Founders, ballplayers, comedians and one actual princess, all out of the same city.
1Benjamin FranklinBoston-born, but he made Philadelphia his city and gave it a library, a hospital, a fire company and a university.
2Will SmithWest Philadelphia rapper turned Fresh Prince turned box-office fixture.
3Wilt ChamberlainScored 100 points in a single NBA game and grew up in West Philadelphia.
4Kobe BryantBorn in Philadelphia and raised on the Lower Merion courts before five NBA titles.
5Grace KellyPhiladelphia society daughter who won an Oscar and became Princess of Monaco.
6Marian AndersonContralto whose 1939 Lincoln Memorial concert became a civil rights landmark.
7Patti LaBellePhiladelphia soul singer with a six-decade run from Bluebelles to solo stardom.
8Noam ChomskyPhiladelphia-born linguist who rewrote the field and became a political dissident.
9Julius ErvingDr. J brought the 76ers a championship and made the dunk an art form.
10Kevin HartNorth Philadelphia comic who turned stand-up arenas into stadium shows.
11QuestloveDrummer and bandleader of The Roots, and an Oscar-winning documentary director.
12Thomas EakinsPainter of unsparing Philadelphia realism, including The Gross Clinic.
13Sylvester StalloneNot born there, but Rocky made his run up the Art Museum steps the city's own myth.
Comments 1
Thirteen Philadelphians, and the man who started the city's first library in 1731 runs against the actor who ran up the Art Museum steps: https://youpick.best/articles/benjamin-franklin-ranked-many-ways
YP
ypb-teamAug 21
