List of people from Erie, Pennsylvania

The following is a list of notable persons who were born, or who have lived a significant part of their lives, in Erie, Pennsylvania.

Art and Literature

 * Richard Anuszkiewicz, founder and foremost artist of Op Art movement
 * Moses Billings, early American portrait painter
 * Marc Brown, children's book author and illustrator, creator of the Arthur book series
 * John Silk Deckard, painter, printmaker, sculptor
 * David Greenberger, artist
 * Thom Hatch, author and novelist who specializes in the history of the American West, the American Civil War, and the Plains Indian Wars
 * Eugene Iverd, illustrator and teacher
 * Ron Larson, author of several dozen mathematics textbooks
 * Leon Ray Livingston, known as "King of the Hobos"
 * Ruth Eleanor Newton, illustrator and designer
 * Joseph Plavcan, painter and teacher
 * Chuck Rosenthal, author
 * Belle Silveira, artist known for her pencil portraits
 * Ida M. Tarbell, author, journalist, "muckraker"
 * John Totleben, comic book illustrator, known for covers of DC Comics' Swamp Thing
 * Michael J. Varhola, author
 * Charles Erskine Scott Wood, author and leading civil liberties advocate, best known for "Heavenly Discourse"

Athletics

 * Sig Andrusking, professional football player
 * Art Baker, professional football player, Buffalo Bills, All-American and NCAA National Championship winner in both football and wrestling, pioneering African-American athlete
 * Bruce Baumgartner, heavyweight Olympic wrestler, most decorated American wrestler of all time, member of National Wrestling Hall of Fame
 * Lou Bierbauer, 19th-century Major League Baseball player
 * Dana Bible, former American football coach
 * Fred Biletnikoff, professional football player, Oakland Raiders, Super Bowl MVP, Pro Football Hall of Fame
 * James Carr, youngest-ever American Olympic wrestler, member of National Wrestling Hall of Fame
 * Nate Carr, Olympic wrestler (bronze medalist in 1988), three-time NCAA champion at Iowa State University, member of National Wrestling Hall of Fame
 * Rick Chartraw, professional ice hockey player, Montreal Canadiens
 * James Conner, professional football player, Arizona Cardinals
 * Clifton Crosby, professional football player, Indianapolis Colts
 * Ed Cushman, professional baseball player, Buffalo Bisons, Milwaukee Brewers, Philadelphia Athletics, New York Metropolitans, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Toledo Maumees
 * Dell Darling, professional baseball player, Buffalo Bisons, Chicago White Stockings, and St. Louis Browns
 * Tim Federowicz, professional baseball player, Los Angeles Dodgers
 * Bill Finneran, early professional baseball umpire
 * George Flint, professional football player, Buffalo Bills
 * Fernando Frye, college football player
 * Eric Hicks, professional football player, Kansas City Chiefs
 * Essie Hollis, professional basketball player, Detroit Pistons
 * Sam Jethroe, Negro leagues and Major League baseball player from 1938 to 1966
 * Jovon Johnson, professional football player, Ottawa Redblacks, CFL's Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award
 * Caryn Kadavy, figure skater, 1987 World Bronze Medalist, 1988 Olympian
 * Eddie Klep, professional baseball player, first white American to play in the Negro leagues
 * Jack Laraway, professional football player, Buffalo Bills, Houston Oilers
 * Tom Lawless, professional baseball player, St. Louis Cardinals, Toronto Blue Jays, and Montreal Expos
 * Bob Learn, Jr., professional bowler, 1999 U.S. Open champion who also rolled the PBA's 10th televised 300 game
 * Frank Liebel, professional football defensive back for NFL's New York Giants and Chicago Bears
 * Matt Lynch, as of 2024 the only out gay head coach in college men's basketball
 * Kayla McBride, professional basketball player, Minnesota Lynx, first-team All-American, Notre Dame
 * Mike McCoy, professional football player, Green Bay Packers, unanimous first-team All-American for Notre Dame and 1969 Heisman Trophy candidate
 * Curt Miller, WNBA professional basketball coach
 * Mike Morrison, professional baseball player, Cleveland Spiders, Syracuse Stars and Baltimore Orioles
 * Peter Nyari, professional baseball and Olympic athlete
 * Bob Raudman, professional baseball player
 * Bob Sanders, professional football player, Indianapolis Colts
 * Brian Stablein, professional football player, Indianapolis Colts and Detroit Lions
 * Mark Stepnoski, professional football player, Dallas Cowboys and Houston/Tennessee Oilers
 * Woody Thompson, professional football player, Atlanta Falcons
 * Blidi Wreh-Wilson, professional football player, Tennessee Titans and Atlanta Falcons

Business and politics

 * Henry Alden Clark, U.S. Congressman
 * Edward M. Baker, investment broker
 * Judah Colt, pioneer
 * Kathy Dahlkemper, U.S. Congresswoman and Erie County Executive
 * Samuel A. Davenport, U.S. Congressman
 * Daniel Dobbins, builder of the U.S. naval fleet for Battle of Lake Erie
 * Thomas B. Hagen, Chairman of Erie Insurance
 * William Himrod, iron industry pioneer and abolitionist
 * Warren Kitzmiller, Vermont state legislator
 * Michael Liebel, Jr., Mayor of Erie 1906–1911; Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania 1915–1917
 * Reinhard Liebel, President of South Erie Iron Works; member of the Board of Fire Commissioners, Common Council and Select Council of Erie
 * Harry Markopolos, blew whistle in Madoff securities fraud
 * Louis Marx, toy maker and founder of Louis Marx and Company; established first factories in Erie and was a part-time resident
 * Norman Morrison, Vietnam protester who self-immolated
 * Joseph D. Pistone, aka Donnie Brasco, FBI agent who infiltrated Bonanno crime family
 * Adena Miller Rich, suffragist, social worker in Chicago, director of Immigrants' Protective League
 * Tom Ridge, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Governor of Pennsylvania, and U.S. Congressman
 * James Patrick Rossiter, lawyer and politician
 * William Lawrence Scott, 19th-century politician and wealthy businessman
 * Milton Shreve, U.S. Congressman
 * Thomas Sill, U.S. Congressman

Film, stage, and television

 * Nick Adams, Broadway actor
 * Alaska Thunderfuck 5000, drag performer and recording artist
 * Billy Blanks, inventor of Taebo and martial arts film actor
 * Marc Blucas, actor
 * Marilyn Burns, actress, known for role as Sally in 1974 movie The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
 * Bob Chitester, public television and documentary film producer, known as "...the man who made Milton Friedman a star..."
 * Ann B. Davis, actress, known for role as Alice on TV's Brady Bunch
 * Dorothy Dietrich, magician and escapologist
 * Kurt Doss, child actor
 * Christine Estabrook, television and film actress
 * Ish Kabibble, comedian and actor
 * Harry Kellar, magician
 * Tina LeBlanc, ballet dancer, teacher and ballet master
 * Emily Matson, journalist
 * Julianna McCarthy, original cast member of The Young and the Restless
 * Dan Rice, 19th century entertainer and clown
 * Maria Sansone, television host of Good Day LA
 * Steve Scully, host, political editor, and senior producer of C-SPAN's Washington Journal
 * Jonathan Stark, actor and screenwriter
 * Denman Thompson, playwright and actor
 * Kay Williams, actress
 * Walker Scobell, actor

Military and aerospace

 * John Boyd, fighter pilot and military strategist who developed the OODA Loop and helped with the success of the Persian Gulf War
 * Paul K. Carlton, general United States Air Force; commander in chief of the Military Airlift Command
 * Philip Cochran, colonel United States Army Air Corps; commander of the 1st Air Commando Group in World War II; inspiration for the characters of "Flip Corkin" and "General Philerie" in comic strips by Milton Caniff
 * Charles A. Curtze, rear admiral United States Navy
 * Richard E. Ellsworth, U.S. Air Force Brigadier General
 * Charles Vernon Gridley, U.S. Navy Commander, Captain, U.S.S. Olympia, Battle of Manila Bay; adopted Erie as his home after taking command of the USS Michigan there
 * Louis J. Magill, Spanish–American War veteran; recipient of the Marine Corps Brevet Medal
 * Seth Reed, Lt. Colonel, fought at Bunker Hill; instrumental in adding "E Pluribus Unum" to U.S. coins; founded Erie, as its first settler with his family, in 1795, at Presque Isle
 * Strong Vincent, Union brigadier general; killed at Gettysburg; Harvard graduate; practiced law in Erie from Waterford, Erie County
 * Anthony Wayne, American Revolutionary War general
 * Paul J. Weitz, U.S. Naval aviator; NASA astronaut; Skylab 2 pilot; STS-6 (Shuttle Challenger) Commander
 * William Maxwell Wood, first Surgeon General of the US Navy

Music

 * Alan Baer, tuba, New York Philharmonic
 * Harry Burleigh, classical music composer
 * Walter Hendl, conductor, composer and pianist
 * Peter Mennin, composer and teacher
 * Patrick Monahan, lead singer of Train; solo artist; Grammy Award winner
 * Chris Vrenna, drummer of rock band Nine Inch Nails
 * Jack Stauber, Solo Musician and Songwriter
 * War of Ages, Christian metal band

Naturalists

 * Joe Root, 19th-century naturalist who lived at Presque Isle State Park

Religion

 * Joan Chittister, Benedictine nun, author, and lecturer
 * Max C. Currick, Reform rabbi
 * Mary Lou Kownacki, Benedicine nun, activist, and writer
 * John Mark Gannon, Catholic archbishop
 * Theodore Jurewicz, Russian Orthodox priest and Byzantine iconographer

Science, medicine, and academia

 * Richard Beals, Yale professor and author of several mathematical textbooks
 * David Dausey, professor, author and epidemiologist
 * Millicent Goldschmidt, microbiologist, professor emerita at University of Texas
 * John Kanzius, inventor; radio and TV engineer and executive
 * Tara Keck, professor at University College London, published numerous scholarly articles on neuroplasticity
 * Artemas Martin, mathematician, published numerous scholarly articles on diophantine analysis
 * Paul Siple, Antarctic explorer who developed the wind chill factor