The 13 Greatest Philadelphians of All Time
Founders, ballplayers, comedians and one actual princess, all out of the same city.
1Benjamin Franklin
Boston-born, but he made Philadelphia his city and gave it a library, a hospital, a fire company and a university.
2Will Smith
West Philadelphia rapper turned Fresh Prince turned box-office fixture.
3Wilt Chamberlain
Scored 100 points in a single NBA game and grew up in West Philadelphia.
4Kobe Bryant
Born in Philadelphia and raised on the Lower Merion courts before five NBA titles.
5Grace Kelly
Philadelphia society daughter who won an Oscar and became Princess of Monaco.
6Marian Anderson
Contralto whose 1939 Lincoln Memorial concert became a civil rights landmark.
7Patti LaBelle
Philadelphia soul singer with a six-decade run from Bluebelles to solo stardom.
8Noam Chomsky
Philadelphia-born linguist who rewrote the field and became a political dissident.
9Julius Erving
Dr. J brought the 76ers a championship and made the dunk an art form.
10Kevin Hart
North Philadelphia comic who turned stand-up arenas into stadium shows.
11Questlove
Drummer and bandleader of The Roots, and an Oscar-winning documentary director.
12Thomas Eakins
Painter of unsparing Philadelphia realism, including The Gross Clinic.
13Sylvester Stallone
Not born there, but Rocky made his run up the Art Museum steps the city's own myth.
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