The following list includes notable people who were born or have lived in Portland, Maine.
Authors and academics
John Howard Appleton, chemist Louisa Dow Benton, linguist and letter writer Hannah Johnson Carter, art educator Elisabeth Cavazza (1849–1926), author, journalist, and music critic Brock Clarke, author Jennie Maria Drinkwater Conklin (1841–1900), author Leo Connellan, Beat poet and Poet Laureate of Connecticut Owen Davis, dramatist Robert F. Griffin, essayist Dorothy M. Healy, professor at Westbrook College, curator of the Maine Women Writers Collection Stephen King, author Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, poet John Neal, author and critic Alan Taylor, historian William Irwin Thompson, poet and cultural historian
Business
James Phinney Baxter, canning magnate and mayor Asa Clapp, international merchant Cyrus Curtis, publisher and philanthropist John A. Poor, railroad developer Roxanne Quimby, founder of Burt's Bees Reuben Ruby, businessman and political activist Thomas A. Sanders, real estate developer and politician George Tate, mast agent Donald Valle, founder and owner of the Valle's Steak House restaurant chain Thomas Westbrook, mill owner
Explorers and settlers
George Cleeve, settler George Baker Leavitt Sr., whaling captain, arctic explorer Capt. Christopher Levett, English explorer of Casco Bay, founded first settlement George Munjoy, settler Francis Pettygrove, one of Portland Oregon's founders
Media and arts
Maria a'Becket, painter Hiram Abrams, motion picture mogul Dorothy Appleby, film actress William H. Brown Jr., television director and producer; born, raised, and died in Portland"Obituaries: William H. Brown Jr.". Evening Express. June 10, 1982. p. 35. Retrieved February 1, 2025.King, Joe D. (March 14, 1955). "He's High Up on TV ... Portlander Director of Studio One Dramas; Bill Brown Started as Playwright While Student at Bowdoin; Portland Man Directs Star". Evening Express. p. 23. Retrieved February 1, 2025. Bebe Buell, model, musician, and mother of Liv Tyler Howie Carr, radio personality Cody Christian, actor and rapper John Greenleaf Cloudman, artist, portrait painter and cabinet maker Charles Codman, painter Jerry Crasnick, sports journalist Kevin Eastman, co-creator of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Greg Finley II, actor Frank Fixaris, sportscaster Francis Ford, actor John Ford, director Charles L. Fox, painter, labor unionist, and two-time candidate for governor of Maine with the Socialist Party Adam Gardner, musician Peter Garland, composer Jeremiah Hacker, journalist and reformer Will Holt, songwriter Avery Yale Kamila, journalist and community organizer Anna Kendrick, actress Charles F. Kimball, artist Jennie Kimball, actor, soubrette, theatrical manager Linda Lavin, actress Tawny Little, television newscaster and Miss America (1976) Mary King Longfellow, painter and niece of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Bob Ludwig, Grammy Award-winning audio mastering engineer Bob Marley, comedian Andrea Martin, actress Judd Nelson, actor Lincoln Peirce, comic strip creator, Big Nate Victoria Rowell, actress Ethelynde Smith, concert singer and botanical painter Stuart Saunders Smith, composer and percussionist Brett Somers, actress Spose, rapper Franklin Stanwood, painter Phyllis Thaxter, actress Liv Tyler, actress Louise Brown Verrill, composer
Military
James Alden Jr., rear admiral in the United States Navy George G. Gatley, brigadier general who commanded brigades and divisions in World War I Charles Badger Hall, U.S. Army major general John H. Hall, inventor of the first United States Army breech-loading rifle Horatio Collins King, Medal of Honor recipient Charles J. Loring Jr., Medal of Honor recipient Holman S. Melcher, mayor, Civil War veteran Edward Preble, naval officer Jedidiah Preble, militia officer Herbert E. Schonland, Medal of Honor recipient Ronald Speirs, Army officer with the Easy Company, 506 Parachute Infantry Regiment Peleg Wadsworth, Revolutionary War general
Politics
Joseph Adams, state legislator Justin Alfond, president of the Maine Senate George H. Allan, state legislator and women's suffrage proponent Daniel W. Ames, Civil War veteran and state legislator James Appleton, state legislator and activist Joseph E. Brennan, 70th governor of Maine Michael F. Brennan, mayor and state legislator Joshua Chamberlain, Civil War veteran, governor, surveyor of the Portland Port W. Edward Crockett, state legislator Winfred Thaxter Denison, United States assistant attorney general and secretary of the Interior for the Philippines; born in Portland Santo DiPietro, Maine state legislator and businessman; born in Portland Neal Dow, mayor of Portland; Civil War general; temperance movement leader John Eder, state legislator and Maine Green Independent Party organizer William P. Fessenden, U.S. senator Fletcher Hale, U.S. congressman from New Hampshire Charles Harlow, mayor of Portland; state legislator Anne Haskell, state legislator Jon Hinck, state legislator and attorney John Lynch, U.S. congressman George Mitchell, U.S. Senate majority leader (1989 to 1995); chairman of Walt Disney Company; U.S. special envoy to the Middle East Merle Nelson, state legislator William Pitt Preble, justice of the Maine Supreme Court; U.S. minister to the Netherlands; president of the St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad Anne Rand, state legislator Thomas Brackett Reed, U.S. congressman; speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives George Ruby, Black Republican legislator in Reconstruction-era Texas; raised in Portland Heather Sanborn, attorney, businesswoman, Maine Public Advocate, and Maine State Senator James E. Thorne, state legislator Charles W. Walton, U.S. congressman Herman W. Waterman, politician from Wisconsin
Professionals
Edville Gerhardt Abbott, surgeon Oscar Cox, lawyer Walter M. Fleming, physician, founder of the Shriners Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow Jr., architect Robert E. McAfee, physician Alexander Parris, architect Lois Rice, College Board executive and education scholar Thomas J. Sparrow, architect Henry Aiken Worcester, 19th-century minister and vegetarian
Sports
Joan Benoit Samuelson (born 1957), Olympic gold medalist in the marathon and founder of the Beach to Beacon 10K Mike Brown (born 1975), mixed martial arts fighter Nik Caner-Medley (born 1983), basketball forward Dick Capp (born 1942), football tight end and linebacker Ian Crocker (born 1982), Olympic swimmer Emily Durgin (born 1994), distance runner Rob Elowitch (born 1943), wrestler Terry Farnsworth (born 1942), Canadian Olympic judoka Ryan Flaherty (born 1986), baseball second baseman Charlie Furbush (born 1986), baseball pitcher Will Geoghegan (born 1992), distance runner Gabe Hoffman-Johnson (born 1991), soccer player and founder of the Portland Hearts of Pine Rip Jordan (1889–1960), baseball pitcher Julia Kirtland (born 1965), distance runner Pete Ladd (born 1956), baseball pitcher Michelle Lilienthal (born 1982), distance runner Gary McAdam (born 1955), ice hockey forward Quinton Porter (born 1982), football quarterback Matt Rand (born 1991), distance runner Remilia (1995–2019), professional gamer Bob Stanley (born 1954), baseball pitcher Coley Welch (1919–2000), middleweight boxer
Other
Cornelia Dow (1842–1905), philanthropist, temperance activist; born and died in Portland Sarah E. Fuller (1838–1913), national president, Woman's Relief Corps; born in Portland Nathaniel Gordon, only American slave trader to be tried, convicted, and executed under the Piracy Law of 1820 "for being engaged in the Slave Trade" L. Isabel Heald (1842–1932), social leader and philanthropic worker Ellen Martin Henrotin, social reformer; born in Portland Augusta Merrill Hunt (1842–1932), philanthropist, suffragist, temperance leader; lived in Portland her entire life Lois Galgay Reckitt (born 1944), executive director of Family Crisis Services, Portland Frederick L. Small (1866–1918), stockbroker; convicted and hanged by the state of New Hampshire for the murder of his wife
References