Famous People Born In Newton

Best known for his performance as Joey in the TV sitcom Friends, Matt LeBlanc was initially told he was too short to be in the modeling industry. Despite the discouragement, he went on to become a model and then established himself as an actor. He is also known for his performance in the sitcom Episodes, for which he won a Golden Globe.

The co-founder of Upright Citizens Brigade, an improvisational-comedy troupe, Amy Poehler went on to utilize her comedic skills to establish herself as a prominent Hollywood personality. Over the years, she has played a crucial role in enhancing the popularity of American television, for which she was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Eli Roth is an American filmmaker and actor. He is known for making controversially bloody and explicitly violent horror films, such as Hostel, for which he has been included in a group of filmmakers called The Splat Pack by journalists. Also known for his fashion sense and workout routine, Roth was voted Most Fit Director by Men's Fitness in 2006.

The son of a shoe factory owner, mathematician-turned-hedge-fund-manager James Harris Simons studied math at MIT and helped the U.S. break codes during the Vietnam War. He later founded his own hedge fund firm, Renaissance Technologies. He supports autism research and funds Math for America. In 2021, he was America’s 23rd-richest person.

Olympic figure-skating champion Tenley Albright was also a Harvard Medical School alumna and a qualified surgeon. A bout of mild polio in childhood couldn’t deter her spirit, and she ended up becoming the first female figure skater from the U.S. to win a gold medal at the Olympics.

Although he is best remembered as the 10-year-old who caddied for Francis Ouimet in the winning playoff at the 1913 U.S. Open, Eddie Lowery was also an amateur golfer in his own right. Raised in Massachusetts, he later moved to San Francisco, where he became a multimillionaire from his auto dealership and championed the amateur careers of many budding golfers.

Richard C. Tolman was an American physical chemist and mathematical physicist. He is best remembered for making immense contributions to statistical mechanics. Tolman also made significant contributions to theoretical cosmology. Richard C. Tolman is also remembered for his association with the California Institute of Technology, where he worked as a professor of mathematical physics and physical chemistry.

Thomas C. Peebles was an American physician best remembered for his discoveries in the field of medicine. He was the first person to successfully isolate the measles virus. Thomas C. Peebles' research also proved that tetanus vaccine could be administered once in every 10 years as opposed to the popular belief that it must be given every year.