This is a list of prominent people who were born in the U.S. State of Rhode Island or spent significant periods of their lives in the state.
Athletics
Nap Lajoie, member of Baseball Hall of Fame
- Bill Almon (1952- ), baseball player
- Billy Andrade (1964- ), golfer
- Demetrius Andrade (1988- ), boxer
- Rocco Baldelli (1981- ), baseball player
- Marvin Barnes (1952- ), basketball player
- Elizabeth Beisel (1992- ), Olympic swimmer
- Harvey Bennett (1952- ), ice hockey player
- Bryan Berard (1977- ), ice hockey player
- Will Blackmon (1984- ), American football player
- Brian Boucher (1977- ), ice hockey player
- Brian Burke (1955- ), ice hockey executive
- Keith Carney (1970- ), ice hockey player
- Ernie Calverley (1924-2003), basketball player
- Mike Cloud (1975- ), American football player
- Jill Craybas (1974- ), tennis player
- Ernie DiGregorio (1951- ), basketball player
- Clark Donatelli (1967- ), ice hockey player
- Anthony Durante (1967-2003), wrestler
- Claire Waters Ferguson, ice skating executive
- Brad Faxon (1961- ), golfer
- Melissa Fiorentino (1977- ), boxer
- Dave Gavitt (1937- ), basketball coach
- Tom Garrick (1966- ), basketball player
- Billy Gonsalves (1908-1977), soccer player
- Lou Gorman, baseball executive
- Gabby Hartnett (1900-1972), baseball player
- Joe Hassett (1955- ), basketball player
- Matt Hyson (1970- ), wrestler
- Chris Iannetta (1983- ), baseball player
- Jeff Jillson (1980- ), ice hockey player
- Paul Konerko (1976- ), baseball player
- Nap Lajoie (1874-1959), baseball player
- Lou Lamoriello (1942- ), ice hockey executive
- Rick Lancellotti (1956- ), baseball player
- Brian Lawton ( 1965- ), hockey player
- Davey Lopes (1945- ), baseball player
- Peter Manfredo (1980- ), boxer
- Ken McDonald (1970- ), basketball player & basketball coach
- Tom Mellor (1950- ), hockey player
- Lamar Odom (1979-), Basketball player
- Chuck Palumbo (1971- ), wrestler
- Vinny Paz (1962- ), boxer, 5-time world champion
- Aileen Riggin (1906-2002), swimmer
- Jamie Silva (1984- ), football player
- Joe Soares, rugby player
- Mike Stefanik (1958- ), NASCAR driver
- Chris Terreri (1964- ), Former NHL goalie, 2 Stanley Cups
- Mark Van Eeghen (1952- ), NFL Pro Bowl Running Back
- Clara Lamore Walker (1924-), Olympic swimmer. In the Swimming Hall of Fame
- Dan Wheeler (1977- ), baseball player
- Jeff Xavier (1985- ), basketball player
Business
Entertainment
Thomas Harper Ince, silent film actor
Ruth Hussey, film and stage actress, with husband Bob Longenecker
- Norm Abram (1950- ), carpenter and television performer
- Robert Aldrich (1918-1983), film director
- Gianna Amore (1968- ), model and actress
- Harry Anderson (1952- ), actor
- David Angell (1946-2001), television producer
- Jon B (1974- ), singer
- Richard Hatch (Survivor contestant) (1961-), Survivor Borneo Winner, Survivor All-Stars Contestant. Went to jail for failing to pay taxes on his Survivor winnings.
- Nadia Bjorlin (1980- ), actress
- Ruth Buzzi (1936- ), actress
- Blu Cantrell (1978- ), R&B singer
- Nicholas Colasanto (1924-1985), actor
- Bill Conti (1942-), film music composer
- Michael Corrente (1959- ), film director and producer
- The Cowsills, singing group
- Charlie Day, (1976- ), actor from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
- Vin Di Bona (1944- ), television producer
- Eddie Dowling (1895-1976), actor
- Alice Drummond (1929- ), actress
- Nelson Eddy (1901-1967), actor and singer
- Mark Famiglietti (1979- ), actor
- Bobby Farrelly (1958- ), film director
- Peter Farrelly (1956- ), film director
- Peter Frechette (1956- ), actor
- Ava Gaudet, actor and singer
- Peter Gerety (1940- ), actor
- Joanna Going (1963- ), actress
- Spalding Gray (1941-2004), actor and writer
- Elisabeth Hasselbeck (1977- ), television performer
- David Hedison (1927- ), actor
- Ruth Hussey (1911-2005), actress
- Thomas Harper Ince (1882-1924), actor
- Richard Jenkins (1953- ), actor
- Van Johnson (1916-2008), actor
- Claudia Jordan (1973- ), model
- Geoffrey Lewis (1935- ), actor
- Eric Lutes (1962- ), actor
- Seth MacFarlane (1973- ), actor, voice actor, creator of the animated sitcom Family Guy
- George Macready (1899-1973), actor
- Mike Maronna (1977- ), actor
- Jason Marsden (1975- ), actor
- Ron McLarty (1947- ), actor, playwright, novelist
- Michaela McManus (born 1983), actress, Law & Order: SVU, One Tree Hill
- Caroline McWilliams (1945- ), actress
- Debra Messing (1968- ), actress
- Shanna Moakler (1975- ), model and actress
- Kaelo M. James (1983- ), Model and Singer/Frontman of Deathcore band The Odessa Trail.
- Tony Moreira (1969- ), actor
- Christopher Murney (1943- ), actor
- Arden Myrin (1973- ), actress
- Vincent Pagano (1967- ), actor
- Don Reo, television producer
- Charles Rocket (1945-2005), actor
- Josh Schwartz (1976- ), television producer
- Dave Shalansky (1973- ), actor
- Mena Suvari (1979- ), actress
- Aimee Sweet (1977- ), model and actress
- Richard James Tobin Jr. (1963- ), actor and film director
- Meredith Vieira (1953- ), television performer
- Desiree Washington (1973- ), model
- James Woods (1947- ), actor
Journalism
Literature and art
- John Noble Barlow (1861-1917), painter
- Dicky Barrett (1964- ), popular musician
- John Cafferty , popular musician
- Blu Cantrell (1976- ), popular musician
- Wendy Carlos (1939- ), composer
- George M. Cohan (1878-1942), playwright, composer and vaudeville performer
- Bill Conti (1943- ), film composer
- Bill Cowsill (1948-2006), popular musician
- C. M. Eddy, Jr. (1896-1967), author
- Nelson Eddy (1901-1967), popular musician
- Eileen Farrell (1920-2002), opera singer
- Jeanpaul Ferro - poet, short fiction author, novelist
- Billy Gilman (1988- ), popular musician
- Bobby Hackett (1915-1976), jazz musician
- John Hawkes (1925-1998), novelist
- Kristin Hersh (1966- ) musician, formed the alternative rock band Throwing Muses with half-sister Tanya Donelly (1966- ) and Rogers High School schoolmate David Narcizo (1966- )
- Greta Hodgkinson, ballet dancer
- Galway Kinnell - Pulitzer Prize-winning poet
- Jhumpa Lahiri - Pulitzer Prize-winning short fiction author and novelist
- Jesse Leach (1978- ), popular musician
- H. P. Lovecraft (1890-1937), author
- David Macaulay (1946- ), author
- Cormac McCarthy (1933-), novelist.
- Don McGregor (1945- ), comic book writer
- Edwin O'Connor (1918-1968), novelist
- David Olney (1948- ), popular musician
- Jeffrey Osborne (1948- ), popular musician
- S.J. Perelman (1904-1979), humorist, critic
- Peter Pezzelli (1959- ), author
- Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828), painter
- Duke Robillard (1948- ), blues musician
Military
Matthew Perry, U.S. Navy officer
John Chafee, United States senator
- William Henry Allen (1784-1813), U.S. Navy officer
- Ambrose Burnside (1824-1881), U.S. Army officer
- Timothy Bush (1728-1815), Continental Army officer
- Stephen Champlin (1789-1870), U.S. Navy officer
- Godfrey Chevalier (1889-1922), U.S. Navy officer
- Nathanael Greene (1742-1786), Continental Army officer
- Leon J. LaPorte (1946-), U.S. Army General, former Commander U.S. Forces Korea.
- George Luz (1921-1998), member of the famous Band of Brothers
- Matthew Perry (naval officer) (1794-1858), U.S. Navy officer
- Oliver Hazard Perry (1785-1819), U.S. Navy officer
- Isaac P. Rodman (1822-1862), U.S. Army officer
- Frank Wheaton (1833-1903), U.S. Army officer
- Abraham Whipple (1733-1819), naval commander
Politics and government
- Lincoln Almond, (1936- ), Governor
- Sullivan Ballou (1829-1861), state representative and U.S. Army officer
- John Chafee (1922-1999), U.S. Senator
- Lincoln Chafee (1953- ), U.S. Senator
- Vincent "Buddy" Cianci, Jr. (1941- ), mayor of Providence
- David Cicilline (1961- ), mayor of Providence
- Job Durfee (1790-1847), U.S. Congressman
- Christopher R. Hill (1952- ), Diplomat, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs
- Stephen Hopkins (1707-1785), Governor of Rhode Island, RI Supreme Court justice, Signatory of the Declaration of Independence
- Pat LaMarche (1960- ), Green Party presidential candidate
- William McCormick (1939-), current United States Ambassador to New Zealand
- Dee Dee Myers (1961- ), White House Press Secretary
- John O. Pastore (1907-2000). Governor of Rhode Island, U.S. Senator
- Claiborne Pell (1918-2009), U.S. Senator, Diplomat, sponsor of Pell grants
- Jack Reed (1949- ), U.S. Senator
- Bruce Sundlun (1920- ), Governor
- William H. Sullivan (1922- ), U.S. Ambassador
- Charles Tillinghast James (1805-1862), U.S. Senator
- William West (1733-1816), American Revolution general, Lieutenant Governor, RI Supreme Court justice, anti-federalist leader
- Charles C. Van Zandt (1830-1894), governor
Religion
Science
Sherwood C. ("Woody") Spring, NASA astronaut
Other
- Arthur Irving Andrews (1878-1967), law professor
- Frank Caprio (judge) (1936- ), judge and television performer
- Robert Carothers (1942- ), president of the University of Rhode Island
- Catherine Littlefield Greene (1755-1814), wife of Nathanael Greene
- Joyce Jillson (1946-2004), astrologer
- Raymond Mathewson Hood (1881-1934), architect
- Wilfred Harold Munro (1849-1934), historian
- Abby Aldrich Rockefeller (1874-1948), philanthropist
- Thomas Alexander Tefft (1826-1859), architect
- Thomas Tew (?-1695), pirate
- Marjorie van Vliet (1923-1990), teacher and aviator
- Minton Warren (1850-1907), classical scholar
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