List of people from Adelaide

This is an incomplete list of notable people from Adelaide.

Arts and music
Prominent intellectuals, writers, artists, bands, and musicians to hail from Adelaide include:

Actors

 * Dame Judith Anderson - Rebecca, And Then There Were None; Tony and Emmy Award winner
 * Elspeth Ballantyne - Prisoner
 * Holly Brisley - Home and Away
 * Sam Clark - Neighbours
 * Kate Fischer - Sirens
 * Sir Robert Helpmann - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
 * Nicholas Hope - Bad Boy Bubby
 * Dichen Lachman - Neighbours, Dollhouse
 * Anthony LaPaglia - Without a Trace
 * Jonathan LaPaglia - Seven Days, The District
 * Glenn McMillan - Wonderland, Power Rangers Ninja Storm
 * Adam Tuominen - Power Rangers Ninja Storm, Underbelly: Razor, Escape from Pretoria
 * Ben Oxenbould - Hey Dad..!
 * Teresa Palmer - December Boys, I Am Number Four
 * Lois Ramsey - Road to Nhill, Home and Away
 * Xavier Samuel - The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
 * Hugh Sheridan - Packed to the Rafters
 * Sarah Snook - Succession; Golden Globe winner
 * Kodi Smit-McPhee - The Power Of The Dog; Oscar-nominated actor
 * Sonia Todd - McLeod's Daughters
 * Melanie Vallejo - Winners and Losers, Power Rangers Mystic Force
 * Samara Weaving
 * John Noble - Fringe

Comedians

 * Anthony "Lehmo" Lehmann - comedian
 * Richard Marsland
 * Shaun Micallef
 * Greig Pickhaver - aka "H.G. Nelson"
 * Roy Rene - aka "Mo McCackie"
 * Frank Woodley

Film directors

 * Mario Andreacchio
 * David James Campbell
 * Alex Frayne
 * Rolf de Heer
 * Scott Hicks
 * Pip Karmel
 * Anthony Maras
 * Michael James Rowland
 * Murali K. Thalluri
 * Eddie White

Humanities

 * Graeme Hugo - demographer and Federation Fellow (2002)
 * J. J. C. Smart - philosopher
 * Hugh Stretton - historian and sociologist
 * Peter Sutton - anthropologist
 * Ghil'ad Zuckermann - linguist and revivalist
 * Wesley Wildman - philosopher, theologian, ethicist

Journalists

 * Annabel Crabb - political writer and commentator
 * Brady Haran - independent video journalist and Internet personality
 * Jenni Hogan - TV reporter and host, Emmy Award winner
 * Christian Kerr - political commentator and journalist
 * David Kosh - financial journalist and former presenter of Sunrise
 * Bruce McAvaney - sports broadcaster
 * Hamish McLachlan - television sports commentator for the Seven Network
 * David Penberthy - editor-in-chief of the Australian newspaper The Daily Telegraph

Musicians and bands

 * Allday
 * The Angels
 * At Sunset
 * The Beards
 * Tkay Maidza
 * Atlas Genius
 * The Audreys
 * Jimmy Barnes
 * Beeb Birtles
 * Bit By Bats
 * David Campbell
 * Wes Carr
 * Julian Cochran
 * Cold Chisel
 * Beccy Cole
 * Michael Crafter
 * Delta (hip hop artist)
 * Fraternity
 * Funkoars
 * Peter Furler
 * Dave Graney
 * Angie Hart
 * Hilltop Hoods
 * The Hot Lies
 * I Killed the Prom Queen
 * Jim Keays
 * Paul Kelly
 * Rachael Leahcar
 * Lowrider
 * The Mark of Cain
 * The Masters Apprentices
 * Reece Mastin
 * Sarah McLeod
 * Sia
 * Sister Janet Mead
 * Orianthi Panagaris
 * Redgum
 * Aleesha Rome
 * Guy Sebastian
 * Glenn Shorrock
 * Benjamin Speed
 * The Superjesus
 * Rudy Nikkerud
 * Swanee
 * Michelle Tumes
 * The Twilights
 * Universum
 * Virgin Black
 * Wolf & Cub

Visual artists

 * James Ashton - painter and arts educator
 * Dorrit Black - modernist printmaker and painter
 * Michal Dutkiewicz - comic book artist and illustrator, three-time winner of the Stanley Award
 * Robert Hannaford - portrait artist, three-time winner of the People's Choice Award of the Archibald Prize
 * Barbara Hanrahan - artist, printmaker and writer
 * Sir Hans Heysen - landscape painter, nine-time winner of the Wynne Prize
 * Nora Heysen - portrait artist, first female winner of the Archibald Prize
 * Ondrej Mares - sculptor and furniture maker
 * Joseph Stanislaus Ostoja-Kotkowski - painting, photography, film-making, theatre design, fabric design, murals, kinetic and static sculpture, stained glass, vitreous enamel murals, op-collages, computer graphics, and laser art
 * Geoffrey Proud - portrait and landscape painter, sculptor, winner of the 1990 Archibald Prize, winner of the 1975 Sulman Prize
 * Jeffrey Smart - precisionist landscape painter
 * Susan Dorothea White - painter, sculptor and printmaker

Writers

 * Malcolm Afford - playwright and novelist
 * Guy Boothby - novelist and travel writer
 * James Bradley - novelist and critic
 * Brian Castro - novelist
 * Nancy Cato - author
 * J M Coetzee - novelist and essayist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature
 * Aidan Coleman - poet
 * David Conyers - science fiction author
 * Geoffrey Dutton - poet, author and historian, winner of the Grace Leven Prize for Poetry
 * Max Fatchen - journalist and children's author
 * Mem Fox - educator and children's author
 * Peter Goldsworthy - novelist, poet and scriptwriter, winner of the Helpmann Award
 * Christine Harris - children's and young adult author
 * Max Harris - poet, critic and columnist
 * Vernon Knowles - fantasy author
 * Kym Lardner - children's author, illustrator, and storyteller
 * Caleb Lewis - playwright
 * DBC Pierre - novelist, winner of the Man Booker Prize
 * Gillian Rubinstein - children's author and playwright
 * Bel Schenk - poet
 * Tony Shillitoe - fantasy author
 * Tim Sinclair - poet and novelist
 * Hugh Stretton - historian and sociologist
 * Anne Summers - feminist writer and editor
 * Colin Thiele - children's author and educator, winner of the Dromkeen medal
 * David Thorne - humorist and satirist
 * Russel Ward - historian and author of The Australian Legend
 * Sean Williams - science fiction author
 * Ben Winch - novelist
 * Nan Witcomb - poet
 * Laetitia Withall - poet, author and suffragette

Business and media

 * Rick Allert - accountant, company director and chairperson
 * Balfours family - bakery founders
 * Barr Smith family - businessmen and philanthropists
 * Matt Barrie - entrepreneur, CEO Freelancer Limited
 * Shaun Bonétt - property developer, entrepreneur and philanthropist
 * Cooper family - brewery founders
 * Thomas Elder - pastoralist, politician and philanthropist
 * Gerard family - founders of Clipsal
 * Edward Hayward - owner and manager of John Martins
 * Sir Sidney Kidman - pastoralist, entrepreneur and landowner
 * Matthew and Zbigniew Michalewicz - entrepreneurs and co-founders of SolveIT Software
 * Rupert Murdoch - media mogul, chairperson and CEO of News Corporation
 * Mary Penfold - winemaker
 * John Spalvins - managing director of Adelaide Steamship Company
 * Robert Stigwood - impresario, entertainment entrepreneur and film producer
 * Michael Tunn - radio announcer and program director
 * Gary Turner - producer, record company owner and founder of LearnToPlayMusic.com

Law and politics

 * Julie Bishop - Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia
 * Sir John Langdon Bonython - member of the first Australian parliament
 * Sir John Lavington Bonython - Mayor and Lord Mayor of Adelaide
 * Michael Bradley - mayor of Sarnia, Ontario, Canada
 * James Crawford - Legal academic and Judge of the International Court of Justice (2014)
 * Mario Despoja - leader of the Croatian community in Australia
 * Natasha Stott Despoja - senator and leader of the Australian Democrats
 * Alexander Downer - Foreign Affairs Minister and Leader of the Opposition
 * Alexander Downer, Sr. - member of the House of Representatives and High Commissioner to London
 * John Downer - twice Premier of South Australia
 * John Finnis - Professor of Law at University College, Oxford
 * Julia Gillard - Prime Minister and leader of the Australian Labor Party
 * Janine Haines - senator and leader of the Australian Democrats
 * Sir Charles Kingston - Premier of South Australia and Minister for Trade and Customs in the first Commonwealth parliament
 * Dame Roma Mitchell - Australia's first female QC, first female judge, and first female Governor
 * Christopher Pyne - Minister for Defence
 * Catherine Helen Spence - suffragist, electoral reformer, prohibitionist, and first female political candidate in Australia
 * Ian Wilson - member of the Australian House of Representatives and Minister for Aboriginal Affairs
 * Sir Keith Wilson - senator and member of the Australian House of Representatives
 * List of mayors and lord mayors of Adelaide
 * List of premiers of South Australia
 * Category: Federal politicians from South Australia

Science
World-renowned Adelaide scientists include:
 * Len Beadell - surveyor, roadbuilder and explorer; asteroid 3161 Beadell is named after him
 * William Henry Bragg - physicist, chemist and mathematician, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics
 * William Lawrence Bragg - physicist and crystallographer, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics and youngest Nobel Laureate
 * Rodney Brooks - roboticist, director of the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and founding member of the iRobot corporation
 * Baron Howard Florey - pharmacologist and pathologist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
 * Basil Stuart Hetzel AC  - medical researcher who made a major contribution to combating iodine deficiency
 * Cecil Madigan - geologist and meteorologist, member of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition
 * Sir Douglas Mawson - geologist and explorer, leader of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition
 * Sir Mark Oliphant - nuclear physicist, winner of the Hughes Medal and the Faraday Medal
 * Enid Lucy Robertson - botanist, conservationist
 * Reg Sprigg - geologist and conservationist
 * George Szekeres - mathematician, after whom the George Szekeres Medal is named.
 * Terence Tao - mathematician, winner of the Fields Medal
 * Andy Thomas - aerospace engineer and NASA astronaut
 * David Unaipon - inventor and writer, commemorated on the Australian fifty-dollar note
 * Robin Warren - pathologist and researcher, winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine
 * Sir Hubert Wilkins - Antarctic aviation pioneer, Arctic explorer, ornithologist and geographer

Sport
Internationally and nationally recognised sports people from Adelaide include:

Aerobatics

 * Chris Sperou - thirteen-time National Aerobatics Champion, and five-time participant in the FAI World Aerobatic Championships

Archery

 * Simon Fairweather - Olympic gold medalist

Athletics

 * Jessica Stenson (born 1987) - Distance Runner


 * Matthew Clarke (runner) (born 1995) - Distance Runner

Australian rules football

 * Nathan Buckley - captained the Collingwood Football Club, winner of the Brownlow Medal
 * Adam Cooney - player for the Western Bulldogs and the Essendon Football Club, winner of the Brownlow Medal
 * Matthew Pavlich - captained the Fremantle Football Club
 * Adelaide Football Club players
 * Port Adelaide Football Club players

Basketball

 * Mark Bradtke - played one season in the NBA for the Philadelphia 76ers, played in the NBL for the Adelaide 36ers, Melbourne Tigers and Brisbane Bullets
 * Lindsay Gaze - played for the Australian Boomers in three Olympics and coached the team in four Olympics
 * Joe Ingles - plays for the Orlando Magic in the NBA
 * Ben Madgen - plays in the NBL for the Sydney Kings
 * Brett Maher - played in the NBL for the Adelaide 36ers
 * Mike McKay - played in the NBL for the West Adelaide Bearcats, Adelaide 36ers, Brisbane Bullets, Canberra Cannons and Wollongong Hawks
 * Brad Newley - plays in Spain for CB Gran Canaria, drafted to the NBA by the Houston Rockets
 * Erin Phillips - plays in the WNBA for the Phoenix Mercury, played for the Connecticut Sun
 * Luke Schenscher - played in the NBA for the Chicago Bulls and the Portland Trail Blazers
 * Phil Smyth - played in the NBL for the St Kilda Saints, Canberra Cannons, Adelaide 36ers and Sydney Kings

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

 * Craig Jones 2x ADCC silver medalist (2019 - 2022)

Cricket

 * Greg Blewett - played for the Australian national cricket team
 * Sir Donald Bradman - captained Australia, all-time highest Test batting average of any player with 99.94 ( Note: Bradman was born in Cootamundra, New South Wales in 1908 and moved to Adelaide in 1934)
 * Greg Chappell - captained Australia
 * Ian Chappell - captained Australia
 * Trevor Chappell - played for Australia
 * Albert Gillespie - played first-class cricket in England
 * Jason Gillespie - played for Australia
 * George Goodfellow - played first-class cricket in England
 * Clem Hill - captained Australia
 * David Hookes - played for Australia
 * Barry Jarman - captained Australia
 * Arthur G. Jenkins - first South Australian to umpire a cricket Test match
 * Darren Lehmann - played for Australia; current (2015) coach of the Australian team
 * Wayne Phillips - played for Australia
 * Vic Richardson - captained Australia; won Magarey Medal (Australian Rules Football) and represented Australia in Baseball; grandfather of Ian, Greg and Trevor Chappell
 * Shaun Tait - plays for Australia

Cycling

 * Alex Edmondson - Commonwealth Games Team pursuit champion, World individual pursuit champion 2014
 * Annette Edmondson - Commonwealth Games gold medalist 2014, Olympic bronze medalist in the omnium 2012
 * Matthew Glaetzer - Olympic gold, silver and bronze medalist for the Australian Cyclist team since 2009
 * Alexandra Manly - professional cyclist at Orica-AIS
 * Stephanie Morton - Commonwealth Games Individual Sprint Champion 2014
 * Stuart O'Grady - Olympic gold medalist in the Men's Madison, silver and bronze medalist in the 4000m Team Pursuit, bronze medalist in the Points Race, and four-time second-place finisher in the Tour de France
 * Michael Turtur - Olympic gold medalist in the Team Pursuit, and Race Director of the Tour Down Under
 * Kimberley Wells - two-time national criterium champion, and current professional cyclist.
 * Sam Willoughby - Olympic silver medalist in the men's BMX and UCI BMX world champion

Darts

 * Barry Atkinson - professional darts player
 * Rob Modra - two-time Geelong Open Darts Championships

Golf

 * Geoff Ogilvy - U.S. Open winner and three-time World Golf Championships winner
 * Adam Scott - U.S. Masters winner and World number one

Kickboxing

 * Frank Giorgi - two-time Australian champion and world Super Middleweight champion
 * Paul Slowinski - four-time Muay Thai world champion

Motor sports

 * John Boulger - two-time Australian Speedway Champion, nine-time South Australian Champion, captained Australia to win the Speedway World Team Cup
 * Jeremy Burgess - MotoGP engineer, helped Wayne Gardner, Mick Doohan and Valentino Rossi to 12 World Championships
 * Garrie Cooper - founder of Elfin Sports Cars, Australian 1½ Litre Champion, Australian Sports Car Champion and Singapore Grand Prix winner
 * Daniel Falzon - two-time Australian Superbike Champion
 * Steve Martin - Superbike World Championship veteran and World Endurance Champion
 * Billy McConnell - competes in the British Supersport Championship
 * Nick Percat - V8 Supercar driver, Australian Formula Ford Champion and Bathurst 1000 winner
 * Vern Schuppan - Formula One driver, 24 Hours of Le Mans winner and Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year
 * Johnnie Walker - Australian Drivers' Champion and Australian Grand Prix winner
 * Jack Young - two-time Speedway World Champion and nine-time South Australian Champion

Professional wrestling

 * Rhea Ripley - signed to the WWE, current 2023 Women’s Royal Rumble winner; former 1/2 of the WWE Women's Tag Team Champions; former Raw Women's Champion former NXT Women's Champion & former NXT UK Women's Champion (as well as being the inaugural champion for the latter).
 * Bronson Reed - billed from Black Forest, signed to the WWE, former NXT North American Champion.

Soccer

 * Dianne Alagich - played in the Women's United Soccer Association for the San Jose CyberRays, played for the Matildas
 * John Aloisi - played in La Liga, Premier League and Serie A, played for the Socceroos at the FIFA World Cup
 * Diana Hall - played for the Matildas
 * Charlotte Grant - plays for the Matildas
 * Awer Mabil - plays for FC Midtjylland
 * Joel Porter - played for the Socceroos
 * Alex Tobin - captained the Socceroos
 * Aurelio Vidmar - captained the Socceroos
 * Tony Vidmar - played for the Socceroos
 * Adelaide United FC players

Sport aerobics

 * Kylie Halliday - placed second at the Aerobic Gymnastics World Championships

Swimming

 * Kyle Chalmers - 2016 Summer Olympics gold medalist in the 100m freestyle
 * Emily Seebohm - 2012 Summer Olympics gold medalist in the 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay and 2008 Summer Olympics gold medalist in the 4 × 100 metre medley relay

Tennis

 * Darren Cahill - Australian Open doubles finalist, US Open singles semi-finalist
 * Lleyton Hewitt - U.S. Open and Wimbledon winner and World number one
 * Alicia Molik - Australian Open and French Open doubles winner, reached World top ten singles ranking
 * Mark Woodforde - two-time Australian Open, one-time French Open, six-time Wimbledon, and three-time French Open doubles winner; Olympic gold and silver medalist; World number one
 * Thanasi Kokkinakis

Trampoline gymnastics

 * Blake Gaudry - 2012 Summer Olympics competitor, Australian Gymnastics Championships Winner

Volleyball

 * Kerri Pottharst (born 1965) - Olympic gold and bronze medalist in beach volleyball
 * Tania Gooley-Humphry (born 1973) - beach volleyball and indoor volleyball player
 * Andrew Schacht (born 1973) - beach volleyball player
 * Tamsin Hinchley (born 1980) - volleyball player
 * Becchara Palmer (born 1988) - beach volleyball player

Other

 * Garry Gordon Cooper - retired airline captain, ex RAAF pilot
 * Gladys Elphick - Australian Aboriginal active in Aboriginal affairs
 * David Hicks - former Guantanamo Bay inmate, falsely convicted of 'providing material support to terrorism'