Downtown Riverhead, New York, with the historic Suffolk Theater. Photo by Patrick Hatt / Shutterstock.com.
The North Fork of Long Island has always had an identity of its own. Stretching east through the Towns of Riverhead and Southold toward Orient Point, the region developed around farms, fishing villages, shipbuilding, oyster beds, potato fields, and the waters of Long Island Sound and Peconic Bay. Southold was established by English settlers in 1640, making it one of the oldest English communities in New York. For more than 150 years, what is now Riverhead remained part of the much larger Town of Southold before separating to become its own town in 1792.
The arrival of the Long Island Rail Road in the 1840s gave North Fork farmers and merchants a faster connection to New York City, while Greenport developed into an important maritime and transportation center. Agriculture remained central to the region for generations. Potatoes, cauliflower, fruit, fishing, and other industries shaped everyday life long before vineyards and wineries became one of the modern North Fork’s best-known attractions. Even as the East End changed, communities such as Riverhead, Aquebogue, Jamesport, Mattituck, Cutchogue, Southold, Greenport, East Marion, and Orient retained strong local identities.
The North Fork has also produced an extraordinary collection of people whose careers reached far beyond eastern Long Island. For this list, “from the North Fork” means a documented connection through birth or upbringing in one of its communities, not simply someone who vacationed there or bought a home after becoming famous. Here are 25 famous people you may not have known were from the North Fork of Long Island.
1. Cory Stearns (Mattituck)
Ballet dancer Cory Stearns was raised in Mattituck and began his classical training on Long Island before leaving Mattituck High School at age 15 to study at the Royal Ballet School in London. He joined American Ballet Theatre and rose to principal dancer in 2011, performing many of the great leading roles of the classical repertory over a career that lasted more than two decades. Stearns retired from ABT in 2026 after an injury prevented him from giving the farewell performance originally planned for his final season.
2. Greg Sacks (Mattituck)
NASCAR driver Greg Sacks was born in Mattituck in 1952 and built a long career in stock-car racing after first establishing himself in modified racing. His most famous victory came at Daytona International Speedway in the 1985 Firecracker 400, where he drove what had been intended as a research-and-development entry to an unexpected win over some of NASCAR’s biggest stars. Sacks competed in more than 250 Cup Series races during his career.
3. Ed Danowski (Jamesport and Riverhead)
Football star Ed Danowski was born in Jamesport in 1911 and became one of the greatest athletes in Riverhead High School history. After starring at Fordham University, he joined the New York Giants and became the franchise’s quarterback during the 1930s. Danowski helped lead the Giants to NFL championships in 1934 and 1938 and later returned to Fordham as head football coach.
4. Josephine Silone Yates (Mattituck)
Josephine Silone Yates was born in Mattituck in 1859 and became a pioneering educator, scientist, writer, and civil rights activist. After excelling in school, she joined the faculty of Lincoln Institute in Missouri, where she taught chemistry, literature, and other subjects and became one of the first African American women to head a college science department. Yates also became an important leader in the Black women’s club movement at the turn of the 20th century.
5. Douglas Moore (Cutchogue)
Composer and educator Douglas Stuart Moore was born in Cutchogue in 1893 and maintained a lifelong connection to his family’s North Fork property. Moore became chairman of the music department at Columbia University and wrote operas, orchestral works, songs, and other compositions. His opera Giants in the Earth won the 1951 Pulitzer Prize for Music, while The Ballad of Baby Doe became his best-known work for the stage.
6. Otis G. Pike (Riverhead)
Otis Grey Pike was born in Riverhead in 1921 and represented eastern Long Island in the United States House of Representatives for nine terms from 1961 through 1979. A Marine Corps pilot during World War II and later a lawyer and Riverhead town official, Pike became nationally known in the 1970s when he chaired the House Select Committee on Intelligence. The investigation that became known as the Pike Committee examined the activities and oversight of American intelligence agencies.
7. Marjorie Flack (Greenport)
Children’s author and illustrator Marjorie Flack was born in Greenport in 1897. She became one of the best-known American creators of children’s picture books during the first half of the 20th century, writing and illustrating the popular Angus series and writing The Story About Ping, illustrated by Kurt Wiese. Her books remained in print for generations after their original publication.
8. William Lynch Jr. (Mattituck)
Political strategist and civil rights activist William “Bill” Lynch Jr. was born in Mattituck in 1941 and graduated from Mattituck High School in 1959. Lynch became one of the most influential Democratic political strategists in New York City, managing David Dinkins’ successful 1989 mayoral campaign and later serving as a deputy mayor in the Dinkins administration. Despite his career in city politics, Lynch remained proud of his North Fork upbringing throughout his life.
9. Rashad Robinson (Riverhead)
Civil rights leader and social-change strategist Rashad Robinson grew up in Riverhead and graduated from Riverhead High School in 1997. His activism began while he was still a student, and he later became a nationally prominent advocate on racial justice, voting rights, media representation, corporate accountability, and criminal justice. Robinson led Color of Change for more than a decade and later wrote From Presence to Power: How to Take On the Fights That Matter and Win.
10. Marshall G. Jones (Aquebogue and Riverhead)
Mechanical engineer and inventor Marshall G. Jones spent his childhood on his aunt and uncle’s duck farm in Aquebogue and graduated from Riverhead High School in 1960. During a remarkable engineering career at General Electric, Jones became a pioneer in the use of high-powered lasers for industrial materials processing. He earned more than 60 United States patents and was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2017.
11. Ezra L’Hommedieu (Southold)
Revolutionary-era lawyer and statesman Ezra L’Hommedieu was born in Southold in 1734. He represented New York in the Continental Congress, served in both houses of the New York State Legislature, became a regent of the University of the State of New York, and held several important Suffolk County offices. He also selected the site and developed plans for the Montauk Point Lighthouse, the first lighthouse built in New York State.
12. Garfield M. Langhorn (Riverhead)
Medal of Honor recipient Garfield M. Langhorn was born in Virginia but moved with his family to Riverhead while he was a child and graduated from Riverhead High School in 1967. Drafted into the Army during the Vietnam War, Langhorn was serving as a radio operator in January 1969 when an enemy grenade landed near wounded American soldiers. He threw himself onto the grenade, sacrificing his life to save the men around him. His Medal of Honor was presented posthumously to his family in 1970.
13. John Cleves Symmes (Riverhead)
John Cleves Symmes was born in Riverhead in 1742 and went on to play an important role in the early history of the United States. After moving to New Jersey, he served during the Revolutionary era, became chief justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court, and represented New Jersey in the Continental Congress. Symmes later became one of the original judges of the Northwest Territory and was deeply involved in the settlement of lands that would become part of Ohio. His daughter Anna married future President William Henry Harrison.
14. Scott Mersereau (Riverhead)
Former NFL defensive lineman Scott Mersereau was born in Riverhead in 1965 and attended Riverhead High School. After playing college football at Southern Connecticut State, he was selected in the fifth round of the 1987 NFL Draft. Mersereau spent seven seasons with the New York Jets, appearing in 102 regular-season games and starting 91 of them along the defensive line.
15. Sally Stark (Riverhead)
Actress Sally Stark was born in Riverhead in 1938 and built a career spanning theater and television. She appeared in the original Off-Broadway production of Dames at Sea as Joan, performing alongside Bernadette Peters, and later appeared on television programs including Love of Life, Days of Our Lives, All My Children, and Amazing Stories.
16. Michael P. Forbes (Riverhead)
Michael P. Forbes was born in Riverhead in 1952 and later represented New York’s 1st Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives from 1995 through 2001. First elected as a Republican, Forbes changed his party affiliation to the Democratic Party in 1999. After leaving Congress, he pursued religious studies and later became a permanent deacon in the Roman Catholic Church.
17. Danny Burawa (Riverhead)
Professional baseball pitcher Danny Burawa was born in Riverhead in 1988. The New York Yankees selected him in the 12th round of the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft after he pitched at Suffolk County Community College and St. John’s University. Burawa reached the major leagues in 2015, pitching for both the Yankees and Atlanta Braves, and later represented Israel in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.
18. Alexander M. Zaleski (Laurel)
Roman Catholic bishop Alexander M. Zaleski was born in Laurel in 1906. After studying for the priesthood in the United States and Belgium, he rose through the church hierarchy in Michigan and became an auxiliary bishop of Detroit in 1950. In 1965, Zaleski became the Bishop of Lansing, a position he held until his death in 1975.
19. James Aldrich (Mattituck)
Poet and editor James Aldrich was born in Mattituck in 1810. After beginning his working life in business, he turned increasingly toward literature and founded the short-lived New York Literary Gazette in 1839. Aldrich later worked as an editor for the New York publication The New World. His poem “A Death-Bed” became his most frequently reprinted literary work.
20. John Bunyan Reeve (Mattituck)
Presbyterian minister and educator John Bunyan Reeve was born in Mattituck in 1831. After theological study and years in the ministry, Reeve became associated with Howard University in Washington, D.C., where he organized its Department of Theology in 1871. His career placed a man born in a small North Fork farming community at the center of one of the nation’s most important historically Black universities during the Reconstruction era.
21. William Steeple Davis (Orient)
Artist, photographer, and writer William Steeple Davis was born in Orient in 1884 and spent nearly his entire life there. Largely self-taught, Davis drew inspiration from ships, the Long Island Sound, and the natural landscape around Oysterponds. He became particularly known for photography and published hundreds of articles on the subject. After his death, his estate ultimately became the William Steeple Davis Artists’ Residency, continuing his connection between Orient and the arts.
22. Roy Latham (Orient)
Naturalist Roy Latham was born in Orient in 1881 and spent much of his life documenting the natural history of the North Fork. Farmer, fisherman, botanist, ornithologist, archaeologist, and collector, Latham spent decades gathering and identifying plants, birds, shells, fossils, and Indigenous artifacts. His enormous body of collecting and field work eventually contributed material to museums and research institutions and preserved an extraordinary record of the East End’s natural environment.
23. Marshall Brines Drew (Greenport and Southold)
Artist and educator Marshall Brines Drew was born in Greenport in 1904 and grew up in Southold after the early death of his mother. At eight years old, Drew became a survivor of the sinking of the Titanic while returning from Europe with his aunt and uncle; his uncle died in the disaster. Drew later studied art, became a longtime New York City public-school art teacher, painted North Fork landscapes, and spent decades recounting his memories of the famous shipwreck.
24. John Wickham (Cutchogue)
Attorney John Wickham was born in Cutchogue in 1763 and eventually became one of the most prominent lawyers in early Virginia. His most famous case came in 1807 when he helped defend former Vice President Aaron Burr against charges of treason. Burr was acquitted, and Wickham’s role in the sensational trial secured his place in early American legal history.
25. Parker Wickham (Cutchogue)
Parker Wickham was born in Cutchogue in 1727 and became a substantial landowner and local official in colonial Southold. He served in town and county government but remained loyal to the British Crown during the American Revolution. That decision placed him on the losing side of the conflict and ultimately led to his banishment from New York, making his life one of the North Fork’s more complicated Revolutionary-era stories.
For more stories about the people, places, and history of Long Island, read 25 Famous People You Didn’t Know Were From Suffolk County, New York, 10 Historic Long Island Towns Where Early American Charm Still Survives, 10 Historic Lighthouses of Long Island and the Stories Behind Them, and New York’s Vineyards and Wine Making History.
