#1Science & Medicine
Drew Weissman
born 1959American physician-scientist
50 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
Famous people · Lexington
Performers stand out among the 25 famous people born in Lexington
Drew Weissman, the American physician-scientist, is the most widely known, written about in 50 languages. 9 of them were born between 1920 and 1969, more than in any other period. From John Hancock, Jr. to Dane DiLiegro, the births on the list run from 1702 to 1988. Fewer than a quarter of the 338 towns in Massachusetts with famous people list more.
Born here
25
notable people
Best known
Drew Weissman
in 50 Wikipedia languages
First
1702
John Hancock, Jr.
Youngest
1988
Dane DiLiegro
Most common field
Sports
6 people
Also called it home
14
notable residents
What stands out about Lexington’s famous people
★ What stands out · The best known
Born in Lexington
By how many languages cover them, Drew Weissman comes first (50), then Rachel Dratch (26) and Theodore Parker (23).
#1
#2Film, TV & Stage
Rachel Dratch
born 1966American actress and comedian
26 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
#3Faith
Theodore Parker
1810–1860American transcendentalist, abolitionist and reforming minister
23 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
Known for
What Lexington is known for
Ministers and preachers stand out most, at 7.2 times the usual share.
The usual town: the share across everyone born in the towns gathered so far. Tap a field to see its people.
Through the years
When Lexington’s famous people were born
No decade has more births than the 1900s, at 4.
SportsPolitics & LawFilm, TV & StageScience & MedicineFaithWriting & ArtsMilitary
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
Everyone
Everyone else born in Lexington
The rest number 22, with 6 athletes among them.
Dinny McNamara
1905–1963American football player and coach, Major League Baseball player
SportsWikipedia ↗
No one matches both filters.
A chosen home
Also called Lexington home
Born elsewhere, they lived here: 14 in all, led by Noam Chomsky.
Cecilia Helena Payne Gaposchkin
1900–1979British-born American astronomer
Science & MedicineWikipedia ↗
Abigail Thernstrom
1936–2020American political scientist, writer, academic
Science & MedicineWikipedia ↗
The town’s pick
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Next door
Famous people from the towns next door
Nearby, Waltham has the most on record, with 62.
From Wikidata and Wikipedia: people whose birthplace is Lexington and whose English Wikipedia article agrees, ranked by how many Wikipedia languages cover each person. People known mainly for crimes, and adult performers, aren’t listed. “The usual town” = everyone born in the towns gathered so far.
Photo credits (20)
- Drew Weissman: Thorne Media at 0:08 and 0:28, cropped, brightened, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Rachel Dratch: Philip Romano, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Theodore Parker: BPL, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- John Parker: Henry Hudson Kitson, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- George D. Robinson: Daniel J. Strain, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Nathan Cutler: unattributed, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Noam Chomsky: Augusto Starita / Ministerio de Cultura de la Nación, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- John Rawls: Published by the Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. Photograph taken by Alec Rawls, John's son. The portrait was uncredited on the original dust jacket, but Alec is identified as its photographer on the copyright page of the 1994 German-lang…, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Cecilia Helena Payne Gaposchkin: Smithsonian Institution/Science Service, restored by Adam Cuerden, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Jill Stein: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Jane Luu: Hsin-Jen Hsu, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- David R. Liu: ServiceAT, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Alyssa Goodman: Jackie Faherty, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Kenneth G. Wilson: The Nobel Prize, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Mark A. Milley: Chief Petty Officer Carlos M. Vazquez II and Benjamin Applebaum, U.S. Department of Defense, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Benjamin Thompson: Thomas Gainsborough, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Jean Rogers: trailer screenshot (MGM), Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Charles Hartwell: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Roderick MacKinnon: PotassiumChannel, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Neera Tanden: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons