This temporary article gives a list of ONLY the
most famous Canadians, past and present, in a number of fields. After discussion and consensus, it is to be narrowed down to the top 10 in each field. See the related lists for more complete overviews of famous Canadians in a specific field.
Art
See also list of Canadian artists[?]
- Aislin[?], political cartoonist Terry Mosher
- Robert Bateman, wildlife artist
- Emily Carr[?]
- Frank Carmichael[?], Lawren Harris[?], A.Y. Jackson[?], Franz Johnston[?], Arthur Lismer[?], J. E. H. Macdonald[?] and F. H. Varley[?] together as the Group of Seven
- Prudence Heward[?]
- Lynn Johnston - writer/cartoonist, For Better Or Worse[?]
- Paul Kane
- Yousuf Karsh - photographer
- Cornelius Krieghoff[?]
- Todd McFarlane - cartoonist/writer, Spawn Spiderman
- Isabel McLaughlin[?]
- Bill Reid, sculptor and jeweller working in the Haida tradition
- Joe Shuster - creator of Superman
- Tom Thomson[?]
The Performing Arts
- Karen Kain, ballerina
- Cirque du Soleil[?]
Business
See also list of Canadian business personalities[?]
- Max Aitken - "Lord Beaverbrook" - publishing baron, entrepreneur
- Samuel Cunard - Founder of Cunard Steamship Lines
- Sandford Fleming (1827-1915) - Primarily known for his role in building the Canadian Pacific Railway Railway including his surveying of the mountain passes. He is prime mover behind the modern system of time zones. He also designed Canada's first postage stamp.
- Alfred Fuller - Fuller Brush Company
- Daniel Massey (1798-1856) scion of farm machinery manufacturing family. His great-grandsons include Vincent Massey the first Canadian-born governor general amd actor Raymond Massey who became famous for his portrayal of Abraham Lincoln.
- Louis B. Mayer[?] - Co-founder of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Studios
- Harrison McCain[?] - French Fries
- John Molson (1763-1836) - He is best known as a brewer, but was also associated with the early history of the Bank of Montreal (the oldest in Canada) and he financed the Champlain and St. Lawrence Railroad, the first Canadian railroad.
- John Roth - CEO (former) Nortel Networks - "the most successful businessman in modern Canadian history"....Time Europe 12/25/00
- Roy Thomson - "Lord Thomson of Fleet", newspaper baron, owner of Hudson's Bay Co.
- William Cornelius Van Horne[?] (1843-1915) - He managed the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway across the prairies and through the mountains. He expanded the work of the CPR into hotels, helping with the design of the Banff Springs and Château Frontenac hotels. He also launched the "Empress" series of Pacific steamships.
- Jack Warner - Founder of Warner Bros. Studios
Humanitarians
- Norman Bethune - battlefield doctor in Spain and China
- Terry Fox - cancer victim and activist
- Rick Hansen[?] - His "Man in Motion" campaign was a round the world campaign for spinal cord injury victims, for whom he continues to work.
Literature
See also list of Canadian writers
- Margaret Atwood - author
- Pierre Berton - author of Canadiana
- George Bowering - named Canada's first parliamentary poet laureate in November 2002
- Robertson Davies - author
- Arthur Hailey - Canada's most commercially successful author
- Anne Hébert[?] - poet, novelist
- Stephen Leacock (1869-1944) - Canada's best loved humorist, and the best known world-wide between 1915 and 1925. Best known for Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town.
- W.O. Mitchell - author:"Who Has Seen The Wind" , "Jake and the Kid"
- Lucy Maude Montgomery - Anne of Green Gables
- Mordecai Richler - author
- Gabrielle Roy (1909-1983) - one of the most important Francophone writers in Canadian history
- Robert Service[?] (1874-1958) - His poems reflect a unique view of the gold rush. The best known are "The Shooting of Dan McGrew" and "The Cremation of Sam McGee"
- Carol Shields - author
- Jane Urquhart - author
Motion Picture and Television Personalities
- Pamela Anderson - actress/porn star
- Dan Aykroyd - actor/comedian
- Jim Carrey - actor/comedian
- Deanna Durbin[?] - actress
- Glenn Ford[?] - actor
- Michael J. Fox - actor in the Back to the Future movies, television series Family Ties and Spin City
- Florence Lawrence - Hollywood's first Star
- Mike Myers - actor (Austin Powers), Saturday Night Live
- Leslie Nielsen - actor
- Mary Pickford - Academy award, co-founder, United Artists
- Walter Pidgeon - actor
- Christopher Plummer[?] - Georg Ritter von Trapp in The Sound of Music
- William Shatner - actor, best known as Captain Kirk in the Star Trek series
- Donald Sutherland - actor, movies: MASH, "Ordinary People", "Klute"
Music
See also list of Canadian musicians
- Bryan Adams - singer
- Paul Anka - singer, first Canadian "Teen Idol"
- Rick Danko[?], Garth Hudson[?], Richard Manuell[?] and Robbie Robertson together in The Band
- Leonard Cohen - poet/songwriter
- Celine Dion - singer
- Glenn Gould (1932-1982) - pianist, composer
- Calixa Lavallée[?] (1842-1891) - composer of O Canada, the Canadian national anthem.
- Félix Leclerc[?] (1914-1988)
- Guy Lombardo - big band era. He is best remembered for his instrumental version of Auld Lang Syne which became the standard for bringing in the New Year to more than a generation.
- Joni Mitchell - singer/songwriter
- Anne Murray - In addition to her 1970 most popular hit Snowbird she recorded some 40 albums, and won numerous Grammys.
- Oscar Peterson - (1925- ) jazz pianist
- Stan Rogers - folk musician
- Hank Snow - country & western singer - read brief bio to judge
- The Tragically Hip
- Mary Travers (better known as "La Bolduc") (1894-1941) - The grass root subjects of her songs, often in her unique form of "turluttage" made her a favorite of the depression era.
- Shania Twain - singer
- Gilles Vigneault[?] - his song Mon pays ce n'est pas un pays c'est l'hiver has been a significant rallying song among the Québécois.
- Neil Young - singer/songwriter
Politics
See also list of Canadian politicians[?]
- Robert Baldwin
- Henri Bourassa
- Georges-Étienne Cartier
- Lord Durham (John George Lambton)
- C.D. Howe[?] (1886-1960) - American born, he ran the industrialization of the "War Effort" - the C.D. Howe Institute is named for him. (Right wing Think Tank?)
- Joseph Howe[?] (1804-1873) - Nova Scotian who opposed joining Confederation- his arguments later proved true.
- Thomas D'Arcy McGee, (1825-1868)
- René Lévesque, did his best to destroy the country yet somehow everyone liked him.
- William Lyon Mackenzie
- Louis-Joseph Papineau
- Louis Riel
Science and Technology
See also list of Canadian scientists[?]
- Frederick Banting and Charles Best - medical scientists, co-discovered insulin
- Alexander Graham Bell - Invented the telephone in Canada, developed it in US. (Canadian/American/Scot)
- Joseph-Armand Bombardier - invented the snowmobile
- Mathew Evans and Henry Woodward - co-inventors of the first electric light bulb
- Reginald Fessenden - inventor the Radiotelephone and sonar
Sports
See also list of Canadian sports personalities
- Marilyn Bell, long distance swimmer
- Tommy Burns, World Heavweight Boxing Champion
- Marc Gagnon Canada's most successful Olympic athlete
- Nancy Greene[?], skier
- Wayne Gretzky - ice hockey player, nicknamed "The Great One"
- Gordie Howe - ice hockey player
- Ferguson Jenkins - Hall of Fame Major League Baseball pitcher
- Ben Johnson - 100 m sprinter, disqualified for doping after winning the Olympic title
- Bobby Orr - ice hockey player
- Sandra Post[?] - only Canadian to win a PGA "Major" tournament (3)
- Maurice Richard - ice hockey player
- Sandra Schmirler - Olympic and World Champion curler
- Barbara Ann Scott - Olympic and World Champion figure skater
- Ron Turcotte - Hall of Fame & Secretariat's jockey[?]
- Gilles and Jacques Villeneuve - Formula One racing drivers, father and son
- Mike Weir, winner of the 2003 Masters golf tournament
- Percy Williams - Olympic champion 100 and 200 m
Other
- Arthur Erickson, Architect
- James Naismith - inventor of basketball
- William Grant Stairs - Victorian Explorer
- Marshall McLuhan
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