25 Famous People You Didn’t Know Were From Brooklyn

Feature Photo: Brownstone-lined neighborhood street in Brooklyn, New York. Plat-Q / Shutterstock.com

Brooklyn has produced, raised, and shaped an extraordinary number of famous people. Actors, comedians, musicians, athletes, writers, filmmakers, and public figures have all carried pieces of the borough with them into careers that reached far beyond New York.

For this list, “from Brooklyn” means more than the hospital listed on a birth certificate. Some of these people were born in Brooklyn and grew up there. Others were born elsewhere but came to Brooklyn as children and spent the years that shaped them in neighborhoods such as Midwood, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Bushwick, Brighton Beach, Sheepshead Bay, Williamsburg, and Fort Greene.

That distinction matters because where someone grows up often tells us far more about who they became than where they happened to be born. These 25 famous people all have a meaningful Brooklyn story, and some of the names may surprise you.

1. Barbra Streisand

Brooklyn Connection: Born and raised in Brooklyn
Known For: Singer, actress, director, producer

Barbra Streisand is one of the most successful entertainers in American history, and her Brooklyn roots run deep. She was born in Brooklyn in 1942, grew up in the borough, and attended Erasmus Hall High School. Her father died when she was only 15 months old, and the family lived modestly while Streisand developed the ambition that eventually carried her into Manhattan nightclubs and onto Broadway.

Her breakthrough in Funny Girl led to an Academy Award for the film version, while her recording career produced decades of hit albums and songs. Streisand later became a director and producer as well, making her one of the rare performers to succeed at the highest levels of music, film, television, and theater.

2. Mel Brooks

Brooklyn Connection: Born in Brooklyn; raised in Williamsburg
Known For: The Producers, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein

Mel Brooks was born Melvin Kaminsky in Brooklyn in 1926 and grew up in Williamsburg. His father died when Brooks was only two years old, and he later remembered a poor but lively Brooklyn childhood filled with neighborhood games, family life, and the kind of street humor that would become part of his comic voice.

After serving in World War II and working in the Catskills, Brooks joined the writing staff of Sid Caesar’s Your Show of Shows. He eventually became one of the most influential comedy filmmakers of all time, creating The Producers, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, and other films that combined satire, parody, and old-fashioned show-business timing.

3. Jay-Z

Brooklyn Connection: Raised in the Marcy Houses in Bedford-Stuyvesant
Known For: Rapper, songwriter, producer, entrepreneur

Jay-Z was born Shawn Carter in Brooklyn in 1969 and grew up in the Marcy Houses, the public-housing complex in Bedford-Stuyvesant that became one of the central locations in his music and personal mythology. Raised by his mother, Gloria Carter, he came of age during a difficult period in New York when poverty, drugs, and violence were reshaping many neighborhoods.

Rap became his path out. After years of trying to break into the music business, Jay-Z co-founded Roc-A-Fella Records and released Reasonable Doubt in 1996. He went on to become one of hip-hop’s most successful recording artists and one of the music industry’s most prominent entrepreneurs, while continuing to reference Brooklyn throughout his career.

4. The Notorious B.I.G.

Brooklyn Connection: Grew up near the Bedford-Stuyvesant and Clinton Hill border
Known For: Ready to Die, “Juicy,” “Big Poppa”

Christopher Wallace, better known as the Notorious B.I.G. or Biggie Smalls, was born in Brooklyn in 1972 and grew up near the border of Bedford-Stuyvesant and Clinton Hill. Brooklyn was not just his hometown; it became part of the vocabulary, imagery, humor, and storytelling that defined his music.

His 1994 debut album Ready to Die established him as one of the most important rappers of his generation. Songs such as “Juicy” turned his Brooklyn upbringing into a story of struggle and success. Wallace was killed in Los Angeles in 1997 at only 24 years old, but his association with Brooklyn remains inseparable from his legacy.

5. Eddie Murphy

Brooklyn Connection: Born in Brooklyn and spent his early childhood in Bushwick
Known For: Saturday Night Live, Beverly Hills Cop, Coming to America

Eddie Murphy was born in Brooklyn in 1961 and spent his early years in Bushwick. His childhood included difficult family circumstances, including the death of his father and a period in foster care before his mother remarried and moved the family to Roosevelt on Long Island.

Murphy became a stand-up comedian while still very young and joined Saturday Night Live in 1980. He quickly became one of the show’s biggest stars before moving into movies such as 48 Hrs., Trading Places, Beverly Hills Cop, and Coming to America. His early Brooklyn years were part of the world in which his comic instincts first developed.

6. Chris Rock

Brooklyn Connection: Raised in Crown Heights and Bedford-Stuyvesant
Known For: Stand-up comedy, Saturday Night Live, Everybody Hates Chris

Chris Rock was born in South Carolina, but his family moved to Brooklyn when he was a small child. He grew up first in Crown Heights and then in Bedford-Stuyvesant, where his experiences with school, family life, neighborhood culture, and racism eventually became raw material for his comedy.

Rock became one of the most influential stand-up comedians of his generation, winning major awards for comedy specials and building a successful career in television and film. His semi-autobiographical television series Everybody Hates Chris drew directly from his Brooklyn childhood.

7. Larry David

Brooklyn Connection: Born and raised in Sheepshead Bay
Known For: Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm

Larry David was born and raised in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. Years later, when he returned to his childhood apartment complex for a profile, he described its courtyards, neighborhood games, fights, and friendships as his “little world.” That very specific Brooklyn upbringing helped shape the social observations that later became central to his comedy.

David co-created Seinfeld with Jerry Seinfeld and served as one of the show’s principal writers and producers. He later created Curb Your Enthusiasm, where he transformed awkward social rules, petty grievances, and everyday irritation into another landmark television comedy.

8. Spike Lee

Brooklyn Connection: Moved to Brooklyn at age two; grew up in Crown Heights, Cobble Hill, and Fort Greene
Known For: Do the Right Thing, Malcolm X, She’s Gotta Have It

Spike Lee was born in Atlanta, but his family moved to Brooklyn when he was two years old. He lived in Crown Heights, Cobble Hill, and later Fort Greene, and few major American filmmakers have been more closely associated with a single borough.

Brooklyn became both the setting and a character in many of Lee’s films. She’s Gotta Have It, Do the Right Thing, and Crooklyn drew heavily on the streets, people, conflicts, humor, music, and changing neighborhoods he knew. Lee has said that growing up in Brooklyn helped make him the filmmaker he became.

9. Carole King

Brooklyn Connection: Born in Manhattan and raised in Brooklyn
Known For: Tapestry, songwriter at the Brill Building

Carole King is a perfect example of why being “from” a place is not always the same as where someone was born. She was born Carol Joan Klein in Manhattan in 1942, but she was raised in Brooklyn, where she began playing piano, writing songs, and attending James Madison High School.

King became one of the defining songwriters of the Brill Building era with Gerry Goffin before emerging as a major recording artist herself. Her 1971 album Tapestry became one of the landmark albums of the singer-songwriter era and established her as one of the most important figures in American popular music.

10. Neil Diamond

Brooklyn Connection: Born and raised in Brooklyn; attended Erasmus Hall and Abraham Lincoln High School
Known For: “Sweet Caroline,” “Cracklin’ Rosie,” “America”

Neil Diamond was born in Brooklyn in 1941 and spent much of his youth in the borough. He lived in several Brooklyn neighborhoods and attended Erasmus Hall High School, where Barbra Streisand was also a student, before later attending Abraham Lincoln High School after his family moved to Brighton Beach.

Diamond became one of the most successful singer-songwriters of the modern era, writing and recording songs that crossed pop, rock, and adult contemporary audiences. His Brooklyn beginnings have remained an important part of his story, even inspiring the title of his autobiographical song “Brooklyn Roads.”

11. Barry Manilow

Brooklyn Connection: Born and raised in Brooklyn
Known For: “Mandy,” “Copacabana,” “Can’t Smile Without You”

Barry Manilow was born in Brooklyn in 1943 and grew up in Williamsburg. Music entered his life early through accordion lessons and a neighbor’s piano, and he eventually attended the New York College of Music and studied at Juilliard while beginning his professional career.

After working in television and advertising jingles, Manilow became Bette Midler’s musical director and then launched his own recording career. Beginning with “Mandy,” he became one of the most successful adult-contemporary artists of the 1970s and 1980s.

12. Neil Sedaka

Brooklyn Connection: Born and raised in Brighton Beach
Known For: “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do,” “Laughter in the Rain,” “Bad Blood”

Neil Sedaka was born in Brooklyn in 1939 and grew up in Brighton Beach. A gifted pianist from childhood, he studied classical music at Juilliard and began writing songs as a teenager with lyricist Howard Greenfield, who lived in the same Brooklyn apartment building.

Sedaka became one of the great pop songwriters and recording artists of the late 1950s and early 1960s, then staged a remarkable comeback in the 1970s with hits such as “Laughter in the Rain” and “Bad Blood.” He died in 2026 after a career that stretched across more than six decades.

13. Jackie Gleason

Brooklyn Connection: Born and raised in Bedford-Stuyvesant
Known For: The Honeymooners, The Hustler

Jackie Gleason was born on Chauncey Street in Brooklyn in 1916 and grew up in what is now Bedford-Stuyvesant. His family life was difficult, and his father eventually abandoned the household. The working-class Brooklyn world Gleason knew would later become inseparable from his most famous creation.

As Ralph Kramden on The Honeymooners, Gleason played a Brooklyn bus driver whose apartment, dreams, frustrations, and arguments became part of television history. He also proved himself a major dramatic actor, earning an Academy Award nomination for playing Minnesota Fats in The Hustler.

14. Mae West

Brooklyn Connection: Born in Brooklyn and raised around Greenpoint and Bushwick
Known For: She Done Him Wrong, I’m No Angel

Mae West was born in Brooklyn in 1893 and spent her early years in Greenpoint and Bushwick. She began performing as a child in Brooklyn theaters and amateur competitions before moving into vaudeville and Broadway.

By the time Hollywood came calling in the early 1930s, West had already built a stage persona based on confidence, sexual humor, double entendres, and total command of an audience. Films such as She Done Him Wrong and I’m No Angel made her one of the biggest stars of early Hollywood sound cinema.

15. Harvey Keitel

Brooklyn Connection: Born and raised in Brighton Beach
Known For: Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction

Harvey Keitel was born in Brooklyn in 1939 and grew up in Brighton Beach in a working-class immigrant family. The neighborhood’s boardwalk, elevated trains, luncheonettes, poolrooms, and street culture formed the environment of his youth.

Keitel eventually became one of the defining actors of gritty American cinema. His early work with Martin Scorsese included Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, while later collaborations with Quentin Tarantino helped launch Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction.

16. Steve Buscemi

Brooklyn Connection: Born in Brooklyn and spent his early childhood in East New York
Known For: Fargo, Reservoir Dogs, Boardwalk Empire

Steve Buscemi was born in Brooklyn in 1957 and spent the first decade of his life in East New York before his family moved to Valley Stream on Long Island. His New York identity remained strong, and before becoming a full-time actor he served as a firefighter with FDNY Engine Company 55.

Buscemi became one of the most recognizable character actors in American film, appearing in Reservoir Dogs, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, and Ghost World. He later starred in HBO’s Boardwalk Empire and built a parallel career as a director.

17. Marisa Tomei

Brooklyn Connection: Born and raised in Midwood
Known For: My Cousin Vinny, The Wrestler, In the Bedroom

Marisa Tomei was born in Brooklyn in 1964 and grew up in Midwood. She attended Brooklyn public schools, including Edward R. Murrow High School, and developed an interest in acting while still young.

Tomei became an Academy Award winner for her comic performance as Mona Lisa Vito in My Cousin Vinny. She later received additional Oscar nominations for In the Bedroom and The Wrestler, building a career that has moved easily between comedy, drama, theater, independent film, and major studio productions.

18. Rosie Perez

Brooklyn Connection: Born in Bushwick
Known For: Do the Right Thing, White Men Can’t Jump, Fearless

Rosie Perez was born in Bushwick, Brooklyn, in 1964. Her childhood was difficult and included time in foster care, but her New York identity and unmistakable Brooklyn voice became central to a career that began with dance and choreography before expanding into acting.

Spike Lee cast Perez in Do the Right Thing, launching a movie career that included White Men Can’t Jump and an Academy Award-nominated performance in Fearless. She also became a prominent choreographer, television personality, and activist.

19. Mike Tyson

Brooklyn Connection: Born in Brooklyn and raised in Brownsville
Known For: Heavyweight boxing champion

Mike Tyson was born in Brooklyn in 1966 and spent much of his childhood in Brownsville. Poverty, crime, street fighting, and repeated arrests shaped his early years before he was sent to an upstate juvenile facility, where boxing trainer Bobby Stewart recognized his athletic potential and eventually introduced him to Cus D’Amato.

Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion in boxing history when he won the title at age 20. His rise from Brownsville to the top of professional boxing became one of the most dramatic sports stories of the 1980s.

20. Sandy Koufax

Brooklyn Connection: Grew up playing sports in Brooklyn and attended Lafayette High School
Known For: Hall of Fame pitcher for the Dodgers

Sandy Koufax was born in Brooklyn in 1935 and grew up playing sports in Brooklyn schoolyards and community centers. Basketball was initially his strongest sport, and he became a standout at Lafayette High School before baseball eventually took over.

Koufax signed with the hometown Brooklyn Dodgers and made his major-league debut in 1955. After the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles, he developed into one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball history, winning three Cy Young Awards and becoming a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

21. Vince Lombardi

Brooklyn Connection: Born and raised in Sheepshead Bay
Known For: Legendary Green Bay Packers coach

Vince Lombardi was born in Brooklyn in 1913 and grew up in Sheepshead Bay in a close Italian American family. He attended St. Francis Preparatory School before continuing to Fordham University, where he played on the famous “Seven Blocks of Granite” offensive line.

Lombardi eventually became head coach of the Green Bay Packers and led the team to five NFL championships and victories in the first two Super Bowls. The trophy awarded to each year’s Super Bowl champion now carries the name of the kid from Sheepshead Bay.

22. Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Brooklyn Connection: Born and raised in Brooklyn; attended James Madison High School
Known For: U.S. Supreme Court justice

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was born in Brooklyn in 1933 and grew up in a working-class Jewish family that placed enormous value on education. She attended P.S. 238 and James Madison High School before going on to Cornell University and law school.

Ginsburg became one of the most consequential American jurists of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. After a pioneering legal career focused on gender equality, she was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1993, becoming the second woman to serve on the Court.

23. Isaac Asimov

Brooklyn Connection: Born in Russia and raised in Brooklyn from childhood
Known For: Science fiction writer and scientist

Isaac Asimov was born in Russia, but his family immigrated to the United States when he was a small child and settled in Brooklyn in 1923. The Asimovs lived at several Brooklyn addresses and operated family candy stores where young Isaac encountered the pulp magazines that helped spark his fascination with science fiction.

The Brooklyn Public Library also became enormously important to him. Asimov eventually became one of the most prolific writers in American history, producing hundreds of books across science fiction, science, history, humor, and other subjects. His Foundation and robot stories became landmarks of modern science fiction.

24. Woody Allen

Brooklyn Connection: Born in the Bronx but raised in Midwood
Known For: Annie Hall, Manhattan, Hannah and Her Sisters

Woody Allen illustrates the difference between birthplace and hometown particularly well. He was born at Mount Eden Hospital in the Bronx in 1935, but he and his sister were raised in Midwood, Brooklyn. He attended P.S. 99 and Midwood High School, and his Brooklyn upbringing fed the jokes and observations he began writing while still a teenager.

Allen went on to become a prolific filmmaker, screenwriter, comedian, and actor. His movies frequently focused on New York intellectual and cultural life, and his early Brooklyn experiences became part of the personal background behind a career that stretched across more than half a century.

25. Bernie Sanders

Brooklyn Connection: Born and raised in Midwood
Known For: U.S. senator and presidential candidate

Bernie Sanders was born in Brooklyn in 1941 and grew up in Midwood in a rent-controlled apartment near Kings Highway. He attended P.S. 197 and James Madison High School, where he ran track and competed in school athletics.

Sanders later moved to Vermont and built a political career there, eventually serving in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate and running for president. Throughout his national political career, his Brooklyn childhood, accent, and working-class upbringing remained an unmistakable part of his public identity.

25 Famous People From Brooklyn at a Glance

Readers who enjoy discovering the New York roots of famous people can continue with our 25 Famous People You Didn’t Know Were From the Bronx, Top 15 Essential New York Film Actresses and Their Greatest Roles, and look at the true story of Michael Jordan’s Brooklyn birth.

Sources

Barbra Streisand — Official Biography

PBS American Masters — Mel Brooks Biographical Timeline

Biography — Jay-Z

Biography — Eddie Murphy

Biography — Chris Rock

CBS News — Larry David and His Brooklyn Childhood

NPR / CapRadio — Spike Lee on Growing Up in Brooklyn

Biography — Carole King

United Federation of Teachers — Marisa Tomei’s Brooklyn School Years

National Women’s History Museum — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Brooklyn Public Library — Isaac Asimov’s Brooklyn Childhood

Biography — Woody Allen’s Midwood Upbringing

ABC News — Bernie Sanders’ Brooklyn Childhood

Published September 3, 2026.

25 Famous People You Didn’t Know Were From Brooklyn article published on ClassicNewYorkHistory.com © 2026