Famous People From Buffalo
- Jessica White is an American actress who appeared in "Love & Hip-Hop: Atlanta," "Famously Single," and "The Perfect Match."
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York, USA
- Vincent Gallo (; born April 11, 1961) is an American actor, director, model, musician, painter and former motorcycle racer. Though he has had minor roles in mainstream films such as Arizona Dream, The Funeral and Palookaville, he is most associated with independent movies, including Buffalo '66, which he wrote, directed, scored and starred in and The Brown Bunny, which he also wrote, directed, produced, starred in and photographed. In the early 2000s, he released several solo recordings on Warp Records.
- Birthplace: USA, Buffalo, New York
- Lawrence Wendell Pfohl (born June 2, 1958) better known by the ring name Lex Luger, is an American retired professional wrestler, television producer and football player currently working with WWE on their wellness policy. He is best known for his work with Jim Crockett Promotions, World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). Luger is a two-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion and one-time WWA World Heavyweight Champion. He is also a five-time NWA/WCW United States Heavyweight Champion who holds the records for consecutive days and total days as champion. Although he never won a championship in the WWF, he challenged for every title in the organization (including WWF World Heavyweight Championship matches at SummerSlam in 1993 and WrestleMania X in 1994) and was the 1994 Royal Rumble co-winner with Bret Hart. Pro Wrestling Illustrated readers voted Luger the Most Popular Wrestler of the Year in 1993. Luger is the second WCW Triple Crown Champion.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York, USA
- Glamorous and with a perfectly arch delivery, Wendie Malick made a career of playing sharp, formidable women. Often cast as an ex-wife, doctor or authority figure, she was able to command - and steal - any scene she played, and racked up perhaps one of the most impressive list of TV credits of any of her peers. Whether it was as the wry Judith Tupper Stone on "Dream On" (HBO, 1990-96), her beloved turn as the boozy, brilliant ex-model Nina Van Horn on "Just Shoot Me!" (NBC, 1997-2003), or one of the other countless programs or movies on her résumé, Malick and her talent stood out. With a devilish grin and wit to match, she always seemed smarter, sexier and more stylish than her material, which kept audiences hoping to see her pop up as often as possible.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York, USA
- Christine Baranski, a name that resonates with both stage and on-screen brilliance, is an accomplished American actress who has made significant strides in the world of entertainment. Born in Buffalo, New York on May 2, 1952, her interest in acting was sparked at a young age. Armed with a Bachelor's degree from the Juilliard School, Baranski embarked on her acting journey in the late 1970s, demonstrating her craft across theatre, television and film. Baranski quickly established herself as a tour de force in the theater world, winning two Tony Awards for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her performances in The Real Thing and Rumors. However, it was her portrayal of Maryann Thorpe in the CBS sitcom Cybill that catapulted her into the spotlight, earning her an Emmy Award. Her versatility has been showcased in a diverse range of roles, from the prim and proper Diane Lockhart in The Good Wife to the flamboyant Tanya in the Mamma Mia! film series. Beyond her acting prowess, Christine Baranski is known for her philanthropic endeavors. She has dedicated substantial efforts towards arts education and promoting theater among the youth. Her contributions were recognized when she was awarded the Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts by Juilliard. Balancing a successful career while raising two daughters, Baranski's life serves as inspiration for many aspiring actors, proof that with grit, talent, and dedication, one can indeed succeed in the world of entertainment.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York, USA
- Jeffrey Jones is an American actor, widely recognized for his distinguished roles in a variety of successful Hollywood films. Born on September 28, 1946, in Buffalo, New York, Jones embarked on his acting journey at Lawrence University, where he developed a keen interest in drama and theatre. His undeniable talent and passion for the craft led him to the prestigious London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, solidifying his dedication to the performing arts. Jones's breakthrough came with his role as Emperor Joseph II in Milos Forman's Amadeus (1984), which earned him critical acclaim and a Golden Globe nomination. This was followed by his iconic portrayal of Dean of Students Edward R. Rooney in John Hughes's classic, Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986). The character became a cultural touchstone, and Jones's performance is remembered for its perfect blend of comedy and villainy. He also made notable appearances in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice (1988) and Ed Wood (1994), showcasing his versatility across different genres.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York, USA
- Edward George Gibson (born November 8, 1936) is a former NASA astronaut, pilot, engineer, and physicist. Before becoming an astronaut, Gibson graduated from the University of Rochester and the California Institute of Technology. He became a research assistant in jet propulsion while completing his studies, and eventually became a research scientist for Philco Corporation until joining NASA in 1965. Gibson was selected as part of NASA Astronaut Group 4, the first group of scientist-astronauts. He served on the support crew of Apollo 12, the second Moon landing mission, before working on the development of the Skylab space station. In 1973–74, Gibson made his only flight into space as science pilot aboard Skylab 4, the third and final crewed flight to Skylab. He, along with Commander Gerald Carr and Pilot William Pogue, spent just over 84 days in space. Gibson resigned from NASA in December 1974, but returned in 1977 to preside over the selection of scientist-astronaut candidates. Gibson retired from NASA for the last time in October, 1982.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
- Richard John Beyer (July 11, 1930 – March 7, 2019) was an American professional wrestler who is best known by his ring names, The Destroyer or Doctor X. Beyer worked extensively in Japan and in 2017 he was awarded one of the country's highest honors, the Order of the Rising Sun.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York, USA
- Chaim Potok (February 17, 1929 – July 23, 2002) was an American author and rabbi. His first book The Chosen (1967), was listed on The New York Times’ best seller list for 39 weeks and sold more than 3,400,000 copies.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
H. Bruce Humberstone
Dec. at 82 (1901-1984)H. Bruce "Lucky" Humberstone (November 18, 1901 – October 11, 1984) was a movie actor (as a child), a script clerk, an assistant director, working with directors such as King Vidor, Edmund Goulding and Allan Dwan and, ultimately, a director.- Birthplace: USA, Buffalo, New York
- Christopher Bram (born 1952) is an American author. Bram grew up in Virginia Beach, Virginia (outside Norfolk), where he was a paperboy and an Eagle Scout. He graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1974 (B.A. in English). He moved to New York City in 1978.His nine novels range in subject matter from gay life in the 1970s to the career of a Victorian musical clairvoyant to the frantic world of theater people in contemporary New York. Fellow novelist Philip Gambone wrote of his work, "What is most impressive in Bram's fiction is the psychological and emotional accuracy with which he portrays his characters ... His novels are about ordinary gay people trying to be decent and good in a morally compromised world. He focuses on the often conflicting claims of friendship, family, love and desire; the ways good intentions can become confused and thwarted; and the ways we learn to be vulnerable and human." Bram has written numerous articles and essays (a selection is included in Mapping the Territory). He has also written or co-written several screenplays, including feature documentary and short narrative films directed by his partner, Draper Shreeve.His 1995 novel Father of Frankenstein, about film director James Whale, was made into the 1998 movie Gods and Monsters starring Ian McKellen, Lynn Redgrave, and Brendan Fraser. The film was written and directed by Bill Condon who won an Academy Award for the adapted screenplay.Bram was made a Guggenheim Fellow in 2001, and is a multiple nominee for the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction, winning for Lives of the Circus Animals. In May 2003, he received the Bill Whitehead Award for Lifetime Achievement from Publishing Triangle, and in 2013 his book Eminent Outlaws: The Gay Writers Who Changed America won the organization's Randy Shilts Award. He lives in Greenwich Village and teaches at New York University.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
- Mary Ann Esposito (born August 3, 1942 in Buffalo, New York) is an American chef, cookbook writer, and the television host of Ciao Italia with Mary Ann Esposito, which started in 1989 and is the longest-running television cooking program in America. Esposito has published over a dozen cookbooks.
- Birthplace: USA, Buffalo, New York
- Amanda Blake was born on February 20, 1929 in Buffalo, NY. Although not her first role, Blake became widely known for her role as Miss Kitty on the long running series "Gunsmoke" (CBS, 1955-1974). She reprised the role in the TV movie "Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge" (1987). Inbetween, she had appearances on shows such as "The Edge of Night" (ABC, 1955-85), "The Best Little Special in Texas", "The Red Skelton Show" (NBC, 1951-53; CBS, 1953-1970; NBC, 1970) and "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (CBS, NBC (1955-65). Additional movie roles include "High Society" (1955), "The Boost" (1988) and "B.O.R.N." (1989). Blake received the American Cancer Society's Courage Award in 1984. Amanda Blake died on August 16, 1989 in Los Angeles, CA at the age of 60.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York, USA
- Lawrence Block (born June 24, 1938) is an American crime writer best known for two long-running New York–set series about the recovering alcoholic P.I. Matthew Scudder and the gentleman burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr. Block was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America in 1994.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York, USA
- This accomplished character actor is most famous for his role in the long-running "The Dukes of Hazzard" (1979-85), in which he played Boss Hogg, the foolhardy Southern mayor who cut a porcine figure in his all-white suits. Few knew that Sorrell Booke started his acting career in Buffalo NY, where at age nine he performed on local radio programs, or that over the course of his life appeared in over 100 plays. He won critical acclaim for his role as the unreconstructed Ol' Cap'n Cotchipee on Broadway in "Purlie Victorious" (1961), a role he recreated for his film debut, "Gone Are the Days" (1963). His television credits include appearances on the series "Rich Man, Poor Man: Book II" (1976-77) and "Soap" as Mr. Lefkowitz. His film work includes "Fail Safe" (1964), "Slaughterhouse-Five" (1971) and "The Iceman Cometh" (1973). Toward the end of his life, he did voiceovers for animated films and TV programs and hosted the 1984 Cotton Bowl Parade on CBS.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York, USA
- John J. McNeill (1924 or 1925 – September 22, 2015) was an American Roman Catholic priest, psychotherapist and academic theologian, with a particular reputation within the field of queer theology.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
- Edith Marie Flanigen (born January 28, 1929) is a noted American chemist, known for her work on synthesis of emeralds, and later zeolites for molecular sieves at Union Carbide.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
- Carl Pasquale Paladino (born August 24, 1946) is an American businessman and political activist. Paladino is the chairman of Ellicott Development Co., a real estate development company he founded in 1973.Paladino ran for Governor of New York in the 2010 election. He upset Rick Lazio in the Republican primary, but was defeated by Democrat Andrew Cuomo in a landslide (63%-33%) in the general election. Paladino's candidacy was supported by the Tea Party movement and by residents of his native Western New York. Paladino was elected to the South Buffalo seat on the Buffalo School Board in 2013, and was re-elected in 2016. In December 2016, the Board condemned as racist remarks Paladino had made about President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama and demanded that he resign. On August 17, 2017, following a public hearing, the New York State Education Department removed Paladino from his Board seat for publicly disclosing confidential information obtained in executive session.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York, USA
- Clifford Ralph Robinson (born December 16, 1966) is an American retired professional basketball player who played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Selected 36th overall in the 1989 draft, he played the first 8 seasons of his career with the Portland Trail Blazers, followed by stints with the Phoenix Suns, Detroit Pistons, Golden State Warriors, and New Jersey Nets. Robinson received the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award in 1993 and was selected as an All-Star in 1994. Robinson played college basketball at the University of Connecticut.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
- Albert Ramsdell Gurney Jr. (November 1, 1930 – June 13, 2017) (sometimes credited as Pete Gurney) was an American playwright, novelist and academic. He is known for works including The Dining Room (1982), Sweet Sue (1986/7), and The Cocktail Hour (1988), and for his Pulitzer Prize nominated play Love Letters. His series of plays about upper-class WASP life in contemporary America have been called "penetratingly witty studies of the WASP ascendancy in retreat."
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
- Irene Rich was an American actress who appeared in "The Champ," "Lady Windermere's Fan," and "That Certain Age."
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York, USA
Kate Clinton
Age: 77Kate Clinton (born November 9, 1947) is an American comedian specializing in political commentary from a gay/lesbian point of view.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
Bill Duzen
Dec. at 74 (1870-1944)William George "Bill" Duzen (February 21, 1870 – March 11, 1944), was a Major League Baseball pitcher. He played in two games with the Buffalo Bisons in 1890. Duzen was born in Buffalo, New York in 1870. On September 21, 1890, at the age of 20, he made his Players' League as a starting pitcher for the Buffalo Bisons. Duzen would pitch in a second game on September 27, the final game of his career. In his two career games, he lost both of his starts, gave up 20 earned runs in 13.0 innings, and struck out five batters.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
- Geraldine Ann "Geri" Jewell (born September 13, 1956) is an American actress and stand-up comedian noted for roles on the 1980s sitcom The Facts of Life and the mid 2000s western Deadwood.
- Birthplace: USA, Buffalo, New York
- Beverly Eckert (May 29, 1951 – February 12, 2009) was an activist and advocate for the creation of the 9/11 Commission. She was one of the members of the 9/11 Family Steering Committee for the 9/11 Commission. Eckert's husband, Sean Rooney, died at age 50 in the attacks of September 11, 2001. She pushed for a commission to investigate 9/11 and to establish a memorial. Eckert died at age 57 on February 12, 2009, in the crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407 in Clarence Center, New York. She had met with President Barack Obama just a few days before her death in her role as an advocate for those affected by 9/11.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
Mark Lewin
Age: 87Mark Lewin (born March 16, 1937) is an American retired professional wrestler.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
- James Joseph Collins (January 16, 1870 – March 6, 1943) was an American professional baseball player. He played fourteen seasons in Major League Baseball. Collins was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1945. Collins was especially regarded for his defense. He was best known for his ability to field a bunt—prior to his debut, it was the shortstop who fielded bunts down the third base line—and is regarded as a pioneer of the modern defensive play of a third baseman. As of 2012, he is second all-time in putouts by a third baseman behind Brooks Robinson. At the plate, Collins finished his career with 65 home runs, 1055 runs scored, 983 RBI and a .294 batting average. Collins was also the first manager of the Boston Red Sox franchise, then known as the Boston Americans. He was the winning manager in the first-ever World Series, as Boston defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1903 World Series, five games to three.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
William Kemmler
Dec. at 30 (1860-1890)William Francis Kemmler (May 9, 1860 – August 6, 1890) of Buffalo, New York, a peddler and known alcoholic, was convicted of murdering Matilda "Tillie" Ziegler, his common-law wife. He would become the first person in the world to be legally executed using an electric chair. In spite of a successful prior test with a horse, the process did not go smoothly.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
Arthur Brisbane
Dec. at 72 (1864-1936)Arthur Brisbane (December 12, 1864 – December 25, 1936) was one of the best known American newspaper editors of the 20th century as well as a real estate investor. He was also a speech writer, orator, and public relations professional who coached many famous businesspeople of his time in the field of public relations, particularly Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and John D. Rockefeller.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
Eric Herman
Age: 55Eric Herman is a children's music performer based in the Pacific Northwest. His music combines various styles of rock music with often wryly humorous kid-related lyrics to create what he refers to as "cool tunes for kids." Popular songs of his include the viral YouTube hit, "The Elephant Song", "There's a Monster in My House", "Blackbeard, Bluebeard and Redbeard" and "Cowboy Bergaleoukaleopaleous". Herman performed with Western New York area rock bands including Ember and The Infydels, and he was a regular performer on the Buffalo area acoustic singer/songwriter and live theater scenes. In 2003 a successful production of a musical comedy he wrote, A Week in the Life, was staged at the Alleyway Theater in Buffalo, New York, earning him an Artie Award nomination as "Best Actor in a Musical". But with the success of his first album of music for kids, The Kid in the Mirror, Herman decided to devote his full attention to producing and performing kids' music under the act name Eric Herman and the Invisible Band. His second album, Monkey Business, proved even more successful, with Seattle's Victory Music Review calling it "one of the best kids' records ever".- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
- James Anthony "Jim" Pawelczyk (born September 20, 1960) is an American researcher of physiology and Kinesiology who flew aboard the NASA STS-90 Space Shuttle mission as a Payload Specialist.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
- Joe Conley (March 3, 1928 – July 7, 2013) was an American actor who played many small roles on television and is most remembered for his role as the storekeeper Ike Godsey in The Waltons.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York, USA
Suicide of Tyler Clementi
Dec. at 19 (1991-2010)Tyler Clementi was an eighteen-year-old student at Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey, who jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge on September 22, 2010. On September 19, his roommate, Dharun Ravi, and a fellow hallmate, Molly Wei, used a webcam on Ravi's computer and a computer in Wei's dorm room to view, without Clementi's knowledge, Clementi kissing another man. Two days later, Ravi urged friends and Twitter followers to watch via his webcam a second tryst between Clementi and his friend, though the viewing never occurred. Ravi and Wei were indicted for their roles in the webcam incidents, though they were not charged with a role in the suicide itself. Clementi's death brought national and international attention to the issue of cyberbullying and the struggles facing LGBT youth.- Birthplace: Buffalo, Erie County, New York, Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area, North America
- Jeremy Maurice Jacobs Sr. (born January 21, 1940) is an American billionaire businessman, the owner of the Boston Bruins and chairman of Delaware North. Forbes magazine ranks him as 481st richest person in the world.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
Garry Walberg
Dec. at 90 (1921-2012)Garry Walberg (June 10, 1921 – March 27, 2012) was an American character actor primarily known for his work on television. He performed in numerous TV shows from the early 1950s, until the early 1990s, including Johnny Staccato, Perry Mason, Lassie, Peyton Place, Gunsmoke, The Fugitive, Star Trek, Columbo, The Tony Randall Show and The Rockford Files. He appeared in the first episode of The Twilight Zone, entitled "Where Is Everybody?". The Buffalo, New York-born Walberg was probably best known for his role as LAPD Homicide Lt. Frank Monahan in Quincy, M.E. (1976–83), starring Jack Klugman in the title role. Walberg had previously appeared alongside Klugman in The Odd Couple (1970–75) in the recurring role of Oscar's poker crony, Homer "Speed" Deegan. He reprised the role in the 1993 TV movie The Odd Couple: Together Again. This was his final acting appearance.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York, USA
Ned Wertimer
Dec. at 89 (1923-2013)Ned Wertimer is an actor.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York, USA
- A prolific composer who divides his time between theater, TV and film, David Shire began writing in earnest as an undergraduate at Yale in the late 1950s. Introduced to classmate Richard Maltby Jr., the pair soon formed a writing partnership that has continued on and off for nearly four decades. Their first collaborations were undergraduate shows ("Cyrano de Bergerac" in 1958 and "Grand Tour" in 1959). Following graduation, the pair's first professional show debuted in 1969, the short-lived "The Sap of Life" (1961). Over the years, they have collaborated on numerous songs, primarily lilting ballads, that have been recorded by artists ranging from Barbra Streisand to Andy Williams to Liz Callaway. Maltby and Shire have been the subject of two Off-Broadway revues, "Starting Here, Starting Now" (1977) and "Closer Than Ever" (1989). They have also written the scores for two Broadway musicals "Baby" (1983) and "Big" (1996), both of which earned them Tony Award nominations.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York, USA
- A prolific actor known to crank out up to six films a year, Jeff Fahey was pretty much hovering around "vaguely familiar-looking" status when he joined the cast of the hit "Lost" (ABC, 2004-10) in the fall of 2007. Fahey had enjoyed a few high-profile roles in the 1990s, starring in the creepy thriller "Lawnmower Man" (1992) and two seasons of the action drama "The Marshal" (ABC, 1992-94), but he had largely been content to be a working actor, appearing mostly in low-budget independent genre films for overseas and DVD distribution. A 2007 role in Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez' "Grindhouse" boosted the actor's reputation, and with news of his addition to the "Lost" cast, Fahey seemed ready to make the transition from B-lister to solid prime time player.
- Birthplace: Olean, New York, USA
- Robert Lieberman (born July 16, 1947) is an American director of movies and television series.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York, USA
- John Joseph Theodore Rzeznik (; born December 5, 1965) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and producer. He became known as the guitarist and frontman of the rock band the Goo Goo Dolls, of which he is a founding member and with whom he has recorded eleven studio albums.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York, USA
- TV writer from the realm of public broadcasting turned successful writer-producer for CBS primetime. Getting her feet wet in TV production with the New York City PBS station WNET, English chalked up her first notable writing achievement when she penned an adaptation of Ursula LeGuin's science-fiction classic, "The Lathe of Heaven." She later wrote several other TV-movies ("Her Life as a Man" 1984, "Classified Love" 1986) before creating her first CBS comedy series, "Foley Square." The show lasted only half a season, but English had slightly more success with her second sitcom, the similarly slender if equally amiable "My Sister Sam." Proving the old adage that "the third time's the charm," she finally hit the jackpot with the acclaimed and popular "Murphy Brown." Spotlighting the working and private lives of a successful TV newswoman (Candice Bergen), the show drew obvious parallels with English's own high-profile media career and afforded her more than ample opportunities to showcase her gifts for creating both farce and satire. Married to producing partner Joel Shukovsky.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York, USA
- Charles Thomas Kowal (November 8, 1940 – November 28, 2011) was an American astronomer known for his observations and discoveries in the Solar System. As a staff astronomer at Caltech's Mount Wilson and Palomar Mountain observatories between 1961 and 1984, he found the first of a new class of Solar System objects, the centaurs, discovered two moons of the planet Jupiter, and discovered or co-discovered a number of asteroids, comets and supernovae. He was awarded the James Craig Watson Medal for his contributions to astronomy in 1979.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
- Richard Hofstadter (August 6, 1916 – October 24, 1970) was an American historian and public intellectual of the mid-20th century. Hofstadter was the DeWitt Clinton Professor of American History at Columbia University. Rejecting his earlier communist approach to history, in the 1950s he came closer to the concept of "consensus history", and was epitomized by some of his admirers as the "iconic historian of postwar liberal consensus." Others see in his work an early critique of the one-dimensional society, as Hofstadter was equally critical of socialist and capitalist models of society, and bemoaned the "consensus" within the society as "bounded by the horizons of property and entrepreneurship", criticizing the "hegemonic liberal capitalist culture running throughout the course of American history".His most widely read works are Social Darwinism in American Thought, 1860–1915 (1944); The American Political Tradition (1948); The Age of Reform (1955); Anti-intellectualism in American Life (1963), and the essays collected in The Paranoid Style in American Politics (1964). He was twice awarded the Pulitzer Prize: in 1956 for The Age of Reform, an analysis of the populism movement in the 1890s and the progressive movement of the early 20th century; and in 1964 for the cultural history Anti-intellectualism in American Life.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
- David Joseph Weber (December 20, 1940 – August 20, 2010) was an American historian whose research focused on the history of the Southwestern U.S. and its transition from Spanish and Mexican control to becoming part of the United States. For a period of time, this field of study had largely been ignored, as both United States and Latin American historians concentrated on the central stories in their fields. He "was among the first scholars to focus on the importance of the relationship between Mexico and the United States."At Southern Methodist University, Weber established the William P. Clements Center for Southwest Studies and later was chair of the history department. His books won history awards, he was among the leaders in scholarship of the borderlands of the Southwest, and he received awards from the governments of both Spain and Mexico for his work.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
- Emeline Hurd Hill Richardson (June 6, 1910 in Buffalo, New York, USA – August 29, 1999 in Durham, North Carolina) was a notable classical archaeologist and Etruscan scholar. Hill was the daughter of William Hurd Hill and Emeleen Carlisle (Hill). She studied at Radcliffe College, receiving an A.B. in 1932 and an M.A. in 1935. In 1935/36 she studied with Bernard Ashmole at the University of London. She completed her Ph.D. in 1939 at Radcliffe College. From 1941–1949 she was on the faculty of Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts. In 1950, Emeline Hill Richardson held a stipend at the American Academy in Rome and was involved in the Cosa excavations. She married Lawrence Richardson in 1952. She lectured both at Stanford and Yale Universities. From 1968 until 1979, Richardson was Professor of Classical Archaeology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The primary focus of her research was the civilization of the Etruscans. She was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1974. She was a member of the Archaeological Institute of America, the American Philological Association and a corresponding member of the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut (DAI). In 1994, she received the Gold Medal for Distinguished Archaeological Achievement from the Archaeological Institute of America. She was also awarded a centennial medal of the American Academy in Rome in 1994. Her major study votive bronze objects of the Etruscan civilization appeared in 1983.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
- Todd Roy is a film and television actor, editor, producer and director.
- Birthplace: USA, Buffalo, New York
Jay Rosen
Age: 68Jay Rosen (born May 5, 1956) is a media critic, writer, and a professor of journalism at New York University. Rosen is a contributor to De Correspondent.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
Ad Reinhardt
Dec. at 53 (1913-1967)Adolph Frederick "Ad" Reinhardt (December 24, 1913 – August 30, 1967) was an abstract painter active in New York beginning in the 1930s and continuing through the 1960s. He was a member of the American Abstract Artists and was a part of the movement centered on the Betty Parsons Gallery that became known as abstract expressionism. He was also a member of The Club, the meeting place for the New York School abstract expressionist artists during the 1940s and 1950s. He wrote and lectured extensively on art and was a major influence on conceptual art, minimal art and monochrome painting. Most famous for his "black" or "ultimate" paintings, he claimed to be painting the "last paintings" that anyone can paint. He believed in a philosophy of art he called Art-as-Art and used his writing and satirical cartoons to advocate for abstract art and against what he described as "the disreputable practices of artists-as-artists".- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
- Andrea L. Doll (born August 14, 1940) is a Democratic politician in the U.S. state of Alaska. She served a single term in the Alaska House of Representatives, representing the 4th District from 2007 to 2009.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
- Erik Schlopy (born August 21, 1972) is former World Cup alpine ski racer from the United States. Born in Buffalo, New York and raised in Hamburg, New York, he competed in three Olympics: 1994, 2002, and 2006. At the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, he placed 34th in Giant Slalom. At the 2002 Olympics, he placed 14th in Slalom, and at the 2006 Olympic Games, he placed 13th in Giant Slalom. He also won a bronze medal in the Giant Slalom at the 2003 World Championships. Schlopy also took two podium finishes in the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, won seven US national championship titles, and was a member of the United States Ski Team for 14 seasons.He was a youngster when he started skiing at Kissing Bridge Ski Area near Buffalo, and when the family moved to Stowe, Schlopy became a force in junior racing with the Mount Mansfield Ski Club. He enrolled in Burke Mountain Academy and was Eastern junior champ at 14, J1 slalom and GS champ at 16 and joined the U.S. Ski Team at 18. He left the World Cup after the ’95 season to race pro, then decided to return to the World Cup and paid for his training and racing in Winter 1999, and was named to the 2000 Ski Team. Schlopy retired from competition in 2008. He subsequently became a coach, and in August 2013 it was announced that he had joined the US national ski team as assistant coach to the men's alpine technical team, serving under Bernd Brunner.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York, USA
- Jacob Akiba Marinsky (April 11, 1918 – September 1, 2005) was a chemist who was the co-discoverer of the element promethium.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
- Gregg Edmund Easterbrook (born March 3, 1953) is an American writer and a contributing editor of both The New Republic and The Atlantic Monthly. During the National Football League season, Easterbrook writes an eclectic column called Tuesday Morning Quarterback, formerly on ESPN.com. The column migrated to the New York Times in September 2015, and then to The Weekly Standard for the 2017 NFL season. He has authored ten books (six nonfiction, one of humor, and three literary novels), and writes for op-ed pages, magazines, and journals.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
Michael Scheuer
Age: 73Michael F. Scheuer (born 1952) is a former intelligence officer for the Central Intelligence Agency, American blogger, author, foreign policy critic, and political analyst. He was an adjunct professor at Georgetown University's Center for Peace and Security Studies. One of his assignments during his 22-year career was serving as Chief of the Bin Laden Issue Station (the Osama bin Laden tracking unit at the Counterterrorism Center, known as "Alec Station") from 1996 to 1999. He also served as Special Advisor to the Chief of Alec Station from September 2001 to November 2004. Scheuer became a public figure after being outed as the anonymous author of the 2004 book Imperial Hubris, in which he criticized many of the United States' assumptions about Islamist insurgencies and particularly Osama bin Laden. Later in 2004, shortly after the 'outing' of Scheuer's harsh criticism of America's close alliance with Israel, Scheuer resigned from his position at the CIA. In his book Scheuer depicted bin Laden as a rational actor who was fighting to weaken the United States by weakening its economy, rather than merely combating and killing Americans. Scheuer challenges the common assumption that terrorism is the threat facing the United States in the modern era, arguing rather that Islamist insurgency (and not "terrorism") is the core of the conflict between the U.S. and Islamist forces, who in places such as Kashmir, Xinjiang, and Chechnya are "struggling not just for independence but against institutionalized barbarism." Osama bin Laden acknowledged the book in a 2007 statement, suggesting that it revealed "the reasons for your losing the war against us".In February 2009, Scheuer reported that, as a consequence of his statements about US foreign policy towards Israel, he had been fired from his position as a senior fellow of the Jamestown Foundation by Jamestown's president. In December 2013 and January 2014, Scheuer was criticized for seeming to advise American citizens to seriously consider assassinating US President Barack Obama. In September 2014, in addition to earlier "praise" received from Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State issued a press release quoting Scheuer in order to appeal to an American audience.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
- David O. "Doc" Cooke (August 31, 1920 – June 22, 2002) was a United States Department of Defense civilian administrator who served under twelve Secretaries of Defense over a period of 45 years. Often called the "Mayor of the Pentagon", Cooke was the department's highest-ranking career civil servant as Director of Administration and Management, and as Director of Washington Headquarters Services. He was also responsible for administering the oath of office for many key department officials.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
- A warm, familiar face to American TV and film audiences, Grifasi is known as much as for his supporting parts as for his frequent TV commercials. Trained at the prestigious Yale School of Drama, he was on the New York stage almost immediately upon receiving his MFA, although he continued to return to The Yale Rep to appear in stage productions well into the 1980s. He is perhaps best remembered for his supporting performance in Rupert Holmes' "The Mystery of Edwin Drood/Drood" (1985-86) in which he performed the rousing "Off to the Races" number.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York, USA
Adeline Knapp
Dec. at 48 (1860-1909)Adeline E. Knapp (March 14, 1860 – c. June 1909) was an American journalist, author, social activist, environmentalist and educator, who is today remembered largely for her tempestuous lesbian relationship with Charlotte Perkins Gilman. In her lifetime, Knapp was known as a fixture of the turn-of-the-century San Francisco Bay Area literary scene. An outspoken writer who often addressed controversial topics in her columns for the San Francisco Call, Knapp wrote on a wide range of subjects from livestock to the Annexation of Hawaii. Though often drawn to progressive causes like child labor and conservation, Knapp also tended to espouse reactionary views, as evidenced by her anti-Chinese sentiments and criticisms of the women's suffrage movement. At a time when many American women were joining the movement to extend political and voting rights to women, Knapp spoke in state senate hearings in New York expressing doubts about the benefits of suffrage to women, and she allowed her speeches and letters on the topic to be used as propaganda by the anti-suffragism movement. Knapp was also the author of numerous short stories, as well as a novel set in the Arizona desert—works reflecting her outdoor enthusiast sensibilities, keen intellect, and interest in Western regionalism. These works, though praised in her lifetime, today have few readers among enthusiasts of Western fiction.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
- With a legacy of laughter-inducing roles, Oliver Clark was known for his rich movie career. Early on in his acting career, Clark landed roles in various films, including the drama "The End of the Road" (1970) with Stacy Keach, the dramedy "The Landlord" (1970) with Beau Bridges and the George C Scott comedic adaptation "They Might Be Giants" (1971). He also appeared in "The Great Gatsby" (1974), "Dynamite Woman" (1976) with Claudia Jennings and the musical drama "A Star Is Born" (1976) with Barbra Streisand. He continued to act in productions like the comedy "The Last Married Couple in America" (1979) with George Segal and "Deadhead Miles" (1982). He also landed a role in the miniseries "Hanging By a Thread" (1978-79). His work around this time also included a part on the TV movie "Fame" (NBC, 1978-79). He also was featured in the TV movie "Nightlife" (USA, 1988-89). Clark most recently acted in the drama "Lost Souls" (2000) with Winona Ryder.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York, USA
Worthington Miner
Dec. at 82 (1900-1982)Worthington Miner (November 13, 1900 – December 11, 1982) was an American film producer, screenwriter, actor and director. He was married to actress Frances Fuller, with whom he had three children, including producer/director Peter Miner. He was the paternal grandfather of actress Rachel Miner.Prior to his work in television, Mr. Miner - known as 'Tony' - directed more than 30 plays in about 10 years, starting with Up Pops the Devil in 1929 and including Reunion in Vienna, starring Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne; Both Your Houses, a Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Maxwell Anderson; On Your Toes, the Ray Bolger musical; Jane Eyre (starring Katharine Hepburn), and For Love or Money. In 1939, after more than 10 years in the theater, Mr. Miner publicly criticized it as "highly undemocratic". At a Theatre Guild panel discussion in Williamstown, Massachusetts, he said: "When we speak of the theater, we speak of one city - New York. Yet even within the confines of that one city, the theater isn't democratic. It is a Park Avenue nightclub, a luxury for a selective few with the price of admission. It is for the rich in the richest city of this country, and I believe this situation is deplored by every author, actor and manager in the business."At CBS Television, he created and produced Studio One (also serving as writer and director for numerous episodes); the television version of The Goldbergs; Mr. I Magination, a children's show, and The Toast of the Town, casting Ed Sullivan as master of ceremonies. He also produced The Play of the Week; Playhouse 90 and Kaiser Aluminum Hour. Miner realized that television could not 'be made to fit into preconceived patterns of motion pictures, theater or radio. Television offers, instead, a superlative opportunity to absorb every type of experiment in all other entertainment media,' he said, adding that 'there is no limit to the scope of its coverage.'- Birthplace: USA, Buffalo, New York
Bess Meredyth
Dec. at 79 (1890-1969)During her Hollywood career, Bess Meredyth wrote a variety of screenplays. Meredyth began her writing career for film with such titles as the historical feature "Ben Hur, A Tale of the Christ" (1925) with Ramon Novarro, "Don Juan" (1926) with John Barrymore and the John Barrymore adventure "The Sea Beast" (1926). She also appeared in the Greta Garbo spy thriller "The Mysterious Lady" (1928). She was nominated for an Academy Award for "A Woman of Affairs" in 1928. Toward the end of her career, Meredyth wrote "The Affairs of Cellini" (1934), the Maurice Chevalier adaptation "Folies Bergere" (1935) and the drama "Metropolitan" (1935) with Lawrence Tibbett. She also appeared in the mystery "Charlie Chan at the Opera" (1936) with Warner Oland and "That Night in Rio" (1941) with Alice Faye. Meredyth more recently worked on the thrilling mystery "The Unsuspected" (1947) with Claude Rains. Meredyth was married to Michael Curtiz and had one child. Meredyth passed away in July 1969 at the age of 79.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York, USA
- Elaine Sciolino is an author and contributing writer of The New York Times, writing from France since 2002.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
Harold Daniels
Dec. at 68 (1903-1971)Harold Daniels worked on a variety of projects during his entertainment career. Daniels's career beginnings included film roles in the western "Trail Dust" (1936) with James Ellison, the comedy "Hollywood Cowboy" (1937) with George O'Brien and "Secrets of a Model" (1940). Shortly thereafter, he received directorial credit for "The Lawton Story" (1949), the Charles McGraw crime flick "Roadblock" (1951) and "Port Sinister" (1953). He also appeared in the Buster Keaton comedy "Ten Girls Ago" (1962). in the forties and the seventiesLater in his career, Daniels acted in "Disco 9000" (1978) with Johnnie Taylor.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York, USA
Don Curtis
Dec. at 80 (1927-2008)Donald B. Curtis (born Donald Beitelman) (May 22, 1927 – March 6, 2008) was an American professional wrestler, best known for being a member of a tag team with Mark Lewin in the 1950s and 1960s. During his partnership with Lewin, they won the NWA World Tag Team Championship. Curtis was a wrestling promoter in Jacksonville, Florida until 1981.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
Frank Mancuso Jr.
Age: 66Frank G. Mancuso Jr. (born October 9, 1958) is an American film producer.Mancuso, the son of the former Paramount Pictures president Frank Mancuso Sr., was born in Buffalo, New York. Mancuso produced sequels to Friday the 13th and co-created Friday the 13th: The Series.Mancuso later produced Cool World, which he had heavily rewritten during production, Internal Affairs, the Species franchise, Hoodlum, Stigmata, Ronin, I Know Who Killed Me, and Road to Paloma.- Birthplace: USA, Buffalo, New York
- Often remembered as one of the iconic Maytag Repairmen from the long-running ad campaign, Jesse White first took to the stage in an amateur production at 15. He eventually worked his way up from vaudeville and burlesque to legitimate theater, and by 1943, he was on Broadway as a brusque sanitarium orderly in the fantasy-infused drama "Harvey," which centers on a man whose best friend is an invisible 6-foot-tall rabbit. When the hit play was adapted into a film seven years later, White reprised his role and worked opposite movie mega star James Stewart. Between the play and the film, White was now a recognizable talent in Hollywood, and he went on to appear in a string of films before breaking into television with a variety of one-off roles. White would ultimately appear in 160 TV and film productions over a career that spanned five decades, but it was his part as the perennially bored Maytag Repairman for which White became best known. White was offered the role of the unneeded Repairman after an ad exec saw his deadpan comedy bit as a monotone-speaking yet cantankerous janitor in the 1967 Don Knotts/Leslie Nielsen space program comedy "The Reluctant Astronaut." The next year White became the face of Maytag and went on to reprise the role of the loveable and lonely mascot in ads until 1988, after which he became a Maytag consultant. White worked steadily in TV and film until his death from a heart attack in 1997.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York, USA
- Thomas Edward Perez (born October 7, 1961) is an American politician and attorney who has been the Chair of the Democratic National Committee since February 2017. Perez was previously Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights (2009–2013) and United States Secretary of Labor (2013–2017). Born in Buffalo, New York, Perez is a graduate of Brown University, Harvard Law School, and the John F. Kennedy School of Government. He clerked for Judge Zita Weinshienk in Colorado prior to serving as a federal civil rights prosecutor for the Department of Justice. He next worked for Senator Ted Kennedy and then served as the Director of the Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Health and Human Services in the final years of the Clinton administration. Perez was then elected to the Montgomery County (Maryland) Council in 2002, serving as the council's president from 2005, until the end of his tenure in 2006. He attempted to run for the Democratic nomination for Attorney General of Maryland, but was disqualified for not having sufficient time as a member of the Maryland state bar. Perez was appointed by Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley to serve as Secretary of the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation in January 2007, until his October 2009 confirmation by the United States Senate as Assistant Attorney General. In 2013, Perez was nominated by President Barack Obama to be the United States Secretary of Labor, replacing outgoing Secretary Hilda Solis. After the 2016 elections, Perez announced his candidacy for Chair of the Democratic National Committee in the 2017 party election. After a tight race against Keith Ellison, Perez was elected Chairman on the second ballot and immediately appointed Ellison as deputy chair.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York, USA
- Mark Daniel Gangloff (born June 8, 1982) is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, world champion, and former world record-holder. Gangloff represented the United States at two consecutive Summer Olympics. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, he earned a gold medal by swimming for the winning U.S. team in the preliminary heats of the 4×100-meter medley relay. In individual competition, he placed fourth in the men's 100-meter breaststroke. Four years later at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, he again participated in his signature event, the 100-meter breaststroke, and placed eighth in the event final.Gangloff broke the American record in the 100-meter breaststroke with a time of 59.01 at the U.S. Swimming National Championships in 2009.He attended Firestone High School in Akron, Ohio. He accepted an athletic scholarship to attend Auburn University, where he swam for the Auburn Tigers swimming and diving team in NCAA competition from 2001 to 2005. He graduated from Auburn in 2005 with a bachelor's degree in criminology. Gangloff appeared in the 2006 movie The Guardian.
- Birthplace: USA, Buffalo, New York
John L. Greene
Dec. at 82 (1912-1995)John L. Greene is a film writer and television program creator.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
Harry B. Smith
Dec. at 75 (1860-1936)Harry Bache Smith (December 28, 1860 – January 1, 1936) was a writer, lyricist and composer. The most prolific of all American stage writers, he is said to have written over 300 librettos and more than 6000 lyrics. Some of his best-known works were librettos for the composers Victor Herbert and Reginald De Koven. He also wrote the book or lyrics for several versions of the Ziegfeld Follies. Smith was born in Buffalo, New York to Josiah Bailey Smith (born 1837) and Elizabeth Bach (born 1838). According to his autobiography First Nights and First Editions (Boston: Little, Brown, 1931), Smith's actual name at birth was Henry Bach Smith. He married twice. His first wife was Lena Reed (born August 21, 1868), whom he married on October 12, 1887 in Chicago, Illinois. They had a son named Sydney Reed Smith (born July 15, 1892). Smith's second wife was the actress Irene Bentley (1870 – June 3, 1940). They married on November 23, 1906 in Boston, Massachusetts, after she had been divorced on June 12, 1906 by her first husband James Thomas Sothoron, Jr. (1867–1913). Bentley retired from the stage in 1910 and died at Allenhurst, New Jersey. She is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Bronx, NY. While on a brief holiday in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on New Year's Day in 1936, Smith died of a heart attack in his room at the Marlborough-Blenheim Hotel. Smith worked on many of the famous musical theatre productions of his time. His younger brother Robert Bache Smith (June 4, 1875 – November 6, 1951) was also a successful lyricist. Harry Smith's archive is largely held at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
Fletcher Pratt
Dec. at 59 (1897-1956)Murray Fletcher Pratt (25 April 1897 – 10 June 1956) was an American writer of science fiction, fantasy and history. He is best known for his works on naval history and on the American Civil War and for fiction written with L. Sprague de Camp.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
Chancellor Olcott
Dec. at 73 (1858-1932)Chauncey Olcott, born John Chancellor Olcott and often spelled Chauncey Alcott, (July 21, 1858 – March 18, 1932) was an American stage actor, songwriter and singer of Irish descent.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
Rob McIntyre
Age: 43Rob McIntyre is a sound editor.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
- Suzie Plakson is an American actress who appeared in "Wag the Dog," "Everybody Loves Raymond," and "Love & War."
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York, USA
Peter Ruocco
Age: 59Peter Thomas Ruocco, also known as Peter Ruocco, is an American film actor, theatre actor, and theatre director based in San Francisco, California.- Birthplace: USA, Buffalo, New York
- Gurf Morlix is an American singer-songwriter and music producer.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
Mark Poloncarz
Age: 58Mark C. Poloncarz (born November 7, 1967) is an American politician and lawyer. Poloncarz is the county executive of Erie County, New York. Poloncarz, a Democrat, was elected county executive on November 8, 2011 after defeating the incumbent county executive Chris Collins a Republican by a 53 - 47 percentage point margin. Poloncarz was re-elected on November 3, 2015 with 66% of the vote when he easily defeated the Republican candidate Raymond Walter (33% of the vote) and Green Party candidate Eric Jones (1% of the vote). Poloncarz is only the 2nd Democrat to be elected to the position of county executive in the 51-year history of the position. Entering 2015 Poloncarz was heavily favored to be re-elected county executive; however it was expected he would face a Republican challenge from one of three candidates: incumbent county clerk and former New York Secretary of State Christopher Jacobs, incumbent county comptroller Stefan Mychajliw, or legislator Ed Rath, the grandson of the first Erie County Executive Edward Rath. In the end, all three individuals decided not to run and Walter was chosen by the Republicans.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
Suzi Yoonessi
Age: 46Suzi Yoonessi is an Iranian-American filmmaker living in Los Angeles, CA. She wrote and directed the award-winning feature film Dear Lemon Lima, and The Spring of Sorrow for the Independent Television Service online FutureStates series. Yoonessi's short films No Shoulder and Dear Lemon Lima are distributed by Shorts International and Vanguard Cinema and her documentary film Vern is distributed by National Film Network and is in the permanent collection of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
Jay Williams
Dec. at 64 (1914-1978)Jay Williams (May 31, 1914 – July 12, 1978) was an American author of science fiction (often for children), fantasy, historical fiction, non-fiction, and radical theatre.- Birthplace: USA, Buffalo, New York
- Irving Lester Janis (May 26, 1918 – November 15, 1990) was a research psychologist at Yale University and a professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley most famous for his theory of "groupthink" which described the systematic errors made by groups when making collective decisions. A Review of General Psychology survey, published in 2002, ranked Janis as the 79th most cited psychologist of the 20th century.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
Pat Dobson
Dec. at 64 (1942-2006)Patrick Edward Dobson, Jr. (February 12, 1942 – November 22, 2006) was an American right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Detroit Tigers (1967–69), San Diego Padres (1970), Baltimore Orioles (1971–72), Atlanta Braves (1973), New York Yankees (1973–75) and Cleveland Indians (1976–77). He was best known for being one of four Orioles pitchers to win 20 games in their 1971 season.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
Wilbur Howard Duncan
Dec. at 94 (1910-2005)Wilbur Howard Duncan (October 15, 1910 – March 25, 2005) was a botany professor at the University of Georgia for 40 years where he oversaw an expansion in the school's herbarium collection and described three new plant species. Duncan also authored several books on plant species of the Eastern and Southeastern United States.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
Charles Herrick
Dec. at 44 (1918-1963)Charles Herrick (September 22, 1814 – November 14, 1886) was an American farmer and banker who represented Racine County in the Wisconsin State Senate during the 1874 session. He was elected as a Liberal Republican.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
- R. Nicholas Burns (born January 28, 1956) is a university professor, columnist, lecturer and former American diplomat. He is currently Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Politics at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government and a member of the Board of Directors of the school's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. At the Harvard Kennedy School, he is director of The Future of Diplomacy Project and Faculty Chair for the programs on the Middle East and India and South Asia. He is Director of the Aspen Strategy Group, senior counselor at The Cohen Group and serves on the Board of Directors of Entegris, Inc. He writes a bi-weekly column on foreign affairs for The Boston Globe and is a senior foreign affairs columnist for GlobalPost. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Council on Foreign Relations, Special Olympics, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Atlantic Council, the Appeal of Conscience Foundation, the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, American Media Abroad, the Gennadius Library and the Richard Lounsbery Foundation. Burns is vice chairman of the American Ditchley Foundation and serves on the Panel of Senior Advisors at Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs. During his career in the State Department, he was United States Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs within the United States Department of State. Appointed by President George W. Bush, he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on March 17, 2005, and was sworn into office by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. As Under Secretary, he oversaw the bureaus responsible for U.S. policy in each region of the world and served in the senior career Foreign Service position at the Department. He retired on April 30, 2008. He was a Visiting Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington D.C. in summer 2008. In July 2009, Burns joined The Cohen Group, a consulting firm in Washington D.C, as a senior counselor.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
Paul Horgan
Dec. at 91 (1903-1995)Paul Horgan (August 1, 1903 – March 8, 1995) was an American author of fiction and non-fiction, most of which was set in the Southwestern United States. He was the recipient of two Pulitzer Prizes for History. The New York Times Review of Books said of him, in 1989: "With the exception of Wallace Stegner, no living American has so distinguished himself in both fiction and history."- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
Robert J. Donovan
Dec. at 90 (1912-2003)Robert John Donovan (August 21, 1912 – August 8, 2003) was a Washington correspondent, author and presidential historian. Died from complications from stroke.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
Eugene F. Provenzo
Age: 76Eugene F. Provenzo Jr. (born 1949 in Buffalo, New York) is a professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning at the University of Miami. He became a Full Professor in 1985. Provenzo's academic interests include the role of the teacher in American society, and the influence of computers and video games on children. His work has been reviewed in American and British media, including ABC World News Tonight, The Economist, and The New York Times. He has been involved in the analysis and archiving of works by W.E.B. Du Bois and, with Edmund Abaka, edited "W.E.B. Du Bois on Africa", Left Coast Press, 2012.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
Mason Brayman
Dec. at 81 (1813-1895)Mason Brayman (May 23, 1813 – February 27, 1895) was an American attorney, newspaperman, and military officer. During his service to the Union Army during the American Civil War, he rose to the rank of brigadier general. Later in life, he became the seventh Governor of the Idaho Territory.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York, USA
Matt Anderson
Age: 37Matthew John Anderson (born 18 April 1987) is an American volleyball player. He is currently a member of the Italian club Modena Volley and the United States men's national volleyball team, with whom he was a participant of the Olympic Games (2012, 2016), 2014 World League and 2015 World Cup. On top of his other accolades, he is also a 2013 NORCECA Champion and a 2008 Pan American Cup gold medalist.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
- Walter Edward Lynch (April 15, 1897 – December 21, 1976), nicknamed "Jabber", was a catcher in Major League Baseball who played briefly for the Boston Red Sox during the 1922 season. Listed at 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m), 176 lb., Lynch batted and threw right-handed. A native of Buffalo, New York, he studied at Niagara University and State University of New York College at Cortland. In a three-game-career, Lynch was .500 hitter (1-for-2) and scored a run. As a catcher, he did not commit an error in two chances for a 1.000 fielding percentage. Lynch died in Daytona Beach, Florida at age 79.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
Molly Peacock
Age: 78Molly Peacock (born Buffalo, New York 1947) is an American-Canadian poet, essayist, biographer and speaker, whose multi-genre literary life also includes memoir, short fiction, and a one-woman show.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
- Damone Lamar Brown (born June 28, 1979) is an American professional basketball player, formerly in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is a 6'9" and 212 lb forward. After playing college basketball at Syracuse University, he was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round of the 2001 NBA draft. Throughout his NBA career he has played for the 76ers, the Toronto Raptors, the New Jersey Nets and the Washington Wizards while averaging 2.8 points and 1.3 rebounds per game. He played seven games with the Indiana Pacers in the 2005–06 preseason. In 2007, Brown was a member of the NBA Development League's Sioux Falls Skyforce. In the 2008 D-League Expansion Draft Brown had his rights drafted by the Reno Bighorns.On February 26, 2009, Brown was arrested in Reno, Nevada and charged with money laundering in connection with a cocaine ring operating in Buffalo, New York.In 2010, Brown played for the Buffalo Stampede of the PBL (Premier Basketball League).
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
Tommy Paul
Dec. at 82 (1909-1991)Tommy Paul (4 March 1909 – 28 April 1991) was a world featherweight boxing champion from Buffalo, NY. He won the world featherweight championship in May 1932, defeating Johnny Pena in a boxing tournament in Detroit. He was inducted into the first class of Buffalo’s Ring No. 44 Boxing Hall of Fame and in 2003 to the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame. He retired from the ring in 1935.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
Jimmy Slattery
Dec. at 56 (1904-1960)James Edward Slattery (August 25, 1904 in Buffalo, New York – August 30, 1960) was a professional boxer in the light heavyweight (175 lb) division. He was inducted into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame in 1992, Buffalo Veteran Boxers Association Ring #44 in 1997 and the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2006.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
- Ikechukwu Somtochukwu Diogu (born September 11, 1983) is a Nigerian-American professional basketball player for the Shimane Susanoo Magic of the B.League.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
Elizabeth Povinelli
Age: 63Elizabeth A. Povinelli is Franz Boas Professor of Anthropology and Gender Studies at Columbia University where she has also been the Director of the Institute for Research on Women and Gender and the Co-Director of the Centre for the Study of Law and Culture. She received her Ph.D. in Anthropology from Yale University in 1991. She is the author of books and essays of critical theory as well as a former editor of the academic journal Public Culture.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
Lee S. Marcus
Dec. at 75 (1893-1969)Lee Marcus was a producer who was known for producing "They Came to Blow Up America," "The Dancing Masters," and "Stranger on the Third Floor."- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York, USA
- Charles Gayle (February 28, 1939 – September 7, 2023) was an American free jazz musician. Initially known as a saxophonist who came to prominence in the 1990s after decades of obscurity, Gayle also performed as pianist, bass clarinetist, bassist, and percussionist.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
Tom Hambridge
Age: 64Thomas Jay Hambridge is an American rock, country, and blues, producer, songwriter, musician and vocalist. Hambridge has received a Grammy Award, an ASCAP award, four Grammy nominations, seven Boston Music Awards, and has been inducted into the Buffalo Hall of Fame. Hambridge's songs have been recorded by several notable artists and have been featured in movie productions, commercials and television programs. He has been referred to as "The White Willie Dixon" by Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee Buddy Guy and Susan Tedeschi's "Secret Weapon".- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
Jim Kelley
Dec. at 61 (1949-2010)A sportswriter, not to be confused with Jim Kelly or other people named James Kelley.James Thomas "Jim" Kelley, Jr. (October 26, 1949 – November 30, 2010) was a professional sports news columnist from South Buffalo. His 30-year career focused primarily on the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League, and the greater Buffalo area. He started covering the Sabres in 1981 for The Buffalo News, and also went on to cover the Stanley Cup Finals for 23 straight years. He pursued other media besides newspaper writing. He originated the weekly "Hockey Night in Buffalo", as well as "Sharpshooters" on WNSA with partner Mike Robitaille. From time to time he continued to contribute various hockey articles to ESPN.com and FOXSports.com. His experience and knowledge of hockey led The Hockey News to proclaim him in 2002–03 as one of the "100 People of Power and Influence in Hockey."Kelley was a regular co-host on Prime Time Sports, a columnist for Sports Illustrated, and wrote a hockey column for Sportsnet.ca; he continued writing columns for Sportsnet up until his death, with his final column being published the day of his death.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York, USA
Marc Evan Jackson
Age: 54Marc Evan Jackson was a prolific American comedic actor who was best known for his recurring roles in shows like "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" (Fox/NBC, 2013- ), "The Good Place" (NBC, 2016- ), and "Parks and Recreation" (NBC, 2009-2015). Born in Buffalo, New York and raised in Amherst, Massachusetts, Jackson never intended on becoming an actor. In fact, after graduating from Calvin College with a Bachelor's degree in philosophy, he spent the first few years of his post-college life working on sailing vessels in Maine and Michigan. After a number of years doing that, Jackson eventually found himself in Michigan, where he got his first taste of show business stardom by hosting a morning radio show for the NPR affiliate in Grand Rapids. By the late 90s Jackson was in his late 20s and began taking improv classes at Second City Detroit. He quickly fell in love with performing in front of a live audience, and by 1998 Jackson had risen through the ranks to become a member of the Detroit company. In 2001 Jackson moved to Los Angeles to try and make it as a film and TV actor. He taught improv at Second City Hollywood during the evening, while going to auditions during the day. By the mid-2000s he was nabbing guest spots on shows like "According to Jim" (ABC, 2001-09), "Reno 911!" (2003-09), and "Carpoolers" (ABC, 2007-08). After nearly a decade in the business, by the early 2010s Jackson began landing more recurring TV parts on shows like "Key and Peele" (Comedy Central, 2012-15) and "Workaholics" (Comedy Central, 2011-17). Then in 2013 Jackson nabbed his first big break when he began playing Trevor Nelsson on "Parks and Recreation." His part in that series gave Jackson a level of exposure that his career hadn't been afforded up until that point. After his part on "Parks and Recreation" ended, Jackson enhanced his profile even further with recurring roles on "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" (playing the husband of Andre Braugher's Captain Raymond Holt) and the Golden Globe-nominated philosophical comedy "The Good Place" (playing Sean, the nemesis of series lead Ted Danson).- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York, USA
- Christina Courtin (born 1984) is an American singer, violinist, and songwriter. A performer from an early age and a graduate of the Juilliard School, Christina Courtin released her first, self-titled, album in June 2009 on Nonesuch Records, of which Patrick McKiernan of website allgigs.co.uk stated, "It's nothing short of immense how beautiful this girl's debut album is." She was featured on NPR's World Cafe in 2009. She performs regularly with The Knights, an ensemble founded by fellow Juilliard graduates, brothers Colin and Eric Jacobsen.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
Stuart Hameroff
Age: 77Stuart Hameroff (born July 16, 1947) is an anesthesiologist and professor at the University of Arizona known for his studies of consciousness and his controversial contention that consciousness originates from quantum states in neural microtubules. He is the lead organizer of the Science of Consciousness conference.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
Bob Wojnowski
Age: 64Bob "Wojo" Wojnowski is an American reporter and columnist for The Detroit News and host of a radio show on WXYT-FM in Detroit, Michigan. Wojnowski also appears often on Fox 2 WJBK's Sunday Night Sports Works roundtable. Wojnowski previously co-hosted the Stoney and Wojo radio show on WDFN. Along with co-host Mike Stone, the Stoney and Wojo show had been a consistent ratings leader for years in the Detroit afternoon drive time slot until it was canceled on January 20, 2009.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
Maggie Kuhn
Dec. at 89 (1905-1995)Maggie Kuhn (August 3, 1905 – April 22, 1995) was an American activist known for founding the Gray Panthers movement, after she was forced to retire from her job at the then-mandatory retirement age of 65. The Gray Panthers became known for advocating nursing home reform and fighting ageism, claiming that "old people and women constitute America's biggest untapped and undervalued human energy source." She dedicated her life to fighting for human rights, social and economic justice, global peace, integration, and an understanding of mental health issues. For decades, she combined her activism with caring for her mother—who had a disability which required her to receive assistance in her care—and a brother who suffered from mental illness.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
- Teddy Geiger(born September 16, 1988) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and actress. Geiger's compositions and productions have sold over 50 million units worldwide, and have been nominated for the BMI Song of the Year for "Stitches" by Shawn Mendes (2015) and the Grammy Award-nominated single "In My Blood" (2018).
- Birthplace: Rochester, New York, USA
Edward Streeter
Dec. at 84 (1891-1976)Edward Streeter (August 1, 1891 in Buffalo, New York – March 31, 1976 in New York City), sometimes credited as E. Streeter, was an American novelist and journalist, best known for the 1949 novel Father of the Bride and his Dere Mable series.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
Laura Pedersen
Age: 59Laura Pedersen is an American author and playwright. She worked at American Stock Exchange before writing her first book, Play Money.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
Dave Sappelt
Age: 38David J. Sappelt is a professional baseball outfielder. He is 5 feet 9 inches and weighs 195 pounds. He bats and throws right handed. He graduated from Southern Alamance High School in Burlington, NC. Sappelt played college baseball at Coastal Carolina University. He resides in Graham, NC.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
Monk Sherlock
Dec. at 81 (1904-1985)John Clinton "Monk" Sherlock (October 26, 1904 – November 26, 1985) was a professional baseball player. He played one season in Major League Baseball for the 1930 Philadelphia Phillies, primarily as a first baseman. He was also the older brother of Vince Sherlock who appeared in nine games for the 1935 Brooklyn Dodgers. Sherlock was born in Buffalo, New York and died there in 1985.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
- Sean Cullen is an actor, playwright and songwriter.
- Birthplace: USA, Buffalo, New York
Ella Flagg Young
Dec. at 73 (1845-1918)Ella Flagg Young (15 January 1845 – October 26, 1918) was an American educator.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
Russell Hardie
Dec. at 69 (1904-1973)Russell Hardie was an actor.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York, USA
Susan Rothenberg
Age: 80Susan Rothenberg (born 1945) is an American contemporary painter, printmaker, sculptor, and draughtswoman. She has achieved a place of prominence through her iconic images of the horse, in which she synthesized the opposing forces of abstraction and representation. She lives and works in New Mexico, USA.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
- David Michael Stith is a singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who released his first album Heavy Ghost in 2009 on the Asthmatic Kitty label. He currently resides in Brooklyn, New York. David Stith comes from a musical family: his father was a college wind ensemble director and former church choir director; his grandfather is professor emeritus in the music department at Cornell University; his mother is a pianist; his sisters sing opera and play piano and percussion.Stith begun working on an MFA in graphic design at the Henry Radford Hope School of Fine Art at Indiana University in 2008. He has since left the program and now lives in NY. Continuing to work in the field of graphic design, Stith produced the artwork for his Heavy Ghost CD and other projects for Asthmatic Kitty including cover art for "Dead Zone Boys" by Jookabox, "A Thousand Shark's Teeth" and "All Things Will Unwind" by My Brightest Diamond, "Animal Feelings" by Rafter, "Penelope" and Unremembered by Sarah Kirkland Snider, as well as the Library Catalog Music Series.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
Steele MacKaye
Dec. at 51 (1842-1894)James Morrison Steele MacKaye ( mə-KY; June 6, 1842 – February 25, 1894) was an American playwright, actor, theater manager and inventor. Having acted, written, directed and produced numerous and popular plays and theatrical spectaculars of the day, he became one of the most famous actors and theater producers of his generation.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
- Ralph Eugene Lapp was an American physicist who participated in the Manhattan Project. He was born in Buffalo, New York, and attended the University of Chicago. After completing his graduate studies at the University he joined the Manhattan Project; and became the assistant Director of the Metallurgical Laboratory. He then accepted a position with the War department General Staff as a scientific advisor on atomic energy. When the research and development board was formed, Doctor Lapp became executive director of its committee on atomic energy. After this he acted as Head of the Nuclear Physics branch of the Office of Naval Research. He wrote Nuclear Radiation Biology, A Nuclear Reference Manual, Must We Hide ?, and assisted Doctor H.L. Andrews from the National Institute of Health in writing Nuclear Radiation Physics. He became an activist later in life and wrote a book, Victims Of The Super Bomb. In his book The New Priesthood: The Scientific Elite and The Uses of Power, Lapp describes the increase in funding for science and the growing influence of scientists in American politics after the invention of the atomic bomb. Mr. Lapp was interviewed by Mike Wallace in 1957.
- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
Mark Menza
Age: 67Mark Menza is a film score composer.- Birthplace: USA, Buffalo, New York
John J. LaFalce
Age: 85John Joseph LaFalce (born October 6, 1939) is a former congressman from the state of New York; he served from 1975 to 2003. LaFalce was first elected to the 94th United States Congress in 1974 and re-elected to each succeeding Congress through the 107th, serving his Western New York congressional district for 28 years, from 1975 to 2003. He served as Chairman of the House Small Business Committee from 1987 to 1995, and as Ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee from 1999 to 2003. He declined to seek re-election to the 108th Congress.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York, USA
Drew Snyder
Age: 78Drew Snyder is an actor, screenwriter and a writer.- Birthplace: USA, Buffalo, New York
Jon Powers
Age: 46Jonathan Powers, commonly called Jon Powers (born July 3, 1978) is an Iraq War veteran and was appointed by President Obama to serve in multiple roles as an energy security expert. In 2015, Jon Powers founded a financial technology company, CleanCapital, that makes it easy to invest in clean energy. In this role, Jon was named to Washington Life’s Top 25 Tech Leader for DC, 2016 and to Renewable Energy World's 40 under 40 in 2018. In 2014, Powers joined Bloom Energy as the Managing Director of Public Sector Business Development. In this role Powers is responsible for business and market development within the public and private sector. Prior to joining Bloom Energy, Powers was appointed by President Obama to serve as the Administration's Federal Environmental Executive. In this capacity, Powers was responsible for promoting environmental and energy sustainability across federal government operations. He oversaw a pipeline of $4 billion in energy performance contracts and nearly tripled the federal government's renewable energy goals. In this role he was featured in USA Today as Obama's Point Man on Greening the Federal Government.Prior to joining CEQ, Powers served as the Special Advisor on Energy in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army, Installations, Energy & Environment. He also served as the Chief Operating Officer at the Truman National Security Project, where he focused on energy security issues. In 2009, Powers testified to the US Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on the national security implications of climate change with retired Senator John Warner and Vice Admiral Dennis McGinn. Following this testimony, Powers founded the nationally recognized campaign Operation Free for veterans to advocate for a national energy policy. Powers also served for four years as an Officer in the U.S. Army, including a 15-month tour in Iraq as part of Operation Iraq Freedom I. In 2005, Powers founded War Kids Relief after returning to Iraq as a civilian to develop programs to engage Iraq's youth and minimize recruitment by radicalized elements. The youth and counterterrorism research and program development efforts led to War Kids Relief becoming a leading advocacy organization working to create a bridge between American and Iraqi youth to build a foundation for peace. In 2008, Powers was a Democratic candidate for New York's 26th Congressional District. Powers received a Bachelor of Arts in Education at John Carroll University in Cleveland, OH and a Masters in Global Security Studies at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. His hometown is Clarence, New York.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York, USA
Eugene Stratton
Dec. at 56 (1861-1918)Eugene Augustus Rühlmann (May 8, 1861 – September 15, 1918) was an American-born dancer and singer. Born in Buffalo, New York, he adopted the stage name Eugene Stratton and spent most of his career in British music halls. Stratton was a member of the illustrious entertainment fraternity, the Grand Order of Water Rats.- Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
