List of people from Sarasota

The following is a list of notable people who were born or who live or formerly lived in the city of Sarasota, Florida.


 * Carl Abbott, architect
 * Erik Arroyo, former mayor of Sarasota and lawyer
 * Doug Band, assistant to Bill Clinton and businessman. Helped found the Clinton Global Initiative and assisted with the Clinton Foundation after his presidency
 * Freddie Bartholomew, 1930s child actor
 * Roy Basler (1906–1989), historian
 * Dickey Betts (1943–2024), guitarist and founding member of The Allman Brothers Band
 * Duane Betts, singer-songwriter, guitarist, and member of The Allman Betts Band
 * Daniel Bukantz (1917–2008), Olympic fencer
 * Eugene A. Burdick, North Dakota Fifth Judicial District judge and surrogate judge for the North Dakota Supreme Court
 * William J. Burns, Director of the Bureau of Investigation, later the Federal Bureau of Investigation
 * Flossie M. Byrd, home economist and academic
 * Lincoln Child, author of techno-thriller and horror novels
 * Barber Conable, New York state senator, U.S representative from New York, and World Bank President under President Ronald Reagan
 * Marlow Cook, U.S. senator from Kentucky
 * Eric Curran, racing driver
 * Vincent D'Autorio, Two-time Olympic gymnast
 * Ian Desmond, professional baseball player for the Colorado Rockies
 * Lois Duncan, writer, novelist, poet, and journalist
 * Gil Elvgren, painter of pin-up models
 * Richard Floethe, printmaker and illustrator
 * Sonia Pressman Fuentes, lawyer; author and co-founder of National Organization for Women
 * Jackie Gerlich, dwarf actor and circus entertainer
 * Brian Gottfried (born 1952), tennis player, reached Nº3 in the world in 1977
 * Carla Gugino (born 1971), actress
 * Dalton Guthrie (born 1995), Major League Baseball player for the San Francisco Giants
 * James A. Haley, U.S. representative from Florida and member of the Florida House of Representatives. Vice-president and later president of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1952, 1956, and 1960
 * Denver David Hargis, U.S. representative from Kansas
 * Forest Harness, U.S representative from Indiana and Sergeant at Arms of the Senate
 * Ian Hornak, founding artist of the Hyperrealist and Photorealist fine art movements. Owned a winter home in Sarasota from 1985 to 2001.
 * Tim Jaeger, artist
 * Brian Johnson, lead singer of AC/DC
 * Mackinlay Kantor, Pulitzer Prize winning author
 * Josh Kaufman, soul singer and singer-songwriter
 * Margaret Kerry, actress, radio host, and model for Tinker Bell in the 1953 Walt Disney film Peter Pan
 * Stephen King, author
 * David Lawrence, publisher; founded what would later become U.S. News & World Report
 * La Norma Fox, trapeze artist in RBB Circus and Sarasotan from 1949 onwards
 * Mirjana Lučić-Baroni, professional tennis player
 * Victor Lundy, architect
 * Jes Macallan, actress
 * John D. MacDonald, crime novelist
 * Marlon Mack, running back for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League
 * Myka Meier, etiquette coach and writer
 * Noelia Voigt, Miss USA 2023 winner
 * Eric Minkin (born 1950), American-Israeli basketball player
 * Daniel Myrick, director of horror films
 * Bello Nock, daredevil and circus performer
 * Carol Perkins, fashion model
 * Jack Perkins, reporter, commentator, war correspondent, and anchorman
 * Joe Perry, lead guitarist of Aerosmith
 * Guy Peterson, architect
 * Paul Reubens, actor known for creating and portraying Pee-wee Herman
 * Michael Rey, abstract painter
 * Charles Edward Ringling, one of the Ringling Brothers
 * Stephen Root, actor, voice actor, and comedian
 * Milton Rubenfeld (1919–2004), pilot and one of five founding pilots of Israeli Air Force
 * Randy Savage (1952–2011), professional wrestler
 * Tim Seibert, architect
 * Sam Shields, cornerback in the National Football League
 * George Snyder, Maryland state senator and majority leader
 * Kyle Snyder, Tampa Bay Rays pitching coach
 * Dick Smothers, actor, comedian, composer, and musician
 * Syd Solomon, American artist
 * Jerry Springer, television personality
 * Ben Stahl (artist)
 * Alex Steinweiss, graphic artist, credited with being the inventor of album cover art.
 * Mildred Ladner Thompson, journalist and writer
 * Ralph Twitchell, architect
 * Dick Vitale, college basketball coach and broadcaster
 * Adrienne Vittadini, fashion designer
 * Joseph Volpe, general manager of the Metropolitan Opera
 * Nik Wallenda, tightrope walker
 * Iain Webb, Director of The Sarasota Ballet and former dancer with The Royal Ballet
 * Scott Weiss, venture capitalist
 * Hoyt Wilhelm, MLB pitcher and Baseball Hall of Fame inductee
 * George Howard Williams, U.S Senator from Missouri
 * Jack West, architect
 * Robert Windom, former Assistant Secretary for Health and Human Services under President Ronald Reagan
 * Linda Winikow, politician and New York State Senator
 * Roger Zare, composer and pianist
 * Bridgett Zehr, ballet dancer with the English National Ballet