25 Famous People From Suffolk County, New York

Suffolk Theater in Riverhead, Suffolk County, New York

Suffolk Theater in Riverhead, New York. Photo by Jaclyn Vernace / Shutterstock.com.

Suffolk County stretches across the eastern two-thirds of Long Island, from communities along the Nassau County border to the North and South Forks. Across that enormous landscape, Suffolk has produced an extraordinary range of writers, actors, musicians, athletes, business leaders, inventors, and historical figures whose influence reached far beyond Long Island. If you grew up on Long Island, you probably struggled with boredom. And I think it’s that boredom that helped fuel the artistry in many of these people. I know it did for me. When I moved to Suffolk County from the Bronx, I really struggled. I went from having friends everywhere and live action every day to complete utter boredom. So I dug deep within myself, learned piano, and became a songwriter. And I have made a living as a musician ever since.

For this list, the standard is simple: these are people who were born in Suffolk County, were raised here, or spent a substantial part of their formative childhood here. Simply owning a home in Suffolk later in life or passing through the county is not enough. From West Hills, Northport, and Huntington to Stony Brook, Commack, Lindenhurst, Smithtown, Islip, Setauket, and the East End, these 25 people have genuine Suffolk County roots.

1. Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman was born in West Hills, in what is now the Town of Huntington, on May 31, 1819. His family moved to Brooklyn when he was still a young child, but Long Island remained central to his identity and writing throughout his life. In 1838, at only nineteen years old, Whitman founded The Long-Islander newspaper in Huntington. His birthplace is now the Walt Whitman Birthplace State Historic Site. Our article, Walt Whitman and His New York Love Affair, explores Whitman’s broader relationship with the city and island.

2. Leroy Grumman

Leroy Randle Grumman was born in Huntington in 1895 and graduated as salutatorian of Huntington High School in 1911. After earning an engineering degree from Cornell University and serving as a naval aviator, Grumman became one of the founders of the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation. The company produced some of America’s most important military aircraft and later played a major role in the Apollo lunar program. Grumman’s story is part of the larger aerospace history explored in 10 Lost Long Island Aerospace and Technology Giants.

3. Edie Falco

Edie Falco was born in Brooklyn, but much of her childhood was spent in Suffolk County. After living in several Long Island communities, her family settled in Northport, where Falco attended Northport High School and performed in school productions. She later studied acting at SUNY Purchase before becoming one of television’s most acclaimed performers. Her portrayals of Carmela Soprano in The Sopranos and Jackie Peyton in Nurse Jackie brought her multiple Emmy Awards and made her one of the most recognizable actors of her generation.

4. Patti LuPone

Patti LuPone was born in Northport in 1949 and graduated from Northport High School before entering the first class of Juilliard’s Drama Division. She went on to become one of Broadway’s defining performers, winning Tony Awards for Evita, Gypsy, and Company. Her powerful voice and uncompromising stage presence have made her a New York theater institution, but the beginning of that remarkable career belongs to Northport and Suffolk County.

5. Kevin James

Kevin James was born in Mineola in Nassau County, but he was raised in Stony Brook and graduated from Ward Melville High School in East Setauket. He played football and wrestled in high school before eventually finding his way into stand-up comedy. James became a national television star as Doug Heffernan on The King of Queens and later starred in films including Hitch and Paul Blart: Mall Cop. His comic career began after a childhood and adolescence firmly rooted in Suffolk County.

6. Ralph Macchio

Ralph Macchio was born in Huntington in 1961 and graduated from Half Hollow Hills High School West in Dix Hills. He began dancing when he was young and was discovered by a talent agent as a teenager. Roles in The Outsiders and Eight Is Enough led to the part that made him internationally famous: Daniel LaRusso in The Karate Kid. Decades later, he returned to the character in Cobra Kai. Macchio has remained closely identified with Long Island throughout his career.

7. Lori Loughlin

Lori Loughlin was born in Queens and spent part of her early childhood in Nassau County before her family moved to Hauppauge. She graduated from Hauppauge High School and began modeling and acting while still young, commuting into New York City for professional work. Loughlin became best known as Rebecca Donaldson Katsopolis on Full House, one of the most popular television sitcoms of its era. Her formative years and early career were closely tied to Suffolk County.

8. Melissa Joan Hart

Melissa Joan Hart was born in Smithtown in 1976 and began appearing in television commercials while still a child. She became a major young television star as the title character on Nickelodeon’s Clarissa Explains It All before reaching an even larger audience with Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Hart later expanded into directing and producing. Her career started extraordinarily early, but her story began in Suffolk County.

9. Paul Scheer

Paul Scheer was born in Huntington in 1976 and later attended St. Anthony’s High School before studying at New York University. He developed into a comic actor, writer, director, and podcaster whose work has included Human Giant, The League, Black Monday, and the long-running movie podcast How Did This Get Made?. Scheer’s career has taken him throughout the entertainment industry, but his beginnings were in Huntington.

10. Chris Messina

Chris Messina was born in Northport in 1974 and grew up there, studying theater while attending Northport High School. He began his professional career on the New York stage before moving into film and television. Messina later became widely known for roles in The Mindy Project, Argo, Julie & Julia, Sharp Objects, and Air. His acting career was built in New York, but its earliest foundation was laid in Northport.

11. Rosie O’Donnell

Rosie O’Donnell was born and raised in Commack, where she attended Commack High School and became known for the outgoing personality that would eventually help launch her entertainment career. After beginning as a stand-up comedian, O’Donnell moved into film, television, and daytime talk shows. She appeared in movies such as A League of Their Own and later hosted The Rosie O’Donnell Show. Long before national television audiences knew her name, she was growing up in Suffolk County.

12. Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey was born in Huntington in 1969 and grew up on Long Island, including years in the Greenlawn area. She graduated from Harborfields High School while already pursuing music seriously and working as a demo singer. After high school, Carey moved to Manhattan and began the climb that led to her self-titled debut album and one of the most commercially successful singing careers in popular music history. Her extraordinary voice became famous around the world, but its roots reach back to Suffolk County.

13. Rakim

Rakim, born William Michael Griffin Jr., was born in Wyandanch in 1968 and became one of the most influential rappers in hip-hop history. Growing up in Suffolk County, he developed the rhythmic and lyrical approach that later transformed the art of rapping. His recordings with Eric B., including Paid in Full and Follow the Leader, changed expectations for rhyme structure, flow, and lyrical complexity. Rakim’s influence extends across generations of hip-hop artists, making Wyandanch the birthplace of one of the genre’s foundational voices.

14. Pat Benatar

Pat Benatar was born in Brooklyn, but she grew up in Lindenhurst after her family moved to Suffolk County when she was a child. She attended Lindenhurst High School, where her musical talent developed through school productions and vocal training. Benatar later became one of the defining rock singers of the early MTV era with hits including “Heartbreaker,” “Hit Me with Your Best Shot,” “Love Is a Battlefield,” and “We Belong.” Her powerful voice and stage presence were developed long before fame, during her years in Lindenhurst.

15. Jon Bellion

Singer, songwriter, and producer Jon Bellion was born in Lake Grove in 1990 and grew up on Long Island. He initially devoted much of his energy to basketball before music became his primary focus. Bellion later built a successful career as both a recording artist and songwriter, scoring his own hit with “All Time Low” while also writing or producing for other major artists. His combination of pop, hip-hop, R&B, and electronic influences emerged from a musical path that began in Suffolk County.

16. Carl Yastrzemski

Baseball Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski was born in Southampton in 1939 and grew up on his family’s potato farm in Bridgehampton. He became a standout athlete at Bridgehampton High School before eventually signing with the Boston Red Sox. Over a twenty-three-year Major League Baseball career spent entirely with Boston, Yastrzemski collected more than 3,000 hits and won the American League Triple Crown in 1967. One of the greatest players in Red Sox history came out of the farm country of eastern Suffolk County.

17. Boomer Esiason

Norman “Boomer” Esiason was born and raised in East Islip and graduated from East Islip High School in 1979. A three-sport athlete, he excelled in football, basketball, and baseball before playing quarterback at the University of Maryland. Esiason went on to a fourteen-season NFL career, primarily with the Cincinnati Bengals and New York Jets, and was named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player for the 1988 season. After retiring, he became one of New York sports media’s best-known broadcasters.

18. Mick Foley

Mick Foley was born in Indiana, but he was raised in East Setauket and graduated from Ward Melville High School. He competed in high school sports alongside future comedian Kevin James before pursuing professional wrestling. Foley eventually became famous through his Cactus Jack, Mankind, and Dude Love personas and won multiple world championships in WWE. He also became a best-selling author and accomplished storyteller. His unusual journey from East Setauket to wrestling fame makes him one of Suffolk County’s most distinctive sports personalities.

19. Chris Algieri

Chris Algieri was born in Huntington in 1984 and grew up in the area, attending St. Anthony’s High School. He first built a championship career in kickboxing before moving into professional boxing. In 2014, Algieri defeated Ruslan Provodnikov to win the WBO junior welterweight title and later fought Manny Pacquiao for a world championship in Macau. He has also worked extensively in nutrition and broadcasting, but his athletic career began in Huntington.

20. Tom Gugliotta

Tom Gugliotta was born in Huntington Station in 1969 and attended Walt Whitman High School before playing college basketball at North Carolina State University. The Washington Bullets selected him with the sixth overall pick in the 1992 NBA Draft. Gugliotta played thirteen seasons in the NBA and became an All-Star with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 1997. Long before the NBA, his basketball foundation was built in Huntington Station.

21. Craig Biggio

Craig Biggio was born in Smithtown in 1965 and grew up in Kings Park, where he starred in both football and baseball at Kings Park High School. After playing college baseball at Seton Hall, Biggio was selected by the Houston Astros in the first round of the 1987 draft. He spent his entire twenty-year major league career with Houston, accumulated more than 3,000 hits, and was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015. Suffolk County produced one of the most versatile players of his generation.

22. Tobias Harris

Tobias Harris was born in Islip in 1992 and became one of Long Island’s top high school basketball players. He attended Half Hollow Hills High School West in Dix Hills, spent one season at Long Island Lutheran, and returned to Half Hollow Hills West for his senior year. After playing at the University of Tennessee, Harris entered the NBA as a first-round draft pick in 2011. His professional career has lasted well over a decade, but the basketball skills that took him there were developed in Suffolk County gyms.

23. Meg Whitman

Meg Whitman was born in Cold Spring Harbor in 1956 and attended Cold Spring Harbor High School before going to Princeton University and Harvard Business School. She became one of the most prominent executives of the early internet era after taking over eBay in 1998 and guiding the company through enormous international growth. Whitman later led Hewlett-Packard and Hewlett Packard Enterprise and entered public service as a diplomat. Her path into business and leadership began on Long Island’s North Shore.

24. William Floyd

William Floyd was born in 1734 in what is now the Mastic area of the Town of Brookhaven. A wealthy farmer and local political leader, Floyd represented New York in the Continental Congress and became the only signer of the Declaration of Independence from Suffolk County. During the Revolutionary War, British troops occupied his Long Island estate and forced his family from their home. The William Floyd Estate survives today as part of Fire Island National Seashore, preserving the Suffolk County home of one of New York’s Founding Fathers.

25. Benjamin Tallmadge

Benjamin Tallmadge was born in Setauket in 1754 and grew up in the community before attending Yale. During the Revolutionary War, he served as an officer in the Continental Army and became the principal organizer of the Culper Spy Ring, the intelligence network that supplied George Washington with information about British activity in occupied New York. Tallmadge later served in Congress, but his early life and the spy network for which he became famous were deeply rooted in Setauket and Suffolk County.

For more Long Island history, read History of Levittown and the American Dream, How Robert Moses Shaped the Long Island He Misunderstood, 10 Lost Long Island Aerospace and Technology Giants, and Walt Whitman and His New York Love Affair.