Rhode Island is so small you can drive across it in under an hour, and most of that hour is sitting in traffic on 95 waiting to get past the Providence Place exit. But don't let the size fool you. The list of famous people from Rhode Island is wicked long for the smallest state in the country. We're talking a Revolutionary War general, the guy who painted the face on the dollar bill, the man who wrote "Yankee Doodle Dandy," the godfather of cosmic horror and an EGOT winner.
So grab a coffee milk, pull up a seat at the counter and meet 12 Ocean State legends. Most were born right here in Little Rhody, and for the few who weren't, we'll tell you straight up why Rhode Island still gets to claim them.
1. Roger Williams, the Founder Who Started It All
We'll start with the one guy on this list who wasn't born here, because without him there's no "here." Roger Williams was born in London around 1603. The Puritans kicked him out of Massachusetts Bay for preaching that the government had no business telling people how to worship. In 1636 he bought land from the Narragansett sachems and founded Providence as a haven for religious freedom. That idea helped inspire the religious freedom later written into the First Amendment. Not a bad résumé for a guy Massachusetts didn't want.
2. Nathanael Greene, Washington's Right-Hand General
Nathanael Greene was born in 1742 in Potowomut, part of Warwick, into a Quaker family that ran mills and an iron forge. He taught himself military strategy from books, and by the end of the Revolution he was one of George Washington's most trusted generals. His campaign in the South wore down the British army and helped set up the win at Yorktown. Not bad for a kid from Warwick with a limp.
3. Gilbert Stuart, the Guy Who Painted Your Dollar Bill
Pull a dollar out of your wallet. That George Washington? Painted by a Rhode Islander. Gilbert Stuart was born in 1755 in Saunderstown, in North Kingstown, in a room above his father's snuff mill. His unfinished 1796 portrait of Washington became the image engraved on the one-dollar bill. He painted so many copies that he called them his "hundred-dollar bills." His birthplace and snuff mill are now the Gilbert Stuart Museum.
4. The Perry Brothers, Rhode Island's Navy Dynasty
One family, two naval legends. Oliver Hazard Perry was born in South Kingstown in 1785. At the Battle of Lake Erie in 1813 he beat a British squadron and sent the famous message, "We have met the enemy and they are ours." His little brother, Matthew C. Perry, was born in Newport in 1794. In 1853 and 1854 Matthew sailed to Japan with his "Black Ships" and negotiated the treaty that opened the country to American trade. That's two Perrys, two history books.
5. Ida Lewis, the Bravest Woman in America
Ida Lewis was born in Newport in 1842 and grew up keeping the Lime Rock Lighthouse in Newport Harbor after her father had a stroke. She could row a boat faster than any man in Newport, and she was officially credited with saving 18 lives. President Ulysses S. Grant came to visit her, and in 1881 she became the first woman to receive the Gold Lifesaving Medal. Lime Rock was renamed Ida Lewis Rock in her honor, and the Coast Guard named a ship after her too.
6. Nap Lajoie, the First Superstar of the American League
Napoleon "Nap" Lajoie was born in Woonsocket in 1874 to French-Canadian parents. He became one of the best second basemen ever, won the Triple Crown in 1901 and finished with more than 3,000 hits. He was so big in Cleveland that the team was renamed the Naps after him. In 1937 he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, part of its second-ever class. Woonsocket, stand up.
7. George M. Cohan, the Man Who Owned Broadway
George M. Cohan was born in the Fox Point neighborhood of Providence on July 3, 1878, though he always said it was the Fourth of July. Close enough. He wrote "Give My Regards to Broadway," "You're a Grand Old Flag" and "Over There," and he was the original Yankee Doodle Dandy. There's a statue of him in Times Square, and back home there's a bust of him at George M. Cohan Plaza on Wickenden Street, near where he was born.
8. H.P. Lovecraft, the Pride of Providence
Howard Phillips Lovecraft was born in Providence on August 20, 1890, and apart from a couple of rough years in Brooklyn, he spent his whole life there. He wrote weird horror stories for pulp magazines, created Cthulhu and set a bunch of his tales in a creepy version of New England. Plenty of his writing is mixed up with ugly racist views, and that's part of his story too. But his influence on horror is huge. He's buried at Swan Point Cemetery, and fans put up a headstone that says, "I AM PROVIDENCE."
9. Van Johnson, Newport's Movie Star
Van Johnson was born in Newport in 1916, went to Rogers High School and left for New York right after graduation to chase the stage. He became a huge MGM star during World War II, with movies like A Guy Named Joe, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, Battleground and The Caine Mutiny. His trademark was a pair of bright red socks, and one pair is now in the Smithsonian. Only a Newport kid could make red socks that famous before the 2004 Red Sox did.
10. Ruth Buzzi, the Laugh-In Legend From Westerly
Ruth Buzzi was born in Westerly in 1936 and grew up just over the line in Stonington, Connecticut, where her dad ran a stone carving business. She was the only cast member to appear in every episode of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, and her character Gladys Ormphby, the hairnet lady who whacked people with her handbag, won her a Golden Globe. Later a whole generation of kids knew her from Sesame Street. Westerly, you made a good one.
11. Viola Davis, From Central Falls to EGOT
Viola Davis was born in St. Matthews, South Carolina, in 1965, but she grew up in Central Falls, Rhode Island, and went to Central Falls High School and Rhode Island College. She has written about growing up poor there, and Rhode Island is proud as heck of where she ended up. She's won an Oscar for Fences, an Emmy for How to Get Away with Murder, two Tonys and, in 2023, a Grammy for her memoir audiobook. That made her an EGOT winner. Not born here, but raised here, and that counts.
12. The Farrelly Brothers, Kings of Comedy
Peter Farrelly was born in Pennsylvania in 1956 and Bobby Farrelly was born in Cumberland in 1958, and both grew up in Cumberland. Together they made Dumb and Dumber, There's Something About Mary and Me, Myself & Irene, and they sneak Rhode Island into their movies every chance they get. Peter later directed Green Book, which won the Oscar for Best Picture. If you're proud of your Ocean State roots like they are, our Born Into It Rhode Island T-Shirt says it for you.
Honorable Mentions
A few more Rhode Islanders who deserve a shout:
- Meredith Vieira, the TV journalist and longtime host of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, was born in Providence in 1953.
- Gabby Hartnett, the Hall of Fame Chicago Cubs catcher, was born in Woonsocket in 1900. That's two Hall of Famers from one mill city.
- Paul Konerko, the longtime White Sox slugger and 2005 World Series champ, was born in Providence in 1976.
- Seth MacFarlane is a Connecticut kid, but he went to the Rhode Island School of Design and set Family Guy in the fictional town of Quahog, Rhode Island.
Little Rhody, Big Names
Not bad for a state that fits inside Texas more than 170 times, right? Generals, admirals, painters, ballplayers, Broadway legends and Hollywood stars, all from a place where people give directions using landmarks that closed 20 years ago. If you're the smartest one at the clam shack, rock the Wicked Smaaht University Rhode Island T-Shirt. Then keep the trivia going with our fun facts about Rhode Island, the weird laws in Rhode Island that are actually real, and the celebrities who call Rhode Island home today.
Know a famous Rhode Islander we missed? Let us know on our socials. And whether you're from Providence, Pawtucket or a village nobody outside South County can find on a map, the Ocean State is always home.
Stay wicked proud, Rhode Island,
Ryan & the Chowdaheadz Crew