20 most famous people from Rhode Island you didn’t know were locals

The most famous people from Rhode Island are actors, musicians, journalists and politicians. Some examples include Olivia Culpo, Shepard Fairey, Viola Davis, Gina Raimondo and Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Referred to as the “Ocean State”, it is located in the Northeastern United States and is one of the 13 original colonies. So, who else comes from here?

Key takeaways

• Some of the most famous people from Rhode Island are Olivia Culpo, Charlie Day, Joe Mazulla, Bill Conti, Meredith Vieira, and Ed Cooley.
• James Woods reportedly owns four houses in Exeter, Rhode Island.
• Viola Davis is one of the most notable celebrities who comes from Rhode Island.
• Olivia Culpo was the first Rhode Islander to win the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants.
• Jonathan Nelson, with a net worth of $3.4 billion, is among the billionaires living in Rhode Island.

The most famous people from Rhode Island

This list of famous people from Rhode Island was compiled after analysing various factors, such as social media following, career achievements, and international recognition. We relied on the Ranker and Only in Rhode Island to provide the most accurate information.

1. Viola Davis - Central Falls

• Full name: Viola Davis
• Profession: Actor, producer
• Date of birth: August 11, 1965
• Education: Rhode Island College, The Juilliard School

Viola Davis is an American actress and film producer, and the most famous person from Rhode Island. She is known for playing lead roles in movies such as Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020), The Woman King (2022), and Widows (2018).

For her multifaceted roles, Davis has received numerous awards, including being the first black woman to win the Triple Crown, which consists of the Academy Award, Emmy Award and Tony Award.

Additionally, Davis is the first African American actress to win a Primetime Emmy Award. Others are the Oscars and the Grammy Awards.

2. Olivia Culpo - Cranston

• Full name: Olivia Frances Culpo
• Profession: Model, actress, media personality
• Date of birth: May 8, 1992
• Education: Boston University

Olivia Culpo represented and won Rhode Island at the 2012 Miss Rhode Island USA Competition. She also won the Miss USA and Miss Universe Competitions and was the first Rhode Islander to win the pageant.

As a result of her modelling success, Culp became a social media personality, gaining endorsement deals with brands such as L'Oréal, Kipling, and Uberliss. She also landed acting gigs on I Feel Pretty, The Other Woman, Venus as a Boy and Reprisal.

3. DJ Pauly D - Providence

• Full name: Paul Michael DelVecchio Jr.
• Profession: DJ, television personality
• Nicknames: DJ Pauly D, Pauly D
• Date of birth: July 5, 1980

DJ Pauly D's looks got him on the Jersey Shore. The casting director sent a team to Rhode Island to film a day in his life, and he was later accepted on the show. He contributed to the show’s popularity and won the Teen Choice Award for Choice Reality Star.

Since then, he has appeared on The Pauly D Project, a show about his DJ career, the Jersey Shore sequel, Family Vacation, Famously Single and Marriage Bootcamp: Reality Stars 11.

4. Charlie Day - Middletown

• Full name: Charles Peckham Day
• Profession: Actor, writer, producer
• Date of birth: February 9, 1976
• Education: Merrimack College

Charlie Day was in the Williamstown Theatre Festival training programs at the same time as Jimmi Simpson, Justin Long and Kathryn Hahn. Afterwards, he worked on small television roles, voiceovers, and advertisements, and also waited tables. Even though he has a slow start, Day has now acted in multiple films: Pacific Rim, Fist Fight, Summer of '69, and I Want You Back.

5. Ed Cooley - Providence

• Full name: Ed Cooley
• Profession: Basketball coach
• Date of birth: September 10, 1969
• Education: Central High School, Stonehill College

Ed Cooley is among the famous Rhode Islanders, having been born in Providence. He is a high school basketball coach and has worked in several schools, including UMass Dartmouth, Rhode Island, Stonehill, Fairfield, and Georgetown.

He has led his teams to multiple championships: MAAC Regular Season, Big East Tournament and Big East Regular Season. For his work, Cooley has won the Ben Jobe Award, MAAC Coach of the Year, Big East Coach of the Year and Naismith College Coach of the Year.

6. Debra Messing - East Greenwich

• Full name: Debra Lynn Messing
• Profession: Actress
• Date of birth: August 15, 1968
• Education: New York University

Debra is among the famous actors from Rhode Island. Although she was born in Brooklyn, New York, her family moved to East Greenwich when she was three, and she was raised there.

Regarding her acting career, Messing began as a Broadway actress and was cast in Alfonso Arau's A Walk in the Clouds, her film debut. From there, Messing appeared on other shows, including Ned & Stacey, Jerry Seinfeld and Will & Grace.

For her work, she has received nominations and awards, including seven Golden Globe nominations, five Primetime Emmy Award nominations, and seven Screen Actors Guild Awards.

7. Claudia Jordan - Providence

• Full name: Claudia Angela Jordan
• Profession: Television personality, host, actress, model
• Date of birth: April 12, 1973
• Ex-husband: Datari Turner

Claudia Jordan is known for her appearances on Deal or No Deal, The Price is Right, The Celebrity Apprentice, Bravo and The Real Housewives of Atlanta. Regarding her modelling career, she was the Miss Rhode Island Teen USA in 1990 and Miss Rhode Island USA in 1997.

8. Shanna Moakler - Providence

• Full name: Shanna Lynn Moakler
• Profession: Actress, model
• Date of birth: March 28, 1975
• Education: Barrington High School

At the age of 17, Moakler represented Rhode Island in the Miss Teen USA 1992 pageant, reaching the semi-finals and finishing seventh overall. The following year, she won the Miss Teen All-American title. In 1995, she was Miss New York USA and finished as the runner-up in the Miss USA pageant.

Due to her success, Moakler appeared in publications such as Brentwood and Cosmopolitan. On television, she made appearances in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, The Wedding Singer, Poison Ivy and Due South.

9. Mena Suvari - Newport

• Full name: Mena Alexandra Suvari
• Profession: Actress, producer, fashion designer
• Date of birth: February 13, 1979
• Education: Providence High School

Mena Suvari considered pursuing medicine, archaeology or astronomy when a modelling agency offered classes at her high school. As a result, Suvari worked for the Wilhelmina agency for five years before she started acting.

She landed guest appearances on Boys Meets World, ER, High Incident and Chicago Hope. In 1999, Suvari received her breakthrough after acting in American Pie and American Beauty.

10. James Woods - Warwick

• Full name: James Howard Woods
• Profession: Actor
• Date of birth: April 18, 1947
• Education: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

James Woods grew up in Warwick and attended Pilgrim High School and MIT. In college, he was a member of the student theatre group Dramashop and later met Tim Affleck, who helped him build his acting career.

After 36 plays, Woods debuted on Broadway in 1969 in The Penny Wars. Years later, Woods is one of the best actors, having acted in notable films including The Visitors, Chaplin, The Way We Are, The Specialist and Casino.

Furthermore, he has received numerous awards and nominations: Daytime Emmy Awards, Golden Globe Awards and Primetime Emmy Awards. Despite his successful career, Woods has not forgotten his roots. He is among the celebrities who live in Rhode Island, having bought a lakefront house in Exeter.

11. Elisabeth Hasselbeck - Cranston

• Full name: Elisabeth DelPadre Hasselbeck
• Profession: Talk show, Television personality
• Date of birth: May 28, 1977
• Education: Boston College

After graduating from Boston College, Elisabeth Hasselbeck worked as a designer for Puma. In 2000, she was cast in Survivor: The Australian Outback and later returned for Survivor: All-Star.

She added to her television roles and worked as a judge at the Miss Teen USA 2001, hosted Style Network’s The Look for Less show and was on The View. Alongside her co-hosts Joy Behar, Sherri Shepherd, and Barbara Walters, they won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host.

12. Nadia Bjorlin - Newport

• Full name: Nadia Alexandra Bjorlin
• Profession: Actress, singer, model
• Date of birth: August 2, 1980
• Education: Interlochen Centre for the Arts, Boston University Tanglewood Institute

Days of Our Lives was Nadia Bjorlin’s first show, and she was cast in other television shows, including Jake in Progress and Out of Practice. Apart from acting, Bjorlin is a singer but has not produced music. Interestingly, she speaks multiple languages: Swedish, English, Persian, Italian, Russian and French.

13. Arden Myrin - Little Compton

• Full name: Arden Myrin
• Profession: Actress, comedian
• Ex-husband: Dan Martin
• Education: Colorado College

After graduating, Myrin joined Improv Olympic, where she did stand-up comedy. She developed her career and landed credits in multiple television shows: Insatiable, Insecure, Grey's Anatomy, Conan, Orange Is the New Black, Hung, and Key & Peele.

Moreover, Myrin hosts an iHeartRadio podcast, Will You Accept This Rose? On films, Myrin was cast in Wrong Cops and Wrong, Bachelorette, Kinsey, and Morning Glory.

14. Billy Gilman - Westerly

• Full name: William Wendell Gilman III
• Profession: Musician
• Date of birth: May 24, 1988
• Genres: Country, pop

At the age of nine, Ray Benson discovered Billy Gilman and helped him to record his demos. In 2000, Epic Records signed him, and he went on to record a debut single, ‘One Voice’, which ranked 38th on the Billboard Hot 100 and a top 20 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs.

Other songs he produced are"Oklahoma" and "There's a Hero". For his work, Gilman has received nominations and awards: Grammy Awards, American Music Awards, TNN and CMT Country Weekly Music Awards and Academy of Country Music Awards.

15. Meredith Vieira - Providence

• Full name: Meredith Louise Vieira
• Profession: Broadcast journalist, television host
• Date of birth: December 30, 1953
• Education: Tufts University

The renowned journalist began her illustrious television career in her hometown as a local reporter and anchor for WJAR-TV. She then worked as an announcer at WORC in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Meredith went on to the big screen, appearing on CBS News, ABC and Lifetime’s Network. She hosted popular shows: Turning Point, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and The View.

16. Dr. Luke - Providence

• Full name: Łukasz Sebastian Gottwald
• Profession: Musician, songwriter, record producer
• Date of birth: September 26, 1973
• Education: Manhattan School of Music

Dr. Luke wanted to be a drummer, but his parents refused to let a drum kit in the house. Consequently, he taught himself how to play the guitar using his sister’s equipment. In college, Dr. Luke went to the Manhattan School of Music and then joined the Saturday Night Live Band, NBC’s in-house band for the show.

He produced tracks for several artists, including Nappy Roots and Arrested Development. This gave him exposure, and he worked with other established names: Clarkson, Avril Lavigne and Katy Perry.

17. Joe Mazulla - Johnston

• Full name: Joe Art Mazulla
• Profession: Basketball coach
• Date of birth: June 30, 1988
• Education: Bishop Hendricken High School, West Virginia

Joe Mazulla led the Boston Celtics to their 18th NBA Championship. He got the head coach role in 2023 after Ime Udoka was suspended for inappropriate behaviour. Mazulla retained the role and, after the NBA title, remains in his position. Before this, he worked at Fairmont State, Maine Red Claws, and Glenville State. Interestingly, Mazulla did not play in the NBA after he went undrafted in 2011.

18. Bill Conti - Providence

• Full name: Bill Conti
• Profession: Composer, conductor
• Date of birth: April 13, 1942
• Education: Louisiana State University

Bill Conti is an American composer and conductor from Providence, Rhode Island. He graduated from the Louisiana State University School of Music and the Juilliard School of Music.

Conti made pop recordings for Italian artists and films. Some of the credits he carries include Rocky and its sequels, For Your Eyes Only, The Championship Season, Bad Boys, Living Proof: The Hank Williams Jr. Story and Mass Appeal.

19. Jonathan M. Nelson - Providence

• Full name: Jonathan Milton Nelson
• Profession: Businessman
• Date of birth: 1956
• Education: Brown University, Harvard Business School

With a net worth of $3.4 billion, Jonathan Nelson is among the billionaires in Rhode Island. He was born in Providence, studied economics at Brown University and earned a Master's in Business Administration at Harvard Business School.

He worked as the managing director for a private equity firm, Narragansett Capital. In 1989, he founded Providence Equity Partners, an investment firm specialising in media, education, communications and information investments.

20. Rocco Baldelli - Woonsocket

• Full name: Rocco Daniel Baldelli
• Profession: Baseball manager
• Date of birth: September 25, 1981
• Former teams: Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Boston Red Sox

Rocco Baldelli was the sixth overall pick in the 2000 Major League Baseball Draft for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He stayed with the team for one year (2003 and 2004), from 2006 to 2008. In 2009, Baldelli moved to the Boston Red Sox and finished his career with the Tampa Bay Rays. In 2015, he returned to Tampa Bay as a coach before getting his first managerial job at the Minnesota Twins.

Final word

These are the 20 most famous people from Rhode Island who have become global superstars in their industries. From businesspeople and actors to models and musicians, they have successful careers and put Rhode Island on the map.

Tuko.co.ke published an article on famous celebrities who live in Dallas, Texas, in 2025. From politicians to athletes and singers, the state is not short of public figures. Dive deeper into the specific locations they reside in, the properties they own and how much it costs in the article.

Source: TUKO.co.ke