List of people from Greensboro, North Carolina

This is a list of notable people who were either born in, lived in or are closely associated with Greensboro, North Carolina and have an article on Wikipedia.

A–E

 * Ethan Albright, NFL Pro Bowl long snapper, played for University of North Carolina and NFL's Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills, and Washington Redskins
 * Keenan Allen, NFL Pro Bowl wide receiver for the Los Angeles Chargers
 * Tom Alston, former Major League Baseball first baseman and first African-American to play for the St. Louis Cardinals
 * Samuel E. Anderson, United States Air Force Four Star General; commanded Fifth Air Force during the Korean War
 * Clarence Avant, entertainment industry agent, entrepreneur, mogul
 * Patrick Bailey, catcher for the San Francisco Giants
 * Fantasia Barrino, winner of American Idol season three and Grammy Award-winning R&B singer, briefly lived in Greensboro and is from nearby High Point
 * Thomas Berry, ecology spokesman
 * Rex M. Best, Emmy Award-winning writer for the CBS daytime dramas The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful
 * Jake Bloss, Major League Baseball pitcher
 * Jeff Bostic, NFL offensive lineman for the Washington Redskins
 * Joe Bostic, NFL offensive lineman for the St. Louis (later Arizona) Cardinals
 * Alan Branson, American politician
 * Michael Brooks, NFL defensive back
 * Hal "Skinny" Brown, MLB pitcher, member of Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame
 * Tony Brown, record producer
 * Joseph M. Bryan, businessman and philanthropist, lived in Greensboro until his death in 1995
 * Kathleen Price Bryan, philanthropist, was born and lived in Greensboro
 * Frances Webb Bumpass, newspaper publisher
 * Lamont Burns, NFL offensive lineman
 * Sharon Raiford Bush, American television's first African-American female weather anchor of primetime news, in 1975 at WGPR-TV, the world's first black-owned-and-operated television station
 * Gianluca Busio, Major League Soccer player
 * Andy Cabic, of indie folk band Vetiver; lived in Greensboro while a member of indie-rock band The Raymond Brake
 * Orson Scott Card, author, journalist and professor; several of his books, including Ender's Game and Shadow Puppets feature settings in and around Greensboro
 * Jimmy Carpenter, electric blues saxophonist, singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer
 * Eugene Chadbourne, composer and musician
 * Spencer Chamberlain, lead vocalist of the band Underoath, was raised in Greensboro
 * Joey Cheek, Olympic gold medal speed skater
 * Howard Coble, former member of U.S. House of Representatives (6th District, N.C.)
 * Levi Coffin, Quaker educator and abolitionist
 * Tarik Cohen, NFL player, attended North Carolina A&T State University
 * Billy "Crash" Craddock, country music singer, born and lives near Greensboro
 * Chris Daughtry, American Idol contestant
 * Jeff Davis, NFL player for Tampa Bay Buccaneers and member of Clemson's 1981 national championship team; attended Dudley High School
 * Rick Dees, radio personality; graduated from Grimsley High School
 * Louis DeJoy, current Postmaster of the United States of America and major Republican Party benefactor
 * Marques Douglas, NFL player
 * James Lamont DuBose, executive television and film producer, BET
 * Eric Ebron, NFL tight end; attended Ben L. Smith High School
 * Donna Edmondson, 1987 Playboy Playmate of the year
 * Vince Evans, NFL quarterback and 1977 Rose Bowl most valuable player

F–J

 * Barry Farber, radio talk show host, author and language-learning enthusiast; born in Greensboro, and graduated from Greensboro Senior High School (see Grimsley High School)
 * Tal Farlow, pioneering jazz guitarist
 * Wes Ferrell, MLB pitcher 1927–41, two-time All-Star
 * Henry Flynt (b. 1940), philosopher, avant-garde musician, anti-art activist and exhibited artist often associated with Conceptual Art, Fluxus and Nihilism
 * Charles Foster, Olympic track hurdler
 * Inez and Charlie Foxx, rhythm-and-blues and soul duo known for the 1963 hit "Mockingbird"
 * Golda Fried, novelist and poet
 * Elissa Minet Fuchs, ballerina and ballet mistress
 * Peter Paul Fuchs, composer and conductor
 * Michimasa Fujino, President and CEO of Honda Aircraft Company
 * Rhiannon Giddens, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, co-founder of the Carolina Chocolate Drops
 * Edwin Forbes Glenn, United States Army officer
 * Dino Hackett, NFL linebacker; has jersey number retired by Appalachian State
 * Joey Hackett, NFL tight end
 * Kay Hagan, former U.S. Senator
 * PJ Hairston, played college basketball for North Carolina Tar Heels, 26th pick in the 2014 NBA draft by Charlotte Hornets, now plays for Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA Development League
 * Brendan Haywood, NBA player for Dallas Mavericks, attended Dudley High School
 * O. Henry, short-story writer.
 * John Henson, NBA player for the Cleveland Cavaliers
 * David Hickman, last American soldier killed in the Iraq War
 * Matt Hill, electric blues guitarist, singer and songwriter
 * Terrence Holt, NFL safety, played for NC State and Detroit Lions; born in nearby Gibsonville along with his brother Torry Holt
 * Torry Holt, wide receiver for NC State and All-Pro for the St. Louis Rams; born in nearby Gibsonville and attended Eastern Guilford High School
 * Lindsey Hopkins Jr., businessman, banker, investor, and sportsman
 * Lou Hudson, NBA All-Star
 * Chanita Hughes-Halbert, psychologist and medical researcher
 * Jim Hunt, former 69th and 71st Governor of North Carolina
 * John Inman, professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour
 * John Isner, professional tennis player
 * Jesse Jackson, civil rights activist, minister, politician, attended and graduated from North Carolina A&T University
 * Randall Jarrell, nationally acclaimed poet, professor at University of North Carolina at Greensboro until his death in 1965; buried near Guilford College campus
 * Haywood Jeffires, NFL Pro Bowl wide receiver for Houston Oilers and New Orleans Saints, coach of a Texas semi-pro team
 * Ken Jeong, actor, grew up in Greensboro, North Carolina and graduated from Page High School; starred in NBC sitcom Community
 * Dr. Frank Jobe, orthopedic surgeon, invented UCL reconstruction known as Tommy John surgery
 * Robert Elijah Jones, early African American Bishop in the Methodist Church

K–O

 * Paris Kea, All-American basketball player at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, WNBA player for the Indiana Fever
 * J. William Kime, Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard
 * Debra Lee, chief executive officer of BET
 * John Anthony Lennon (b. 1950), composer
 * Janet Lilly, dancer, choreographer and professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro
 * Caroline Lind, Olympic rower and two-time gold medalist in the women's eight event
 * Ann Livermore, former Executive Vice President at Hewlett-Packard
 * Frank Lucas, infamous heroin dealer, subject of American Gangster film starring Denzel Washington
 * Loretta Lynch, Attorney General of the United States
 * Dolley Madison, First Lady and wife of President James Madison
 * Carolyn Maloney (née Carolyn Jane Bosher, born 1946), politician serving as U.S. Representative
 * Danny Manning, an All-America basketball player for the University of Kansas and NBA star, attended Page High School in Greensboro
 * Doug Marlette, Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist
 * Margaret Maron, author of award-winning mystery novels
 * Joyce Martin Dixon, businesswoman and philanthropist
 * Jack F. Matlock, Jr., U.S. Ambassador to U.S.S.R., 1987–1991
 * Maryhelen Mayfield, ballet dancer and former artistic and executive director of Greensboro Ballet, lived in Greensboro
 * Bob McAdoo, NBA All-Star, college basketball All-American, and member of the Basketball Hall of Fame
 * Franklin McCain, one of The Greensboro Four, African-American student from North Carolina A&T State University who in 1960 started the first civil rights sit-in; action eventually led to lunch counters and restaurants being desegregated throughout the Southern United States; attended Dudley
 * Courtney McClellan, interdisciplinary artist
 * Adrian McDonnell, conductor living in France
 * Mark McGuinn, country music artist
 * Joseph McNeil, one of the Greensboro Four, male African-American student from North Carolina A&T State University who in 1960 started the first civil rights sit-in; action eventually led to lunch counters and restaurants being desegregated throughout the Southern US
 * Beth Mitchell, competitive shag dancer
 * Jason Miyares, 48th Attorney General of Virginia
 * John Motley Morehead, 29th Governor of North Carolina
 * Emmanuel Moseley, NFL cornerback
 * Cedric Mullins, MLB player for the Baltimore Orioles
 * Edward R. Murrow, World War II CBS radio broadcaster and award-winning television journalist; born outside Greensboro
 * Fred "Curly" Neal, basketball player, Harlem Globetrotters
 * Ed Nelson, actor who played Dr. Michael Rossi on Peyton Place, spent last years in Greensboro and died there in 2014

P–T

 * Michael Parker, novelist
 * Clara J. Peck, public health nurse and hospital matron
 * Ronald Perelman, billionaire investor
 * Garry Peterson, longtime drummer for the Guess Who
 * Carl Pettersson, Swedish PGA Tour player, graduated from Grimsley High School
 * Theo Pinson, NBA player for the Brooklyn Nets
 * Eddie Pope, soccer player for Real Salt Lake and the US National Soccer Team
 * Millard Powers, musician, songwriter, record producer, and Grammy-nominated recording engineer; member of Counting Crows
 * George Preddy, World War II fighter ace
 * Ethel Clay Price, nurse and socialite
 * Julian Price, insurance executive
 * Ricky Proehl, NFL player
 * Morgan Radford, journalist and reporter for NBC News and MSNBC
 * D.J. Reader, NFL Defensive Tackle
 * Eddie Robinson, Major League Soccer (MLS) player
 * Mark Robinson, 35th Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina
 * Lee Rouson, NFL running back, attended Page High School
 * Gregory Charles Royal, jazz musician from Duke EllingtonOrchestra, founder of New York Jazz Film Festival
 * Virginia Ragsdale, mathematician and creator of the Ragsdale conjecture
 * Ski Beatz, music producer
 * Charlie Sanders, member of Pro Football Hall of Fame and North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame, NFL tight end for Detroit Lions, attended Dudley High School
 * H.T. Kirby-Smith, author and poet
 * Graham Sharp, musician
 * Nicholas Sparks, author
 * Wilbur Daniel Steele, author, playwright, Provincetown Players
 * Stanley Tanger, founder of Tanger Factory Outlet Centers
 * Edwin Teague, Olympic sports shooter
 * Sonny Terry, blues musician (1911–1986)
 * Whitney Way Thore, star of TLC's My Big Fat Fabulous Life

U–Z

 * Jan Van Dyke, dancer and choreographer, resided in Greensboro, taught at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro; pioneer for modern dance in Greensboro
 * Jeff Varner, Survivor contestant (Season 2)
 * Don Vaughan, former state senator and former member of the Greensboro City Council; helped obtain passage in 2010 of Susie's Law
 * Nancy Vaughan, 48th mayor of Greensboro
 * Robert Walden, pioneer NASCAR driver, lives near Greensboro
 * Cody Ware, NASCAR driver
 * Allen Webster, MLB pitcher
 * Gene White, NFL defensive back
 * Kelly Wigglesworth, Survivor contestant (Season 1)
 * Aldona Wos, physician and politician who has served in various positions at several U.S. government agencies and nonprofit organizations
 * Jerome Young, professional wrestler; born, lived, and died in Greensboro