List of Famous Black People – Actors, Celebrities, Inventors, Politicians, Musicians, Comedians, Authors, Singers
Below is the world’s largest database of the most famous black people in history – men and women – with their detailed biographies and pictures. The list includes famous black African Americans, Britishers and influential people from every region of the world, and in every field of work, including actors, celebrities, inventors, politicians and activists, leaders, musicians, comedians, dancers, models, artists, historians, scientists, entrepreneurs, sportsmen and more.
Feel free to browse the list and click a specific name to read about its details. The list can be seen either in an alphabetical order or it can be arranged category wise.
SORTED BY CATEGORIES
FAMOUS BLACK ACTIVISTS/ POLITICIANS
FAMOUS BLACK ACTORS/ ACTRESSES
FAMOUS BLACK ARTISTS/ PAINTERS/ PHOTOGRAPHERS
Jacob Lawrence | James Van Der Zee | Jean-Michel Basquiat |
FAMOUS BLACK ASTRONAUTS
FAMOUS BLACK AUTHORS/ WRITERS/ POETS
FAMOUS BLACK BUSINESSESMEN/ BUSINESSWOMEN/ ENTREPRENEURS
James Forten Madam C. J. Walker |
Oprah Winfrey Robert L. Johnson |
Russell Simmons Sheila Johnson |
FAMOUS BLACK COMEDIANS
Arsenio Hall Bernie Mac Chris Rock Damon Wayans |
Dave Chappelle Keenen Ivory Wayans Mo’Nique |
Paul Mooney Redd Foxx Richard Pryor |
FAMOUS BLACK DANCERS/ ENTERTAINERS
Arthur Mitchell Josephine Baker |
Judith Jamison Sammy Davis, Jr. |
Savion Glover |
FAMOUS BLACK DIRECTORS/ PRODUCERS
John Singleton | Lee Daniels | Spike Lee |
FAMOUS BLACK ENGINEERS
Lisa Jackson | Mark Dean | Otis Boykin |
FAMOUS BLACK EXPLORERS
FAMOUS BLACK HISTORIANS
John Hope Franklin | Kenneth Clark |
FAMOUS BLACK JOURNALISTS
Charlayne Hunter-Gault | Ida B. Wells | Ed Bradley |
FAMOUS BLACK LAWYERS/ JUDGES
Charles Hamilton Houston Clarence Thomas |
Johnnie Cochran | Thurgood Marshall |
FAMOUS BLACK MILITARY OFFICERS
Benjamin O. Davis | Daniel James | James Armistead |
FAMOUS BLACK MODELS
Kimora Lee Simmons | Naomi Campbell | Tyra Banks |
FAMOUS BLACK MUSICIANS/ SINGERS
FAMOUS BLACK PHILOSOPHERS
FAMOUS BLACK PRIESTS/ RELIGIOUS LEADERS
Alexander Crummell | Elijah Muhammad | Louis Farrakhan |
FAMOUS BLACK SCIENTISTS/ DOCTORS
FAMOUS BLACK SPORTSMEN/ SPORTSWOMEN/ ATHLETES
OTHERS
SORTED BY ALPHABETICAL ORDER
A
Adam Clayton Powell
Al Green
Al Jarreau
Al Roker
Al Sharpton
Alan Keyes
Albert King
Alex Haley
Alexander Crummell
Alexandre Dumas
Alice Walker
Alicia Keys
Althea Gibson
Alvin Ailey
Andrew Young
Angela Bassett
Aretha Franklin
Arsenio Hall
Arthur Ashe
Arthur Mitchell
August Wilson
B
B.B. King
Barack Obama
Barbara Jordan
Barry Bonds
Bayard Rustin
Bell Hooks
Ben Carson
Benjamin Banneker
Benjamin O. Davis
Benny Carter
Bernie Mac
Berry Gordy
Bessie Smith
Beyonce Knowles
Bill Cosby
Bill Russell
Billie Holiday
Bo Diddley
Bo Jackson
Bob Marley
Bobby Bland
Bobby Seale
Booker T. Washington
Buddy Guy
C
Cab Calloway
Carl Lewis
Carol Moseley Braun
Carter G. Woodson
Chaka Khan
Charlayne Hunter-Gault
Charles Barkley
Charles Chesnutt
Charles Drew
Charles Hamilton Houston
Charles Henry Turner
Charles Rangel
Charlie Parker
Charley Patton
Chris Brown
Chris Gayle
Chris Rock
Chubby Checker
Chuck Berry
Cicely Tyson
Clara Brown
Clarence Thomas
Claude McKay
Claudette Colvin
Colin Powell
Condoleezza Rice
Constance Baker Motley
Coretta Scott King
Cornel West
Count Basie
Countee Cullen
Cuba Gooding, Jr.
Curtis Mayfield
Cynthia McKinney
D
Daisy Bates
Damon Wayans
Daniel Hale Williams
Daniel James
Danny Glover
Darius Rucker
Dave Chappelle
David Dinkins
David Paterson
David Walker
Debbie Allen
Deion Sanders
Denmark Vesey
Denzel Washington
Diahann Carroll
Diana Ross
Dinah Washington
Dionne Warwick
Dizzy Gillespie
Djimon Hounsou
Don Cheadle
Dorothy Dandridge
Douglas Wilder
Dred Scott
Duke Ellington
E
Eartha Kitt
Ed Bradley
Eddie Murphy
Eleanor Holmes Norton
Elijah McCoy
Elijah Muhammad
Ella Baker
Ella Fitzgerald
Emmett Till
Eric Holder
Ernest Everett Just
Ernest Gaines
Esther Rolle
Etta James
Evander Holyfield
F
Fannie Lou Hamer
Fats Domino
Fats Waller
Florence Griffith-Joyner
Forest Whitaker
Freddie King
Frederick Douglass
G
Gabourey Sidibe
Garrett Morgan
Geoffrey Canada
George Clinton
George Foreman
George Washington Carver
Gladys Knight
Grandmaster Flash
Granville T. Woods
Gregory Hines
Guion Bluford
Gwendolyn Brooks
H
Halle Berry
Hank Aaron
Harriet Jacobs
Harriet Tubman
Harry Belafonte
Hattie McDaniel
Henry Louis Gates
Hiram Revels
Howlin’ Wolf
Huey Newton
I
J
Jackie Joyner-Kersee
Jackie Robinson
Jackie Wilson
Jacob Lawrence
Jam-Master Jay
James Armistead
James Baldwin
James Brown
James Earl Jones
James Forten
James Meredith
James Van Der Zee
James Weldon Johnson
James West
Jamie Foxx
Janet Jackson
Jay-Z
Jean Toomer
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Jelly Roll Morton
Jennifer Hudson
Jesse Jackson
Jesse L. Martin
Jim Brown
Jimi Hendrix
Joe Louis
John Archer
John Coltrane
John Hope Franklin
John Lee Hooker
John Legend
John Singleton
Johnnie Cochran
Josephine Baker
Joycelyn Elders
Judith Jamison
Julian Bond
Julius Erving
K
Kanye West
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Keenen Ivory Wayans
Kenneth Clark
Kimora Lee Simmons
Kofi Annan
Kweisi Mfume
L
Langston Hughes
Laurence Fishburne
Lauryn Hill
LaVar Burton
Lee Daniels
Lena Horne
Lewis Howard Latimer
Lisa Jackson
Little Richard
LL Cool J
Lonnie Johnson
Lorraine Hansberry
Lou Rawls
Louis Armstrong
Louis Farrakhan
Louis Gossett, Jr.
Louis Jordan
Ludacris
Luther Vandross
M
Ma Rainey
Madam C. J. Walker
Mae C. Jemison
Magic Johnson
Mahalia Jackson
Malcolm X
Marcus Garvey
Margaret Walker
Marian Anderson
Marian Wright Edelman
Marion Jones
Mark Dean
Martha Reeves
Martin Lawrence
Martin Luther King
Marva Collins
Marvin Gaye
Mary Church Terrell
Mary J. Blige
Mary McLeod Bethune
Mary Seacole
Matthew Henson
Maya Angelou
Medgar Evers
Mekhi Phifer
Michael Clarke Duncan
Michael Jackson
Michael Jordan
Miles Davis
Missy Elliott
Mo’Nique
Morgan Freeman
Mr. T
Muddy Waters
Muhammad Ali
N
Naomi Campbell
Nat King Cole
Nat Turner
Nelson Mandela
Nikki Giovanni
Nina Simone
O
Octavia Butler
Olaudah Equiano
Oprah Winfrey
Ossie Davis
Otis Boykin
Otis Redding
P
Patricia Bath
Patricia Roberts Harris
Patti LaBelle
Paul Laurence Dunbar
Paul Mooney
Paul Robeson
Paul Winfield
Percy Lavon Julian
Philip Randolph
Phillis Wheatley
Phylicia Rashad
Prince
Q
R
Ralph Abernathy
Ralph Bunche
Ralph Ellison
Ray Charles
Redd Foxx
Reggie Jackson
Richard Pryor
Richard Wright
Rick James
Rihanna
Rita Dove
Robert Hayden
Robert Johnson
Robert L. Johnson
Robert Weaver
Rosa Parks
Rubin Carter
Ruby Dee
Russell Simmons
Rutina Wesley
S
Sam Cooke
Sammy Davis, Jr.
Samuel Jackson
Satchel Paige
Savion Glover
Screamin’ Jay Hawkins
Sean Combs
Septima Clark
Serena Williams
Shaquille O’Neal
Sheila Johnson
Shirley Chisholm
Sidney Poitier
Sly Stone
Smokey Robinson
Snoop Dogg
Sojourner Truth
Solomon Burke
Spike Lee
Stevie Wonder
Stokely Carmichael
Sugar Ray Leonard
Sugar Ray Robinson
Susan Rice
T
Taye Diggs
Thelonious Monk
Thurgood Marshall
Tiger Woods
Timbaland
Tina Turner
Toni Morrison
Tupac Shakur
Tyler Perry
Tyra Banks
U
V
Vanessa Williams
Venus Williams
Viv Richards
W
W.C. Handy
W.E.B. DuBois
Walter Mosley
Walter Payton
Wayne Brady
Wendy Williams
Whitney Houston
Whoopi Goldberg
Will Smith
William Wells Brown
Willie Brown
Willie Mays
Wilma Rudolph
Wilson Pickett
Wilt Chamberlain
Wynton Marsalis