Centre Avenue in downtown New Rochelle, New York. Photo: quiggyt4 / Shutterstock.com.
New Rochelle’s story begins long before it became one of Westchester County’s best-known suburban cities. French Huguenot refugees established the community along Long Island Sound in 1688 and named it for La Rochelle, the French port city from which many of them had fled. By 1900, New Rochelle had grown into one of the New York area’s premier suburbs, helped by its location between the Sound and New York City and by transportation links that made Manhattan easily accessible.
That proximity to New York helped give New Rochelle an unusually deep connection to American entertainment and culture. Carl Reiner famously placed the Petrie family of The Dick Van Dyke Show in New Rochelle, drawing on the Bonnie Meadow Road neighborhood where his own family lived, while generations of actors, broadcasters, musicians, writers, athletes, and artists passed through the city’s schools and neighborhoods. For a city of its size, New Rochelle has produced a remarkable number of people whose work became part of the national culture.
For this article, the standard is the same one used throughout our famous New Yorkers series: these are people who were born in New Rochelle, were raised there, or spent a substantial part of their formative childhood or teenage years in the city. Simply moving to New Rochelle later in life or maintaining a home there as an established adult is not enough.
1. Don McLean
Don McLean was born in New Rochelle in 1945 and grew up in the city, where he delivered copies of the local Standard-Star as a boy and bought his first guitar on Main Street. He attended Iona Preparatory School and later Iona College before beginning the songwriting career that made him internationally famous. His 1971 recording “American Pie” became one of the most recognizable songs in American popular music, while “Vincent” gave him another enduring hit. Long before those records became classics, McLean’s musical life was rooted in New Rochelle.
2. Matt Dillon
Matt Dillon was born in New Rochelle in 1964 and began acting professionally while still a teenager. He quickly became one of the defining young actors of the early 1980s through films such as My Bodyguard, Tex, The Outsiders, and Rumble Fish. Dillon later moved comfortably between drama and comedy in films including Drugstore Cowboy, There’s Something About Mary, and Crash, which earned him an Academy Award nomination. His film career eventually took him around the world, but it began with a New Rochelle birthplace.
3. Jay Leno
Jay Leno was born in New Rochelle in 1950 before his family later settled in Massachusetts. He began performing stand-up comedy as a young man and gradually became a regular presence on late-night television. Leno succeeded Johnny Carson as host of The Tonight Show in 1992 and remained one of American television’s most recognizable comedians for decades. His career became closely associated with Hollywood and late-night television, but his life began in New Rochelle.
4. Alan Menken
Alan Menken was born in New York City in 1949 but grew up in New Rochelle, where music filled his family home from an early age. He attended Roosevelt Elementary School, Albert Leonard Junior High School, and New Rochelle High School before studying at New York University. Menken went on to become one of the most successful composers in film and musical theater history, writing music for Little Shop of Horrors and Disney films including The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and Pocahontas. His eight Academy Awards place him among the most honored composers in Oscar history.
5. Richard Roundtree
Richard Roundtree was born in New Rochelle in 1942 and graduated from New Rochelle High School in 1961, where he had also been a standout football player. After working as a model and stage actor, Roundtree became internationally famous as private detective John Shaft in the groundbreaking 1971 film Shaft. The role made him one of the first Black action stars in mainstream American cinema and permanently connected his name with a major shift in Hollywood representation. His path to that historic role began in New Rochelle.
6. Rob Reiner
Rob Reiner was born in the Bronx in 1947, but his family moved to New Rochelle during his childhood and lived on Bonnie Meadow Road. He grew up surrounded by the writers, actors, and comedians who worked with his father, Carl Reiner, and those years became part of his own creative development. Reiner first became nationally known as Michael Stivic on All in the Family before directing films including This Is Spinal Tap, Stand by Me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally…, and A Few Good Men. His New Rochelle childhood remained part of the personal history behind that career.
7. Andrea Mitchell
Andrea Mitchell was raised in New Rochelle and graduated from New Rochelle High School before attending the University of Pennsylvania. She entered broadcast journalism in Philadelphia and later built a long career at NBC News, covering presidents, elections, foreign policy, and major international events. Mitchell became one of the network’s most familiar correspondents and anchors and spent decades reporting from Washington and around the world. Her early education and formative years were spent in New Rochelle.
8. Gloria Borger
Gloria Borger was born in New Rochelle in 1952 and graduated from New Rochelle High School before attending Colgate University. She built a national career as a political journalist, columnist, and television analyst, working at outlets including U.S. News & World Report, CBS News, CNBC, and CNN. Borger became known for long-form interviews, election analysis, and documentaries examining major figures in American public life. Her career in national journalism began with roots in New Rochelle.
9. Don Hewitt
Don Hewitt was born in New York City in 1922 but raised in New Rochelle, where he graduated from New Rochelle High School in 1940. After working in print journalism and serving as a war correspondent, Hewitt moved into the new world of television news. He became one of the most influential producers in broadcast history and created 60 Minutes for CBS in 1968. The program’s magazine-style approach to television journalism became a model copied around the world, making the New Rochelle graduate one of the central figures in the development of modern television news.
10. Ray Rice
Ray Rice was born and raised in New Rochelle and became a star running back at New Rochelle High School. He continued his football career at Rutgers University, where he became one of the most productive players in school history before being selected by the Baltimore Ravens in the 2008 NFL Draft. Rice earned three Pro Bowl selections and was part of the Ravens team that won Super Bowl XLVII. His football career began in New Rochelle’s youth and high school programs.
11. Bob Denver
Bob Denver was born in New Rochelle in 1935 before spending most of his formative years elsewhere in the United States. He became a television star first as beatnik Maynard G. Krebs on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis and then as the title character on Gilligan’s Island. Although Gilligan’s Island originally lasted only three seasons, decades of reruns turned Denver and his character into permanent fixtures of American popular culture. His life began in New Rochelle.
12. Kevin Dillon
Kevin Dillon was born in New Rochelle in 1965 and, like his older brother Matt, entered acting while still young. His early film work included roles in Platoon and The Doors, but television eventually brought him his most widely known role as Johnny “Drama” Chase on HBO’s Entourage. Dillon earned multiple Emmy nominations for the performance and became one of the series’ most recognizable characters. The Dillon family’s connection to New Rochelle began with the births of both brothers there.
13. Walter Lantz
Walter Lantz was born in New Rochelle in 1899 to immigrant parents and showed an interest in drawing while still a child. After studying art and entering the animation business, he eventually founded Walter Lantz Productions and created or developed characters including Andy Panda and Woody Woodpecker. Lantz became one of the important independent animation producers of the 20th century, with Woody Woodpecker becoming an internationally recognized cartoon character. His artistic story began in New Rochelle.
14. Rob Morrow
Rob Morrow was born in New Rochelle in 1962 and went on to build a career as an actor, director, and producer. He became nationally known as Dr. Joel Fleischman on the television series Northern Exposure, earning multiple Golden Globe and Emmy nominations for the role. Morrow later starred as FBI agent Don Eppes on Numb3rs and continued working extensively in television and film. His long career began with a New Rochelle birthplace.
15. Peter Scolari
Peter Scolari was born in New Rochelle in 1955 before growing up in nearby Scarsdale. He first became widely known opposite Tom Hanks on the television comedy Bosom Buddies and later earned several Emmy nominations for his role on Newhart. Scolari also had an extensive stage career and won a Primetime Emmy in 2016 for his performance on HBO’s Girls. His professional life eventually stretched across television, Broadway, and film, but it began in New Rochelle.
16. Henry Heimlich
Henry Heimlich was born in Delaware in 1920, but his family moved to New Rochelle during his childhood. He lived on Eighth Street and Stephenson Boulevard and graduated from New Rochelle High School in 1937. Heimlich became a physician and medical researcher and is best known for developing the emergency technique that became known as the Heimlich maneuver in the 1970s. Few New Rochelle graduates have had an impact so directly associated with saving lives around the world.
17. Elia Kazan
Elia Kazan was born in Constantinople in 1909 and came to the United States as a young child. His family moved to New Rochelle in 1922, and he later graduated from New Rochelle High School. Kazan became one of the most influential American stage and film directors of the 20th century, directing Broadway productions including A Streetcar Named Desire and Death of a Salesman and films including On the Waterfront and East of Eden. His teenage years in New Rochelle preceded a career that had an enormous impact on American acting and directing.
18. Dan DeCarlo
Dan DeCarlo was born in New Rochelle in 1919 and attended New Rochelle High School before studying at the Art Students League in Manhattan. After military service during World War II, he became a professional cartoonist and eventually one of the artists most responsible for defining the visual style of Archie Comics. DeCarlo also became closely associated with characters including Josie and the Pussycats and Sabrina the Teenage Witch. His distinctive cartooning career began in the city where he was born and educated.
19. Cristina Teuscher
Cristina Teuscher was born in the Bronx but raised in New Rochelle and graduated from New Rochelle High School in 1996. She was already one of America’s elite swimmers while still a student and won an Olympic gold medal in the 4 x 200-meter freestyle relay at the 1996 Atlanta Games. Four years later, she earned a bronze medal in the 200-meter individual medley at the Sydney Olympics. Teuscher’s rise to international swimming began while she was still a teenager in New Rochelle.
20. Lou Jones
Louis “Lou” Jones was born in New Rochelle in 1932 and graduated from New Rochelle High School before becoming one of America’s leading sprinters of the 1950s. He set world records in the 400 meters and represented the United States at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne. Jones won an Olympic gold medal as a member of the American 4 x 400-meter relay team. His athletic achievements made him one of the earliest New Rochelle athletes to reach the highest level of international competition.
21. Penny Chenery
Helen “Penny” Chenery was born in New Rochelle in 1922 and grew up around horses through her family’s racing interests. She later became one of the most famous owners in American thoroughbred racing when Secretariat won the Triple Crown in 1973. Chenery played a central role in managing Meadow Stable and became a widely respected advocate for the sport. She was later recognized by the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame as a Pillar of the Turf.
22. Caresse Crosby
Caresse Crosby was born Mary Phelps Jacob in New Rochelle in 1891 and later became an inventor, publisher, writer, and patron of the arts. In 1914, she received a U.S. patent for a backless brassiere design that became an important step in the development of the modern bra. She later moved into publishing and, with her husband Harry Crosby, founded the Black Sun Press in Paris, which published work by several important modernist writers. Her unusually varied life began in New Rochelle.
23. Vincent Pastore
Vincent Pastore was born in the Bronx in 1946 but raised in New Rochelle. Before turning seriously to acting, he spent years working in the local nightclub business, including operating clubs in Westchester. Pastore later became a familiar character actor in films such as Goodfellas and Carlito’s Way, but his best-known role was Salvatore “Big Pussy” Bonpensiero on HBO’s The Sopranos. Even after his acting career took off, his connection to New Rochelle remained an important part of his personal and professional story.
24. Ato Essandoh
Ato Essandoh was born in Schenectady in 1972 but spent formative years in New Rochelle and graduated from New Rochelle High School in 1990. He studied chemical engineering at Cornell University before turning to acting and eventually building a wide-ranging career in film and television. His credits have included Garden State, Blood Diamond, Django Unchained, Chicago Med, and The Diplomat. His path from engineering student to working actor was preceded by his school years in New Rochelle.
25. C.L. Smooth
Corey Penn, better known as C.L. Smooth, was born in New Rochelle in 1968 and later attended Mount Vernon High School, where he met producer Pete Rock. The two became one of the most respected hip-hop duos of the early 1990s, releasing Mecca and the Soul Brother and the enduring classic “They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.).” C.L. Smooth’s calm, reflective delivery paired with Pete Rock’s soulful production helped define an important period in East Coast hip-hop. His story began in New Rochelle before the partnership took shape in neighboring Mount Vernon.
Readers interested in more notable people from the region can continue with our 25 Famous People You Didn’t Know Were From Westchester County, New York, 25 Famous People You Didn’t Know Were From the Bronx, and 25 Famous People You Didn’t Know Were From Manhattan.
