreetJonathan Gill, Harlem, p. 152. Belle Moskowitz – political advisor to New York Governor and 1928 presidential candidate Al Smith Al Pacino – Academy Award and Tony Award-winning actor Charlie Pilkington (the Meriden Flash) – three-time New York champion boxer; East 102nd Street David Rappaport – fashion manufacturer, designer, and painter Richard Rodgers – composer, 3 West 120th Street Yossele Rosenblatt – cantor and composerJonathan Gill, Harlem, p. 148. Henry Roth – novelist and short story writer, 108 East 119th Street Jessie Sampter – poet John Sanford, born Julian Lawrence Shapiro – screenwriter and author who wrote 24 books Ed Sullivan – Broadway and sports columnist, television host of the long-running televised Sunday evening variety show; East 114th Street Arthur Sulzberger – publisher of The New York Times Henrietta Szold – founder of Hadassah Vincent and Ciro Terranova – gangsters, 352 East 116th StreetJonathan Gill, Harlem, p. 153.

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

Louis Armstrong – bandleader and trumpet playerLangston Hughes, "My Early Days in Harlem", in John Henrik Clarke (ed.), Harlem U.S.A., 1971 edition, p. 58. Count Basie – bandleader and pianist; lived at 555 Edgecombe AvenueManhattan African-American History and Culture Guide, Museum of the City of New York Julius Bledsoe – singer; lived at 409 Edgecombe AvenueHamilton Heights – West Harlem Community Preservation Organization Arna Bontemps – writer Eunice Carter – New York state judge; lived at 409 Edgecombe Avenue John Henrik Clarke – editor of Freedomways Magazine and books; professor; moved to Harlem in 1933John Henrik Clarke, Harlem U.S.A., introductory essay to 1993 edition, A&B Book Publishers. Lady Bird Cleveland (1926–2015) – painter Collyer brothers – compulsive hoarders; lived in a townhouse at 128th Street and Fifth Avenue in Harlem their entire adult lives Countee Cullen – poet Aaron Douglas – painter; lived at 409 Edgecombe Avenue W. E. B. Du Bois – activist, writer; lived at 409 Edgecombe Duke Ellington – composer, pianist, and bandleader; lived on Riverside Drive and at 555 EdgecombeFrank Hercules, "To Live In Harlem", National Geographic, February 1977, p. 178+. Father Divine – religious leader, lived in several locations in Harlem, including on Astor Row, and maintained offices at 20 West 115th Street"Four Men of Harlem – The Movers and the Shakers", in Harlem, U.S.A., John Henrik Clarke, 1971 edition, p. 256. Rudolph Fisher – writer Marcus Garvey – political figure, Pan-Africanist; home at 235 West 131st StreetJonathan Gill, Harlem, p. 248. Charles Manuel "Sweet Daddy" Grace – evangelist, born in Cape Verde Islands but became prominent in Harlem in the 1920s Lionel Hampton – jazz musician; jazz vibraphonist, percussionist, and bandleader; lived in Harlem through World War II and for some years thereafter Hubert Harrison – "the father of Harlem Radicalism" Coleman Hawkins – musician, saxophone player; lived at 555 Edgecombe AvenueJim Dwyer, "Making a Home, and a Haven for Books", New York Times, August 11, 2007. Billie Holiday – jazz and swing singer; lived with her mother at 108 West 139th StreetTessa Souter, "The New Heyday of Harlem", The Independent on Sunday, June 8, 1997. Casper Holstein – gangster Lena Horne – singer, actress, and dancer; lived at 555 Edgecombe Avenue Langston Hughes – writer"Star Map", New York Magazine, August 14, 2006, p. 35. Zora Neale Hurston – writer Bumpy Johnson – gangster; lived in Lenox Terrace at 132nd Street and Lenox Avenue near the end of his life"Chairman of the Money", New York Magazine, January 15, 2007, p. 20. James P. Johnson – pianist James Weldon Johnson – author, civil rights activist, composer; lived at 187 West 135th Street Fiorello La Guardia – New York mayor, from East Harlem Alain Locke – editor Joe Louis (the "Brown Bomber") – boxer; world heavyweight champion from 1937 until his temporary retirement in 1949; International Boxing Hall of Fame; lived at 555 Edgecombe Avenue Claude McKay – poet and novelist; born in Jamaica but moved to Harlem and wrote the famous novel Home to Harlem, West 131st StreetJonathan Gill, Harlem, p. 223. Florence Mills – entertainer Adam Clayton Powell Sr. – religious, civic leader A. Philip Randolph – civil rights activist, labor organizer Paul Robeson – singer and actor; lived at 555 Edgecombe Avenue Bill "Bojangles" Robinson – dancer; lived on Strivers' Row Maxie Rosenbloom ("Slapsy Maxie") – boxer and actor; Light Heavyweight champion; International Boxing Hall of Fame.American Jewish History , Volume 74, 1984. Isadore "Corporal Izzy" Schwartz – boxer, world flyweight champion from 1927 to 1929. Al Singer ("The Bronx Beauty") – boxer, undisputed world lightweight champion in 1930.The Jewish Boxers Hall of Fame 1988. Stephanie St. Clair – criminal leader; lived at 409 Edgecombe AvenueKatherine Butler Jones, "409 Edgecombe, Baseball, and Madame St. Clair", in The Harlem Reader, 2003. Willie "The Lion" Smith – pianist Wallace Thurman – writer Jean Toomer – writer James Van Der Zee – photographer Madam C.J. Walker – philanthropist and tycoon A'Lelia Walker – socialite and businesswoman Fats Waller – jazz pianist, born at 107 West 134th StreetJonathan Gill, Harlem, p. 233. Ethel Waters – singer, actress Walter Francis White – civil rights leader; led the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for a quarter of a century.Gray, Christopher. "Streetscapes/409 Edgecombe Avenue: An Address That Drew the City's Black Elite". The New York Times. July 24, 1994. Retrieved January 11, 2021. Bert Williams – vaudeville performer; born in Antigua; died in 1922, near the start of the Harlem Renaissance Mary Lou Williams – jazz pianist; lived at 63 Hamilton Terrace Lillian "Billie" Yarbo – comedienne, dancer, singer"Billy Yarbo a New 'Mugger. The Pittsburgh Courier. March 10, 1928. Retrieved January 11, 2021."Better Break for Race in Pictures Forecast in '41; Stellar Roles Promised All; Harlem Lass Wins Plaudits". The Phoenix Index. January 11, 1941. Retrieved January 11, 2021.

Famous after World War II

Miles Aiken – basketball player Fiona Apple – singer-songwriter and pianist, raised in Morningside Gardens James Baldwin – novelist; lived at 131st Street and Adam Clayton Powell Blvd. (then called "Seventh Avenue")James Baldwin, "A Talk to Harlem Teachers", in John Henrik Clarke (ed.), Harlem USA, 1971, p. 173. Amiri Baraka, born LeRoi Jones – poet Patricia Bath, ophthalmologist, inventor, humanitarian, and academic 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 TheresaSondra Kathryn Wilson, Meet Me at the Theresa: The Story of Harlem's Most Famous Hotel, 2004. Kareem Campbell – pro skateboarder