List of famous Richmonders

John Marshall. Edgar Allan Poe, nineteenth century author and poet. John W. Snow, secretary of The Department of the Treasury.

This is a list of famous people and celebrities that were either born in or have lived in Richmond, Virginia.

A - H

  • Alden Aaroe – WRVA talk show host
  • John Aboud III – a writer and comedian. and regular commentator on Best Week Ever and other VH1 shows
  • Arthur Ashe – tennis star and social activist who is remembered with a memorial on Monument Avenue
  • Kevin Aviance – dancer
  • Joey Baron – musician
  • Warren Beatty – actor
  • Pat Benatar – 1980s singer
  • Leslie Bibb – actress, plays Carley Bobby in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
  • Adam Birch – professional wrestler
  • Randy Blythe – singer of metal band Lamb of God (band)
  • Dave Brockie – founder of GWAR
  • Maria Boren – contestant on the Television show The Apprentice
  • Wes Borland – guitarist for Limp Bizkit and other rock bands
  • James Branch Cabell – author of fantasy fiction and belles lettres
  • Lott Cary – early African-American colonist and missionary to Liberia
  • Patricia Cornwell – novelist
  • Henry Creamer – an American Vaudeville song lyricist of the early 20th century
  • Chris Daniel – President of Torrid
  • D'Angelo – R&B musician
  • Jimmy Dean – singer and, "sausage king"
  • Junie Donlavey – owner and namesake of the NASCAR "Donlavey" racing team
  • James Farrior – NFL linebacker
  • Jim Gilmore, former governor of Virginia, (graduate of John Randolph Tucker High School)
  • Ellen Glasgow – an early 20th century novelist who was born and lived there
  • Samuel Gravely – an African-American Officer who broke many racial barriers while serving in the U.S. Navy
  • Wayne Grubb – NASCAR crew chief and former driver
  • Kevin Grubb – NASCAR driver
  • Bryan Harvey – musician, noted for his fronting role in House of Freaks, who was brutally murdered with his family in 2006
  • Earl Hebner – professional wrestling referee
  • William Henderson – NFL fullback
  • Ray Hendrick – NASCAR driver

I - R

  • Mickie James – WWE female professional wrestler
  • Jim Jinkins – cartoonist
  • Orlando Jordan – professional wrestler
  • Tim Kaine – Virginia Governor and former Richmond Mayor
  • Shaquan Lewis – aka "Skillz" from the Supafriendz, African-American rapper
  • Tim Legler, ESPN NBA Analyst (graduate of John Randolph Tucker High School)
  • David Lowery – lead singer of Cracker and co-founder of Sound of Music Studios
  • Aimee Mann – a popular American rock guitarist, bass player, singer, and songwriter
  • John Marshall – lawyer, statesman, and third Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court
  • Shirley MacLaine – Academy Award-winning actress
  • Debbie Matenopoulos – television co-host
  • Philip B. Meggs – internationally recognized scholar and design historian, author of the seminal work on graphic design history, Meggs' History of Graphic Design
  • Jason Mraz – musician
  • Diandra Newlin – singer, actor, and model
  • James Spriggs Payne – fourth and eighth president of Liberia
  • Edgar Allan Poe – mid-nineteenth century author and poet
  • Lewis F. Powell – Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court
  • J. Sargeant Reynolds – businessman, statesman, and Virginia Lieutenant Governor
  • Tom Robbins – author, studied art at Richmond Professional Institute (now VCU) and worked for the Richmond Times Dispatch
  • Bill "Bojangles" Robinson – African-American performer
  • Bobby Ross – American football coach

S - Z

  • Darren Sharper – safety for the Minnesota Vikings
  • John W. Snow – current United States Secretary of the Treasury and former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CSX Corporation
  • David Terrell – football player
  • Fran Tarkenton – former NFL quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings and the New York Giants
  • Lewis Temple – escaped African American slave who invented a new kind of harpoon known as "Temple's Toggle"
  • Justin Verlander – Pitcher for the Detroit Tigers
  • Richard Wagoner, President of General Motors, (graduate of John Randolph Tucker High School)
  • Bobby Wadkins – professional golfer
  • Lanny Wadkins – professional golfer
  • Amina Wadud – controversial Islamic VCU professor who led over 100 muslims in prayer in New York on March 18, 2005
  • Maggie L. Walker – first woman to found a bank in the United States
  • Lawrence Douglas Wilder – the first African-American governor to be elected in the United States
  • Ben Wallace – NBA basketball player
  • Mac Watson – WRVA talk show host
  • Jason White – NASCAR driver
  • Tom Wolfe – novelist and father of the "New Journalism," attended St. Christopher's School
  • Elliott Yamin – an American Idol contestant

Fictional Richmonders

  • Jake Featherston – President of the Confederate States of America during an alternate World War II set in Harry Turtledove's Settling Accounts fictional book series