The following is a list of notable Sicilian Americans. To be included in this list, the person must have a Wikipedia article showing they are Sicilian American or must be accompanied by references showing they are Sicilian American and are notable.
Artists, writers, and musicians Carly Aquilino, (born November 18, 1990) stand-up comedian of Sicilian descent, podcast performer, cast member of MTV's Girl Code. Henry Armetta, (Palermo, Sicily, July 4, 1888 – San Diego, October 21, 1945) movie character actor who appeared in at least 150 films, starting in silents as early as 1915 to a movie released in 1946, after his death. In 1938, he played in Everybody Sing with Judy Garland, Allan Jones, and Fanny Brice. In 1941, he was hilarious as the father of an Italian family shopping for beds in "The Big Store" with the Marx Brothers and Tony Martin. He appeared in at least 24 films in 1934 alone, sometimes uncredited. Romina Arena, Palermo, Sicily, May 12, 1980 operatic pop / pop classical crossover singer-songwriter and published author now living in Los Angeles. Armand Assante, (born October 4, 1949) born in New York City to a Sicilian father and an Irish mother. Assante is an accomplished character actor, with his big break coming in 1974 in The Lords of Flatbush. His sometimes sinister look has made him a popular choice for movies and television. Dodici Azpadu, (born ) one of the few American novelists writing from a distinctly Sicilian-American and lesbian perspective. She has also published several volumes of poetry. Joseph Barbera, born Joseph Roland Barbera (March 24, 1911 – December 18, 2006) animator, cartoon artist, storyboard artist, director, producer and co-founder, together with William Hanna of Hanna-Barbera (now known as Cartoon Network Studios). The studio produced well-known cartoons such as The Huckleberry Hound Show, The Flintstones, The Jetsons and Scooby-Doo. Paul Barresi, (born January 12, 1949) American actor, private investigator and media personality best known for his unique persona and natural muscled physic on film and in photographs, including the movie Perfect and in photo essays such as the sell out Playgirl photo essay in which he was featured with Cassandra Peterson, aka, Elvira - Mistress of the Dark. Chazz Palminteri, (born May 15, 1952) American actor and writer, best known for his performances in The Usual Suspects, A Bronx Tale, Mulholland Falls and his Academy Award-nominated role for Best Supporting Actor in Bullets Over Broadway. Sonny Bono, born Salvatore Phillip Bono (February 16, 1935 – January 5, 1998) American record producer, singer, actor and politician whose career spanned over three decades. Argentina Brunetti, (August 31, 1907 – December 20, 2005) actress and writer. She followed Mimi Aguglia, her famous mother's footsteps in the theater. She began her movie debut in the Frank Capra classic It's a Wonderful Life (1946), as Mrs. Martini. Throughout her varied career she has also written and performed in daily radio shows, became a member of the 'Hollywood Foreign Press Association', writing numerous articles on Hollywood personalities, authored books, written music and acted in over 57 television programs and 68 movies in which she mainly played multi-ethnic roles. She hosted a weekly weblog on the Internet, called Argentina Brunetti's Hollywood Stories, which her son plans to continue running, and has written a biographical novel called In Sicilian Company. Steve Buscemi, (born December 13, 1957, in Brooklyn, New York) actor. Frank Capra, (May 18, 1897 – September 3, 1991) American film director and a major creative force behind a number of highly popular films. Born Francesco Rosario Capra in Bisacquino, Sicily, Capra moved with his family to America in 1903, settling in Los Angeles. Vivian Cash, (April 23, 1934 – May 24, 2005) was an American author. She was the first wife of singer Johnny Cash and the inspiration for his first hit single I Walk The Line. Vivian’s two paternal grandparents were from Cefalù, Sicily. Her family roots in Cefalù go back over 300 years. Richard S. Castellano, (September 4, 1933 – December 10, 1988) actor, became famous as Pete Clemenza in The Godfather Iron Eyes Cody, (April 3, 1904 – January 4, 1999) actor born in Kaplan, Louisiana. He was born Espera DeCorti, the son of Sicilian immigrants Francesca Salpietra and Antonio De Corti. He was not born a Native American, but he claimed to be part Cherokee and part Cree. Cody and his wife Bertha Parker adopted children that were Native American. Cody began his acting career at the age of 12 and continued to work until the time of his death. In 1996, The Times-Picayune exposed his true heritage, but Cody denied it. Dan Cortese, (born September 14, 1967, near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) actor. Born in the Pittsburgh suburb of Sewickley, Pennsylvania, Cortese first came to prominence as host of MTV Sports from 1992 to 1993. He has had starring roles in the 1993 remake of Route 66, Traps, Melrose Place, The Single Guy, Veronica's Closet, and Ball & Chain Paul Creston (1906–1985), composer of classical music Russ (born 1992), rapper Alan Dale, (July 9, 1926 – April 20, 2002) singer of traditional popular and rock and roll music. He was born Aldo Sigismondi in the Brooklyn borough of New York. His father, Aristide Sigismondi, immigrated to the United States from Abruzzi, Italy in 1904 at the age of 21, and became a comedian in Italian-language theater, with a radio program of his own. His mother, Agata "Kate" Sigismondi, was born in Messina, Sicily, and was 15 years younger than Aristide. Arturo Di Modica New York City artist, born in Sicily, best known for his sculpture Charging Bull (also known as the "Wall Street Bull"), which he installed without permission in front of the New York Stock Exchange in December 1989. The piece is now on loan to the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation who has placed it in nearby Bowling Green park. Di Modica now lives in New York City Vincent D'Onofrio, (born Vincent Phillip D'Onofrio June 30, 1959, in Brooklyn, New York) actor and producer, best known as Detective Robert Goren in Law & Order: Criminal Intent. D'Onofrio's parents Gennaro (Gene) D'Onofrio and Phyllis D'Onofrio, are both of Sicilian descent. Dennis Farina, (February 29, 1944 – July 22, 2013) born in Chicago, actor in television and motion pictures; formerly a Chicago policeman. Ben Gazzara, (August 28, 1930 – February 3, 2012) born Biagio Anthony Gazzara in New York City) actor in television and motion pictures. Born to Sicilian immigrants, Antonio Gazzara and Angela Consumano, Gazzara grew up on New York's tough Lower East Side. Leila George, (born Leila George D'Onofrio on March 20, 1992, in Sydney, Australia) actress. George's parents are American actor Vincent D'Onofrio who is Sicilian descent and Australian actress Greta Scacchi. Charlie Gracie (born Charles Anthony Graci in South Philadelphia, 1936; d. 2022), rock and roll and rhythm and blues singer and guitarist Lino Graglia, Dalton Cross Professor of Law at the University of Texas specializing in antitrust litigation. He obtained a BA from the City College of New York in 1952, and an LLB from Columbia University in 1954. He worked in the United States Department of Justice during the administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Graglia is an outspoken Catholic conservative of Sicilian background. He is a well known critic of affirmative action and racial quotas. Alicia Keys, (born January 25, 1981) singer-songwriter, record producer, pianist and actress. She is an international pop star. Her real name is Alicia Augello Cook. Her mother, Teresa Augello, is of Sicilian descent (from Sciacca). Ariana Grande, (born June 26, 1993) American actress and singer. She is an international pop star. She is of Italian descent, half Sicilian (through her father Edward Butera), half Abruzzese. Her older brother is actor-producer Frankie Grande. Frankie Laine, (born Frank Paul LoVecchio March 30, 1913 – February 6, 2007), influential American singer. Frankie's parents emigrated from Monreale, Sicily to Chicago's "Little Sicily". At 17 he sang before a crowd of 5,000 at The Merry Garden Ballroom to such enthusiastic applause that he ended up performing five encores on his first night. But success as a singer was another 17 years away. Frankie Laine's 70-plus year career spanned most of the 20th century and continued into the 21st. Laine was a key figure in the golden age of popular music, and remains, quite possibly the greatest singer of all time. On June 12, 1996, he was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 27th Annual Songwriters’ Hall of Fame awards ceremony at the New York Sheraton. Matteo Lane, (born 1982) comedian whose maternal family comes from Agrigento. Cyndi Lauper, (born June 22, 1953), Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper, better known as Cyndi Lauper, singer whose melodic voice and wild costumes have come to epitomize the 1980s, the decade in which she first came to fame. She was born in Queens, New York to Swiss German-American Fred Lauper and Sicilian Italian-American Catrine Dominique. Nick LaRocca (1889–1961), American early jazz trumpeter and the leader of the Original Dixieland Jass Band. He is the composer of one of the most recorded jazz classics of all-time, "Tiger Rag". He was part of what is generally regarded as the first recorded jazz band, a band which recorded and released the first jazz recording, "Livery Stable Blues" in 1917. Frank Lentini, born Francesco A. Lentini (1889–1966) born in Syracuse, Sicily, into a large family. He was born with three longer legs, two sets of genitals and one rudimentary foot on his third leg. His primary legs also grew into different lengths. At the age of nine, Lentini moved to the United States and entered the sideshow business. Robert Loggia, born Salvatore Loggia (January 3, 1930 – December 4, 2015) American actor and director. His father, Biagio Loggia, was a shoemaker born in Palma di Montechiaro, Agrigento, Sicily, and his mother, Elena Blandino, a homemaker born in Vittoria, Ragusa, Sicily. Patti LuPone, (born April 21, 1949, in Northport, New York) American singer and actress of Sicilian descent."Let me just say how awesome it is to see Patti Lupone – THE Patti LuPone – live. I was reminded of the story I once heard about how, when Madonna wanted to rehearse on a stage where Patti Lupone was rehearsing, Patti taped a note on the door saying, "Only one Sicilian Diva allowed on the stage at a time." That's why I love her, true story or not. She brings those balls to her Sweeney character." She is a graduate of Northport High School. An important player in contemporary American musical theater, she has performed on Broadway in works by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Stephen Sondheim and others. She won a Tony Award for Evita in 1980. John Lurie (b. 1952), musician, composer, actor, and painter Matteo Marchisano-Adamo, born February 19, 1973, in Flint, Michigan, filmmaker and composer whose mother's family comes from Erice, Sicily. Joe Mantegna, (born Joseph Anthony Mantegna Jr., November 13, 1947, in Chicago) actor, writer and director whose family comes from Calascibetta, Sicily. Leo Martello, (1931–2000) author, lecturer, gay civil rights activist, and an early voice in the American Neopagan movement. He drew heavily on his Sicilian heritage, teaching the Strega Tradition which was named after the Italian word for Witch. As a founder of the Witches Anti-Defamation League (later the Alternative Religions Education Network) he was known for his lively and sometimes confrontational style. For example, in his books he tried to popularize the "Witches' Curse" which was "I wish you on yourself". He was profiled in Margot Adler's Drawing Down the Moon.