List of people from Portland, Maine

The following list includes notable people who were born or have lived in Portland, Maine.



Authors and academics

 * John Howard Appleton, chemist
 * Louisa Dow Benton, linguist and letter writer
 * Hannah Johnson Carter, art educator
 * Elisabeth Cavazza (1849–1926), author, journalist, and music critic
 * Jennie Maria Drinkwater Conklin (1841–1900), author
 * Leo Connellan, Beat poet and Poet Laureate of Connecticut
 * Owen Davis, dramatist
 * Robert F. Griffin, essayist
 * Dorothy M. Healy, professor at Westbrook College and Curator of the Maine Women Writers Collection
 * Stephen King, author
 * Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, poet
 * John Neal, author and critic
 * Alan Taylor, historian
 * William Irwin Thompson, poet and cultural historian

Business

 * James Phinney Baxter, canning magnate and Mayor
 * Asa Clapp, international merchant
 * Cyrus Curtis, publisher and philanthropist
 * John A. Poor, railroad developer
 * Roxanne Quimby, founder of Burt's Bees
 * Reuben Ruby, businessman and political activist
 * Thomas A. Sanders, real estate developer and politician
 * Donald Valle, founder and owner of the Valle's Steak House restaurant chain

Explorers and settlers

 * George Baker Leavitt Sr., whaling captain, arctic explorer
 * Capt. Christopher Levett, English explorer of Casco Bay, founded first settlement
 * Francis Pettygrove, one of Portland Oregon's founders

Media and arts



 * Dorothy Appleby, American film actress
 * Maria a'Becket, painter
 * Hiram Abrams, motion picture mogul
 * Bebe Buell, model, musician, and mother of Liv Tyler
 * Howie Carr, radio personality
 * Cody Christian, actor and rapper
 * John Greenleaf Cloudman, artist, portrait painter and cabinet maker
 * Charles Codman, painter
 * Jerry Crasnick, sports journalist
 * Kevin Eastman, co-creator of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
 * Greg Finley II, actor
 * Frank Fixaris, sportscaster
 * Francis Ford, actor
 * John Ford, director
 * Charles L. Fox, painter, labor unionist, and two-time candidate for Governor of Maine with the Socialist Party
 * Adam Gardner, musician
 * Peter Garland, composer
 * Jeremiah Hacker, journalist and reformer
 * Will Holt, songwriter
 * Avery Yale Kamila, journalist and community organizer
 * Anna Kendrick, actress
 * Charles F. Kimball, artist
 * Jennie Kimball, actor, soubrette, theatrical manager
 * Linda Lavin, actress
 * Tawny Little, television newscaster and Miss America (1976)
 * Bob Ludwig, Grammy Award-winning audio mastering engineer
 * Bob Marley, comedian
 * Andrea Martin, actress
 * Judd Nelson, actor
 * Lincoln Peirce, comic strip creator, Big Nate
 * Ryan Peters, aka Spose, rapper
 * Victoria Rowell, actress
 * Ethelynde Smith, concert singer and botanical painter
 * Stuart Saunders Smith, composer and percussionist
 * Brett Somers, actress
 * Franklin Stanwood, painter
 * Phyllis Thaxter, actress
 * Liv Tyler, actress
 * Louise Brown Verrill, composer

Military



 * James Alden Jr., rear admiral in the United States Navy
 * George G. Gatley, brigadier general who commanded brigades and divisions in World War I
 * John H. Hall, inventor of the first United States Army breech-loading rifle
 * Horatio Collins King, Medal of Honor recipient
 * Charles J. Loring Jr., Medal of Honor recipient
 * Holman S. Melcher, mayor, Civil War veteran
 * Edward Preble, naval officer
 * Herbert E. Schonland, Medal of Honor recipient
 * Ronald Speirs, army officer with the Easy Company, 506 Parachute Infantry Regiment
 * Peleg Wadsworth, Revolutionary War general

Politics

 * Joseph Adams, state legislator
 * Justin Alfond, President of the Maine Senate
 * George H. Allan, state legislator and women's suffrage proponent
 * Daniel W. Ames, Civil War veteran and state legislator
 * James Appleton, state legislator and activist
 * Joseph E. Brennan, 70th Governor of Maine
 * Michael F. Brennan, Mayor and state legislator
 * Joshua Chamberlain, Civil War veteran, governor, served as Surveyor of the Portland Port
 * W. Edward Crockett, state legislator
 * Winfred Thaxter Denison, United States Assistant Attorney General and Secretary of the Interior for the Philippines; born in Portland
 * Santo DiPietro, Maine state legislator and businessman; born in Portland
 * Neal Dow, mayor of Portland; Civil War general; temperance movement leader
 * John Eder, state legislator and Maine Green Independent Party organizer
 * William P. Fessenden, U.S. Senator
 * Fletcher Hale, U.S. Congressman from New Hampshire
 * Charles Harlow, mayor of Portland; state legislator
 * Anne Haskell, state legislator
 * Jon Hinck, state legislator and attorney
 * John Lynch, U.S. Congressman
 * George Mitchell, U.S. Senate Majority Leader (1989 to 1995); chairman of Walt Disney; U.S. special envoy to the Middle East
 * Merle Nelson, state legislator
 * William Pitt Preble, Justice of the Maine Supreme Court; U.S. Minister to the Netherlands; President of the St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad
 * Anne Rand, state legislator
 * Thomas Brackett Reed, U.S. Congressman; Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
 * George Ruby, Black Republican legislator in Reconstruction-era Texas; raised in Portland
 * James E. Thorne, state legislator
 * Charles W. Walton, U.S. Congressman
 * Herman W. Waterman, politician from Wisconsin

Professionals

 * Edville Gerhardt Abbott, surgeon
 * Oscar Cox, lawyer
 * Walter M. Fleming, physician, founder of the Shriners
 * Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow Jr., architect
 * Robert E. McAfee, physician
 * Alexander Parris, architect
 * Lois Rice, College Board executive & education scholar
 * Thomas J. Sparrow, architect
 * Henry Aiken Worcester, 19th century minister & vegetarian

Sports



 * Mike Brown (born 1975), mixed martial arts fighter
 * Nik Caner-Medley (born 1983), basketball forward
 * Dick Capp (born 1942), American football tight end and linebacker
 * Ian Crocker (born 1982), Olympic swimmer
 * Rob Elowitch (born 1943), wrestler
 * Terry Farnsworth (born 1942), Canadian Olympic judoka
 * Ryan Flaherty (born 1986), baseball second baseman
 * Charlie Furbush (born 1986), baseball pitcher
 * Rip Jordan (1889–1960), baseball pitcher
 * Pete Ladd (born 1956), baseball pitcher
 * Gary McAdam (born 1955), ice hockey forward
 * Quinton Porter (born 1982), American football quarterback
 * Joan Benoit Samuelson (born 1957), marathon runner
 * Bob Stanley (born 1954), baseball pitcher
 * Coley Welch (1919–2000), middleweight boxer

Other

 * Cornelia Dow (1842–1905), philanthropist, temperance activist; born and died in Portland, Maine
 * Sarah E. Fuller (1838-1913), national president, Woman's Relief Corps; born in Portland, Maine
 * Nathaniel Gordon, only American slave trader to be tried, convicted, and executed under the Piracy Law of 1820 "for being engaged in the Slave Trade"
 * L. Isabel Heald (1842–1932), social leader and philanthropic worker
 * Ellen Martin Henrotin, social reformer; born in Portland, Maine
 * Augusta Merrill Hunt (1842-1932), philanthropist, suffragist, temperance leader; lived in Portland her entire life
 * Lois Galgay Reckitt (born 1944), executive director of Family Crisis Services, Portland, Maine