A view of the Syracuse, New York skyline. Photo: Wirestock Creators / Shutterstock.com
In the heart of Central New York, Syracuse has long sat at a major crossroads. The city grew around the Erie Canal and the salt industry that gave it the nickname “Salt City,” and today it remains a major transportation, university, sports, and cultural center. Syracuse University’s JMA Wireless Dome, long known as the Carrier Dome, is one of the city’s most recognizable landmarks, while Lake Ontario continues to shape the region’s famously snowy winters.
Syracuse has also produced an extraordinary range of actors, writers, musicians, athletes, broadcasters, inventors, and cultural figures. To keep the geography clear, everyone on this list was born in Syracuse itself, not just attending Syracuse University or growing up elsewhere in Central New York. Here are 25 famous people you probably did not realize were born in Syracuse, New York.
1. Tom Cruise (Actor)
Tom Cruise was born Thomas Cruise Mapother IV in Syracuse in 1962. Although his family moved frequently during his childhood, his life began in Central New York before he went on to become one of the most recognizable movie stars in the world. His career has included Risky Business, Top Gun, Rain Man, A Few Good Men, Jerry Maguire, and the long-running Mission: Impossible series.
2. Post Malone (Singer, Rapper, and Songwriter)
Post Malone was born Austin Richard Post in Syracuse in 1995. He spent his early childhood in Central New York before moving to Texas with his family. His father’s wide-ranging musical tastes exposed him to rock, hip-hop, country, and other genres that later became part of Post Malone’s crossover sound. He went on to build an international career with hits including “Congratulations,” “Rockstar,” “Circles,” and “Sunflower.”
3. Rod Serling (Creator of The Twilight Zone)
Rod Serling was born in Syracuse on Christmas Day in 1924 before his family moved to Binghamton when he was still very young. He became one of the defining writers of television’s golden age, earning acclaim for dramas such as Patterns and Requiem for a Heavyweight before creating, writing, producing, and hosting The Twilight Zone. His work combined science fiction and fantasy with sharp commentary on war, prejudice, conformity, and human behavior.
4. Eric Carle (Children’s Author and Illustrator)
Eric Carle, the creator of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, was born in Syracuse in 1929 to German immigrant parents. He spent his earliest childhood years in the city before his family returned to Germany when he was six. Carle later came back to the United States and built one of the most beloved careers in children’s publishing, creating books known for their colorful painted-tissue-paper collage illustrations and inventive page designs.
5. David Muir (ABC News Anchor)
David Muir was born in Syracuse in 1973 and grew up in the surrounding Onondaga Hill area. His interest in television journalism began early, and as a teenager he interned at Syracuse television station WTVH. After graduating from Ithaca College and working in local television news, Muir joined ABC News and eventually became anchor and managing editor of World News Tonight with David Muir.
6. Jimmy Van Heusen (Songwriter)
Jimmy Van Heusen was born Edward Chester Babcock in Syracuse in 1913. He began writing songs while still in high school and adopted the Van Heusen name while working on local radio. He went on to become one of the great American popular songwriters, collaborating with Johnny Burke and Sammy Cahn and writing standards including “Swinging on a Star,” “All the Way,” “High Hopes,” “Call Me Irresponsible,” and “Come Fly with Me.” Van Heusen won four Academy Awards for Best Original Song and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
7. Bobcat Goldthwait (Comedian, Actor, and Filmmaker)
Bobcat Goldthwait was born in Syracuse in 1962 and began performing comedy while still a teenager in Central New York. His explosive stage delivery and instantly recognizable voice made him a fixture of 1980s stand-up and led to film roles in the Police Academy series. Goldthwait later developed a second career as a director, working in television and making darkly comic independent films including World’s Greatest Dad and God Bless America.
8. Siobhan Fallon Hogan (Actress, Writer, and Producer)
Siobhan Fallon Hogan was born in Syracuse in 1961 and later graduated from Le Moyne College. She became one of Hollywood’s most recognizable character actresses, appearing in Saturday Night Live, Seinfeld, Forrest Gump, Men in Black, Holes, and numerous other films and television series. She also expanded into screenwriting and producing with projects including Rushed and Shelter in Solitude.
9. Dylan Baker (Actor)
Dylan Baker was born in Syracuse in 1959 before spending much of his childhood in Virginia. After studying drama at Southern Methodist University and the Yale School of Drama, he built a distinguished stage, film, and television career. His credits include Happiness, Road to Perdition, Spider-Man 2, Revolutionary Road, and recurring television roles on series including The Good Wife.
10. Frank Whaley (Actor, Writer, and Director)
Frank Whaley was born in Syracuse in 1963 and emerged as a versatile actor in the late 1980s. His film credits include Field of Dreams, Born on the Fourth of July, The Doors, Career Opportunities, Pulp Fiction, and Swimming with Sharks. Whaley also became a filmmaker, writing and directing Joe the King, which received the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the Sundance Film Festival.
11. Rory Cochrane (Actor)
Rory Cochrane was born in Syracuse in 1972 and later spent part of his childhood in England. He became widely known for playing Slater in Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused and Lucas in Empire Records. His later credits include CSI: Miami, A Scanner Darkly, Public Enemies, Argo, and Black Mass.
12. Michaela Watkins (Actress and Comedian)
Michaela Watkins was born in Syracuse in 1971 and spent part of her childhood in nearby DeWitt. After earning a theater degree from Boston University, she worked in regional theater and with the Groundlings in Los Angeles before joining the cast of Saturday Night Live. Watkins later became a familiar presence in television and film through projects including Trophy Wife, Casual, The Unicorn, Enough Said, and Search Party.
13. John Berendt (Author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil)
John Berendt was born in Syracuse in 1939 and attended the city’s public schools before going to Harvard. He worked for years as a magazine editor and writer before publishing Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil in 1994. The nonfiction book about Savannah, Georgia, became a remarkable publishing phenomenon, spending years on bestseller lists and later inspiring a film directed by Clint Eastwood.
14. Mark Murphy (Jazz Singer)
Jazz vocalist Mark Murphy was born in Syracuse in 1932 and raised in nearby Fulton. He studied music and drama at Syracuse University before moving into a professional career that lasted more than half a century. Murphy became known for adventurous vocal improvisation, inventive interpretations of standards, and a style that treated the human voice almost like another jazz instrument. He received multiple Grammy Award nominations and recorded dozens of albums.
15. Martin Sexton (Singer-Songwriter)
Martin Sexton was born in Syracuse in 1966 and grew up in a large Irish-American family. After leaving Central New York for Boston, he developed a following through street performances and open-mic appearances before building a national career. Sexton’s music blends folk, rock, soul, gospel, and blues, with his wide vocal range becoming one of the defining features of his work.
16. Jimmy Cavallo (Rock and R&B Pioneer)
Jimmy Cavallo was born in Syracuse in 1927 and began playing saxophone while still a teenager. After serving in the Navy during World War II, he returned to music and became an early figure in the emerging sound that would become rock and roll. Cavallo and his band appeared in the 1956 Alan Freed film Rock, Rock, Rock!, and his long career made him an important link between swing, rhythm and blues, and early rock music.
17. Alan Gratzer (REO Speedwagon Drummer)
Alan Gratzer was born in Syracuse in 1948 and became best known as the longtime drummer for REO Speedwagon. Gratzer played on the group’s breakthrough recordings and during its rise from a hard-touring Midwestern rock band to one of the biggest arena-rock acts of the late 1970s and early 1980s. His drumming can be heard throughout the band’s classic period, including the era of Hi Infidelity.
18. Gary Holland (Rock Drummer)
Gary Holland was born in Syracuse in 1958 and later moved to Los Angeles, where he became part of the Southern California hard-rock scene. He is best known for his early work with Great White and also spent time with Dokken and Blue Cheer. Holland’s career connected a Syracuse birthplace with the explosive West Coast hard-rock and heavy-metal scene of the 1980s.
19. Charles F. Brannock (Inventor of the Brannock Device)
Charles F. Brannock was born in Syracuse in 1903 and developed one of the most familiar measuring tools in American retail history. While attending Syracuse University and working in his father’s shoe store, he began designing a more accurate way to measure feet. The resulting Brannock Device measured length, width, and heel-to-ball distance and became the standard foot-measuring tool used by shoe stores across the country. The National Inventors Hall of Fame later recognized Brannock for the invention.
20. Rick Brunson (NBA Player and Coach)
Rick Brunson was born in Syracuse in 1972 before his family later moved away from Central New York. He played college basketball at Temple and spent nine seasons in the NBA with several teams, including the Portland Trail Blazers, New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls, and Boston Celtics. After his playing career, Brunson moved into coaching and later joined the New York Knicks’ coaching staff. He is also the father of NBA star Jalen Brunson.
21. Andray Blatche (Professional Basketball Player)
Andray Blatche was born in Syracuse in 1986 and played high school basketball at Henninger before transferring to South Kent School in Connecticut. The Washington Wizards selected him in the second round of the 2005 NBA Draft, and he spent nine seasons in the NBA with Washington and the Brooklyn Nets. Blatche later played professionally in China and represented the Philippines in international basketball after becoming a naturalized Filipino citizen.
22. Tyvon Branch (NFL Safety)
Tyvon Branch was born in Syracuse in 1986 and developed into a standout football and track athlete in Central New York. After playing college football at the University of Connecticut, he was selected by the Oakland Raiders in the fourth round of the 2008 NFL Draft. Branch went on to play safety for the Raiders, Kansas City Chiefs, and Arizona Cardinals before retiring from professional football.
23. Toosii (Rapper and Singer)
Toosii, born Nau’Jour Grainger in Syracuse in 2000, spent his early years in the city before moving to North Carolina as a teenager. He began recording music while still in high school and eventually developed a melodic style that blended rap and R&B. His 2023 single “Favorite Song” became a major national hit, reaching the top tier of the Billboard Hot 100 and bringing the Syracuse-born artist his widest audience.
24. Peter Ames Carlin (Author and Music Journalist)
Peter Ames Carlin was born in Syracuse in 1963 before growing up in Seattle. He became a journalist, critic, and author specializing in popular music and cultural history. His books have examined artists including Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson, and Paul Simon, while his journalism has appeared in major newspapers and magazines.
25. Jeff Altman (Comedian and Actor)
Jeff Altman was born and raised in Syracuse in 1951 and attended Nottingham High School before going to Johns Hopkins University. He built a long career in stand-up comedy, film, and television, becoming a frequent guest on late-night television and appearing in projects including American Hot Wax, Easy Money, Soul Man, The Dukes of Hazzard, and Bee Movie. His Syracuse upbringing preceded a career that stretched across several decades of American comedy.
Readers interested in more New York connections can continue with our look at 25 Famous People You Didn’t Know Were From Upstate New York and 25 Famous People You Didn’t Know Went to College in Upstate New York. For another Syracuse connection, see our history of the Great New York State Fair, and for another Central New York story of innovation, explore 20 Inventions and Innovations From Upstate New York That Changed the World.
