Here are some from my town and surrounding 5 mile area (NJ only). I really don't care about this stuff so I had to wikipedia it.... Russel simmons though was my neighbor for a while, as was lawrence taylor.
Danny Aiello (born 1933), actor[35]
Alfredo Alonso (born 1960), Senior Vice President Clear Channel Radio
Gary Bettman (born 1952), Commissioner of the National Hockey League[36]
Mary J. Blige (born 1971), recording artist and Grammy winner[37]
Jim Burt (born 1959), former NFL Player[38]
Jim Burt, Jr. (born 1981), former Miami Hurricanes and New York Mets organization baseball player[39]
Vince Carter, of the Orlando Magic[40]
Andrew Dice Clay (born 1957), actor and comedian[41]
Mary Higgins Clark (born 1927), author of suspense novels[42]
Vincent Colletta (born 1923), noted comic book artist lived at 3 Old Woods Road from 1962-1987.
Wil Horneff (born 1979), actor[43]
Jason Kidd (born 1973), formerly of the New Jersey Nets[44]
Andrew Kissel (1959-2006), murdered real estate developer[45]
Jeffrey Nordling (born 1962), actor, appearing in the series Dirt[46]
Kenneth Pasternak (born 1954), businessman, entrepreneur
Ja Rule (born 1976), rapper[47]
Joseph Simmons (born 1964), aka Reverend Run, the "Run" in Run-D.M.C. and star of his family's reality show Run's House[47]
Russell Simmons (born 1957), house is currently for sale because of divorce from Kimora Lee Simmons[48][49]
Ben Vereen (born 1946), Tony Award-winning actor, dancer, and singer has been a long-time resident[50]
Christopher Smith and his wife Lucy Smith who moved from UK in 2010. Christopher Smith is the CEO of a major law firm and his wife is expecting their first child in December 2010.
David Lat (b. 1975), blogger.[51]
Jedh Colby Barker (1945–1967), United States Marine Corps Lance Corporal.
Tom Coughlin (born 1946), current coach of the New York Giants.
Brian Cushing (born 1987), current linebacker for the Houston Texans.[35]
Karen Duffy (born 1961), model and author.[36]
James Gandolfini (born 1961), actor.[37]
Augie Hoffmann (born 1981), Guard signed by the New Orleans Saints.[38]
The Roches (Maggie, Terre, and Suzzy) singer-songwriters and recording artists.[39]
Juan Pablo Angel (born 1975), professional MLS player for the New York Red Bulls
Jay Feely (born 1976), professional NFL kicker for the New York Jets
Vince Curatola (born 1953), actor known for his character Johnny Sack on the television show The Sopranos.[32]
Wes Ellis (1932-1984), professional golfer.[33]
Margaret Juntwait (born c. 1957), the voice of the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts.[34][35]
Jason Kidd (born 1973), formerly of the New Jersey Nets.[36]
Lawrence Taylor (born 1959), retired Hall of Fame American football player.[37]
Rita Guzman (born 1949), who murdered her then estranged husband, a microbiologist, in 1996 in his apt. in Pearl River. She is currently in prison. [1]
Robert Sean Leonard (born 1969), actor best known for his roles in House and Dead Poets Society.[40]
James O'Keefe (born 1984), Activist-filmmaker who targeted ACORN.[41][42][43]
Kevin Sampson (born 1981), tackle for the Kansas City Chiefs[44]
Gioia Marconi Braga, daughter of Guglielmo Marconi and chairwoman of the Marconi Foundation.[31]
Sean Combs (born 1969), rap artist.[32]
Damon Dash (born 1971), hip-hop entrepreneur.[33]
Eddie Einhorn (born 1936), part owner of the Chicago White Sox.[34]
Patrick Ewing (born 1962), former center for the New York Knicks.[33]
Fabolous (born 1977), rap artist.[33]
Henry Clay Frick II (1919-2007), physician and head of the Frick Collection.[35]
Andre Harrell (born 1960), founder of Uptown Records.[33]
Matt Herr (born 1976) ice hockey forward who played for part of four NHL seasons.[36]
O'Kelly Isley, Jr. (1937-1986), founding member of the Isley Brothers.[37]
Jay-Z (born 1969), rap artist.[38]
Tanya Ryno, (born 1970), American film & television producer, director and writer.
The Jonas Brothers, American Pop Rock Boy Band.[39]
Lil' Kim (born 1975), rap artist, who rapped about her new hometown in her song Aunt Dot ("Come on Shanice, I'm takin' you to my house in Alpine...").[32]
LL Cool J (born 1968), hip hop musician and movie actor.
Eric Maskin (born 1950), co-winner of the 2007 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.[40]
Eddie Murphy (born 1961) comedian, actor who has appeared in the Beverly Hills Cop series and as the voice of Donkey in the Shrek series.[41]
Joe Piscopo (born 1951), actor, best known as a cast member of Saturday Night Live.[42]
Chris Rock (born 1965), comedian, movie star.[33]
Dr. Joseph Dello Russo, LASIK pioneer.
Gary Sheffield (born 1968), baseball player.[33]
Russell Simmons (born 1957), hip-hop entrepreneur.[38]
Wesley Snipes (born 1962), actor.[33]
CC Sabathia (born 1980), pitcher for the New York Yankees.
Joseph A. Unanue (born 1925), president of Goya Foods from 1976-2004.[43]
Brian "Baby" Williams (born 1969), of the Cash Money Millionaires.[citation needed]
Tony Villanova (born 1986), of Grown & Sexy Entertainment.
Stevie Wonder (born 1950), musician.[44]
Johnny Damon (born 1973), outfielder for the Detroit Tigers.
Britney Spears (born 1981), singer.[45]
Noelle Bassi (born 1983), butterfly swimmer who won the silver medal in the women's 200m butterfly event at the 2003 Pan American Games.[37]
Kevin Brown (born 1965), an All-Star pitcher lived in Franklin Lakes while with the New York Yankees.[citation needed]
Harry Carson (born 1953), Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker for the New York Giants and co-host of Fox's Giants Game Plan.[38]
Derrick Coleman (born 1967), former NBA player previously lived in Franklin Lakes.[citation needed]
Blake Costanzo (born 1984), football player.[39]
John Culligan (1916–2004), former CEO of American Home Products (now owned by Wyeth).[40]
Richard W. DeKorte (1936–1975), Former NJ Energy Administrator, Franklin Lakes Mayor, and Republican member of the New Jersey General Assembly.[41] The former Municipal Drive was renamed in his honor.
Dwight Gooden (born 1964), former MLB pitcher for the New York Mets.
Ernie Grunfeld (born 1955), former NBA player and general manager.[42]
Sam Huff (born 1934), former linebacker and current Game day radio color commentator for the Washington Redskins, inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.[43]
Michael Jackson (1958–2009), singer, lived in Franklin Lakes during 2007.[44]
Tommy John (born 1943), an All-Star pitcher lived in Franklin Lakes while with the New York Yankees.[45]
Bernard Kerik (born 1955), former New York City Police Commissioner.[46]
Bernard King (born 1956), Former star of the New Jersey Nets.[47]
Matt LoVecchio (born 1982), starting quarterback for the University of Notre Dame football team in 2000-01, and for Indiana University in 2003-04.[48]
Gheorghe Mureşan (born 1971), former professional basketball player. At 7'7" (2.31 m), he is arguably the tallest man to ever play in the NBA.[49]
Willie Randolph (born 1954), former MLB player and manager
Kelly Ripa (born 1970), actress and talk show host.[50]
Chris Simms (born 1980), NFL Quarterback, grew up in Franklin Lakes.[51]
Phil Simms (born 1955), Former New York Giants Quarterback, and football commentator.[52]
James "J.T." Taylor (born 1953), one-time lead singer of Kool & the Gang.
Robert Torricelli, former US Representative and Senator, was raised in Franklin Lakes.[53]
Keith Van Horn (born 1975), current NBA Dallas Mavericks Forward, lived in Franklin Lakes during his time with the New Jersey Nets.[54]
Kaavya Viswanathan (born 1987), novelist noted for highly publicized plagiarism scandal.[55]
Kirk DeMicco writer/director (Racing Stripes, Space Chimps) lived in Franklin Lakes.[56]
Peter Carlisle (born 1952), Prosecuting Attorney of Honolulu [32]
Harlan Coben (born 1962), The New York Times best-selling author of Promise Me, Tell No One and No Second Chance.[33]
Tabatha Coffey (born 1967), contestant (and Fan Favorite winner) on season one of Bravo's Shear Genius and host of the forthcoming Tabatha's Salon Takeover.[34]
Christopher J. Connors (born 1956), represents the 9th legislative district in the New Jersey General Assembly.[35]
Meghan Daum (born 1970), grew up in Ridgewood. She is an author and currently writes for the Los Angeles Times.[citation needed]
Anne Donovan (born 1961), Three-time basketball All-American at Old Dominion University and three-time Olympic team member. Ranked #8 on the Sports Illustrated list of The 50 Greatest New Jersey Sports Figures.[36]
Niles Eldredge (born 1943), paleontologist.[37]
Jeff Feagles (born 1966), Punter for the National Football League New York Giants[38]
Varian Fry (1907–1967), American journalist who helped save many, most notably the French artist Marc Chagall, from persecution and deportation in Vichy France during the Holocaust.[39]
Bill Geist (born 1945), correspondent, CBS News Sunday Morning, lived in Ridgewood for 20 years.[40]
Peter Grad (born 1950), Op-Ed Page Editor, The Record, also writes a weekly column on technology, The PC Guy.[citation needed]
Daniel Henninger, The Wall Street Journal Columnist.[41]
Margaret Juntwait (born c. 1957), the voice of the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts.[42][43]
Peter S. Kim, president of Merck Research Laboratories, class of 1975, Ridgewood High School.[44]
Bowie Kuhn (1926–2007), Commissioner of Baseball from 1969-1984.[45]
Robert Sean Leonard (born 1969), actor on House.[46]
Robert B. Edwards (born 1943). "He grew up in Ridgewood and was in the class of 1962 at Ridgewood High School. He moved to Tucson, Arizona in 1975 where he started a country and western magazine named Arizona Country Music News. The magazine received four (4) awards from the Country Music Associations of America until it stopped publishing in 1998. There was an accompanying website for the magazine until the same year. He is now "semi-retired."[citation needed]
Alfred W. Lutter, actor from The Bad News Bears.[citation needed]
Martha MacCallum, (born 1964), news anchor on Fox News Channel.[47]
David Madden (born 1981), 19-time Jeopardy! champion.[48]
Paul Mara (born 1979), National Hockey League defenceman for the Montreal Canadiens formerly of the New York Rangers, was born in Ridgewood but was raised in Belmont, Massachusetts.[49]
MC Paul Barman, (born 1974), rapper.[50]
Major Thomas B. McGuire, Jr. (1920–1945), the second leading air ace in World War II, who was killed in action on January 7, 1945. He was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously. McGuire Air Force Base is named in his memory.[51]
Buddy Nielsen (born 1984), singer of the rock band Senses Fail, who grew up in Ridgewood and went to Ridgewood High School.[citation needed]
Tom Nolan, publisher of Golf World.[52]
Jeffrey Nordling (born 1962), actor, appearing in the series Dirt And most recently 24.[53]
William Remington (1917–1954), accused Soviet spy convicted of perjury.[54]
Nelson Riddle (1921–1985), musician and arranger for various artists such as Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald.[55]
Bob Sebra, (born 1961), MLB player for the Texas Rangers, Montreal Expos, Philadelphia Phillies, Cincinnati Reds, and the Milwaukee Brewers. Unliked MLB Commissioner for some time.[citation needed]
Jordin Sparks (born 1989), American Idol winner, lived here as a child while her father was playing with the Giants.[56]
Phillippi Sparks (born 1969), former NFL cornerback who played most of his career with the New York Giants.[56]
Michael Springer (born 1979), former MLL player, grew up in Ridgewood and attended Ridgewood High School.[citation needed]
Wayne Tippit (1932–2009), character actor (Melrose Place) who lived in Ridgewood until 1990.[57]
Casper Van Dien (born 1968), actor, Starship Troopers, Sleepy Hollow. Van Dien Avenue is named for his great-great-grandfather.[58]
Douglas Watt (1914–2009), theater critic for the Daily News.[59]
Bill Wielechowski (born 1967), member of the Alaska Senate, representing the J District since 2006.[60]
Rebecca Zeller, violinist for the indie rock band Ra Ra Riot, grew up in Ridgewood and attended Ridgewood High School.[citation needed]
Jason Heyward, (born 1989), born here and plays Major League Baseball for the Atlanta Braves.
Frankie Muniz, (born 1985), actor and professional racer born here, most famous for Malcolm in the Middle.
