25 Famous People You Didn’t Know Were From Queens, NY

The Unisphere at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, one of the most recognizable landmarks in Queens. Photo: Bildgigant / Shutterstock.com.

Queens has produced an extraordinary number of people who went on to become famous around the world. The borough has given New York actors, musicians, comedians, filmmakers, scientists, Broadway legends, and cultural figures whose careers reached far beyond the neighborhoods where their stories began.

Some of these Queens connections are well known. Others are surprisingly easy to miss because the people involved moved away when they were young, became closely associated with another city, or built careers around characters and places far removed from New York. Every person on this list was born in Queens, and many were also raised or educated in the borough.

From Forest Hills and Astoria to Flushing, Far Rockaway, Woodhaven, Corona, Ozone Park, Whitestone, and Jackson Heights, here are 25 famous people with Queens roots.

1. Michael Landon (1936–1991)

• Queens Birthplace: Forest Hills
• Known For: Bonanza, Little House on the Prairie, Highway to Heaven

Millions of television viewers knew Michael Landon as Little Joe Cartwright on Bonanza and later as Charles Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie. Long before he became one of television’s most familiar stars, however, he was Eugene Maurice Orowitz, born in Forest Hills, Queens, in 1936. His father was Jewish, while his mother was an Irish Catholic dancer and comedian. The family moved to Collingswood, New Jersey, in 1941, when Landon was four years old. His Queens years were brief, but his life began in the borough before Hollywood made Michael Landon a household name.

2. David Schwimmer (1966–Present)

• Queens Birthplace: Flushing
• Known For: Ross Geller on Friends, Band of Brothers, The People v. O. J. Simpson

David Schwimmer became internationally famous as Ross Geller on Friends, a television character permanently associated with Manhattan. Schwimmer himself was born in Flushing, Queens, in 1966. His parents were attorneys, and the family moved to California while he was still very young. He eventually studied theater at Northwestern University and helped found Chicago’s Lookingglass Theatre Company before television brought him back to a fictionalized New York every week on one of the most successful sitcoms of the 1990s.

3. Richard Feynman (1918–1988)

• Queens Birthplace: Far Rockaway
• Known For: Nobel Prize in Physics, quantum electrodynamics, the Manhattan Project

Richard Feynman was one of the great theoretical physicists of the 20th century, but his story began in Far Rockaway, Queens. Born there in 1918, Feynman attended Far Rockaway High School before studying at MIT and Princeton. His curiosity about how things worked appeared early, and as a teenager he became known around the neighborhood for repairing radios. He later worked on the Manhattan Project and shared the 1965 Nobel Prize in Physics for fundamental work in quantum electrodynamics. Despite a career spent at some of the world’s leading scientific institutions, his Far Rockaway beginnings remained an important part of his story.

4. Christopher Walken (1943–Present)

• Queens Birthplace: Astoria
• Known For: The Deer Hunter, Pulp Fiction, Catch Me If You Can, Saturday Night Live

Before Christopher Walken developed one of the most recognizable voices and screen presences in American film, he was Ronald Walken growing up in Astoria. His father, a German immigrant, owned Walken’s Bakery in the neighborhood, while his Scottish-born mother encouraged Christopher and his brothers to perform. The Walken boys worked as child actors during television’s early years, and Christopher also trained as a dancer. His Queens childhood helped launch a career that eventually included an Academy Award for The Deer Hunter and decades of memorable stage, film, and television work.

5. Hank Azaria (1964–Present)

• Queens Birthplace: Forest Hills
• Known For: The Simpsons, The Birdcage, Ray Donovan

Hank Azaria was born in Forest Hills and attended The Kew-Forest School before studying drama at Tufts University. Long before his voice became familiar to millions of Simpsons viewers, Azaria discovered that he had an unusual talent for imitating voices. That ability became central to a career in which he voiced characters including Moe Szyslak, Chief Wiggum, Comic Book Guy, and many others. He also built a substantial live-action career in television, film, and theater, but his beginnings were in Forest Hills.

6. Adrien Brody (1973–Present)

• Queens Birthplace: Woodhaven
• Known For: The Pianist, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Brutalist, Succession

Adrien Brody was born and raised in Woodhaven, Queens, the son of photographer Sylvia Plachy and teacher and painter Elliot Brody. As a boy, he accompanied his mother on photography assignments and became comfortable around cameras long before acting became his profession. In 2003, at age 29, he became the youngest winner of the Academy Award for Best Actor for The Pianist. More than two decades later, he won the award again for The Brutalist, making the Woodhaven native a two-time Best Actor Oscar winner.

7. Lucy Liu (1968–Present)

• Queens Birthplace: Jackson Heights
• Known For: Charlie’s Angels, Kill Bill: Vol. 1, Ally McBeal, Elementary

Lucy Liu was born in Jackson Heights in 1968 and grew up in Queens in a Chinese immigrant family. Her parents had been born in Beijing and Shanghai and lived in Taiwan before emigrating to the United States. Liu spoke Mandarin at home and began learning English around age five. She later graduated from Stuyvesant High School and built a career that made her one of the most recognizable Asian American actresses of her generation, with major roles in television, action films, and dramatic series.

8. Jon Favreau (1966–Present)

• Queens Birthplace: Flushing
• Known For: Swingers, Elf, Iron Man, The Mandalorian

Jon Favreau was born in Flushing and grew up in Queens before graduating from the Bronx High School of Science. He attended Queens College before leaving school and eventually moving toward a career in comedy, acting, writing, and directing. Favreau first drew major attention with Swingers, later directed Elf and Iron Man, and became one of the central creative figures behind The Mandalorian. His enormously influential Hollywood career began with a Queens upbringing and several years at a CUNY campus in Flushing.

9. Jesse Eisenberg (1983–Present)

• Queens Birthplace: Queens, New York City
• Known For: The Social Network, Zombieland, The Squid and the Whale, A Real Pain

Jesse Eisenberg was born in Queens in 1983 before growing up primarily in East Brunswick, New Jersey. His mother worked as a professional clown and arts educator, while his father eventually became a college professor. Eisenberg began acting at a young age and later received an Academy Award nomination for playing Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network. He also developed a parallel career as a playwright, writer, and director, including writing and directing A Real Pain. Although New Jersey shaped much of his childhood, Eisenberg’s story began in Queens.

10. Judd Apatow (1967–Present)

• Queens Birthplace: Flushing
• Known For: The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Superbad, Bridesmaids

Judd Apatow was born in Flushing in 1967 and raised largely in Syosset on Long Island. As a teenager, he became obsessed with stand-up comedy and began interviewing comedians for a high school radio program. That fascination eventually turned into a career as a writer, director, and producer who helped shape American film comedy in the 2000s. Movies including The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Superbad, and Bridesmaids made his name synonymous with an entire era of comedy, but his birthplace was Queens.

11. Reginald VelJohnson (1952–Present)

• Queens Birthplace: Queens, New York City
• Known For: Carl Winslow on Family Matters, Sgt. Al Powell in Die Hard and Die Hard 2

Reginald VelJohnson became so closely identified with police officers on film and television that many viewers may never have thought about his New York background. Born in Queens in 1952, he attended Benjamin N. Cardozo High School and later earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from New York University. His performance as LAPD Sgt. Al Powell in Die Hard helped make him a familiar face before he became one of television’s best-known fathers as Carl Winslow on Family Matters.

12. Ethel Merman (1908–1984)

• Queens Birthplace: Astoria
• Known For: Annie Get Your Gun, Gypsy, Anything Goes

Ethel Merman was born Ethel Agnes Zimmermann in Astoria in 1908 and attended William Cullen Bryant High School. She trained in secretarial work and held office jobs while singing at clubs and private events before Broadway changed her life. Her breakthrough came in George and Ira Gershwin’s Girl Crazy in 1930. With a huge, unmistakable voice that needed no microphone to fill a Broadway theater, Merman became one of the defining stars of the American musical stage.

13. Tony Bennett (1926–2023)

• Queens Birthplace: Astoria
• Known For: “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” the Great American Songbook, Grammy-winning recording career

Anthony Dominick Benedetto was born in Astoria in 1926 and never forgot his Queens roots. After his father died when Bennett was 10, his mother supported the family, and the young singer took jobs that included working as a singing waiter. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II and later studied at the American Theatre Wing. Decades after becoming Tony Bennett, he returned a gift to his home borough by helping establish the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in Astoria. His recording career lasted more than 70 years, but Queens remained home in the story he told about himself.

14. Don Rickles (1926–2017)

• Queens Birthplace: Queens; raised in Jackson Heights
• Known For: Stand-up comedy, Casino, Mr. Potato Head in Toy Story

Don Rickles was born in Queens and grew up in Jackson Heights. After graduating from Newtown High School in 1944, he served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and later studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Acting jobs were difficult to find, and Rickles began performing comedy in nightclubs. His quick responses to hecklers gradually became the center of his act and transformed him into one of America’s most famous insult comics. Long before Las Vegas audiences knew him as “Mr. Warmth,” he was a Queens kid from Jackson Heights.

15. Ray Romano (1957–Present)

• Queens Birthplace: Queens; raised in Forest Hills
• Known For: Everybody Loves Raymond, Men of a Certain Age, The Irishman, the Ice Age films

Ray Romano was born in Queens and grew up in Forest Hills, where family life, neighborhood personalities, and New York humor later supplied material for his stand-up career. He attended Hillcrest High School and spent years working ordinary jobs while developing his comedy act in New York clubs. That material eventually helped inspire Everybody Loves Raymond, one of the most successful television comedies of its era. Romano later expanded into dramatic roles and film work, but the rhythm of his comedy has always sounded unmistakably like Queens.

16. Fran Drescher (1957–Present)

• Queens Birthplace: Flushing; raised in Kew Gardens Hills
• Known For: The Nanny, actress and producer, former SAG-AFTRA president

Fran Drescher was born in Flushing and grew up in Kew Gardens Hills. She attended Parsons Junior High School and Hillcrest High School, where Ray Romano was one of her classmates in the graduating class of 1975. Drescher turned her Queens accent, comic timing, and larger-than-life personality into the foundation for Fran Fine on The Nanny, which she co-created. Decades later, she became president of SAG-AFTRA, serving from 2021 through September 2025 and leading the union during the major 2023 actors’ strike.

17. Art Garfunkel (1941–Present)

• Queens Birthplace: Forest Hills
• Known For: Simon & Garfunkel, “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” “The Sound of Silence”

Art Garfunkel was born in Forest Hills and grew up in Kew Gardens Hills. At P.S. 164 he met Paul Simon, another Queens-raised student, during their school years. The two began singing together as teenagers and recorded under the name Tom & Jerry before becoming Simon & Garfunkel. Their harmonies eventually produced some of the most enduring recordings of the 1960s. The partnership that became famous around the world began with two schoolboys singing together in Queens.

18. Burt Young (1940–2023)

• Queens Birthplace: Corona
• Known For: Paulie Pennino in the Rocky films, Chinatown, Once Upon a Time in America

Burt Young was born in Queens and grew up in Corona before becoming one of Hollywood’s most recognizable character actors. Before acting, he served in the U.S. Marine Corps and boxed extensively, later fighting professionally and training under major boxing figures including Cus D’Amato. Young then studied acting with Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio. His breakthrough as Paulie Pennino in Rocky earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor and led to appearances in the first six films of the franchise. The rough-edged screen presence that made him famous had very real Queens roots.

19. David Caruso (1956–Present)

• Queens Birthplace: Forest Hills
• Known For: NYPD Blue, CSI: Miami

David Caruso was born in Forest Hills in 1956 and attended Our Lady Queen of Martyrs School before graduating from Archbishop Molloy High School in Briarwood in 1974. He worked as a movie-theater usher as a young man and became fascinated with the screen actors he watched repeatedly. After years of supporting film roles, Caruso became a television star as Detective John Kelly on NYPD Blue and later found a second long-running success as Lt. Horatio Caine on CSI: Miami.

20. Amy Ryan (1968–Present)

• Queens Birthplace: Flushing
• Known For: Gone Baby Gone, The Wire, The Office, Birdman

Amy Ryan was born Amy Beth Dziewiontkowski in Flushing and grew up in Queens before attending New York’s High School of Performing Arts. She built a distinguished stage career before becoming widely known to television audiences as Beadie Russell on The Wire and Holly Flax on The Office. Her performance in Gone Baby Gone earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Ryan’s ability to disappear into characters has sometimes hidden the fact that the actress behind them is a Queens native.

21. Peter Facinelli (1973–Present)

• Queens Birthplace: Ozone Park
• Known For: Dr. Carlisle Cullen in the Twilight films, Nurse Jackie

Peter Facinelli was born and raised in Ozone Park in an Italian American family. He attended St. Francis Preparatory School and spent time at St. John’s University before committing himself to acting and studying at the Atlantic Theater Company Acting School. After years of television and film roles, Facinelli became internationally recognized as Carlisle Cullen in the Twilight film series. His path to Hollywood began in southern Queens.

22. Drea de Matteo (1972–Present)

• Queens Birthplace: Whitestone
• Known For: Adriana La Cerva on The Sopranos, Sons of Anarchy, Desperate Housewives

Drea de Matteo was born in Queens and grew up in Whitestone in an Italian American family. She studied film production at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts with ambitions that initially leaned more toward directing than acting. Her career changed dramatically when she landed the role of Adriana La Cerva on The Sopranos. The performance won her a Primetime Emmy Award and turned a Queens-born film student into one of the most memorable characters from television’s prestige-drama era.

23. Leslie Odom Jr. (1981–Present)

• Queens Birthplace: Queens, New York City
• Known For: Aaron Burr in Hamilton, One Night in Miami…, Glass Onion

Leslie Odom Jr. was born in Queens in 1981 before his family moved to Philadelphia, where he was raised. He made his Broadway debut as a teenager and later studied drama at Carnegie Mellon University. His career reached another level when he originated the role of Aaron Burr in Hamilton, winning both Tony and Grammy Awards for his work in the production. Film roles and an acclaimed recording career followed, but Odom’s story began in New York City’s largest borough.

24. Susan Sarandon (1946–Present)

• Queens Birthplace: Jackson Heights
• Known For: Dead Man Walking, Thelma & Louise, Bull Durham, The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Susan Sarandon was born Susan Abigail Tomalin in Jackson Heights, Queens, in 1946. She was the oldest of nine children, and her family moved to New Jersey when she was four years old. Sarandon later returned to New York and began a film career that developed into one of the most distinguished of her generation. After several Academy Award nominations, she won Best Actress for Dead Man Walking. Although much of her childhood was spent in New Jersey, Sarandon has described herself as a born New Yorker, with Jackson Heights as the place where her story began.

25. Carol Alt (1960–Present)

• Queens Birthplace: Flushing
• Known For: International modeling career, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, film and television work

Carol Alt was born in Flushing and raised primarily in East Williston on Long Island. Her father was a New York City firefighter, while her mother worked for an airline and had also modeled. Alt began modeling while she was young and quickly became one of the defining fashion faces of the 1980s, appearing on hundreds of magazine covers and gaining international recognition through Sports Illustrated and major advertising campaigns. Long before the runways, magazine covers, and acting roles, her life began in Queens.

Queens Native Roster at a Glance

For more stories about the people and neighborhoods that shaped New York City, see 25 Famous People You Didn’t Know Were From the Bronx, 25 Famous People You Didn’t Know Were From Brooklyn, and How Queens Neighborhoods Got Their Names.

Sources

• Biography — Michael Landon
• Caltech — Richard P. Feynman, 1918–1988
• Television Academy — Hank Azaria
• Television Academy — Adrien Brody
• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — 97th Academy Awards
• Internet Broadway Database — Jesse Eisenberg
• Tony Bennett Official Site — Biography
• SAG-AFTRA — Fran Drescher
• Art Garfunkel Official Site — Biography
• Simon & Garfunkel Official Site — Biography
• Burt Young Official Site — About
• Apple TV — Peter Facinelli Biography
• New Jersey Hall of Fame — Susan Sarandon
• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — 68th Academy Awards
• Carol Alt Official Site — About

Published September 8, 2026.