10 Most Famous people from Philadelphia

10 Most Famous people from Philadelphia

Philadelphia is the 6^th most populated city in the United States. It has popular landmarks such as the Liberty Bell, Rocky, and cheesesteaks.

Philadelphia is where America’s founding fathers gathered, and where the American principles of freedom were brought to life.

The city has also made a lot of successful celebrities. They range from film and music to politics and culture.

Some of them that represent Philly proudly include Will Smith, Tina Fey. Philly is also known as the city of Brotherly Love.

Read more about them in the 10 most famous people from Philadelphia.

1. Noam Chomsky – Linguist

Noam Chomsky is a key figure in analytic philosophy and one of the founders of the field of cognitive science.

Chomsky is also the Laureate Professor of Linguistics at the University of Arizona and an Institute Professor Emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

He has authored more than 150 books on topics such as linguistics, war, politics, and mass media.

Chomsky was born to Jewish immigrants in Philadelphia. At a very young age, he developed an early interest in anarchism from alternative bookstores in New York City.

Noam was a candid opponent of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, which he saw as an act of American imperialism. He addressed this in 1967 in an anti-war essay.

His activism got him on President Richard Nixon’s Enemies List.

As one of the most cited scholars alive, Chomsky has influenced a broad array of academic fields.

2. Tina Fey – Actress

Photo courtesy of Mingle Media TV – Wikimedia

Tina Fey is considered to be a comedic genius who created 30 Rock and who played Liz Lemon for the entirety of the series.

She has also created a hot sitcom on Netflix, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, in which she would also a role from time to time.

Other than that, Tina has been featured in several films, including the sequel to The Muppets, Muppets Most Wanted, the comedy film, Sisters, the comedy-drama, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, and in the cast of Pixar’s, Soul.

Tina is She’s also currently taking up a part in the cast of Girls5eva, in which she is also an executive producer.

3. Will Smith – Actor & Film Director

Will Smith rose to fame after getting a leading role in the movie The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990)? His career in entertainment started as a rapper when he formed a band with DJ Jazzy.

At the same time, Smith recorded his smash hit “Summertime,” one of the best songs about Philly.

He later went back to acting and was featured in the movie Six Degree of Separation.

His second Academy Award nomination was for portraying Chris Gardner in The Pursuit of Happiness (2006), and received critical praise for his performance as an isolated virologist in I Am Legend (2007).

In 2021, he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for his role in King Richard (2021).

4. Kobe Bryant – Basketballer

Photo by Keith Allison – Wikimedia

Kobe played as a shooting guard and spent more than 2 decades of his career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

He is widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time.

In his entire career, he has won 5 NBA championships, was an 18-time All-Star, a 15-time member of the All-NBA Team, a 12-time member of the All-Defensive Team, the 2008 NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP), and a two-time NBA Finals MVP.

Bryant remains to be the all-time leading scorer in the Lakers history. Kobe was posthumously voted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020.

5. Billie Holiday – Singer

Billie got the nickname “Lady Day” from her friend and music partner, Lester Young. She has had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop singing.

Her vocal style, which was strongly inspired by jazz instrumentalists, pioneered a new way of manipulating phrasing and tempo.

This made her famous for her vocal delivery and improvisational skills.

She had a rough childhood and escaped this by singing in nightclubs in Harlem. It was here that she met producer John Hammond, who liked her voice.

He signed her up with Brunswick in 1935. Billie then collaborated with Teddy Wilson and released the hit “What a Little Moonlight Can Do”, which became a jazz standard.

Her last album, Lady in Satin, was released in 1958. Holiday died of cirrhosis on July 17, 1959, at age 44.

6. Pink – Singer

Photo by Dmileson – Wikimedia

Born Alecia Beth Moore, but is known professionally as Pink. Originally, Pink was a member of the girl group Choice.

This changed in 1995 after LaFace Records saw her potential and offered her a solo recording contract.

She released a debut R&B studio album Can’t Take Me Home (2000). This album was certified double-platinum in the United States and gave rise to two Billboard Hot 100 top-ten songs: “There You Go” and “Most Girls”.

Pink is distinctly known for her raspy voice and acrobatic stage presence. She has sold over 100 million records worldwide, making her one of the world’s best-selling music artists.

7. Michael Buffer – Announcer

Michael began his career as a ring announcer in 1982. A year later he was the one announcing all boxing matches promoted by Bob Arum’s Top Rank on ESPN.

This made him nationally famous since ring announcers were strictly locally hired talent.

His popular catchphrase was let’s get ready to rumble. This made him obtain a federal trademark for the phrase in the 1980s and acquired it in 1992.

Buffer has announced the MLB World Series, the Stanley Cup Finals, NBA Finals, the Volunteer 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, and NFL playoff games.

Furthermore, he was a guest announcer at the 1999 Indianapolis 500 and the 2017 United States Grand Prix.

8. Richard Gere – Philanthropist

Photo by John Mathew Smith – Wikimedia

Richard Gere was once the sexiest man in Hollywood. He has been featured in movies like the iconic Pretty Woman, Chicago, and Days of Heaven.

Gere was born in Philly on August 31st, 1949. His acting career began after landing the role of Tony in the movie Looking for Mr Goodbar.

The movie American Gigolo earned him a place among Hollywood’s A-listers.

He has received several awards including a Golden Globe Award. In 1999, he was named the sexiest man alive by People’s Magazine.

9. Diplo – DJ

Diplo’s career began in Philadelphia while studying at Temple. He started to DJ and started to throw parties under Hooked on Hollertronix.

He succeeded to launch the very successful Mad Decent entertainment company. Diplo has collaborated with artists like Shakira, Snoop Dogg, No Doubt and more.

Additionally, Diplo is the lead member of the electronic dancehall music project Major Lazer, a member of the supergroup LSD with Sia and Labrinth.

His 2013 EP, Revolution, debuted at number 68 on the US Billboard 200. The EP’s title track was later featured in a commercial for Hyundai and is featured on the WWE 2K16 soundtrack.

10. The Roots – Hip Hop Band

Photo by Michael Seeley – Wikipedia

This is one of the most legendary hip hop groups in Philadelphia. The group was founded in 1987 by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter at CAPA.

The Roots have been the house band for The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon since 2014.

They are known for a jazzy and eclectic approach to hip-hop. Additionally, they feature live musical instruments.

Several band members have taken part in several side projects such as record production, acting, and regularly serving as guests on other musicians’ albums and live shows.

As a band, they have received several with critical acclaim. They were ranked 7^th on its list of the 25 Best Hip-Hop Groups of All-Time, calling them “Hip-hop’s first legitimate band.