List of Italian Americans

This is a list of notable Italian Americans.

Anarchists

 * Luigi Galleani (1861–1931)
 * Arturo Giovannitti (1884–1959) - union leader and poet
 * Nicola Sacco (1891-1927)
 * Bartolomeo Vanzetti (1888–1927)
 * Carlo Tresca (1879–1943)

Architects

 * Vito Acconci
 * Pietro Belluschi
 * Giorgio Cavaglieri
 * Mario J. Ciampi
 * Neil Denari
 * Romaldo Giurgola
 * Michael Manfredi
 * Rosaria Piomelli
 * George Ranalli
 * Mario Salvadori
 * Lawrence Scarpa
 * Ricardo Scofidio
 * Paolo Soleri
 * Robert Venturi

Comic artists, cartoonists, illustrators

 * Brian Azzarello - comic book writer
 * Joseph Barbera (1911–2006) - animator, cartoon artist, storyboard artist, director, producer, and co-founder, together with William Hanna, of Hanna-Barbera
 * Timothy D. Bellavia (born 1971) - children's illustrator, author and founder of the We Are All The Same Inside - Sage doll-making workshop
 * Ivan Brunetti (born 1967) - cartoonist and comics author
 * John Buscema (1927–2002) - comic-book artist and one of the mainstays of Marvel Comics during its 1960s and 1970s ascendancy into an industry leader and its subsequent expansion to a major pop culture conglomerate
 * Greg Capullo (born 1962) - comic book artist
 * Anthony Flamini (born 1978) comic book writer
 * Frank Frazetta (1928–2010) - one of the world's most influential fantasy and science fiction artists
 * Bill Gallo (born 1922) - cartoonist and newspaperman
 * Dick Giordano (born 1932) - comic book artist and editor
 * Frank Giacoia (1925–1989) - comic book artist
 * Carmine Infantino (born 1925) - comic book artist and editor who was a major force in the Silver Age of Comic Books
 * Walter Lantz (1900–1994) - cartoonist and animator, founded the Walter Lantz Studio, created Woody Woodpecker
 * Bob Montana (1920–1975) - comic strip artist who created the characters that launched Archie comics
 * Joe Orlando (1927–1998) - illustrator, writer, editor and cartoonist
 * Jimmy Palmiotti - writer and artist of various comics, games and film
 * Leo Politi (1908–1996) - artist and author who wrote and illustrated some 20 children's books
 * John Romita, Sr. (born 1930) - comic book artist known for his work on Marvel Comics' The Amazing Spider-Man
 * Don Rosa (born 1951) - comic book artist for Disney Comics
 * Eric Stefani (born 1967) - pop musician, former Simpsons animator, and Grammy-nominated composer and writer
 * Jim Valentino (born 1952) - writer, penciler and editor of comic books
 * Gerard Way (born 1977) - comic book writer; frontman of the American rock band My Chemical Romance

Digital artists and illustrators

 * Louise Fili (born 1951) - graphic designer, 2014 American Institute of Graphic Arts Medalist
 * Fred Marcellino (1939–2001) - illustrator

Painters

 * Ettore DeGrazia
 * Robert De Niro, Sr. (1922–1993) - abstract expressionist, father of actor Robert De Niro, Jr.
 * Robert Longo
 * Tony Sisti (1901–1983) - painter and boxer
 * Frank Stella (born 1936) - painter and printmaker
 * Joseph Stella (1877–1946) - futurist painter known for his depictions of industrial America

Photographers

 * Lynsey Addario (1973-) - photojournalist known for her coverage of women in war-torn countries.
 * Severo Antonelli (1907–1995) - legendary figure in Philadelphia Italian American history and the subject of one of the largest ever one-man shows at the Smithsonian Institution
 * Franco A. "Frank" Barsotti (1937–2012) photographer and professor emeritus from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
 * Justin Guariglia (1974–) - photographer and contributing editor to National Geographic Traveler, and a regular contributor to Smithsonian Magazine
 * Luis Marden (1913–2003) - photographer, explorer, writer, filmmaker, diver, navigator, and linguist who worked for National Geographic magazine
 * Nick Saglimbeni - photographer 3D
 * Francesco Scavullo (1921–2004) - fashion photographer known for his work on the covers of Cosmopolitan magazine and his celebrity portraits
 * Mario Sorrenti (born 1971) - fashion photographer

Sculptors

 * Vincent Cavallaro
 * Jasper D'Ambrosi
 * John DeAndrea
 * Joe De Santis
 * Arturo Di Modica
 * Mark Di Suvero
 * Virginio Ferrari
 * Corrado Parducci
 * Piccirilli Brothers
 * Italo Scanga - neo-Dadaist

Food

 * Joe Bastianich - chef
 * Lidia Bastianich - chef
 * Buddy Valastro - chef
 * Hector Boyardee - famous for his Chef Boyardee brand of food products
 * Caesar Cardini - creator of the Caesar salad
 * Michael Chiarello - American celebrity chef specializing in Italian-influenced California cuisine
 * Giada De Laurentiis - host of the Food Network program Everyday Italian
 * Gina Keatley - chef and television personality; influenced charities in New York City
 * Sirio Maccioni- restaurateur and author
 * Rachael Ray - Food Network- chef and Emmy-winning television personality
 * Nick Stellino - chef and television personality
 * Carlo Vaccarezza- restaurateur

Inventors

 * Anthony Adducci (1937–2006) - pioneer of the medical device industry in Minnesota; best known for founding Guidant Corp. precursor Cardiac Pacemakers, inc., now part of Boston Scientific, the company that manufactured the world's first lithium battery-powered artificial pacemaker
 * Giuseppe Mario Bellanca
 * Enea Bossi
 * Lorenzo Del Riccio-Inventor of fotofinish camera
 * Daniel DiLorenzo
 * Gerard J. Foschini
 * Domingo Ghirardelli
 * The Jacuzzi family - developed the deep well water pump that led to the famous whirlpool bath
 * Antonio Meucci (born 1808) - credited by the Congress of the United States with the invention of the telephone
 * Lorenzo Ponza- inventor of the modern baseball pitching machine
 * Francis Rogallo - engineer at NASA, designed the Rogallo wing, which found its greatest success in hang gliders and kites
 * Andrew Toti
 * Dr. Andrew Viterbi (born 1935) - billionaire, cofounder of Qualcomm, inventor of the Viterbi algorithm
 * Frank Zamboni- inventor of the modern ice resurfacer

Jurists

 * Samuel Alito - Supreme Court Associate Justice
 * Vincent Bugliosi - successfully prosecuted Charles Manson; an expert on the John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy assassinations
 * Ann Marie Calabria - judge on the North Carolina Court of Appeals
 * Frank Caprio - Chief Judge of the Providence Municipal Court
 * William J. Castagna - judge on the United States District Court
 * Richard J. Daronco - assassinated judge of the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York
 * Victoria A. Graffeo - Associate Judge of the New York Court of Appeals
 * Jaynee LaVecchia - Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey
 * Frank Pallone- lawyer
 * Antonin Scalia - Supreme Court Associate Justice
 * John Sirica - judge most famous for presiding over the Watergate hearings

Law enforcement figures

 * Joseph Arpaio (born 1932 in Springfield, Massachusetts) - law enforcement officer, most notably as the Sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona; the child of immigrants from Lacedonia
 * Michael D'Andrea- Officer of the Central Intelligence Agency, appointed to head the Agency's Iran Mission Center
 * Pete DeFazio
 * Gil Garcetti (born 1941)- Los Angeles County's 40th district attorney
 * Joseph D. Pistone - undercover FBI agent who went undercover as Donnie Brasco and infiltrated the Bonanno crime family.
 * Louis Freeh (born 1950 in Jersey City, New Jersey) - Director of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from 1993 to 2001
 * Rudolph Giuliani - early career was a US attorney in S.D.N.Y., prosecuting high-profile cases, including Cosa Nostra cases
 * Dan Mitrione- Italian-born American police officer, FBI agent, and U. S. government advisor for the CIA in Latin America.
 * Frank Rizzo
 * Frank Serpico
 * Joe Petrosino - NYCPD lieutenant in charge of the Italian Squad, an elite corps of Italian-American detectives formed to fight the Mafia
 * Charles Joseph Bonaparte - member of Theodore Roosevelt's Cabinet and founder of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

Journalism (print and multimedia)

 * Melissa Anelli - resident of Staten Island, journalist at Staten Island Advance and webmaster of The Leaky Cauldron
 * Maria Bartiromo - financial reporter
 * Joe Benigno - WFAN sports radio personality
 * David Brancaccio - journalist
 * Harry Caray (1914–1998) - born Harry Christopher Carabina, sports broadcaster, did play-by-play for the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago White Sox, and most famously the Chicago Cubs; Cubs win! Cubs win!
 * Matt Casamassina - video game journalist working for IGN
 * Danny Casolaro - freelance journalist
 * Igor Cassini - journalist
 * Chris Cimino - co-host of Today in New York on WNBC, the NBC affiliate in New York City
 * Kellyanne Conway - president and CEO of The Polling Company Inc./Woman Trend, and has been a political commentator on CNN, Fox News, Fox Business, and more.
 * Anthony Cumia - "Anthony" of the Opie and Anthony show
 * Rick Francona - NBC military analyst
 * Michael Gargiulo - co-host of Today in New York on WNBC, the NBC affiliate in New York City
 * Megyn Kelly - Fox News Channel political commentator and former corporate defense attorney
 * Kyle Kulinski - Progressive commentator and host of the YouTube and radio show Secular Talk.
 * Charlotte Laws - author, columnist, political commentator, former politician, animal rights advocate, anti-revenge porn activist (known as the "Erin Brockovich of revenge porn").
 * Steve Lopez - journalist; a columnist for the Los Angeles Times since 2001; the son of Spanish and Italian immigrants
 * Ann Nocenti -  journalist, writer and editor, known for her work on comic books and magazines
 * Dana Perino - political commentator and author who served as the 26th White House Press Secretary, serving under President George W. Bush
 * Generoso Pope Jr. (1927–1988) -  founder of the National Enquirer
 * Tony Rizzo - sports anchor with WJW-TV, the Fox affiliate in Cleveland
 * Allison Rosati - WMAQ-TV nightly anchor – maternal Italian ancestry
 * Lauren Scala - co-host of Today in New York on WNBC, the NBC affiliate in New York City
 * Elaine Sciolino - Paris bureau chief of The New York Times
 * Al Giordano - political commentator, and former anti-nuclear and environmental activist.

Military

 * Sgt. John Basilone - USMC, Medal of Honor recipient of World War II
 * Major John Belli - the Quartermaster General of the U.S. Army from 1792 to 1794
 * Corporal Anthony Casamento - USMC, Medal of Honor recipient of World War II
 * Lieutenant General Peter W. Chiarelli
 * Lieutenant General Joseph P. DiSalvo, Military Deputy Commander of United States Southern Command
 * Col. Luigi Palma di Cesnola - Civil War Union Cavalry officer, and Medal of Honor recipient.
 * Lt Col Rick Francona - U S Air Force officer
 * Major Don Gentile (Dominic Salvatore Gentile) (1920–1951) - U S Air Force officer
 * Edmund P. Giambastiani - Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
 * Giovanni Martini - trumeter; only member of Custer's army to leave the site of the Battle of the Little Big Horn alive
 * General Raymond T. Odierno - incumbent Chief of Staff of the United States Army
 * Peter Pace - USMC, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
 * Antonio Pierro - lived to be one of the oldest surviving veterans of World War I
 * Joseph L. Romano
 * Walter Schirra- naval officer and aviator, aeronautical engineer, test pilot, and one of the original seven astronauts chosen for Project Mercury.
 * Maj. Gen. Francis D. Vavala - Adjutant General, Delaware Army National Guard
 * Humbert Roque Versace - United States Army officer and POW in Vietnam
 * Gen. Anthony Zinni - USMC, former Commander in Chief of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM)

Diplomats

 * Richard F. Celeste - U.S. Ambassador to India, 1997–2001
 * Paul Cellucci - U.S. Ambassador to Canada, 2001–2005
 * Peter Cianchette - U.S. Ambassador to Costa Rica, 2008–
 * Luigi R. Einaudi - acting Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS)
 * Thomas M. Foglietta - U.S. Ambassador to Italy, 1997–2001
 * John J. Maresca - U.S. Ambassador, United States Delegation to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, 1992–1994
 * Joseph A. Mussomeli - U.S. Ambassador to The Philippines; Ambassador to Cambodia, 2005–2008;
 * Francis J. Ricciardone, Jr. - U.S. Ambassador to The Philippines and Republic of Palau, 2002–2005; Ambassador to Egypt, 2005–2008; and Deputy Ambassador to Afghanistan, 2008–
 * Peter F. Secchia - U.S. Ambassador to Italy, 1989–1993
 * Ronald P. Spogli - U.S. Ambassador to Italy and first U.S. Ambassador to San Marino, 2005–2009

Governors and former governors

 * John Baldacci - former governor of Maine (2003–2011)
 * Donald Carcieri - former governor of Rhode Island (2003–2011)
 * Dick Celeste - former governor of Ohio (1983–1991)
 * Argeo Paul Cellucci - former governor of Massachusetts (1997–2001)
 * Chris Christie - former governor of New Jersey (2010-2018)
 * Andrew Cuomo - governor of New York (2010–present)
 * Mario Cuomo - former governor of New York (1983–1994)
 * Edward D. DiPrete - former governor of Rhode Island (1985–1991)
 * Michael DiSalle - former governor of Ohio (1959–1963)
 * James Florio - former governor of New Jersey (1990–1994)
 * Foster Furcolo - former governor of Massachusetts (1957–1961)
 * Ella T. Grasso - former governor of Connecticut (1975–1980); first woman to be elected governor without following a husband
 * Andrew H. Longino - former governor of Mississippi (1900–1904)
 * Janet Napolitano - former governor of Arizona (2003–2009)
 * John Orlando Pastore - former governor of Rhode Island
 * William Paca - signer of the American Declaration of Independence, member of the Continental Congress, governor of Maryland, Federal District Judge
 * George Pataki - former governor of New York (1995–2006)
 * Albert Rosellini - former governor of Washington State (1957 - 1965)
 * Al Smith - former governor of New York (1919–1921; 1923–1929)
 * John A. Volpe - former governor of Massachusetts (1961–1963; 1965–1969)
 * Gina Raimondo - governor of Rhode Island

Mayors and former mayors

 * Bill de Blasio (b. 1961) - mayor of New York City (2014-present).
 * Hugh Addonizio (1914–1981) - mayor of Newark, New Jersey, 1962–1970
 * Joseph Alioto (1916–1998) - mayor of San Francisco, 1968–1976
 * Thomas L. J. D'Alesandro, Jr. (1903–1987) - mayor of Baltimore, Maryland, 1947–1959; prior to being mayor, he was a representative from Maryland's 3rd congressional district (1939–47); father of U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi
 * Luigi Boria (b. 1958)– mayor of Doral, Florida, (2012-2016). He was born in Caracas, Venezuela.
 * Richard Caliguiri (1931–1988) - mayor of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1978–1988
 * Anthony Celebrezze (1910–1998) - mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, 1953–1962
 * Vincent Cianci, Jr (b. 1941) - mayor of Providence, Rhode Island, 1975–1984 and 1991–2002
 * David Cicilline (b. 1961) - mayor of Providence, Rhode Island, 2003-; Jewish mother
 * John DeStefano, Jr. (b. 1955) - mayor of New Haven, Connecticut, since 1993
 * Frank Fasi (b. 1920) - Mayor of Honolulu, Hawaii, 1969–1981 and 1984–1994
 * Eric Garcetti (b. 1971) - mayor of Los Angeles, California, since 2013.
 * Philip Giordano (b. 1963) – mayor of Waterbury, Connecticut, 1995–2001 when was arrested for municipal corruption and convicted of sex offender. He was born in Caracas, Venezuela.
 * Rudolph Giuliani (b. 1944) - Mayor of New York, 1994–2001
 * Dick A. Greco (b. 1933) - mayor of Tampa, Florida, 1967–1974 and 1995–2003
 * Pam Iorio (b. 1959) - Mayor of Tampa, Florida, since 2003
 * Vincent R. Impellitteri (1900–1987) - Mayor of New York, 1950–1953
 * Fiorello La Guardia (1882–1947) - Mayor of New York, 1934–1945; both parents Italian-born; father lapsed Catholic; mother Jewish
 * Anthony M. Masiello (b. 1947) - mayor of Buffalo, New York, 1994–2005
 * Thomas Menino (1942–2014) - Mayor of Boston, Massachusetts, 1993–2014
 * Robert Maestri (1899–1974) - mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana, 1936–1946
 * George Moscone (1929–1978) - mayor of San Francisco, 1976–1978
 * Frank Rizzo (1920–1991) - mayor of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1972–1980
 * Angelo Rossi (1878–1948) - mayor of San Francisco, 1931–1944
 * Victor Schiro (1904–1992) - mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana, 1961–1970
 * Frank A. Sedita (1907–1975) - mayor of Buffalo, New York 1958–1961, 1966–1973
 * Aldo Tatangelo (1913 – 2008)- mayor of Laredo, Texas, 1978–1990

Prelates

 * Msgr. Geno Baroni (1930–1984) - the Catholic Coordinator for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
 * Francis X. DiLorenzo (born 1942) - the twelfth bishop of the Diocese of Richmond in Virginia
 * John Clement Favalora -  Archbishop of the Latin Rite Archdiocese of Miami
 * Fr. Stan Fortuna - Roman Catholic priest
 * James Groppi - Roman Catholic priest and noted civil rights activist
 * Francis Mugavero - first Italian-American Bishop of Brooklyn, 1968–1990
 * Anthony M. Pilla - bishop of the Cleveland Catholic Diocese, 1979–2006
 * Joseph Rosati - the first Bishop of the Diocese of Saint Louis

Cardinals

 * Joseph Louis Bernardin (1928-1996), Archbishop of Cincinnati, Archbishop of Chicago
 * Anthony Joseph Bevilacqua (1923–2012), served as Bishop of Pittsburgh and Archbishop of Philadelphia
 * Daniel Nicholas DiNardo (born 1949), Archbishop of Galveston-Houston
 * Justin Francis Rigali (born 1935), Archbishop of Philadelphia

Scientists

 * Aristides Agramonte- bacteriologist
 * Eugenio Calabi - mathematician
 * Charles DeLisi
 * Renato Dulbecco - Nobel prize winner for medicine.
 * Federico Faggin - widely known for designing the first commercial microprocessor.
 * Robert Fano (born 1917) - computer scientist
 * Ugo Fano (1912–2001) - physicist
 * Anthony Fauci - immunologist contributing to research in the areas of AIDS and other immunodeficiencies
 * Enrico Fermi (1901–1954) - physicist. Nobel Prize 1938
 * Robert Gallo- virologist
 * Albert Ghiorso - nuclear scientist who helped discover several chemical elements on the periodic table
 * Riccardo Giacconi
 * Louis Ignarro
 * Robert Lanza
 * Paul J. Lioy - exposure science
 * Mariangela Lisanti - theoretical physicist
 * Salvador Luria
 * Mike Massimino - astronaut
 * Fulvio Melia - physicist, astrophysicist, and author
 * Antonio Meucci - telephone inventor
 * Rita Levi-Montalcini
 * Franco Modigliani
 * Lisa Marie Nowak - born Lisa Marie Caputo; astronaut
 * William Daniel Phillips
 * Sam Potolicchio - psychologist specializing in government
 * Bruno Rossi
 * Gian-Carlo Rota
 * Jack Sarfatti
 * Piero Scaruffi (born 1955) - cognitive scientist
 * Walter Schirra -  astronaut
 * Emilio Segrè - Nobel Prize-winning physicist and academic
 * Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza (born 1922) - geneticist
 * Giuliana Tesoro (1921–2002) - organic chemist
 * Andrew Viterbi
 * Philip Zimbardo

Academics

 * Mario Capecchi - University of Utah
 * John D. Caputo
 * James Carafano
 * Frank A. Cipriani
 * Thomas A. DeFanti
 * John J. DeGioia - President of Georgetown University
 * Frank J. Fabozzi
 * A. Bartlett Giamatti (1938–1989) - President of Yale University, later Major League Baseball commissioner; Italian father
 * Robert Gallucci - Dean of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University
 * Lino Graglia - University of Texas in Austin
 * Paul J. Lioy - University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
 * Robert Magliola - academic specialist in hermeneutics, philosophy, and religious studies
 * Mariana Mazzucato
 * Silvio Micali - Professor of Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, distinguished for his work on cryptography
 * Fulvio Melia - Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Arizona in Tucson
 * Franco Modigliani - MIT economics professor and winner of the 1985 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics
 * L. Jay Oliva - former President of New York University (NYU) and author of many books on European and Russian history
 * Camille Paglia - professor at humanities at the University of the Arts
 * P. M. Pasinetti - professor of comparative literature and Italian at UCLA
 * Walter Piston - professor of Music at Harvard University 1926-1960. Pulitzer Prize winner 1948 and 1961

Writers

 * Paul Attanasio, screenwriter
 * Ken Auletta - writer/journalist and media critic for The New Yorker
 * David Baldacci (1960–) - best-selling novelist; a distant cousin of John Baldacci, former governor of Maine
 * Andrew Berardini - art critic and fiction writer
 * Greg Berlanti - television writer and producer
 * Giannina Braschi - poet and novelist
 * Leo Buscaglia (1924–1998) - author and motivational speaker
 * Duane Capizzi - screenwriter
 * Lorenzo Carcaterra - novelist and screenwriter
 * Christopher Carosa - (born 1960) author, journalist, and investment adviser
 * John Ciardi - poet and etymologist
 * Diablo Cody - screenwriter, producer, author, journalist, memoirist, stripper and exotic dancer
 * Angelo F. Coniglio - civil engineer, genealogist and author
 * Gregory Corso - poet
 * John Corvino - philosopher
 * Lorenzo Da Ponte - poet, writer, librettist
 * William L. DeAndrea - mystery writer
 * Keith R. A. DeCandido
 * Don DeLillo (1936–) - author
 * Guy Anthony De Marco - author
 * Tomie dePaola - author
 * Louise DeSalvo - writer, editor, professor, and lecturer
 * Pietro Di Donato - writer
 * John Fante - novelist and screenwriter
 * Lawrence Ferlinghetti - poet, essayist and painter
 * David Franzoni - screenwriter of Gladiator and King Arthur
 * John Fusco - novelist (Paradise Salvage) and screenwriter of Young Guns, Hidalgo, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron
 * Paul Gallico - Italian father
 * Daniela Gioseffi (1941– ) - poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, performer, social justice activist
 * Arturo Giovannitti - poet, political activist
 * Barbara Grizzuti Harrison (1934–2002) - writer
 * Evan Hunter - aka Ed MacBain, born Salvatore Lombino
 * Philip Lamantia
 * Teresa de Lauretis
 * Luis Marden - born Annibale Luis Paragallo, writer for National Geographic
 * Fulvio Melia - author of several popular science books, including The Black Hole at the Center of Our Galaxy
 * Charles Messina - writer/director of the play Mercury: The Afterlife and Times of a Rock God, the film Merging, and co-author the book My Father, My Don
 * Diana Ossana - Academy Award-winning screenwriter
 * Camille Paglia - post-feminist literary and cultural critic
 * Christopher Paolini
 * Michael Parenti
 * P.M. Pasinetti - novelist, playwright, journalist, professor
 * Mario Pei
 * Tom Perrotta - novelist and screenwriter best known for the novels Election (1998) and Little Children (2004)
 * Joseph D. Pistone
 * Diane di Prima - poet of the Beat generation
 * Mario Puzo (1920–1999) - writer/screenwriter and best-selling author of The Godfather
 * Terry Rossio - screenwriter
 * Shane Salerno - screenwriter
 * R.A. Salvatore (born 1959) - born Robert Anthony Salvatore, science fiction and fantasy author, best known for his Forgotten Realms and Star Wars novels
 * Leslie Scalapino - poet
 * Piero Scaruffi - poet, historian, scientist
 * Dom (Domenico) Serafini - TV trade magazine editor
 * Michelangelo Signorile - journalist, columnist, talk radio host and gay activist
 * Gay Talese
 * Adriana Trigiani
 * Jessica Valenti - blogger and feminist writer
 * Mark Valenti - screenwriter
 * Tom Verducci - sportswriter

Italian Americans who were first in their field of achievement

 * Giuseppe Mario Bellanca - designer of the first monoplane in the United States with an enclosed cabin
 * Frank Borzage - first person to win the Academy Award for Directing, for Seventh Heaven (1927)
 * Enea Bossi - designer of the first stainless steel aircraft and designer of the disputed first fully human-powered plane
 * Anthony Celebrezze (1910–1998) - the first non-native to be appointed to the U.S. Cabinet
 * Geraldine Ferraro (1935–2011) - the first woman in U.S. history to be nominated for the vice presidency of the United States from a major political party
 * Ella T. Grasso (1919–1981) - born Ella Rose Tambussi Grasso, first woman to be elected governor of a U.S. state without succeeding her husband
 * Giuseppina Morlacchi (1846–1886) - ballerina and dancer, introduced the can-can to the American stage
 * Nancy Pelosi - the first woman in U.S. history to hold the office of Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
 * Dennis Tito - the world's first space tourist
 * Joe Valachi (1904–1971) - the first member of the Mafia to testify to the Senate about organized crime

Italian Americans not otherwise categorized

 * Marella Agnelli - furniture designer
 * Luigi Antonini - labor leader
 * Chris Avellone - video game designer
 * Mike Bongiorno - TV personality
 * Alyssa Campanella - fashion blogger, model, and beauty pageant titleholder
 * Oleg Cassini - Russian-Italian-American fashion designer
 * Andrew Cunanan - spree killer; mother was Italian-American
 * Gene de Polito - President of the Association for Postal Commerce
 * Emily DiDonato – American model of Italian, Irish, and Native American ancestry
 * Ralph DiGia - pacifist and social justice activist
 * Tabitha D'umo - choreographer and creative director
 * Angelo Dundee - trainer of several boxing champions
 * Elizabeth Edwards - born Anania, wife of John Edwards, a former U.S. Senator from North Carolina
 * Vanessa Hessler - American model and actress
 * Nick LaRocca - musician, composer
 * Stacy London - stylist and fashion consultant
 * Bruno Pauletto - physiologist, shot putter, businessman, coach, author
 * Mike Pompeo - politician, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
 * Charles Ponzi (1882–1949) - one of the greatest swindlers in American history; inventor of the Ponzi scheme
 * Carrie Prejean - American model, author, former Miss California USA 2009 and Miss USA 2009 first runner-up
 * Angela Carlozzi Rossi, executive secretary of the Italian Welfare League
 * John Scarne - born Orlando Carmelo Scarnecchia, gambling expert and sleight-of-hand card performer
 * Mary Schiavo - former Inspector General of the United States Department of Transportation
 * Michael Schiavo - ex-husband of Terri Schiavo, the woman whose comatose state and subsequent court case garnered much media attention
 * Milton Sirotta - at age nine coined the term googol
 * Carmela Teoli - 14-year-old mill worker whose Congressional testimony helped end the 1912 Lawrence textile strike
 * Jack Valenti - of Sicilian heritage, president of the Motion Picture Association of America from 1966 to 2007
 * Michael Viscardi - mathematician
 * Elettra Rossellini Wiedemann - fashion model, and socialite