The following list includes people who were born in, lived in or are otherwise closely connected with Hartford, Connecticut.
Academia
Art and architecture
Business
Entertainment
Film and television
- Robert Ames (1889âÂÂ1931), stage and screen actor
- Julie Banderas (born 1973), Emmy Award-winning, television news anchor
- David Alan Basche (born 1968), actor
- Ed Begley (1901âÂÂ1970), actor
- Amy Brenneman (born 1964), actress, best known for the television series Judging Amy
- Christopher Briney (born 1998), actor, best known for DalÃÂland and The Summer I Turned Pretty
- Brooke Burke (born 1971), television personality, model and dancer
- Ben Cooper, best known for western films and television appearances in the 1960s and 1970s
- Ann Corio (1914âÂÂ1999), burlesque star
- Anthony Crane (born 1963), former pornographic actor
- Peter Dante (born 1968), actor
- Jenna Dewan (born 1980), actress
- Linda Evans (born 1942), actress, best known for Dynasty
- Totie Fields (1930âÂÂ1978), comedian
- Will Friedle (born 1976), actor and voice actor
- Arty Froushan (born 1993), actor
- William Gillette (1853âÂÂ1937), actor, director, famed for playing Sherlock Holmes on stage
- Tyrone Giordano (born 1976), actor
- Thomas Ian Griffith (born 1962), actor, producer, screenwriter, musician and martial artist; best known for playing Terry Silver in The Karate Kid Part III and Cobra Kai
- Katharine Hepburn (1907âÂÂ2003), Oscar-winning actress; buried in the Hepburn family plot in Cedar Hill Cemetery
- Elyse Knox (1917âÂÂ2012), model and actress; wife of Tom Harmon and mother of Mark Harmon
- Eriq La Salle (born 1962), actor known for the television show ER
- Norman Lear (1922âÂÂ2023), television producer
- Ken Ober, host of Remote Control
- Charles Nelson Reilly (1931âÂÂ2007), actor, director and TV personality
- Ken Richters (born 1955), stage actor, playwright, and voice actor, known for impersonations of Mark Twain
- Michael Schur (born 1976), producer, actor and director
- Michael Stefano (born 1969), pornographic actor
- Tony Todd, Broadway, film and television actor
- Wavy Gravy, hippie icon, entertainer, and peace activist
- Emily Wright (born 1980), songwriter, producer and engineer
- Kim Zolciak (born 1978), star of The Real Housewives of Atlanta, country music singer
Music
- Igor Buketoff (1915âÂÂ2001), conductor
- Kurt Carr, gospel music composer and performer
- Fates Warning, progressive metal band formed in 1982
- Charles Flores (1970âÂÂ2012), jazz bassist and member of the Michel Camilo Trio
- Grayson Hugh, singer-songwriter
- Natália Kelly, singer
- Barbara Kolb (born 1939), composer
- Mark McGrath (born 1968), lead singer of Sugar Ray
- Jackie McLean (1931âÂÂ2006), jazz alto saxophonist and educator
- Notch, R&B, dancehall and Reggaeton artist
- Gene Pitney (1940âÂÂ2006), singer
- Jeff Porcaro (1954âÂÂ1992), of the rock band Toto
- Joe Porcaro, jazz drummer; father of Jeff and Steve Porcaro
- Mike Porcaro (1955âÂÂ2015), of the rock band Toto
- Steve Porcaro (born 1957), of the rock band Toto
- Doobie Powell, gospel musician and pastor
- Sophie Tucker (1884âÂÂ1966), "last of the red-hot mamas," singer and comedian
Radio
Law
Literature and journalism
- Steven Anzovin, non-fiction writer best known for his Famous First Facts book series
- Bill Branon, novelist
- Oliver Butterworth (1915âÂÂ1990), children's author and educator
- Suzanne Collins (born 1962), author of the Hunger Games trilogy
- Lyn Crost (1915âÂÂ1997), World War II correspondent
- Tom Curry (1900âÂÂ1976), pulp fiction writer
- Mary Ann Hanmer Dodd (1813âÂÂ1878), poet
- Dominick Dunne (1925âÂÂ2009), writer
- John Gregory Dunne (1932âÂÂ2003), writer
- Austin Gary, novelist
- Stephenie Meyer (born 1973), author of Twilight series novels
- Jim Murray (1919âÂÂ1998), Pulitzer Prize-winning sports columnist of the Los Angeles Times
- Greensbury Washington Offley (1808âÂÂ1896), slave narrative author and minister
- Lydia Sigourney (1791-1865), poet
- Wallace Stevens (1879âÂÂ1955), poet; insurance executive
- Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811âÂÂ1896), author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, settled in Hartford during the 1870s; her Nook Farm home is open to the public and adjoins Mark Twain's
- Mark Twain (real name Samuel Langhorne Clemens) (1835âÂÂ1910), author known for The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
- Ocean Vuong (born 1988), poet and novelist, author of On Earth WeâÂÂre Briefly Gorgeous
Military
Politics
- Parmenio Adams (1776âÂÂ1832), United States congressman; born in Hartford
- James J. Barbour (1869âÂÂ1946), Illinois lawyer and state legislator; born in Hartford
- L. Paul Bremer (born 1941), ex-administrator of US-occupied Iraq and foreign service officer
- Harold V. Camp (1935âÂÂ2022), Connecticut lawyer, state legislator, and businessman
- Charles R. Chapman, mayor of Hartford, served in both houses of Connecticut legislature
- Ezra Clark Jr. (1813âÂÂ1896), US representative
- Horace S. Cooley, Illinois secretary of state
- William A. DiBella, majority leader of the Connecticut State Senate
- George A. French, Minnesota state legislator and lawyer
- Elizabeth Bartlett Grannis (1840âÂÂ1926), suffragist, social reformer, editor
- Thomas Hooker, founder of Connecticut
- Bruce Hyer, Green Party of Canada Member of Parliament
- Wilfred X. Johnson (1920âÂÂ1972), first African American elected to the Connecticut General Assembly
- John B. Larson (born 1948), U.S. representative for Connecticut
- A. Lucille Matarese, Connecticut state legislator and Roman Catholic Benedictine nun
- Edward Ralph May (1819âÂÂ1852), only delegate to the Indiana Constitutional Convention of 1850 to vote in favor of African American suffrage
- Elizabeth May, former Sierra Club of Canada president and former leader of the Green Party of Canada
- Alice Merritt (1876âÂÂ1950), first woman to serve in the Connecticut State Senate (1925âÂÂ1929); represented Hartford
- Rachel Taylor Milton, community activist and Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame inductee
- Chris Murphy (born 1973), U.S. senator, U.S. congressman
- Lewis Rome (1933âÂÂ2015), Connecticut State Senate leader and Republican Party nominee in the 1982 Connecticut gubernatorial election
- Maria W. Stewart, abolitionist
- Thomas A. Sullivan, Wisconsin state assemblyman
- Elmer Watson, US Army officer and Connecticut State Senate majority leader
Religion
Science and medicine
Sports
- Michael Adams (born 1963), NBA player
- Steve Berthiaume, ESPN anchor
- Nick Bonino (born 1988), NHL player
- Marcus Camby (born 1974), NBA player
- John Carney (born 1964), NFL placekicker
- Jacob Conde (born 1992), soccer player who represented the Puerto Rico national team
- Mike Crispino, sportscaster for WVIT and WRCH, and ESPN
- Andre Drummond (born 1993), NBA player for the Los Angeles Lakers
- Jayson Durocher (born 1974), MLB player for the Milwaukee Brewers
- Johnny Egan (1939âÂÂ2022), NBA player
- Dwight Freeney (born 1980), NFL player
- Craig Janney (born 1968), NHL player
- Tyrique Jones (born 1997), basketball player for Hapoel Tel Aviv in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
- Rick Mahorn (born 1958), NBA player
- Eric Mangini (born 1971), head coach of Cleveland Browns and New York Jets
- Mike McGuirl (born 1998), basketball player for Hapoel Haifa in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
- Stephanie McMahon, businesswoman, professional wrestling personality
- Alex Mighten (born 2002), footballer
- Cliff Olander (born 1955), player of gridiron football
- Steve Potts (born 1967), former West Ham United footballer, current U21 coach
- Ryan Preece (born 1990), NASCAR driver
- Eugene Robinson (born 1963), NFL player
- Will Solomon (born 1978), basketball player
- Charley Steiner, Los Angeles Dodgers sportscaster
- John Sullivan (born 1961), NFL player
- Roderick G. (Rod) Taylor (1943âÂÂ2014), Olympic skier
- Tony Younger (born 1980), American-Israeli basketball player in the Israeli National League
Other
See also
- List of people from Connecticut
- List of people from Bridgeport, Connecticut
- List of people from Brookfield, Connecticut
- List of people from Darien, Connecticut
- List of people from Greenwich, Connecticut
- List of people from New Canaan, Connecticut
- List of people from New Haven, Connecticut
- List of people from Norwalk, Connecticut
- List of people from Redding, Connecticut
- List of people from Ridgefield, Connecticut
- List of people from Stamford, Connecticut
- List of people from Westport, Connecticut
Notes