Newton, Massachusetts Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located roughly west of Downtown Boston, and comprises a patchwork of thirteen villages. The city borders Boston to the northeast and southeast (via the neighborhoods of ...

has been the home of many notable people.

Academics

Michael Rosbash Michael Morris Rosbash (born March 7, 1944) is an American geneticist and chronobiologist. Rosbash is a professor and researcher at Brandeis University and investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Rosbash's research group cloned th ...

, geneticist and chronobiologist at

Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...

, recipient of the

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine () is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, acco ...

in 2017 *

Daron Acemoglu Kamer Daron Acemoğlu (;, ; born September 3, 1967) is a Turkish Americans, Turkish-American economist of Armenians in Turkey, Armenian descent who has taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology since 1993, where he is currently the Ja ...

, economist and professor of economics at

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

* Frederick M. Ausubel, molecular biologist, professor at

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...

* David Berson, neurobiologist, professor at

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

Jean Briggs Jean L. Briggs (May 28, 1929 – July 27, 2016) was an American-born anthropologist, ethnographer, linguist, and professor emerita at Memorial University of Newfoundland. Her best known works included the 1970 landmark book ''Never in Anger: Port ...

, anthropologist and expert on

Inuit languages The Inuit languages are a closely related group of Indigenous languages of the Americas, indigenous American languages traditionally spoken across the North American Arctic and the adjacent subarctic regions as far south as Labrador. The Inuit ...

, raised in Newton * J. Walter Fewkes, ethnologist and archaeologist *

Stanley Fischer Stanley Fischer (; October 15, 1943 – May 31, 2025) was an American and Israeli economist who served as the 20th vice chair of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2017. Fischer previously served as the 8th governor of the Bank of Israel from 2 ...

, former governor of the

Bank of Israel The Bank of Israel (, ) is the central bank of Israel. The bank's headquarters is located in Kiryat HaMemshala in Jerusalem with a branch office in Tel Aviv. The current governor is Amir Yaron. The primary objective of the Bank of Israel is to ...

, former professor at the

MIT Department of Economics The MIT Department of Economics is a department of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Undergraduate studies in economics were introduced in the 19th century by institute president Francis Amasa Walker, while ...

* Alexandra I. Forsythe, author of the first

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

textbook; helped found the

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

Department of Computer Science * William Tudor Gardiner, 55th Governor of Maine, January 2, 1929 – January 4, 1933 * Caroline D. Gentile, associate professor emeritus of education,

University of Maine at Presque Isle The University of Maine at Presque Isle (UMaine Presque Isle or UMPI) is a public college in Presque Isle, Maine. It is part of the University of Maine System and one of two University of Maine System schools in Aroostook County, Maine, Aroostoo ...

* Michael Hammer, one of the founders of the management theory of business process reengineering * H. Robert Horvitz, MIT professor of biology; won the

Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine () is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute, Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single ...

in 2002 together with

Sydney Brenner Sydney Brenner (13 January 1927 – 5 April 2019) was a South African biologist. In 2002, he shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with H. Robert Horvitz and Sir John E. Sulston. Brenner made significant contributions to wo ...

and

John Sulston Sir John Edward Sulston (27 March 1942 – 6 March 2018) was a British biologist and academic who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on the cell lineage and genome of the worm ''Caenorhabditis elegans'' in 2002 with ...

* Steven Hyman, neuroscientist and Provost of

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

* Ruth Langer, professor of theology at

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

; expert on Jewish Liturgy and on Christian-Jewish relations * Robert C. Lieberman, political scientist and provost of the

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

* William Stetson Merrill, classifier at

Newberry Library The Newberry Library is an independent research library, specializing in the humanities. It is located in Chicago, Illinois, and has been free and open to the public since 1887. The Newberry's mission is to foster a deeper understanding of our wo ...

; expert on classification of library books, author of ''A Code for Classifiers'' * Arnold A. Offner, historian, author, and former professor *

Rosalind Picard Rosalind Wright Picard (born 1962) is an American scholar and inventor who is Grover M. Hermann Professor of Health Sciences and Technology at MIT, founder and director of the Affective Computing Research Group at the MIT Media Lab, and co-founder ...

, director of the Affective Computing Research Group at the MIT Media Lab *

Jeffrey Sachs Jeffrey David Sachs ( ; born November 5, 1954) is an American economist and public policy analyst who is a professor at Columbia University, where he was formerly director of The Earth Institute. He worked on the topics of sustainable develop ...

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

professor, 1980–2002; current director of the

Earth Institute {{Infobox organization , name = The Earth Institute , image = Ei blue1.gif , map_size = , map_alt = , map_caption = , map2 = , type = , tax_id ...

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

* Ruggero Santilli, Center for Theoretical Physics of the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

Jonathan Sarna Jonathan D. Sarna (born 10 January 1955) is the Joseph H. and Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History in the department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and director othe Schusterman Center for Israel Studies at Brandeis Universit ...

, Joseph H. Braun and Belle R. Braun Professor of

American Jewish History ''American Jewish History'' is an academic journal and the official publication of the American Jewish Historical Society. The journal was established in 1892 and focuses on all aspects of the history of Jews in the United States. The journal was ...

in the department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies at

Andrei Shleifer Andrei Shleifer ( ; born February 20, 1961) is a Russian-American economist and Professor of Economics at Harvard University, where he has taught since 1991. Shleifer was awarded the biennial John Bates Clark Medal in 1999 for his seminal works ...

, economist and professor of economics at Harvard *

Isadore Singer Isadore Manuel Singer (May 3, 1924 – February 11, 2021) was an American mathematician. He was an Emeritus Institute Professor in the Department of Mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Professor Emeritus of Mathemat ...

, mathematician, recipient of the Abel Prize (2004) and

National Medal of Science The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral science, behavior ...

(1983), and Institute Professor in the Department of Mathematics at

* Scott Sumner, economist and professor of economics at

Bentley University Bentley University is a private university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded in 1917 as a school of accounting and finance in Boston's Back Bay, Boston, Back Bay neighborhood. Bentley has one undergraduate school which off ...

Susumu Tonegawa is a Japanese scientist who was the sole recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1987 for his discovery of V(D)J recombination, the genetic mechanism which produces antibody diversity. Although he won the Nobel Prize for his w ...

, MIT professor; won the

in 1987 *

Edward Wagenknecht Edward (Charles) Wagenknecht (March 28, 1900 – May 24, 2004) was an American literary critic and teacher who specialized in 19th-century American literature. He wrote and edited many books on literature and movies, and taught for many years at v ...

, literary critic, prolific writer and

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

professor, lived on Otis Street in West Newton * Melvin M. Weiner, electrical engineer, author, inventor, he was the first to reduce pass-bands and stop-bands in

photonic crystals A photonic crystal is an optical nanostructure in which the refractive index changes periodically. This affects the propagation of light in the same way that the structure of natural crystals gives rise to X-ray diffraction and that the atomic ...

to practice *

Victor Weisskopf Victor Frederick "Viki" Weisskopf (also spelled Viktor; September 19, 1908 – April 22, 2002) was an Austrian-born American theoretical physicist. He did postdoctoral work with Werner Heisenberg, Erwin Schrödinger, Wolfgang Pauli, and Niels Boh ...

, theoretical physicist; worked with Heisenberg, Schrödinger and Niels Bohr; group leader of the Theoretical Division of the

Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development program undertaken during World War II to produce the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States in collaboration with the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the ...

at Los Alamos *

Howard Zinn Howard Zinn (August 24, 1922January 27, 2010) was an American historian and a veteran of World War II. He was chair of the history and social sciences department at Spelman College, and a political science professor at Boston University. Zinn ...

, radical historian and author of ''

A People's History of the United States '' A People's History of the United States'' is a 1980 nonfiction book (updated in 2003) by American historian and political scientist Howard Zinn. In the book, Zinn presented what he considered to be a different side of history from the more ...

Actors and actresses

* Peggy Bernier, actress and comedienne * Virginia Bosler, actress * Louis C.K., born Louis Szekely, stand-up comedian, '' Louie'' TV series, actor and writer *

Jessica Chaffin Jessica Chaffin (born January 5, 1974) is an American actress, comedian, writer and podcaster best known as part of the comedy duo Ronna and Beverly with Jamie Denbo. She is also known for her recurring roles as Coco Wexler on Nickelodeon's ''Z ...

, actress, comedienne, and writer *

Priyanka Chopra Priyanka Chopra Jonas (; born 18 July 1982) is an Indian actress and producer. The winner of the Miss World 2000 pageant, Chopra is India's highest-paid actress and has received numerous accolades, including two National Film Awards and fiv ...

, actress *

Matt Damon Matthew Paige Damon ( ; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. He was ranked among ''Forbes'' most bankable stars in 2007, and in 2010 was one of the highest-grossing actors of all time. He has received va ...

, actor, film producer, philanthropist and screenwriter * Dimitri Diatchenko, actor and musician *

Anne Dudek Anne Louise Dudek (born March 22, 1975) is an American actress. She is known for portraying Tiffany Wilson in the 2004 film ''White Chicks'', Danielle Brooks in the television series ''Covert Affairs'', Dr. Amber Volakis on the series ''House'', ...

, actress, played Dr. Amber Volakis in TV series ''

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

'' *

Kathryn Erbe Kathryn Elsbeth Erbe (born July 5, 1965) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Alexandra Eames on '' Law & Order: Criminal Intent'', a spin-off of ''Law & Order'', and Shirley Bellinger in the HBO series '' Oz''. Early l ...

, actress, star of '' Law & Order: Criminal Intent'' * Marin Hinkle, actress, best known for playing Judith Harper on CBS's ''

Two and a Half Men Two and a Half Men is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Lee Aronsohn that aired on CBS for 12 seasons from September 22, 2003, to February 19, 2015. The series originally starred Charlie Sheen as Charlie Harper, a hedonis ...

'' * Josephine Hull, actress *

Jennifer Dundas Jennifer Dundas, credited as Jennie Dundas in her early work, is an American entrepreneur and actress. Perhaps best known for her role in '' The First Wives Club'' as Chris Paradis, the lesbian daughter of Annie Paradis, played by Diane Keaton, ...

, actress *

Alex Karpovsky Alexander Karpovsky (born September 23, 1975) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and film editor. He is best known for his role as Raymond "Ray" Ploshansky on the HBO comedy drama series '' Girls'' (2012–17), for which he wa ...

, actor, best known for playing Ray Ploshansky on HBO's '' Girls'' *

Jonathan Katz Jonathan Paul Katz (born December 1, 1946) is an American actor and comedian best known for his starring role in the animated sitcom ''Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist'' as Dr. Katz. He is also known for voicing Erik Robbins in the UPN/Adult Sw ...

, actor, best known for his starring role on the animated sitcom ''

Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist ''Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist'' is an American adult animated sitcom created by Jonathan Katz and Tom Snyder for Comedy Central. It originally ran from May 28, 1995, to February 13, 2002. The series starred the voice talents of Jonathan ...

'' * Karen Kondazian, actress and author *

John Krasinski John Burke Krasinski (; born October 20, 1979) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his role as Jim Halpert on the NBC sitcom ''The Office'' (2005–2013), where he was also a producer and occasional director. He directed, co-w ...

, actor, best known for playing

Jim Halpert James Duncan Halpert is a fictional character in the U.S. version of the television sitcom '' The Office'', portrayed by John Krasinski. He is introduced as a sales representative at the Scranton branch of paper distribution company Dunder Miff ...

on NBC's ''

The Office ''The Office'' is the title of several mockumentary sitcoms based on a British series originally created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as '' The Office'' in 2001. The original series also starred Gervais as manager and primary charac ...

'' * Ben Kurland, actor *

Matt LeBlanc Matthew Steven LeBlanc (; born July 25, 1967) is an American actor. He garnered global recognition with his portrayal of Joey Tribbiani in the NBC sitcom ''Friends'' and in its spin-off series, '' Joey''. For his work on ''Friends'', LeBlanc ...

, actor, best known for playing Joey Tribbiani on ''

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane (producer), David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting List of Friends episodes, ten seasons. With an ensemble cast ...

'' *

Jack Lemmon John Uhler Lemmon III (February 8, 1925 – June 27, 2001) was an American actor. Considered proficient in both dramatic and comic roles, he was known for his anxious, middle-class everyman screen persona in comedy-drama films. He received num ...

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

-winning actor *

Christopher Lloyd Christopher Allen Lloyd (born October 22, 1938) is an American actor. He has appeared in many theater productions, films, and television shows since the 1960s. He is known for portraying Emmett Brown in the Back to the Future (franchise), ''B ...

, actor, best known for playing Rev. Jim in TV series ''

Taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a Driving, driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of thei ...

'' and as "Doc" (

Emmett Brown Dr. Emmett Lathrop Brown, commonly referred to as "Doc Brown", is a fictional scientist in the ''Back to the Future'' franchise. He was created by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale. First appearing in the 1985 film ''Back to the Future'', he is an ...

) in ''

Back to the Future ''Back to the Future'' is a 1985 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale. It stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, and Thomas F. Wilson. Set in 1985 ...

'' films *

Robert Morse Robert Alan Morse (May 18, 1931 – April 20, 2022) was an American actor. Known for his gap-toothed boyishness, he started his career as a star on Broadway acting in musicals and plays before expanding into film and television. He earned numero ...

, actor, star of '' How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying'' and ''

Mad Men ''Mad Men'' is an American historical drama, period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on cable network AMC (TV channel), AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, with seven seasons ...

'' * Olga C. Nardone, actress, best known for playing three parts in ''

The Wizard of Oz ''The Wizard of Oz'' is a 1939 American Musical film, musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Based on the 1900 novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum, it was primarily directed by Victor Fleming, who left pro ...

'' *

Hari Nef Hari Nef (born October 21, 1992) is an American actress, model, and writer. Nef's breakthrough role was Gittel in the Amazon original series '' Transparent'', for which she was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performa ...

, actress, model, and writer * B. J. Novak, comedian, writer, best known for playing Ryan Howard on ''

'' *

Rebecca Pidgeon Rebecca Pidgeon (born October 10, 1965) is an American-British actress who has appeared on stage and in feature films. She is also a singer, songwriter and recording artist. Early life Pidgeon was born to English parents in Cambridge, Massachus ...

, actress, singer and songwriter, wife of playwright

David Mamet David Alan Mamet (; born November 30, 1947) is an American playwright, author, and filmmaker. He won a Pulitzer Prize and received Tony Award, Tony nominations for his plays ''Glengarry Glen Ross'' (1984) and ''Speed-the-Plow'' (1988). He first ...

Amy Poehler Amy Meredith Poehler ( ; born September 16, 1971) is an American actress and comedian. Known for her roles in sketch comedy, sitcoms and comedy films, she has earned acclaim and several accolades including a Primetime Emmy Award (out of 26 nom ...

, actress and comedian, ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' and '' Parks and Recreation'' * Robert Preston, actor, "Professor" Harold Hill in ''

The Music Man ''The Music Man'' is a musical theatre, musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns a confidence trick, con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and ...

'' *

James Remar William James Remar (born December 31, 1953) is an American actor. He has played numerous roles over a 45-year career, most notably Ajax in '' The Warriors'' (1979), Albert Ganz in '' 48 Hrs.'' (1982), Dutch Schultz in '' The Cotton Club'' (198 ...

, actor, known for many films and TV series ''

Dexter Dexter may refer to: People * Dexter (given name) * Dexter (surname) * Dexter (singer), Brazilian rapper Marcos Fernandes de Omena (born 1973) * Famous Dex, also known as Dexter, American rapper Dexter Tiewon Gore Jr. (born 1993) Places United ...

'' *

Joe Rogan Joseph James Rogan (born August 11, 1967) is an American podcaster, Ultimate Fighting Championship, UFC color commentator, comedian, actor, and former television host. He hosts The Joe Rogan Experience, ''The Joe Rogan Experience'', which is o ...

, actor and comedian *

Eli Roth Eli Raphael Roth (born April 18, 1972) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and actor. As a director and producer, he is most closely associated with the horror genre, namely splatter films, having directed the films ''Cabin Fev ...

, film director, producer, writer and actor *

John Slattery John M. Slattery Jr. (born August 13, 1962) is an American actor and director. He is known for his role as Roger Sterling in the AMC drama series ''Mad Men'' (2007–15), for which he was nominated 4 times for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outsta ...

, actor, best known for playing Roger Sterling in ''

'' *

Arnold Stang Arnold Sidney Stang (September 28, 1918 – December 20, 2009)
''

Brian J. White, actor, best known for his role in ''

The Shield ''The Shield'' is an American crime drama television series created by Shawn Ryan and starring Michael Chiklis that aired on FX from March 12, 2002 to November 25, 2008 for seven seasons. The show is known for its portrayal of corrupt police ...

Artists

* David Bowes, painter * Mickie Caspi, artist, calligrapher * Tama Hochbaum, artist and photographer * Plane Jane (Andrew Dunayevsky), drag performer and competitor on season 16 of ''

RuPaul's Drag Race ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the Drag Race (franchise), ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder (company), World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, ...

'' *

Roger Kellaway Roger Kellaway (born November 1, 1939) is an American composer, arranger and jazz pianist who has recorded over 250 albums, and composed over 20 film scores Life and career Kellaway was born in Waban, Massachusetts, United States. He is an alum ...

, Oscar-nominated and Grammy-winning composer, arranger, and pianist *

Bow Sim Mark Bow-sim Mark (born 1942) is a Chinese martial arts grandmaster who lives in Newton, Massachusetts, US. She is the mother of martial arts film star, Donnie Yen. Training Mark was born in Guangzhou, Republic of China in 1942. She began studying ...

wushu Wushu may refer to: Martial arts * Chinese martial arts, the various martial arts of China * Wushu (sport) Wushu () (), or kung fu, is a competitive Chinese martial art. It integrates concepts and forms from various traditional and modern ...

practitioner; mother of actor

Donnie Yen Donnie Yen Chi-tan ( zh, c=甄子丹, p=Zhēn Zǐdān, j=, first=j; born 27 July 1963) is a Hongkongers, Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and action director. He is the recipient of various accolades, including three Golden Horse Fi ...

* Florence Maynard, photographer * Arthur Polonsky, draughtsman, painter and academic *

Nancy Schön Nancy Schön (born 1928) is an American sculptor whose work is displayed internationally in museums, libraries, universities, private collections, and public outdoor spaces. She is best known for her work titled ''Make Way for Ducklings'', insta ...

, sculptor of the ''

Make Way for Ducklings ''Make Way for Ducklings'' is an American children's picture book written and illustrated by Robert McCloskey. First published in 1941 by the Viking Press, the book centers on a pair of mallards who raise their brood of ducklings on an island ...

'' statues on

Boston Common The Boston Common is a public park in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest city park in the United States. Boston Common consists of of land bounded by five major Boston streets: Tremont Street, Park Street, Beacon Street, Charl ...

; also did statues of

Winnie-the-Pooh Winnie-the-Pooh (also known as Edward Bear, Pooh Bear or simply Pooh) is a fictional Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard. Winnie-the-Pooh first appeared by ...

and

Eeyore Eeyore ( ) is a fictional character in the ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' books by A. A. Milne. He is an old, grey stuffed donkey and friend of the title character, Winnie-the-Pooh. Eeyore is generally characterised as pessimistic, depressed, and an ...

at the Newton Free Library *

Sidewalk Sam Sidewalk Sam was the pseudonym of Robert Charles Guillemin (May 4, 1939 – January 26, 2015), a Boston-based artist who resided in Newton, Massachusetts. He was best recognized for his reproductions of European masterpieces, chalked or painted ...

(Robert Guillemin), folk artist *

Edwin Lord Weeks Edwin Lord Weeks (1849 – November 1903) was an American painter, noted for his Orientalist works. Life Weeks was born in Boston, in 1849. His parents were spice and tea merchants from Newton, and as such they were able to finance their son ...

, painter * Morgan Bassichis, American comedic performer, writer, and artist

Authors, writers, journalists, poets

* Binyamin Appelbaum, journalist *

Tom Ashbrook Thomas E. Ashbrook is an American journalist and radio broadcaster. He was formerly the host of the nationally syndicated, public radio call-in program '' On Point'', from which he was dismissed after an investigation concluded he had created a h ...

, journalist and radio broadcaster *

Isaac Asimov Isaac Asimov ( ; – April 6, 1992) was an Russian-born American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. During his lifetime, Asimov was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers, along with Robert A. H ...

, prolific science fiction and non-fiction writer *

Russell Banks Russell Earl Banks (March 28, 1940 – January 8, 2023) was an American writer of fiction and poetry. His novels are known for "detailed accounts of domestic strife and the daily struggles of ordinary often-marginalized characters". He drew from ...

, writer of fiction and poetry * Alex Beam, columnist for the ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'' *

Thomas Bulfinch Thomas Bulfinch (July 15, 1796 – May 27, 1867) was an American author born in Newton, Massachusetts, known best for '' Bulfinch's Mythology'', a posthumous combination of his three volumes of mythologies. Life Bulfinch belonged to a well-educa ...

, author of '' Bulfinch's Mythology'' *

Ty Burr Ty Burr (born August 17, 1957) is an American film critic, columnist, and author who reviews films for ''The Washington Post'' and writes the film and popular culture newsletter "Ty Burr's Watchlist". Burr worked as a film critic at ''The Boston ...

, film critic for the ''Boston Globe'' * Virginia Lee Burton, illustrator and author of children's books * Russell Gordon Carter, writer *

Anita Diamant Anita Diamant (born June 27, 1951) is an American author of fiction and non-fiction books."Anita Diamant." ''Contemporary Authors Online''. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2015. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, 2017-09-22. She has ...

, author of fiction and nonfiction books *

Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, minister, abolitionism, abolitionist, and poet who led the Transcendentalism, Transcendentalist movement of th ...

, essayist, poet, lecturer, philosopher *

Bill Everett William Blake Everett (; May 18, 1917 – February 27, 1973) was an American comic book writer-artist best known for creating Namor the Sub-Mariner as well as co-creating Zombie (comics), Zombie and Daredevil (Marvel Comics character), Daredevil ...

, comic book writer, artist (creator of ''Sub-Mariner'', co-creator of ''Daredevil'') * Isabella Gardner, poet *

Ellen Goodman Ellen Goodman (born April 11, 1941) is an American journalist and syndicated columnist. She won a Pulitzer Prize in 1980. She is also a speaker and commentator. Career Goodman's career began as a researcher and reporter for ''Newsweek'' magazi ...

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

-winning syndicated columnist * Ann Warren Griffith, writer * Dan Harris, correspondent for

ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...

; anchor for ''

Nightline ''Nightline'' (or ''ABC News Nightline'') is ABC News (United States), ABC News' Late night television in the United States, late-night television news program broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC in the United States with a franchis ...

''; co-anchor for the weekend edition of ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...

'' * Nate Kenyon, author * Dan Katz, Barstool Sports contributor *

Raymond Kurzweil Raymond Kurzweil ( ; born February 12, 1948) is an American computer scientist, author, entrepreneur, futurist, and inventor. He is involved in fields such as optical character recognition (OCR), text-to-speech synthesis, speech recognition te ...

, writer, futurist, inventor * Don Lessem, author * Barry Levy, screenwriter, best known for the 2008 film '' Vantage Point'' * Bill Lichtenstein, Peabody Award-winning journalist and filmmaker * Melissa Lozada-Oliva, poet and spoken word artist *

, playwright, screenwriter and film director * Adam Mansbach, novelist *

Elizabeth McCracken Elizabeth McCracken (born September 16, 1966) is an American author. She is a recipient of the PEN New England Award. Life McCracken, a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, graduated from Newton North Hig ...

, author *

Tova Mirvis Tova Mirvis (born 1972) is an American novelist. She is a graduate of Columbia College of Columbia University and holds a masters of fine arts degree in fiction writing from Columbia University School of the Arts. Mirvis' family has lived in Mem ...

, novelist *

Diana Muir Diana Muir, also known as Diana Muir Appelbaum, is an American historian from Newton, Massachusetts, best known for her 2000 book, ''Reflections in Bullough's Pond'', a history of the impact of human activity on the New England ecosystem. Perso ...

, writer and historian * Charles J.V. Murphy, journalist and author *

Michael Novak Michael John Novak Jr. (September 9, 1933 – February 17, 2017) was an American Catholic philosopher, journalist, novelist, and diplomat. The author of more than forty books on the philosophy and theology of culture, Novak is most widely known ...

, author * William Novak, author *

Robert Pinsky Robert Pinsky (born October 20, 1940) is an American poet, essayist, literary critic, and translator. He was the first United States Poet Laureate to serve three terms. Recognized worldwide, Pinsky's work has earned numerous accolades. Pinsky ...

, former

Poet Laureate of the United States A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writt ...

* Caroline Mehitable Fisher Sawyer, writer, editor *

Anne Sexton Anne Sexton (born Anne Gray Harvey; November 9, 1928 – October 4, 1974) was an American poet known for her highly personal, confessional poetry, confessional verse. She won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1967 for her book ''Live or Die (book ...

, poet, writer * Edward Sheehan, journalist and author * Samuel Shem, playwright *

Harriet Beecher Stowe Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe (; June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896) was an American author and Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist. She came from the religious Beecher family and wrote the popular novel ''Uncle Tom's Cabin'' (185 ...

, author of ''

Uncle Tom's Cabin ''Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly'' is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in two Volume (bibliography), volumes in 1852, the novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans ...

'' * Andrew Szanton, collaborative memoirist *

Celia Thaxter Celia Thaxter (née Laighton; June 29, 1835 – August 25, 1894) was an American writer of poetry and stories. For most of her life, she lived with her father on the Isles of Shoals at his Appledore Hotel. How she grew up to become a writer is d ...

, poet and writer *

Ben Ames Williams Ben Ames Williams (March 7, 1889 – February 4, 1953) was an American novelist and writer of short stories; he wrote hundreds of short stories and over 30 novels. Among his novels are ''Come Spring'' (1940), ''Leave Her to Heaven'' (1944) ...

, novelist * Jonathan Wilson, novelist and critic

Business and industry

* Roger Berkowitz, owner of Legal Sea Foods * Charles Bilezikian, co-founder of

Christmas Tree Shops Christmas Tree Shops (also known as Christmas Tree Shops andThat!, or simply andThat!) was an American chain of Big-box store, big-box specialty retail stores, headquartered in Middleborough, Massachusetts. At its peak, the chain operated 72 stor ...

* Elizabeth Boit, textile manufacturer * Richard B. Carter, head of Carter's Ink Company 1905–1949 * Jim Davis, CEO of

New Balance New Balance Athletics, Inc. (NB), doing business as New Balance, is one of the world's major sports footwear and apparel manufacturers. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, the multinational corporation was founded in 1906 as the New Balance Arch Su ...

Semyon Dukach Semyon Dukach (born 25 October 1968) is an American entrepreneur and former professional blackjack player. He is the founding partner of One Way Ventures, a venture capital fund that backs immigrant entrepreneurs. He was the managing director o ...

, professional gambler, entrepreneur, writer * Leo Kahn, co-founder of Staples * Jim Koch, co-founder and chairman of the Boston Beer Company *

Louis K. Liggett Louis Kroh Liggett (April 4, 1875 – June 5, 1946) was an American drug store magnate who founded L.K. Liggett Drug Company and then Rexall. He was later chairman of United Drug Company. He was a member of the Republican National Committ ...

, drug store magnate *

Eddie Lowery Edward Edgar Lowery (October 14, 1902 – May 4, 1984) was an American caddie, amateur golfer and multi-millionaire businessman. Lowery is best known as the 10-year-old caddie of Francis Ouimet during the 1913 U.S. Open, held at The Country Cl ...

, golf caddy, auto dealer * John Palmer Parker, early Hawaiian rancher, married into Hawaiian royal family *

Sumner Redstone Sumner Murray Redstone ( Rothstein; May 27, 1923 – August 11, 2020) was an American billionaire businessman and media magnate. He was the founder and chairman of the second incarnation of Viacom, chairman of CBS Corporation (both companies m ...

, global media businessman * Francis Edgar Stanley (1849–1918), co-inventor of the

Stanley Steamer The Stanley Motor Carriage Company was an American manufacturer of steam cars that operated from 1902 to 1924, going defunct after it failed to adapt to competition from rapidly improving internal combustion engine vehicles. The cars made by t ...

Freelan Oscar Stanley Freelan Oscar Stanley (June 1, 1849 – October 2, 1940) was an American inventor, entrepreneur, hotelier, and architect. He made his fortune in the manufacture of photographic plates but is best remembered as the co-founder, with his brother Fra ...

(1849–1940), co-inventor of the

and builder of the Stanley Hotel *

Donald Valle Donald Valle (1908 – September 17, 1977) was an American restaurateur who owned and managed the eponymously named Valle's Steak House, from 1933 until his death in 1977. Early years Valle was born in Lettomanoppello, Italy, in 1908 and immigra ...

, founder and owner of

Valle's Steak House Valle's Steak House was an American chain of restaurants that operated on the East Coast of the United States from 1933 to 2000. The chain's menu focused on steaks and lobsters. A family-run business, Valle's aggressively expanded during the earl ...

* Richard Valle, restaurateur; son of

; owner of Valle's Steak House *

Peter Lynch Peter Lynch (born January 19, 1944) is an American investor, mutual fund manager, author and philanthropist. As the manager of the Magellan Fund at Fidelity Investments between 1977 and 1990, Lynch averaged a 29.2% annual return, consistently m ...

, mutual fund manager and philanthropist

Colonial figures

Waban Waban ( – ) was a Native Americans in the United States, Native American of the Nipmuc group and was thought to be the first Native American convert to Christianity in Massachusetts. Early life and first contact with the English Little is known ...

, 17th-century American Indian

tribal chief A tribal chief, chieftain, or headman is a leader of a tribe, tribal society or chiefdom. Tribal societies There is no definition for "tribe". The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of weste ...

; lived in Nonantum *

Ephraim Williams Ephraim Williams Jr. (Wyllis Eaton Wright, Colonel Ephraim Williams, a documentary life' (1970), p. 4.Correct date of birth of February 24, 1714 is obtained from primary source: Massachusetts Vital Records "Newton Births 1674-1801 Book 1 Vol 10 ...

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

in the colonial militia during the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

and benefactor of

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim ...

* Thomas Wiswall (1601–1683), prominent early citizen of the

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1628–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around Massachusetts Bay, one of the several colonies later reorganized as the Province of M ...

and Cambridge Village, Massachusetts

Environmentalists

* Francis P. Farquhar (1887–1974), former president of the

Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an American environmental organization with chapters in all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded in 1892, in San Francisco, by preservationist John Muir. A product of the Pro ...

Government, education and politics

Benigno Aquino Jr. Benigno "Ninoy" Simeón Aquino Jr., (, ; November 27, 1932 – August 21, 1983) was a Filipino politician who served as a senator of the Philippines (1967–1972) and governor of the province of Tarlac (1963–1967). Aquino was the husband ...

and

Corazon Aquino María Corazón "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino (; January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009) was a Filipino politician who served as the 11th president of the Philippines and the first woman president in the country, from Presidency of Corazon ...

, Filipino public intellectual and political figures; lived with their five children in Newton, 1980–1983; Corazon eventually became the first female president of the Philippines (1986–1992); their third child and only son, Benigno III or "Noynoy", was elected president in 2010 *

Benigno Aquino III Benigno Simeon Aquino III (; born Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III; February 8, 1960 – June 24, 2021), also known as Noynoy Aquino and colloquially as PNoy, was a Filipino politician who served as the 15th president of the Philippines ...

, 15th president of the Philippines (assumed office June 2010; term ended June 2016), lived in Newton 1980–1983 *

Jake Auchincloss Jacob Daniel Auchincloss ( ; born January 29, 1988) is an American politician, businessman, and military officer serving as the U.S. representative for Massachusetts's 4th congressional district since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, h ...

, member of the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

for Massachusetts's 4th congressional district * Thomas Cardozo, first African American State Superintendent of Education in Mississippi (1874–1876) * Evan Falchuk, founder of the

United Independent Party The United Independent Party or UIP was a political party based in Massachusetts, United States. The chairman of the UIP was Evan Falchuk, a former health care executive who submitted enough signatures to be on the 2014 gubernatorial ballot. When ...

and candidate for governor of Massachusetts in 2014 *

Barney Frank Barnett Frank (born March 31, 1940) is a retired American politician. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts from 1981 to 2013. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, Frank served as chairman of th ...

, former

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

for Massachusetts's 4th congressional district * Joseph Healy, U.S. Representative from

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

* Joseph Kennedy III, son of Joseph P. Kennedy II and former

for Massachusetts's 4th congressional district * Richard Lakin, Freedom Rider, school principal, terrorism victim *

Horace Mann Horace Mann (May 4, 1796August 2, 1859) was an American educational reformer, slavery abolitionist and Whig Party (United States), Whig politician known for his commitment to promoting public education, he is thus also known as ''The Father of A ...

, public educator, college president (

Antioch College Antioch College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1850 by the Christian Connection and began operating in 1852 as a non-secta ...

) and U.S. Representative from

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

Lisa Monaco Lisa Oudens Monaco (born February 25, 1968) is an American attorney who served as the 39th United States Deputy Attorney General, United States deputy attorney general from 2021 to 2025. She is a member of the Democratic Party (United States), De ...

United States Deputy Attorney General The United States deputy attorney general is the second-highest-ranking official in the United States Department of Justice and oversees the day-to-day operation of the department. The deputy attorney general acts as attorney general during the ...

and former Homeland Security Advisor *

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (26 October 1919 – 27 July 1980) was the last List of monarchs of Iran, Shah of Iran, ruling from 1941 to 1979. He succeeded his father Reza Shah and ruled the Imperial State of Iran until he was overthrown by the ...

, Shah of Iran; exiled after

Ayatollah Khomeini Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini (17 May 1900 or 24 September 19023 June 1989) was an Iranian revolutionary, politician, political theorist, and religious leader. He was the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the main leader of the Iranian ...

took power; lived for a short time in Newton *

Cyrus Peirce Cyrus Peirce (1790–1860), American educator and Unitarian minister, was the founding president of the first American public normal school, which evolved into Framingham State University.

, public educator, college president of

Framingham State College Framingham State University (Framingham State or FSU) is a public university in Framingham, Massachusetts. The university, then known as the Normal School in Lexington was founded in 1839 as the first state-supported normal school in the United ...

(once located in West Newton); namesake of the

Peirce School The Peirce School (also known as Old Peirce School) is a historic school building at 88 Chestnut Street, corner of Austin Street, in West Newton, Massachusetts. The brick building was built in 1895 and operated by the Newton Public Schools as ...

in West Newton *

John Pigeon John Pigeon (March 17, 1725 – February 5, 1778) was a merchant, a member of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, and Massachusetts Commissary General during the American Revolution. Born in Boston he became a successful merchant and insurer b ...

, representative of Newton to the

Massachusetts Provincial Congress The Massachusetts Provincial Congress (1774–1780) was a provisional government created in the Province of Massachusetts Bay early in the American Revolution. Based on the terms of the colonial charter, it exercised ''de facto'' control over th ...

and served as Massachusetts Commissary General while a resident *

Roger Sherman Roger Sherman (April 19, 1721 – July 23, 1793) was an early American politician, lawyer, and a Founding Father of the United States. He is the only person to sign all four great state papers of the United States: the Continental Association, ...

, only person to have signed all four basic documents of American sovereignty: the Continental Association of 1774, the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...

, the

Articles of Confederation The Articles of Confederation, officially the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, was an agreement and early body of law in the Thirteen Colonies, which served as the nation's first Constitution, frame of government during the Ameri ...

, and the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally includi ...

; born and spent his first two years in Newton *

Henry Lawrence Southwick Henry Lawrence Southwick (June 21, 1863 – December 30, 1932) was the third president of Emerson College of Oratory (now Emerson College), located in the Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts. In addition to teaching at the college, he was a noted inte ...

, author, actor and 3rd President of

Emerson College Emerson College is a private college in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It also maintains campuses in Los Angeles and Well, Limburg, Netherlands (Kasteel Well). Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a "school of Public Speaking, o ...

(1908–1932) * Nguyen Van Thieu, exiled President of

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...

* Rochelle Walensky, Director of the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the National public health institutes, national public health agency of the United States. It is a Federal agencies of the United States, United States federal agency under the United S ...

* John W. Weeks, mayor of Newton; U.S. Congressman and U.S. Senator from Massachusetts; U.S. Secretary of War under Harding *

Sinclair Weeks Charles Sinclair Weeks (June 15, 1893February 7, 1972), better known as Sinclair Weeks, was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Massachusetts in 1944 and as United States Secretary of Commerce from 1953 until 1958 ...

, son of John W. Weeks; born in West Newton; like his father, served as mayor of Newton and U.S. Senator; U.S. Secretary of Commerce under President Dwight Eisenhower * Harry F. Stimpson Jr., lawyer who was the United States Ambassador to Paraguay

Military

* James S. Gracey, Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard

Music

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...

, composer, conductor, pedagogue, pianist. *

Robert Beaser Robert Beaser (born May 29, 1954, Boston, Massachusetts) is an American composer. Biography Beaser was brought up in a non-musical family. His father was a physician and mother was a chemist. He grew up in Newton, Massachusetts, where he disti ...

, composer, professor, The Juilliard School * Dai Buell, pianist, performed the first piano recital on radio in 1921, lived at the Aloha Bungalow *

Ralph Burns Ralph Joseph P. Burns (June 29, 1922 – November 21, 2001) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. Early life Burns was born in Newton, Massachusetts, United States, where he began playing the piano as a child. In 1938, he attend ...

, songwriter, bandleader, composer, conductor, arranger and bebop pianist * Rob Chiarelli, multiple

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

winner *

Catie Curtis Catie Curtis (born May 22, 1965) is an American singer-songwriter working primarily in the folk rock idiom. Her most recent album recording, ''The Raft,'' was released in 2020. Career Curtis was raised in Saco, Maine. By the age of fifteen she ...

, folk/pop singer * Stephen Custer, cellist with the

Los Angeles Philharmonic The Los Angeles Philharmonic (LA Phil) is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. The orchestra holds a regular concert season from October until June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from ...

, grew up in Newton *

Fat Mike Michael John Burkett (born January 16, 1967), known professionally as Fat Mike, is an American musician and producer. He was the bassist and lead vocalist for the punk rock band NOFX and the cofounder and bassist of the punk rock supergroup cov ...

, lead singer and bassist of punk rock band NOFX * Alfred Genovese, principal oboist of

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

and

Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five (orchestras), Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in ...

Osvaldo Golijov Osvaldo Noé Golijov (; born December 5, 1960) is an Argentine composer of classical music and music professor, known for his vocal and orchestral work. Biography Osvaldo Golijov was born in and raised in La Plata, Argentina, to a Jewish family ...

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

award-winning composer of classical music * Avi Jacob, singer-songwriter *

Mike Mangini Michael Anthony Mangini (born April 18, 1963) is an American musician, best known for his tenure with the progressive metal band Dream Theater, with whom he performed from 2010 to 2023. He has also played with artists and bands including Annihi ...

, drummer for

Dream Theater Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 in Boston, Massachusetts. The band comprises John Petrucci (guitar), John Myung (bass), Mike Portnoy (drums), James LaBrie (vocals) and Jordan Rudess (keyboards). Dream Theat ...

Vaughn Monroe Vaughn Wilton Monroe (October 7, 1911 – May 21, 1973) was an American baritone singer, trumpeter and big band leader who was most popular in the 1940s and 1950s. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for recording and another f ...

, singer, trumpeter and big band leader *

Jane Morgan Jane Morgan (born Florence Catherine Currier; May 3, 1924) is an American former singer and recording artist of traditional pop. Morgan initially found success in France and the UK before achieving recognition in the US, receiving six gold re ...

, popular singer, specializing in traditional pop music *

Jesse Novak Jesse Novak is an American composer, best known for his work scoring television shows, including '' The Mindy Project'', ''BoJack Horseman'', '' Tuca & Bertie'', ''The Baby-Sitters Club'', and '' Superstore''. He is the brother of actor and produ ...

, composer *

Aoife O'Donovan Aoife Maria O'Donovan ( , ; born November 18, 1982) is an American singer and Grammy Award-winning songwriter. She is best known as the lead singer for the string band Crooked Still, as well as one-third of the supergroup folk trio I'm with Her ...

, singer-songwriter, lead singer of band Crooked Still * Bijan Olia, film composer and songwriter *

Seiji Ozawa was a Japanese conductor known internationally for his work as music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, and especially the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO), where he served from 1973 for 29 years. After cond ...

Music Director Laureate * Horatio Parker, composer, first Dean of

Yale School of Music The Yale School of Music (often abbreviated to YSM) is one of the 12 professional schools at Yale University. It offers three graduate degrees: Master of Music (MM), Master of Musical Arts (MMA), and Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA), as well as a joi ...

, born in Auburndale (a village of Newton) *

Rachel Platten Rachel Ashley Platten (born May 20, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter and author. After releasing two albums independently in 2003 and 2011, she signed with Columbia Records in 2015 and released her mainstream debut single, "Fight Song (Ra ...

, singer and songwriter *

Seth Putnam Seth Edward Putnam (May 15, 1968 – June 11, 2011) was an American musician best known as the founder and sole consistent member of grindcore band Anal Cunt. Throughout his career, Putnam was also involved in numerous side projects. Biograph ...

, singer and leader of grindcore band

Anal Cunt Anal Cunt, also called AxCx and A.C., was an American grindcore band that formed in Newton, Massachusetts, in 1988. From its inception, the band underwent a number of line-up changes and never had a bassist. The band, known for its flippant and ...

Fritz Richmond John B. "Fritz" Richmond (July 10, 1939 – November 20, 2005) was an American musician and recording engineer. Richmond was a washtub bassist and was also a professional jug player. Richmond, born in Newton, Massachusetts, on July 10, 1939, was ...

, jug and washtub bass player * Mark Sandman, lead singer of the alternative rock band

Morphine Morphine, formerly also called morphia, is an opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin produced by drying the latex of opium poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as an analgesic (pain medication). There are ...

* Jason Solowsky, composer

Philosophy, religion and spirituality

Ram Dass Ram Dass (born Richard Alpert; April 6, 1931 – December 22, 2019), also known as Baba Ram Dass, was an American spiritual teacher, guru of modern yoga, psychologist, and writer. His best-selling 1971 book '' Be Here Now'', which has been d ...

(Dr. Richard Alpert), author, philosophic and religious guru *

Mary Baker Eddy Mary Baker Eddy (née Baker; July 16, 1821 – December 3, 1910) was an American religious leader and author, who in 1879 founded The Church of Christ, Scientist, the ''Mother Church'' of the Christian Science movement. She also founded ''The C ...

, founder of the

Church of Christ, Scientist The Church of Christ, Scientist was founded in 1879 in Boston, Massachusetts, by Mary Baker Eddy, author of '' Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,'' and founder of Christian Science. The church was founded "to commemorate the word and ...

; her last home has been preserved as the Dupee Estate-Mary Baker Eddy Home *

Timothy Leary Timothy Francis Leary (October 22, 1920 – May 31, 1996) was an American psychologist and author known for his strong advocacy of psychedelic drugs. Evaluations of Leary are polarized, ranging from "bold oracle" to "publicity hound". Accordin ...

, author, psychologist, lecturer at

, advocate of L.S.D.-25 (''i.e.'',

lysergic acid diethylamide Lysergic acid diethylamide, commonly known as LSD (from German ; often referred to as acid or lucy), is a Semisynthesis, semisynthetic, Hallucinogen, hallucinogenic compound derived from ergot, known for its powerful psychological effects and ...

) and other

entheogens Entheogens are psychoactive substances used in spiritual and religious contexts to induce altered states of consciousness. Hallucinogens such as the psilocybin found in so-called "magic" mushrooms have been used in sacred contexts since ancien ...

Physicians

Donald Berwick Donald M. Berwick (born September 9, 1946) is a former Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Prior to his work in the administration, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Institute for Healthcare Im ...

, former Administrator of the

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is a federal agency within the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that administers the Medicare program and works in partnership with state governments to administer ...

; candidate for Massachusetts Governor in 2014 *

Atul Gawande Atul Atmaram Gawande (born November 5, 1965) is an American surgeon, writer, and public health researcher. He practices general and endocrine surgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. He is a professor in the Department ...

, general and endocrine surgeon at Brigham and Women's Hospital * Kurt Julius Isselbacher, M.D., American physician and the former

Mallinckrodt Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals plc is an American-Irish domiciled manufacturer of specialty pharmaceuticals (namely, adrenocorticotropic hormone), generic drugs and imaging agents. In 2017, it generated 90% of its sales from the U.S. healthcare s ...

Distinguished Professor of Medicine at

and Director Emeritus of the

Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is a teaching hospital located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the original and largest clinical education and research facility of Harvard Medical School/Harvar ...

Cancer Center * Sara Murray Jordan, gastroenterologist

Political activists

* Charles Jacobs, founder of the

American Anti-Slavery Group The American Anti-Slavery Group (AASG) is a non-profit coalition of abolitionist organizations that engages in political activism to abolish slavery in the world. It raises awareness of contemporary slavery, particularly among the chattel slaves ...

and of The David Project Center for Jewish Leadership * Andrea Levin, director of the

Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA), formerly the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, is an American non-profit pro-Israel media-monitoring, research and membership organization. ...

* Leonard Zakim, prominent New England religious and civil rights leader

Producers and directors

Brad Falchuk Bradley Douglas Falchuk (born March 1, 1971) is an American television writer, director, and producer. He is best known for co-creating the television series ''Glee'', ''American Horror Story'', '' Scream Queens'', and '' Pose'' with Ryan Murph ...

, writer, director, and producer of ''

Nip/Tuck ''Nip/Tuck'' is an American medical drama television series created by Ryan Murphy that aired on FX in the United States for six seasons from 2003 to 2010. The series, which also incorporates elements of crime, black comedy, family drama, sati ...

'' and ''

Glee Glee may refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 3000 album) * ''Glee'' (Logan Lynn album) * Gle ...

'' *

Andrew Bujalski Andrew Bujalski (; born April 29, 1977) is an American film director, screenwriter and actor, who has been called the "godfather of mumblecore." Life and career Bujalski, born in Boston in 1977, is the son of artist-turned-businesswoman Sheil ...

, film director, screenwriter, and actor * Lyn Greene, writer, director and producer of ''

'', ''

Boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, ...

'' and ''

Masters of Sex ''Masters of Sex'' is an American period drama television series that premiered on September 29, 2013, on Showtime. It was developed by Michelle Ashford and loosely based on Thomas Maier's biography '' Masters of Sex''. Set in the 1950s thro ...

'' *

, film director, producer, actor * Bruce Sinofsky, director of documentary films, '' Brothers Keeper'', ''The Paradise Lost Trilogy'', '' Metallica: Some Kind of Monster'' (TV series), '' Iconoclasts'' *

Julie Taymor Julie Taymor (born December 15, 1952) is an American director and writer of theater, opera, and film. Her stage adaptation of ''The Lion King (musical), The Lion King'' debuted in 1997 and received eleven Tony Awards, Tony Award nominations, with ...

, director of Broadway theatre and film

Psychologists and psychiatrists

Julian Jaynes Julian Jaynes (February 27, 1920 – November 21, 1997) was an American psychologist who worked at the universities of Yale and Princeton for nearly 25 years and became best known for his 1976 book '' The Origin of Consciousness in the Break ...

, psychologist * Kenneth Levin, psychiatrist and historian *

Kurt Lewin Kurt Lewin ( ; ; 9 September 1890 – 12 February 1947) was a German-American psychologist, known as one of the modern pioneers of social psychology, social, industrial and organizational psychology, organizational, and applied psychology in the ...

, "the father of social psychology"

Radio, television personalities

* Paula S. Apsell, television producer *

, host of the NPR radio show ''On Point'' * Andy Katz,

Big Ten Network Big Ten Network (BTN) is an American sports network based in Chicago, Illinois. The channel is dedicated to coverage of College athletics, collegiate sports sanctioned by the Big Ten Conference, including live and recorded event telecasts, news ...

and former

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

College Basketball reporter * Dan "Big Cat" Katz, Host of Pardon_My_Take and Barstool Sports Personality. * Maria Lopez, former judge, TV personality * Jade McCarthy, ESPN sportscaster * Suzyn Waldman, color commentator for

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

Science, medicine and technology

, geneticist and chronobiologist at

, recipient of the

in 2017 *

Dan Bricklin Daniel Singer Bricklin (born July 16, 1951) is an American businessman and engineer who is the co-creator, with Bob Frankston, of VisiCalc, the first spreadsheet program. He also founded Software Garden, Inc., of which he is currently president, ...

, with

Bob Frankston Robert M. Frankston (born June 14, 1949) is an American software engineer and businessman who co-created, with Dan Bricklin, the VisiCalc spreadsheet program. Frankston is also the co-founder of Software Arts. Early life and education Frankst ...

, co-creator of

VisiCalc VisiCalc ("visible calculator") is the first spreadsheet computer program for personal computers, originally released for the Apple II by VisiCorp on October 17, 1979. It is considered the killer application for the Apple II, turning the microco ...

, the first spreadsheet *

Charles Stark Draper Charles Stark "Doc" Draper (October 2, 1901 – July 25, 1987) was an American scientist and engineer, known as the "father of inertial navigation". He was the founder and director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Instrumentat ...

, inventor of the aircraft inertial guidance system; founder of MIT's Draper Labs * Wes Hildreth, a

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an government agency, agency of the United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geograp ...

geologist born in Newton. *

Reginald Fessenden Reginald Aubrey Fessenden (October 6, 1866 – July 22, 1932) was a Canadian-American electrical engineer and inventor who received hundreds of List of Reginald Fessenden patents, patents in fields related to radio and sonar between 1891 and 1936 ...

(1866–1932), inventor and radio pioneer; his

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

at 45 Waban Hill Road is listed in the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

, with

, co-creator of

, the first spreadsheet *

, surgeon, writer for ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'' *

Ashish Jha Ashish Kumar Jha (born December 31, 1970) is an Indian-American general internist physician and academic who served as the White House COVID-19 response coordinator from 2022–2023. He has been Dean of the Brown University School of Public Hea ...

, Dean of

Brown University School of Public Health The Brown University School of Public Health is the public health school of Brown University, a private research university in Rhode Island. It is located along the Providence River, down the hill and about a quarter mile from Brown's central ...

and White House

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Response Coordinator * Jonathan Mann, head of the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

's global AIDS project *

Charles Johnson Maynard Charles Johnson Maynard (May 6, 1845 – October 15, 1929) was an American naturalist and ornithologist born in Newton, Massachusetts. He was a collector, a taxidermist, and an expert on the vocal organs of birds. In addition to birds, he also s ...

, naturalist and ornithologist; lived in the Charles Maynard House * Thomas C. Peebles, physician, responsible for first isolating the

measles Measles (probably from Middle Dutch or Middle High German ''masel(e)'', meaning "blemish, blood blister") is a highly contagious, Vaccine-preventable diseases, vaccine-preventable infectious disease caused by Measles morbillivirus, measles v ...

virus, setting the stage for the development of a vaccine *

Judy Smith Judy A. Smith (born October 27, 1958) is an American crisis manager, lawyer, author, and television producer. She is known as the founder, president, and CEO of the crisis management firm Smith & Company. Her work in crisis management is the i ...

, nurse who disappeared from Philadelphia in 1997; found murdered in North Carolina five months later * Rochelle Walensky, Director of the

and former Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at

* Frank E. Winsor,

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...

and chief engineer of the

Quabbin Reservoir The Quabbin Reservoir is the largest inland body of water in Massachusetts, United States, and was built between 1930 and 1939. Along with the Wachusett Reservoir, it is the primary water supply for Boston, to the east, and 40 other cities and ...

project How do you not have Rainer Weiss of Newton, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2017 (?) for the detection of Gravitational waves, on this list?

Songwriters

Katharine Lee Bates Katharine Lee Bates (August 12, 1859 – March 28, 1929) was an American author and poet, chiefly remembered for her anthem "America the Beautiful", but also for her many books and articles on social reform, on which she was a noted speaker. B ...

, professor of English at

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a Private university, private Women's colleges in the United States, historically women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henr ...

and author of the lyrics to "

America the Beautiful "America the Beautiful" is an American patriotic song. Its lyrics were written by Katharine Lee Bates and its music was composed by church organist and choirmaster Samuel A. Ward at Grace Church (Newark), Grace Episcopal Church in Newark, New ...

" *

Samuel Francis Smith Samuel Francis Smith (October 21, 1808 – November 16, 1895) was an American Baptist minister, journalist, and author. He is best known for having written the lyrics to "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" (sung to the tune of "God Save the King"), which ...

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

minister and author of the lyrics to

My Country, 'Tis of Thee "My Country, 'Tis of Thee", also known as "America", is an American patriotic song whose lyrics were written by Samuel Francis Smith. The song served as one of the ''de facto'' national anthems of the United States (along with songs like " Hai ...

, also known as "America"

Sports

Auto racing

Pete Hamilton Peter Goodwill Hamilton (July 20, 1942 – March 21, 2017) was an American professional stock car racing driver. He competed in NASCAR for six years, where he won four times in his career (including the 1970 Daytona 500), three times driving ...

, NASCAR racer, winner of the 1970

Daytona 500 The Daytona 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series motor race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is the first of two Cup races held every year at Daytona, the second being the Coke Zero Sugar 400, and one of three ...

Baseball

*The following are current and former players of the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

: ** Matt Clement (former) ** Jim Corsi (former) (born in Newton) **

John Curtis John Ream Curtis (born May 10, 1960) is an American politician serving since 2025 as the junior United States senator from Utah. A member of the Republican Party, Curtis served from 2017 to 2025 as the U.S. representative for Utah's 3rd congre ...

(former) (born in Newton) ** Hal Deviney (former) (born in Newton) ** JD Drew (former) ** Bob Gallagher (former) (born in Newton) **

Gabe Kapler Gabriel Stefan Kapler (born July 31, 1975), nicknamed "Kap", is an American former professional baseball outfielder and manager who serves as the assistant general manager of the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball (MLB). Kapler was a 57th- ...

(former) **

Mark Loretta Mark David Loretta (born August 14, 1971) is an American former professional baseball infielder. He played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1995 and 2009 for the Milwaukee Brewers, Houston Astros, San Diego Padres, Boston Red Sox ...

(former) **

Doug Mirabelli Douglas Anthony Mirabelli (born October 18, 1970) is an American former Major League Baseball catcher. He played for the San Francisco Giants (1996–2000), Texas Rangers (2001), Boston Red Sox (2001–2005), and San Diego Padres (2006) before r ...

(former) ** Trot Nixon (former) **

David Ortiz David Américo Ortiz Arias (born November 18, 1975), nicknamed "Big Papi", is a Dominican Americans, Dominican-American former professional baseball designated hitter and first baseman who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1997 ...

(former) ** Wily Mo Peña (former) **

Jimmy Piersall James Anthony Piersall (November 14, 1929 – June 3, 2017) was an American baseball center fielder who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for five teams, from 1950 through 1967. Piersall was best known for his well-publicized b ...

(former) ** Jason Varitek (former) ** Ted Williams (former) *The following also played Major League Baseball: ** Bob Barr (1930s pitcher), Bob Barr (born in Newton) ** Sean DePaula (born in Newton) ** Bob Dresser (born in Newton) ** Jake Fishman (born in Newton) *The following play for a national team: ** Jake Fishman, American-Israeli (born in Newton; plays for Israel national baseball team, Team Israel) **Ben Wanger, American-Israeli baseball pitcher (born in Newton; plays for Team Israel)

Basketball

* Geoffrey Gray (basketball), Geoffrey Gray (born 1997), American player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League * Tom Heinsohn (1934–2020), NBA player * Jayson Tatum, NBA player

Boxing

*Joe DeNucci, middleweight boxer and MA State Auditor

Fencing

* Paul Friedberg, Olympic fencer

Figure skating

* Tenley Albright (born 1935 in Newton Centre), first American female skater to win an Olympic gold medal; other titles included 1952 Olympic silver medal, 1953 and 1955 World Champion, 1953 and 1955 North American champion, and 1952–1956 U.S. national champion * Gracie Gold, 2014 and 2016 U.S. champion, Olympic team bronze medalist, born in Newton * Jennifer Kirk, 2000 World Junior champion, born in Newton * John Summers (figure skater), John Summers, 1978–80 national champion in ice dancing

Football

* Kiko Alonso, (former) linebacker for the Miami Dolphins * Patrick Sullivan (American football executive), Patrick Sullivan, (former) general manager, New England Patriots * Will Levis, (current) quarterback for the Tennessee Titans

Soccer

* Ben Brewster, Forward (association football), forward and coach * Sam Brill, Defender (association football), defender

Skateboarding

*Andy Macdonald (skateboarder), Andy MacDonald, eight-time X Games gold medalist and eight-time World Cup Skateboarding champion

References

{{Reflist Lists of American people by populated place, Newton, Massachusetts Lists of people from Massachusetts, Newton people People from Newton, Massachusetts, *