Famous People Born In Rochester

Jon Jones, the American professional mixed martial artist, is widely regarded as one of the greatest mixed martial artists ever. He holds many Ultimate Fighting Championship records in the light heavyweight division. However, he has been also been involved in several controversies and has been arrested for felony, hit-and-run charges and has tested positive for banned substances.

A Harvard alumnus and a Fulbright scholar, John Lithgow began his career with Broadway and later also performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Known for his Emmy-winning performances in 3rd Rock from the Sun, Dexter, and The Crown, Lithgow is also an American Theater Hall of Fame inductee.

A prominent actor who was active in the entertainment industry for five decades, Robert Forster was known for his versatility. As a college student, he initially planned to study law but eventually changed his mind and ventured into acting. Dedicated to his profession with a passion, he continued working even after being diagnosed with cancer.

Swimmer Ryan Lochte has won 12 Olympic medals, including six golds, and is the joint-second-most-decorated swimmer in the history of Olympics. He is known for his expertise in freestyle, butterfly, backstroke, and individual categories. He was suspended for vandalism while in Brazil for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Jazz singer and dancer, Cab Calloway, was a famous vocalist of the swing era.  From the early 1930s to the late 1940s, he led a very popular band that included musicians like  Dizzy Gillespie, Jonah Jones, and Adolphus "Doc" Cheatham. A man of color, he became the first African-American musician to sell a million records from a single song.

Retired soccer player Abby Wambach is a two-time Olympic gold medalist. She is a FIFA Women's World Cup champion as well and a six-time winner of the U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year award. She retired in 2015 and was listed in that year’s Time 100 list as one of the most influential people in the world.

A major figure in the early-20th century international golf, American golfer Walter Hagen is often hailed as the father of professional golf for his contributions towards raising the stature of the game. The first golfer to earn one million dollars, he registered 58 wins including eleven major championships and made golf popular in the USA, with his flair and style.

Chyna was a professional wrestler, pornographic actress, bodybuilder, and glamour model. The first woman to take part in WWF's Royal Rumble match, Chyna set an important precedent as a powerful and dominant wrestler to the future female wrestlers. With victories over many popular male wrestlers, she was deemed the most dominant female wrestler of all time.

Wellington Mara co-owned the NFL team New York Giants, as he inherited the team from his father and the team’s founder, Tim Mara. The Giants players named him The Duke, as it was believed he was named after the Duke of Wellington. He died of lymphoma at age 89.

The progenitor of the Bush political family, James Smith Bush, was a jurist by training before he was drawn to divinity and ordained as a priest. He began his career as rector of the Grace Church in Orange, New Jersey. Later, he visited other parts of the country, writing several books on religion, most significant of them being Evidence of Religion.

Walter Rauschenbusch was an American Baptist pastor and theologian. He played an important role in the single tax and Social Gospel movements by propagating the importance of theology through his book A Theology for the Social Gospel which he published in 1917. Walter Rauschenbusch's work influenced prominent personalities like Martin Luther King Jr., Norman Thomas, Desmond Tutu, and James McClendon.