Famous actors from Rhode Island
Admiring and envying the world's biggest stars is easy to do on Instagram. From A-list movie stars and major musicians to pro ball players and comedians who landed their own sitcoms, there's no shortage of evidence of just how good the good life is. They post pictures of themselves with other big shots on rooftop bars, at exclusive clubs, at backstage parties, and at restaurants where regular people can't get a reservation.
But the vast majority of these celebrities were born and raised outside of Hollywood, finding their way to the bright lights and big money of superstardom from obscure beginnings in regular small towns or cities across the country.
Stacker compiled a list of actors that were born in Rhode Island from IMDb's most popular list. For each actor, we included a movie poster image from a film he is known for (all movie poster images from OMDb). Keep reading to see which favorite actors are from your home state.
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Jason Marsden
- Born: Providence, Rhode Island (1/3/1975)
- Known for:
--- Max Goof in "A Goofy Movie" (1995)
--- Haku in "Spirited Away" (2001)
--- Thackery Binx in "Hocus Pocus" (1993)
Harry Anderson
- Born: Newport, Rhode Island (10/14/1952)
- Died: 4/16/2018
- Known for:
--- Judge Harry T. Stone in "Night Court" (1984-1992)
--- Richie Tozier in "It" (1990)
--- Dave Barry in "Dave's World" (1993-1997)
Robert Capron
- Born: Providence, Rhode Island (7/9/1998)
- Known for:
--- Rowley Jefferson in "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" (2010)
--- Bob in "Frankenweenie" (2012)
--- Rowley Jefferson in "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules" (2011)
Van Johnson
- Born: Newport, Rhode Island (8/25/1916)
- Died: 12/12/2008
- Known for:
--- Lt. Steve Maryk in "The Caine Mutiny" (1954)
--- Holley in "Battleground" (1949)
--- Andrew Delby Larkin in "In the Good Old Summertime" (1949)
David Hedison
- Born: Providence, Rhode Island (5/20/1927)
- Died: 7/18/2019
- Known for:
--- Leiter in "Live and Let Die" (1973)
--- Felix Leiter in "Licence to Kill" (1989)
--- Lt. Ware in "The Enemy Below" (1957)
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Nicholas Colasanto
- Born: Providence, Rhode Island (1/19/1924)
- Died: 2/12/1985
- Known for:
--- Ernie 'Coach' Pantusso in "Cheers" (1982-1990)
--- Tommy Como in "Raging Bull" (1980)
--- Ruben in "Fat City" (1972)
Mark Famiglietti
- Born: Providence, Rhode Island (9/26/1979)
- Known for:
--- Scott Petersen in "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" (2003)
--- Jay Sebring in "Aquarius" (2016)
--- Bernie Rosenberg in "Mad Men" (2012)
Peter Gerety
- Born: Providence, Rhode Island (5/17/1940)
- Known for:
--- Larry Liddle in "Charlie Wilson's War" (2007)
--- Avington Carr in "Flight" (2012)
--- Louis Piquett in "Public Enemies" (2009)
George Macready
- Born: Providence, Rhode Island (8/29/1899)
- Died: 7/2/1973
- Known for:
--- Ballin Mundson in "Gilda" (1946)
--- Gen. Paul Mireau in "Paths of Glory" (1957)
--- General Kuhster in "The Great Race" (1965)
Sam Daly
- Born: Providence, Rhode Island (3/24/1984)
- Known for:
--- Ron Davis in "Hunters" (2020)
--- Matt in "The Office" (2009-2010)
--- Win Barrington in "Madam Secretary" (2014-2019)
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Peter Frechette
- Born: Warwick, Rhode Island (10/3/1956)
- Known for:
--- Peter Hammond in "Inside Man" (2006)
--- DiMucci in "Grease 2" (1982)
--- George Fraley in "Profiler" (1996-2000)
David Gautreaux
- Born: Central Falls, Rhode Island (6/28/1951)
- Known for:
--- Edward Yanick in "S.W.A.T." (2018-2021)
--- Barry Newsome in "For All Mankind" (2019)
--- Foley in "The Blacklist" (2015-2019)
CJ Adams
- Born: Providence, Rhode Island (4/6/2000)
- Known for:
--- Timothy Green in "The Odd Life of Timothy Green" (2012)
--- Young Ford in "Godzilla" (2014)
--- Elliot in "Dan in Real Life" (2007)
Eric Lutes
- Born: Charleston, Rhode Island (8/19/1962)
- Known for:
--- Del Cassidy in "Caroline in the City" (1995-1999)
--- Jake Carlson in "So Little Time" (2001-2002)
--- Candy in "Jane White Is Sick & Twisted" (2002)
Christopher Stanley
- Born: Providence, Rhode Island (not available)
- Known for:
--- Henry Francis in "Mad Men" (2009-2015)
--- Thomas L. Ahern, Jr. in "Argo" (2012)
--- Charles in "American Crime" (2016)
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David Hartman
- Born: Pawtucket, Rhode Island (5/19/1935)
- Known for:
--- Prof. Ivarsson in "The Island at the Top of the World" (1974)
--- Dr. Paul Hunter in "The Bold Ones: The New Doctors" (1969-1973)
--- Constable in "Did You Hear the One About the Traveling Saleslady?" (1968)
Bruce MacVittie
- Born: Providence, Rhode Island (10/14/1956)
- Known for:
--- Detective Hartigan in "When They See Us" (2019)
--- Larry Biedron in "Homicide: Life on the Street" (1997)
--- Cluck in "Hi-Life" (1998)
Andy On
- Born: Providence, Rhode Island (5/11/1977)
- Known for:
--- Tin-Tin Law in "New Police Story" (2004)
--- Alex Trang in "Blackhat" (2015)
--- Tank Wong in "Star Runner" (2003)
Christopher Murney
- Born: Narragansett, Rhode Island (7/20/1943)
- Known for:
--- Detective Deutsch in "Barton Fink" (1991)
--- Camp Loman in "Maximum Overdrive" (1986)
--- Mackie Bloom in "Remember WENN" (1996-1998)
Mark Kiely
- Born: Providence, Rhode Island (1/16/1963)
- Known for:
--- Mechanic in "The Edge" (1997)
--- Fred Donohue in "Bruce Almighty" (2003)
--- Dwight in "Gods and Monsters" (1998)
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Otis Young
- Born: Providence, Rhode Island (7/4/1932)
- Died: 10/11/2001
- Known for:
--- Mulhall in "The Last Detail" (1973)
--- Sawyer in "The Clones" (1973)
--- Jason in "The Capture of Bigfoot" (1979)
Ron McLarty
- Born: Providence, Rhode Island (4/26/1947)
- Died: 2/8/2020
- Known for:
--- Old George in "The Postman" (1997)
--- Principal O'Brien in "St. Vincent" (2014)
--- Det. Lt. Ralph Ruskin in "Cop Rock" (1990)
Richard Hatch
- Born: Newport, Rhode Island (4/8/1961)
- Known for:
--- Richard Hatch in "Another Gay Movie" (2006)
--- Richard Hatch in "Son of the Beach" (2002)
--- Self - Mogo Mogo Tribe in "Survivor" (2000-2013)
David Shae
- Born: Cranston, Rhode Island (9/3/1981)
- Known for:
--- Alfred in "The Walking Dead" (2019-2020)
--- Ron Martz in "Richard Jewell" (2019)
--- Disturbed Airline Passenger in "Bad Boys for Life" (2020)
Ben Ciaramello
- Born: Providence, Rhode Island (4/4/1981)
- Known for:
--- Benny Partida in "The Guardian" (2006)
--- War of the Worlds Soldier in "War of the Worlds" (2005)
--- Paulo Bartolo in "Live by Night" (2016)
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Carson Grant
- Born: Pawtucket, Rhode Island (12/17/1950)
- Known for:
--- Francisco Santos in "Amazon Queen" (2021)
--- Sal in "The Caretaker" (2020)
--- Professor John Allen in "One Penny" (2017)
Wally Dunn
- Born: Providence, Rhode Island (6/12/1960)
- Known for:
--- Depository Clerk in "The Bounty Hunter" (2010)
--- Dame' Bonesman in "The Good Shepherd" (2006)
--- Cousin Lenny in "In & Out" (1997)
James Augustus Lee
- Born: Providence, Rhode Island (not available)
- Known for:
--- Ecclesiastes in "Ecclesiastes" (2020)
--- The Sweeper in "The Deuce" (2017)
--- Venue Manager in "Jessica Jones" (2015)
Mike Cerrone
- Born: Rhode Island (6/9/1957)
- Known for:
--- Officer Stubie in "Me, Myself & Irene" (2000)
--- Beaver Bowl Hustler in "Kingpin" (1996)
--- Paulie in "The Ringer" (2005)
Heath Centazzo
- Born: Providence, Rhode Island (5/25/1977)
- Known for:
--- Goon #1 in "Snowfall" (2019)
--- Eddie in "Game Shakers" (2016)
--- Detective Frank Brody in "The Star City Murders" (2021)
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Ian Lyons
- Born: Wakefield, Rhode Island (9/11/1972)
- Known for:
--- Hotel Clerk in "Dexter: New Blood" (2021)
--- Burt Knox in "Defending Jacob" (2020)
--- Detective Shaffer in "FBI: Most Wanted" (2021)
