List of people from Portland, Maine

The following list includes notable people who were born or have lived in Portland, Maine.

Birthplace of Thomas B. Reed c. 1915 (since demolished)

Wadsworth-Longfellow House c. 1910

Fort Levett

Authors and academics

• John Howard Appleton, chemist
• Owen Davis, dramatist
• Robert F. Griffin, essayist
• Dorothy M. Healy, Professor at Westbrook College and Curator of the Maine Women Writers Collection
• Stephen King, author
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, poet
• John Neal, author and critic
• Alan Taylor, historian

Business

• Cyrus Curtis, publisher and philanthropist
• John A. Poor, railroad pioneer
• Donald Valle, founder and owner of the Valle's Steak House restaurant chain

Explorers and settlers

• George Baker Leavitt, Sr., whaling captain, arctic explorer
• Capt. Christopher Levett, English explorer of Casco Bay, founded first settlement
• Francis Pettygrove, one of Portland Oregon's founders

Media and arts

• Hiram Abrams, motion picture mogul
• Bebe Buell, model, musician, and mother of Liv Tyler
• Howie Carr, radio personality
• John Greenleaf Cloudman, artist, portrait painter and cabinet maker
• Charles Codman, painter
• Kevin Eastman, co-creator of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
• Greg Finley II, actor
• Frank Fixaris, sportscaster
• Francis Ford, actor
• John Ford, director
• Adam Gardner, musician
• Peter Garland, composer
• Jeremiah Hacker, journalist and reformer
• Will Holt, songwriter
• Anna Kendrick, actress
• Charles F. Kimball, artist
• Linda Lavin, actress
• Tawny Little, television newscaster and Miss America (1976)
• Bob Ludwig, Grammy Award-winning audio mastering engineer
• Bob Marley, comedian
• Andrea Martin, actress
• Judd Nelson, actor
• Lincoln Peirce, comic strip creator, Big Nate
• Ryan Peters, aka Spose, rapper
• Victoria Rowell, actress
• Stuart Saunders Smith, composer and percussionist
• Brett Somers, actress
• Phyllis Thaxter, actress
• Liv Tyler, actress
• Kim Warnick, punk rock musician
• Jonathan M. Woodward, actor

Military

• James Alden, Jr., rear admiral in the United States Navy
• John H. Hall, inventor of the first United States Army breech-loading rifle
• Charles J. Loring, Jr., Medal of Honor recipient
• Holman S. Melcher, mayor, Civil War veteran
• Edward Preble, naval officer
• Herbert E. Schonland, Medal of Honor recipient
• Ronald Speirs, army officer with the Easy Company, 506 Parachute Infantry Regiment
• Peleg Wadsworth, Revolutionary War general

Politics

• Justin Alfond, President of the Maine Senate
• James Appleton, state legislator and activist
• Joseph E. Brennan, 70th governor of Maine
• Michael F. Brennan, Mayor and state legislator
• Joshua Chamberlain, civil war veteran, governor, served as Surveyor of the Portland Port
• Winfred Thaxter Denison, United States Assistant Attorney General and Secretary of the Interior for the Philippines; born in Portland
• Santo DiPietro, Maine state legislator and businessman; born in Portland
• Neal Dow, mayor of Portland; Civil War general; temperance movement leader
• John Eder, state legislator and Maine Green Independent Party organizer
• William P. Fessenden, US senator
• Fletcher Hale, US congressman from New Hampshire
• Charles Harlow, mayor of Portland; state legislator
• Anne Haskell, state legislator
• Jon Hinck, state legislator and attorney
• Chris Korzen, progressive political activist and author
• John Lynch, US congressman
• George Mitchell, US Senate Majority Leader (1989 to 1995); chairman of Walt Disney; US special envoy to the Middle East
• William Pitt Preble, Justice of the Maine Supreme Court; U.S. Minister to the Netherlands; President of the St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad
• Anne Rand, state legislator
• Thomas Brackett Reed, US congressman; Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
• Charles W. Walton, US Congressman
• Herman W. Waterman, politician from Wisconsin

Professionals

• Edville Gerhardt Abbott (1871–1938), surgeon
• Oscar Cox, lawyer
• Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow, Jr., architect
• Robert E. McAfee, physician
• Alexander Parris, architect

Sports

• Mike Brown, mixed martial arts fighter
• Nik Caner-Medley, forward with five Euroleague basketball teams
• Dick Capp, tight end and linebacker with the Super Bowl II champion Green Bay Packers
• Ian Crocker, Olympic swimmer
• Rob Elowitch, wrestler
• Ryan Flaherty, second baseman for the Baltimore Orioles
• Charlie Furbush, pitcher with the Seattle Mariners
• Rip Jordan, baseball player
• Pete Ladd, pitcher with the Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, and Seattle Mariners
• Gary McAdam, forward with seven NHL teams
• Quinton Porter, quarterback with the Houston Texans, Carolina Panthers, and Hamilton Tiger-Cats
• Joan Benoit Samuelson, Olympic marathon gold medalist and two-time Boston Marathon champion
• Bob Stanley, pitcher with the Boston Red Sox

Other

• Nathaniel Gordon, the only American slave trader to be tried, convicted, and executed under the Piracy Law of 1820 "for being engaged in the Slave Trade."
• Ellen Martin Henrotin, social reformer, born in Portland, Maine
• Lois Galgay Reckitt (born 1944), executive director of Family Crisis Services, Portland, Maine

References