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List of famous left-handed people
List of famous and infamous left-handers. (See left-handedness and laterality)
Rulers/politicians
- Billy the Kid (Was once thought to be left handed due to the fact that the only known photograph of him, a tintype, was reversed. It is now generally assumed that he was right handed.)
- Boston Strangler (Albert Henry DiSalvo), serial killer
- John Dillinger, bank robber
- Jack the Ripper (although some doctors originally thought the wounds infilicted by this serial killer indicated a left-handed killer, they were basing this idea on a frontal attack when he could have, as most authorities now believe, attacked from behind or from the side when the woman was already on the ground)
- Osama bin Laden, leader of al-Qaeda
- Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
- Eminem, rapper
- Rosalind Ashford , (Martha and the Vandellas)
- Carl Philip Emmanuel Bach, composer
- Beethoven, composer
- David Byrne (Talking Heads)
- Glen Campbell
- Vicki Carr
- Natalie Cole
- Kurt Cobain (Nirvana)
- Phil Collins (Genesis)
- Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins)
- Dick Dale (guitarist)
- Don Everly (The Everly Brothers)
- Phil Everly (The Everly Brothers)
- John Flansburgh (They Might Be Giants, Mono Puff)
- Béla Fleck, jazz musician
- Glenn Frey (the Eagles)
- Eric Gale , guitarist
- Noel Gallagher guitarist, (Oasis)
- Errol Garner, jazz pianist
- Judy Garland
- Crystal Gayle
- Glen Graham , drummer (Blind Melon)
- Kevin Griffin, guitarist & lead singer (Better than Ezra)
- Thomas Hedley , vocalist/musician
- Jimi Hendrix, guitar player, singer
- Isaac Hayes
- Tony Iommi, guitarist (Black Sabbath)
- Albert King, guitarist
- Mark Knopfler, guitarist (Dire Straits, Notting Hillbillies )
- Melissa Manchester
- Chuck Mangione, trumpet
- Martina McBride (?), country music singer
- Paul McCartney (the Beatles; Wings)
- Maureen McGovern, vocalist/songwriter
- Christie Marie Melonson (opera)
- George Michael (Wham!)
- Mozart
- Peter Nero , conductor
- Joe Perry (?) (Aerosmith)
- Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin)
- Cole Porter, song-writer
- Sergei Rachmaninoff, composer
- Maurice Ravel (?), composer
- Lou Rawls
- John Lydon a.k.a. Johnny Rotten (Sex Pistols / Public Image Ltd.)
- Seal
- Paul Simon (Simon & Garfunkel)
- Michael Stipe (R.E.M.)
- Rich Szabo , trumpeter
- Tiny Tim
- Rudy Vallee
- Lenny White, drummer
- Paul Williams, song-writer
- Don Adams
- Dan Aykroyd
- Eddie Albert
- Jason Alexander
- Tim Allen
- June Allyson
- Sacha Baron Cohen, British comedian creator of Ali G
- Harry Anderson
- Amitabh Bachchan, Indian actor
- Herschel Bernardi
- Robert Blake
- Matthew Broderick
- Bruce Boxleitner
- Carol Burnett
- George Burns, comedian
- Ruth Buzzi, comedienne
- Sid Caesar, comedian
- James Cameron
- Keith Carradine
- Drew Carey
- Jim Carrey
- Khaled Chahrour , Egyptian actor
- Charlie Chaplin
- Victor Garber
- George Gobel, comedian
- Bruce Cockburn
- Dorothy Collins , Canadian singer
- Chuck Connors
- Hans Conried
- James Cromwell
- Tom Cruise- Writes right handed, but does most other things left handed
- Quinn Cummings
- Daniel Davis
- Bruce Davison
- Matt Dillon
- Marty Engels , comedian
- Olivia de Havilland
- Robert DeNiro
- Vincent D'Onofrio
- Michael Dorn
- Fran Drescher, comedian
- Richard Dreyfuss
- Georgia Engel
- W.C. Fields
- Larry Fine (?) (of the Three Stooges)
- Laurence Fishburne
- Peter Fonda
- David Foster, Canadian musician
- Greta Garbo
- Teri Garr
- Marla Gibbs
- Paul Michael Glaser
- Whoopi Goldberg
- Betty Grable
- Cary Grant
- Peter Graves
- Bruce Greenwood
- Mark Hamill
- Rex Harrison
- Goldie Hawn
- Joey Heatherton
- Tippi Hedren
- Jim Henson, puppeteer of Kermit the Frog
- Rock Hudson
- Scarlett Johansson
- Angelina Jolie
- Shirley Jones (?)
- Gabe Kaplan
- Danny Kaye
- Diane Keaton
- George Kennedy
- Nicole Kidman
- Lisa Kudrow
- Michael Landon
- Hope Lange
- Billy "Froggy" Laughlin
- Joey Lawrence
- Peter Lawford
- Cloris Leachman
- Roy LeRoi
- Hal Linden
- Cleavon Little
- Shirley MacLaine
- Dave Madden
- Andrew McCarthy
- Kristy McNichol
- Steve McQueen
- Howie Mandel, comedian
- Marcel Marceau, mime
- Harpo Marx
- Marsha Mason
- Mary Stuart Masterson
- Anne Meara, comedian
- Sasha Mitchell
- Meredith Monroe
- Rick Moranis
- Robert Morse
- Anthony Newley
- Kim Novak
- Ryan O'Neal
- Mary-Kate Olsen (twin-sister of Ashley Olsen)
- Gary Owens
- Sarah Jessica Parker
- Estelle Parsons
- Anthony Perkins
- Ron Perlman
- Luke Perry
- Bronson Pinchot
- Joe Piscopo, comedian
- Robert Preston
- Michael J. Pollard
- Marilyn Monroe
- Richard Pryor, comedian
- Robert Redford
- Keanu Reeves
- Don Rickles, comedian
- Julia Roberts
- Chris Rock
- Mickey Rourke
- Eva Marie Saint
- Telly Savalas
- Jean Seberg
- Jerry Seinfeld, comedian
- Christian Slater
- Dick Smothers, comedian
- Brent Spiner
- Sylvester Stallone (?)
- Terence Stamp
- Jessica Steen
- Rod Steiger
- Jon Stewart
- Terry-Thomas, comedian
- Alan Thicke
- Emma Thompson
- Rip Torn
- Peter Ustinov
- Brenda Vaccaro
- Karen Valentine
- Rudy Vallee
- Dick Van Dyke- Ambidextrous
- Graham Walker a.k.a. Grumbleweeds, English comedian
- Wil Wheaton
- Ian Whyte (from his performance as Scar Predator in Alien vs. Predator)
- James Whitmore
- David Walliams British comedian
- Treat Williams
- Bruce Willis
- William Windom
- Oprah Winfrey
- Mare Winningham
- Joanne Woodward
- Keenan Wynn
- Stephanie Zimbalist
Left-handedness is uniquely prized in baseball, especially among pitchers. Among speedy hitters, left-handedness is prized as the natural motion of swinging at a baseball gives you momentum running down the line to first; among power hitters, left-handedness is prized because left-handed hitters routinely hit right-handed pitchers better than right-handed hitters. The opposite side to this is that left-handed pitchers are like gold; it is frequently described as being near impossible to not find a major league job when you're a left-handed pitcher, no matter how old or limited your skills are, as enough left-handed sluggers have severe trouble hitting left-handed pitchers to make left-handed pitching valuable.
Position players
Pitchers
- Bonnie Arnold
- Reynaldo Grandee
- Kun-Fang Lee
- Steve Mizerak, Jr.
- Bill Allen
- Patrick Allen
- Earl Anthony
- Mike Aulby
- Steve Cook
- Patty Costello
- Dave Davis
- Cara Honeychurch
- Tish Johnson
- Johnny Petraglia
- Andy Varipapa
- Cécile Argiolas
- Laura Flessel-Colovic
- Fabrice Gazin
- Matthieu Gourdain
- Fabrice Jeannet
- Giuseppe Mangiarotti
- Hugues Obry
- Anne-Lise Touya
- Adeline Wuilleme
- Sir Bob Charles
- Russ Cochran
- Connie Decker
- Ben Hogan (played right-handed, but was actually left-handed)
- Phil Mickelson (plays left-handed, but is actually right-handed)
- Mike Weir (plays left-handed, but is actually right-handed)
- Bonny Bryant
Other sports
- Lord Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts (ambidextrous)
- Dwight F. Davis, founder of the Davis Cup in tennis
- Henry Ford, automobile manufacturer
- Matt Groening, Simpsons cartoonist (his characters, Bart Simpson, Montgomery Burns and Ned Flanders are all left handed. Flanders even had a "left handed store" for a brief time)
- Ken Jennings, all time Jeopardy! champion
- Joan of Arc (?), French saint
- Helen Keller, advocate for the blind
- John F. Kennedy, Jr., lawyer/publisher
- Jay Leno, TV host
- Lawrence Lessig, professor, activist, lawyer
- Marshall McLuhan
- David Rockefeller, banker
- John Romero, game designer
- Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr., General
- Ishihara Shintaro Governor of Tokyo and author
- Albert Einstein, scientist
- Lören GriçhŒk , famous wrestler and diplomat
See Also
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