Lists of Canadians
Famous people from Canada:
Authors:
- Margaret Atwood - author
- Leonard Cohen - poet/singer
- Douglas Coupland - author
- Arthur Hailey - author
- Stephen Leacock - author/humorist
- Dennis Lee - writer of children's poetry
- Lucy Maude Montgomery - Anne of Green Gables
- Robert Munsch - American-born writer of children's books
- Mordecai Richler - author
- Gabrielle Roy - author
- (See: List of novelists Canada, List of Canadian writers)
Business Personalities:
- Max Aitken - "Lord Beaverbrook" - publishing baron, entrepreneur
- Conrad Black - "Lord Black of Crossharbour", entrepreneur, publisher,
- Robert Campeau - bankrupted Bloomingdale's Department Store, NYC
- Jack Kent Cooke - owner of the Washington Redskins
- Samuel Cunard - Cunard Steamship Lines
- Paul Desmarais - Chairman: Power Corporation of Canada
- Bernie Ebbers - CEO (former) of WorldCom - largest bankruptcy in world history
- Alfred Fuller - Fuller Brush Company
- Milton and Nelson Good - first Canadian Automobile
- K.C. Irving - Industrialist
- Louis B. Mayer - co-founder: MGM Studios
- Harrison McCain - French Fries
- Sam McLaughlin - Buick Automobile Manufacturer
- Jimmy Pattison
- Paul Reichmann - sunk by Canary Wharf
- John Roth - CEO (former) Nortel Networks - "the most successful businessman in modern Canadian history"....Time Europe 12/25/00
- E.P. Taylor - entrepreneur, thoroughbred horse breeder
- Jack Warner - founder: Warner Bros. Studios
Criminals
- Paul Bernardo
- Carla Homolka -- (Mrs. Paul Bernardo)
- Clifford Olson -- convicted child serial killer
- Robert Pickton -- charged with largest number of serial killings in Canadian history, and still counting
Humanitarians:
Inventors:
- Alexander Graham Bell - Invented the telephone in Canada, developed it in US. (Canadian/American/Scot)
- Joseph-Armand Bombardier - invented the snowmobile
- J. Brown - invented the washing machine
- Thomas Carroll - first self-propelled combine harvester
- Mathew Evans - co-inventor of the first electric light bulb
- Charles Fenerty - pulp to paper process
- Reginald Fessenden - inventor the Radiotelephone and sonar - produced 1st radio broadcast
- Sir Sandford Fleming - inventor of the system of time zones in use today
- James Gosling - invented Java computer language
- Larry Hanson - co-inventor of green plastic garbage bag
- Rasmus Lerdorf - invented PHP computer language used on internet
- Samuel McKeen - invented the Odometer
- Gideon Sundback - invented the zipper
- Harry Wasyluk - co-inventor of green plastic garbage bag
- Henry Woodward - co-inventor of the first electric light bulb
Motion Pictures, Radio, & Television:
- Pamela Anderson - actress
- Dan Aykroyd - actor
- Karen Black - actress
- Raymond Burr - actor
- James Cameron - director
- Neve Campbell - actress
- John Candy - actor
- Jim Carrey - actor
- Tommy Chong - actor
- David Cronenberg - director
- Hume Cronyn - actress
- Yvonne De Carlo - actress
- Colleen Dewhurst - actress
- Dudley Do-Right - cartoon character
- James Doohan - actor
- Atom Egoyan - director (The Sweet Hereafter)
- David Foley - actor
- Michael J. Fox - actor
- Tom Green - actor
- Lorne Greene - actor (Pa Cartwright on Bonanza), TV news anchor
- Peter Gzowski -- radio personality
- Phil Hartman - actor
- Foster Hewitt - broadcaster
- Arthur Hiller - winner of 2001 Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Oscar
- Monty Hall - game show host
- Peter Jennings - News anchor
- Norman Jewison - director, received The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award
- Margot Kidder - actress - "Superman's Lois Lane"
- René Lecavalier -- broadcaster
- Eugene Levy - actor
- Art Linkletter - TV personality
- Rich Little - impressionist
- Robert MacNeil - journalist: "PBS- MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour"
- Lorne Michaels - originator of Saturday Night Live
- Rick Moranis - actor
- Mike Myers - actor
- Leslie Nielsen - actor
- Catherine O'Hara - actress
- Sidney Olcott - (1873-1949) - directed (1907) Ben-Hur
- Mary Pickford - actress and producer
- Christopher Plummer - actor
- Keanu Reeves - actor
- Ivan Reitman - Director/Producer
- Morely Safer - journalist: "60 Minutes"
- Frank Schuster - comedian
- Mack Sennett - movie director
- William Shatner - actor
- Martin Short - actor
- Jay Silverheels - actor: "Tonto"
- Dorothy Stratten (1960-1980) - Playboy Playmate & Actress
- Donald Sutherland - actor
- Kiefer Sutherland - actor
- Terrance & Phillip - cartoon characters
- Dave Thomas - actor
- Alex Trebek - game show host
- Johnny Wayne - comedian
- Fay Wray - actress
Musicians:
- Bryan Adams - singer
- Paul Anka - singer
- Randy Bachman - singer
- Barenaked Ladies - singing group
- Liona Boyd - classical guitarist
- Burton Cummings - singer
- Rick Danko - musician in "The Band"
- Celine Dion - singer
- Denny Doherty - singer in The Mamas and the Papas
- David Foster - composer
- Nelly Furtado - singer
- Glenn Gould - pianist, composer
- Paul Horn - flute player
- Garth Hudson - musician in "The Band"
- k.d. lang - singer
- Avril Lavigne - singer/songwriter
- Geddy Lee - singer, bassist, keyboardist
- Gordon Lightfoot - singer
- Guy Lombardo - Big Band Leader
- Richard Manuel - musician in "The Band"
- Loreena McKennitt - singer
- Sarah McLachlan - singer
- Don Messer - fiddler
- Joni Mitchell - singer
- Alanis Morissette - singer
- Anne Murray - singer
- Oscar Peterson - (1925- ) jazz pianist
- Robbie Robertson - musician in "The Band"
- Stan Rogers - folk musician
- Paul Shaffer - Musical director "Letterman" show
- Hank Snow - country & western singer
- Shania Twain - singer
- Gilles Vigneault -- singer
- Neil Young - singer
Political Leaders:
(See list: Prime Minister of Canada)
- Henri Bourassa
- George-Étienne Cartier
- Lord Durham (John George Lambton)
- C.D. Howe
- Joseph Howe
- René Lévesque
- Louis Riel
Scholars:
- Louise Arbour - Jurist
- John Kenneth Galbraith - economist
- Marshall McLuhan - Communications theorist, "The medium is the message"
- James Naismith - Teacher who also invented the game of Basketball
Scientists:
- Sid Altman - Molecular Biology
- Frederick Banting - medical scientist, co-discovered insulin
- Charles Best - medical scientist, co-discovered insulin
- Wilfred Bigelow - first artificial pacemaker
- Bertram Brockhouse - designed the Triple-Axis Neutron Spectroscope
- Charles Edward Saunders - Marquis Wheat
- David Suzuki - Geneticist and science popularizer
For a more detailed list of renowned Canadian scientists, including Nobel Prize winners, see the outside link:
Sports Personalities:
- Donovan Bailey - Olympic Gold Medalist
- Marilyn Bell - first person to swim Lake Ontario
- Tommy Burns - World Heavyweight Boxing Champion
- Marc Gagnon - Canada's most successful Olympic athlete
- Wayne Gretzky - hockey player
- Paul Henderson - scored the most famous goal in the history of hockey
- Gordie Howe hockey player
- Ferguson Jenkins - professional baseball player
- Ben Johnson - disgraced Olympic Gold Medalist
- Joseph Lannin - Owner of the Boston Red Sox who signed Babe Ruth
- Bronko Nagurski (1908-1990) -- Chicago Bears - NFL Hall of Fame
- Steve Nash - professional basketball player
- Northern Dancer - Canada's most successful and beloved race horse
- Bobby Orr - hockey player
- Terry Puhl - professional baseball player
- Maurice Richard - hockey player
- Barbara Ann Scott - Olympic Gold Medalist - Figure Skating
- Matt Stairs - professional baseball player
- Ron Turcotte - jockey:Secretariat
- Gilles Villeneuve - Formula One race car driver
- Jacques Villeneuve - Formula One race car driver
- Barbara Wagner & Bob Paul - Olympic Gold Medalists - Pairs Figure Skating
- Larry Walker - professional baseball player
Other Personalities:
- Scott Abbott - co-inventor of Trivial Pursuit
- Terry Fox - cancer victim & activist
- Chris Haney - co-inventor of Trivial Pursuit
- Karen Kain - ballerina
- Yousuf Karsh - photographer
- Edgar Randolph Parker - better known as "Painless" Parker - flamboyant dentist
- Bat Masterson - (1853-1921) gunfighter, fight promoter, sports journalist
- Joe Shuster - creator of Superman
- William Grant Stairs - Victorian Explorer
- Winnie the Pooh - aka Winnipeg the Bear who inspired Milne
Famous Canadian Cemeteries
- Mount Pleasant Cemetery -- Toronto, Ontario
- Fairview Cemetery -- Halifax, Nova Scotia (the Titanic Cemetery)
See also: Biographical Listing