Where are today's "famous" Freemasons?

"We represent a fraternity which believes in justice and truth and honorable action in your community... men who are endeavoring to be better citizens... [and] to make a great country greater. This is the only institution in the world where we can meet on the level all sorts of people who want to live rightly."— Harry S Truman, 33rd President of the United States

This list is a compilation from several sources, and no claims are made as to its accuracy. A few famous people who have been rumored to be Freemasons but for which no evidence can be found include presidents George Herbert Walker Bush, Bill Clinton, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan and Lyndon Johnson, along with Thomas Paine, Neil Armstrong, Walt Disney, Charlie Chaplin, Bob Hope, Ringo Starr, Rev. Billy Graham, and Charles Taze Russell, the founder of Jehovah's Witnesses.

George H.W. Bush was sworn in as president on George Washington's Bible, which belongs to the St. John's Lodge of New York City. Clinton was a member of the Order of DeMolay as a teen, but never joined a masonic lodge. LBJ took his first degree in 1937, but never became a Fellowcraft or Master Mason apparently due to lack of time to pursue both his Congressional duties and his Masonic studies. Lincoln petitioned a lodge but withdrew his petition before being accepted, apparently to keep from appearing to be wanting to join for political reasons. In 1988, Reagan was given a Certificate of Honor from the Grand Lodge of Washington, D.C., and made an honorary member of the Scottish Rite and of the Imperial Shrine, but was never a Mason. See MasonicInfo.com for more information about famous Masons and non-Masons.

As I'm pasting into the blog this list I compiled several years ago, I'm struck by the fact that there are so few — two, actually (the actor Michael Richards and football star John Elway) — men on this list from my generation, or from "modern times." Are there are any "famous" Freemasons anymore, men known for high achievement in their chosen fields who are also Masons?

• Abbott, William "Bud"
  — Actor (Abbott and Costello)


• Abbott, Sir John J.C.
  — Prime Minister of Canada 1891-92


• Abbott, Robert Sengstacke
  — Founder/publisher "Chicago defender"


• Acuff, Roy
  — Musician


• Aldrin, Edwin E. "Buzz"
  — Astronaut, second man to walk on the moon


• Allen, Richard
  — Founder/first bishop AME Church


• Allende, Salvador
  — President of Chile, overthrown in 1970


• Armstrong, Louis "Satchmo"
  — Jazz musician


• Arnold, Eddie
  — Actor


• Arnold, General Henry "Hap"
  — Commander of the Army Air Force


• Astor, John Jacob
  — Fur trader and financier


• Atkins, Chet
  — Musician


• Austin, Stephen F.
  — Father of Texas


• Autry, Gene
  — Actor


• Baldwin, Henry
  — Supreme Court Justice


• Balfour, Lloyd
  — Jewelry


• Barnes, Roy
  — Governor of Georgia, 1999-2003


• Bartholdi, Frederic A.
  — Designed the Statue of Liberty


• Basie, William "Count"
  — Orchestra leader/composer


• Baylor, Robert E. B.
  — Founder Baylor University


• Beard, Daniel Carter
  — Founder Boy Scouts


• Bell, Lawrence
  — Bell Aircraft Corp.


• Bellamy, Rev. Francis
  — Authored U.S. Pledge of Allegiance


• Bennett, Viscount R.B.
  — Prime Minister of Canada 1930-35


• Bentsen, Lloyd
  — Former Texas Congressman and 1988 vice presidential candidate


• Berlin, Irving
  — Entertainer


• Black, Hugo L.
  — Supreme Court Justice


• Blair, John, Jr.
  — Supreme Court Justice


• Blake, James Herbert "Eubie"
  — Composer/pianist


• Blanc, Mel
  — Voice of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, and many other cartoon characters


• Blatchford, Samuel
  — Supreme Court Justice


• Bolivar, Simon
  — South American freedom fighter


• Boone, Daniel
  — American frontiersman


• Booth, Rev. William
  — Founder of the Salvation Army


• Borden, Sir Robert L.
  — Prime Minister of Canada 1911-1920


• Borglum, Gutzon & Lincoln
  — Father and Son who carved Mt. Rushmore


• Borgnine, Ernest
  — Actor


• Botha, Pik
  — Former Foreign Minister of South Africa


• Bowell, Sir Mackenzie
  — Prime Minister of Canada 1894-96


• Bowie, James
  — Remember the Alamo!


• Bradley, Omar N.
  — Military leader


• Bradley, Thomas
  — Former mayor of Los Angeles, California


• Brant, Joseph
  — Chief of the Mohawks 1742-1807


• Breckinridge, John C.
  — U.S. vice president. Presidential candidate who lost to Abraham Lincoln.


• Brown, Joe E.
  — Entertainer


• Brundage, Avery
  — Olympic Committee


• Bryan, Richard
  — U.S. Senator


• Buchanan, James
  — President of the U.S.


• Burbank, Luther
  — Pioneering botanist


• Burnett, David G.
  — First president of the Republic of Texas


• Burns, Conrad
  — U.S. Senator


• Burns, Robert
  — The National Poet of Scotland


• Burton, Harold H.
  — Supreme Court Justice


• Byrd, Robert
  — U.S. Senator


• Byrd, Admiral Richard E.
  — Flew over North Pole


• Byrnes, James F.
  — Supreme Court Justice


• Cain, Michael
  — Actor


• Calvo, Father Francisco
  — Catholic Priest who started Freemasonry in Costa Rica 1865


• Campbell, Sir Malcolm
  — Land speed record holder


• Carlson, Curtis L.
  — Entrepreneur


• Carnahan, Melvin
  — Governor of Missouri


• Carroll, B. H.
  — First president of Southwestern Seminary and instrumental in the creation of the Department of Evangelism of the Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention


• Carson, Christopher "Kit"
  — Frontiersman, scout and explorer


• Casanova
  — Italian adventurer, writer and entertainer


• Catton, John
  — Supreme Court Justice


• Chagall, Marc
  — Artist


• Chrysler, Walter P.
  — Founder of the Chrysler automotive company


• Churchill, Sir Winston
  — British Leader


• Citroen, Andre
  — French Engineer and motor car manufacturer


• Clark, Roy
  — Country-Western star


• Clark, Thomas C.
  — Supreme Court Justice


• Clark, William
  — American explorer (with another Mason, Meriwether Lewis)


• Clarke, John H.
  — Supreme Court Justice


• Clemens, Samuel L.
  — Mark Twain — writer


• Clinton, De Witt
  — Mayor of New York City, Governor of New York, and presidential candidate, he also served as Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of New York.


• Clinton, George
  — Third vice president of the United States.


• Cobb, Ty
  — Baseball Player


• Cody, "Buffalo Bill" William
  — Indian fighter, Wild West Show


• Cohan, George M.
  — Broadway star


• Cole, Nat "King"
  — Great ballad singer


• Collodi, Carlo
  — Author of "Pinocchio"


• Colt, Samuel
  — Firearms inventor


• Combs, Earle Bryan
  — Baseball Hall of Fame


• Cooper, Gordon
  — Astronaut


• Crockett, David
  — American frontiersman and Congressman. Remember the Alamo!


• Cushing, William
  — Supreme Court Justice


• DeMille, Cecil B.
  — Movie director


• Dempsey, Jack
  — Sports


• Desaguliers, John Theophilus
  — Inventor of the planetarium


• Devanter, Willis Van
  — Supreme Court Justice


• Diefenbaker, John G.
  — Prime Minister of Canada 1957-63


• Dole, Robert
  — U.S. Senator


• Doolittle, General James
  — Famous Army Air Corps Pilot


• Douglas, William O.
  — Supreme Court Justice


• Dow, William H.
  — Dow Chemical Co.


• Doyle, Sir Author Conan
  — Writer, "Sherlock Holmes"


• Drake, Edwin L
  — American Pioneer of the Oil industry


• DuBois, W.E.B.
  — Educator/scholar


• Dunant, Jean Henri
  — Founder of the Red Cross


• Ebbets, Charles
  — Baseball Owner, Ebbets Field


• Edward VII
  — King of England


• Edward VIII
  — King of England who abdicated the throne


• Ellery, William
  — One of nine Masonic signers of the Declaration of Independance


• Ellington, Duke
  — Composer, Arranger and Stylist


• Ellsworth, Oliver
  — Supreme Court Justice


• Elway, John
  — Football Player Denver Broncos


• Evans, Bob
  — Founder of "Bob Evans" restaurants.


• Evers, Medger Wiley
  — Civil rights leader


• Ervin, Samuel J., Jr.
  — U. S. Senator, headed "Watergate" committee


• Faber, Eberhard
  — Head of the famous Eberhard Faber Pencil Company


• Fairbanks, Douglas
  — Silent film actor


• Field, Stephen J.
  — Supreme Court Justice


• Fields, W.C.
  — Actor


• Fisher, Geoffrey
  — Archbishop of Canterbury 1945-1961


• Fitch, John
  — Inventor of the Steamboat


• Fleming, Sir Alexander
  — Discovered penicillin


• Ford, Gerald R.
  — President of the U.S.


• Ford, Henry
  — Pioneer Automobile Manufacturer


• Forten, James
  — Abolitionist/manufacturer


• Fortune, Timothy Thomas
  — Journalist


• Franklin, Benjamin
  — Inventor, ambassador, newspaperman, and signer of Constitution of the U.S.


• Freeman, Orville
  — Former governor of Minnesota and secretary of U.S. Dept. of Agriculture


• Gable, Clark
  — Actor


• Garfield, James A.
  — President of the U.S.


• Garibaldi, Giuseppe
  — Italian freedom fighter


• Gatling, Richard J.
  — Built the "Gatling Gun"


• George VI
  — King of England during World War II


• Gibbon, Edward
  — Author of "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire"


• Gilbert, Sir William S.
  — Was the libretist for "Pirates of Penzance"


• Gillette, King C.
  — Gillette Razor Co.


• Glenn, John H.
  — First American to orbit the earth, U.S. Senator


• Godfrey, Arthur
  — Radio and early televison personality


• Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von
  — German poet, playwright, and scientist


• Goldwater, Barry
  — Former U.S. Senator, presidential candidate


• Gompers, Samuel
  — Founder American Federation of Labor


• Grassley, Charles
  — U.S. Senator


• Gray, Harold Lincoln
  — Creator of "Little Orphan Annie"


• Griffeth, David W.
  — Movie director


• Gris, Juan
  — Spanish artist of the "Synthetic Cubism" school


• Grissom, Virgil
  — Astronaut


• Grock
  — Swiss circus clown


• Groat, Richard
  — Athlete, played for St. Louis Cardinals, Duke University basketball team


• Guillotin, Joseph Ignace
  — Inventor of the "Guillotine"


• Hall, Prince
  — First black American Freemason


• Hampton, Lionel
  — Orchestra leader/composer


• Hancock, John
  — One of nine Masonic signers of Declaration of Independance


• Handel, George Fredrick
  — Composer


• Handy, William C.
  — Composer "Father of the Blues"


• Harding, Warren G.
  — President of the U.S.


• Hardy, Oliver
  — Actor — Comedian


• Harlan, John M.
  — Supreme Court Justice


• Harvey, Paul
  — Radio personality


• Hatfield, Mark
  — U.S. Senator


• Hawkins, Augustus F.
  — U.S. Congressman from California


• Haydn, Franz Joseph
  — Composer and musician


• Hedges, Cornelius
  — "Father" of Yellowstone National Park


• Helms, Jesse
  — U.S. Senator


• Henry, Patrick
  — American colonial patriot, member of the Continental Congress, he spurred the creation of the Virginia militia with the famous words "Give me liberty or give me death." Later served as the Governor of Virginia.


• Henson, Josiah
  — Inspired the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin


• Henson, Matthew
  — Explorer


• Hilton, Charles C.
  — American hotelier


• Hoban, James
  — Architect for the U.S. White House


• Hoe, Richard M.
  — Invented the rotary press, revolutionizing newspaper printing


• Hollings, Ernest
  — U.S. Senator


• Hooks, Benjamin L.
  — Former Executive Director NAACP


• Hoover, Frank
  — Vacuum cleaner fame


• Hoover, J. Edgar
  — First Director of FBI


• Hornsby, Rogers
  — An original member of the Baseball Hall of Fame


• Houdini, Harry
  — Magician


• Houston, Sam
  — Second and fourth president of the Republic of Texas


• Humphrey, Hubert H.
  — Vice president of the U.S.


• Irvin Tommy
  — Georgia's Commissioner of Agriculture and the state's longest serving official, he is also a Past Grand Master


• Irwin, Jim
  — Astronaut


• Ives, Burl
  — Singer and musician


• Jackson, Andrew
  — President of the U.S.


• Jackson, Rev. Jesse
  — Politician


• Jackson, Robert H.
  — Supreme Court Justice


• James, Daniel "Chappie"
  — General U.S. Air Force


• Jenner, Edward
  — Inventor of smallpox vaccine


• Johnson, Andrew
  — President of the U.S.


• Johnson, John A. "Jack"
  — Heavyweight boxing tiltle holder, 1908-1915


• Johnson, John H.
  — Publisher of Ebony and Jet magazines


• Johnston, J. Bennett, Jr.
  — U.S. Senator


• Jolson, Al
  — Acted in the first "talking picture," The Jazz Singer


• Jones, Anson
  — Fifth president of the Republic of Texas


• Jones, John Paul
  — Naval Commander


• Jones, Melvin
  — One of the founders of the Lions International


• Keaton, Buster
  — Movie pioneer


• Kemp, Jack
  — Former U.S. Congressman, pro football player


• Kern, Jerome
  — Composer


• Key, Francis Scott
  — Wrote U.S. National Anthem


• Kipling, Rudyard
  — Writer


• Knox, Henry
  — Revolutionary War General


• Lafayette, Marquis de
  — Supporter of American Freedom


• LaGuardia, Fiorello H.
  — Diplomat and 3-time New York City Mayor


• Lake, Simon
  — Built first submarine successful in open sea


• Lamar, Joseph E.
  — Supreme Court Justice


• Lamar, Mirabeau B.
  — Third president of the Republic of Texas


• Land, Frank S.
  — Founder of the Order of DeMolay


• Lemon, Mark
  — Founder of Punch, humorous British magazine


• Lewis, Meriwether
  — Explorer


• Lincoln, Elmo
  — First actor to play Tarzan of the Apes (1918)


• Lindbergh, Charles
  — Aviator


• Lipton, Sir Thomas
  — Found of Lipson Tea Company


• Livingston, Robert
  — Co-negotiator for purchase of Louisiana Territory


• Lloyd, Harold C.
  — Entertainer


• Lott, Trent
  — U.S. Senator


• MacArthur, General Douglas
  — Commander of Armed Forces in Philipines


• MacDonald, Sir John A.
  — Prime Minister of Canada 1867-73 & 1878-91


• Marshall, James W.
  — Discovered Gold at Sutter's Mill California 1848


• Marshall, John
  — Chief Justice U.S. Supreme Court 1801-1835


• Marshall, Thurgood
  — Supreme Court Justice


• Mathews, Stanley
  — Supreme Court Justice


• Mayer, Louis B.
  — Film producer, formed Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)


• Mayo, Dr. William and Charles
  — Began Mayo Clinic


• Mays, Benjamin
  — Educator/former president Atlanta University


• Maytag, Fredrick
  — Maytag


• McKinley, William
  — President of the U.S.


• Menninger, Karl A.
  — Psychiatrist famous for treating mental illness


• Mellon, Andrew
  — American industrialis, banker and philanthropist


• Mesmer, Franz Anton
  — Practiced Mesmerism which led to Hypnotism


• Metcalfe, Ralph H.
  — Olympic champion


• Michelson, Albert Abraham
  — Successfully measured the speed of light in 1882


• Miller, Glenn
  — Musician


• Minton, Sherman
  — Supreme Court Justice


• Mix, Tom
  — U.S. Marshal turned actor, starred in over 400 western films


• Monroe, James
  — President of the U.S.


• Montgolfier, Jacques Etienne
  — Co-developer of the first practical hot-air balloon


• Montgolfier, Joseph Michel
  — Co-developer of the first practical hot-air balloon


• Moody, William H.
  — Supreme Court Justice


• Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
  — Composer


• Murphy, Audie
  — Most decorated American Soldier of WWII, Actor


• Naismith, James
  — Inventor of Basketball


• Nash, Charles
  — Automobile industry


• Nelson, Samuel
  — Supreme Court Justice


• New, Harry S.
  — Postmaster General who established Airmail


• Newton, Joseph Fort
  — Christian Minister


• Nunn, Sam
  — U.S. Senator


• Olds, Ransom E.
  — American automobile pioneer


• Otis, James
  — Famous for "Taxation without Representation is Tyranny"


• Palmer, Arnold
  — Golf Pro


• Papst, Charles F.
  — Coined the term "Athlete's Foot"


• Paterson, William
  — Supreme Court Justice


• Peale, Norman Vincent
  — Founder of "Guidepost" magazine; author "The Power of Positive Thinking"


• Peary, Robert E.
  — First man to reach the North Pole (1909)


• Penney, James C.
  — Retailer


• Pershing, John Joseph
  — Decorated American Soldier


• Pike, Albert
  — Pioneer, explorer, Confederate General, he re-wrote the rituals of the US Southern Masonic jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite Bodies, as well as the Masonic treatise "Morals and Dogma."


• Pike, Zebulon M.
  — Discovered the great peak that bears his name. He was killed in action at Toronto during the War of 1812.


• Pitney, Mahlon
  — Supreme Court Justice


• Poinsett, Joel R.
  — U.S. Minister to Mexico who developed the flower: Poinsettia


• Polk, James Knox
  — President of the U.S.


• Pound, Roscoe
  — Former Dean, Harvard Law School


• Pryor, Richard
  — Actor, comedian


• Pullman, George
  — Built first sleeping car for trains.


• Pushkin, Aleksander
  — Russian Poet


• Rangel, Charles B.
  — U.S. Congressman, New York


• Randolph, A. Phillip
  — Founder and first president of International Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters


• Retief, Piet
  — Afrikaans leader and and one of the founders of the South African nation


• Reed, Stanley F.
  — Supreme Court Justice


• Revere, Paul
  — American silversmith, engraver and Revolutionary hero who on April 18, 1775 made his famous ride to warn "The British are coming!" as celebrated in a poem by Longfellow. Revere was a Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts.


• Rhodes, Cecil
  — "Rhodes Scholarship"


• Richards, Michael
  — Actor-comedian "Kramer" on Seinfeld


• Rickenbacker, Eddie
  — Great American Army Air Corps "Ace"


• Rickey, Branch
  — Baseball legend


• Ringling Brothers
  — All seven brothers and their father were Masons.


• Robinson, Sugar Ray
  — American boxer


• Rodgers, Jimmie
  — Entertainer


• Rogers, Roy
  — American cowboy and screen star


• Rogers, Will
  — Actor


• Ross, Edmund G.
  — U.S. Senator who cast the one impartial vote of "Not Guilty" thus saving President (and Brother) Andrew Johnson from impeachment.


• Roosevelt, Franklin D.
  — President of the U.S.


• Roosevelt, Theodore
  — President of the U.S.


• Rush, Benjamin
  — One of nine Masonic signers of the Declaration of Independance


• Russell, Richard B.
  — U.S. Senator from Georgia and member of the "Warren Commission" that investigated the assassination of President Kennedy.


• Rutledge, Wiley B.
  — Supreme Court Chief Justice


• Salten, Felix
  — Creator of Bambi


• Sanders, Harland "Colonel"
  — Founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants


• Sarnoff, David
  — Father of T.V.


• Savalas, Telly
  — Actor


• Sax, Antoine Joseph
  — Invented the Saxophone (1846)


• Schoonover, George
  — Founder of "The Builder"


• Schirra, Wally
  — Astronaut


• Scott, Sir Walter
  — Writer


• Sellers, Peter
  — Actor


• Service, Robert
  — Canadian Poet


• Sexson, W. Mark
  — Founder of Rainbow Girls, Masonic historian, author, and researcher


• Sibelius, Jean
  — Composer (Finland)


• Simpson, Alan
  — U.S. Senator


• Skelton, Red
  — Entertainer


• Smith, John Stafford
  — Wrote the music that became the U.S. National Anthem


• Smith, Joseph
  — Founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the Mormons


• Sousa, John Philip
  — Led the U.S. Marine Band from 1880-1892


• Stanford, Leland
  — Railroad magnate & founder of Stanford University


• Starr, Bart
  — Football legend


• Stassen, Harold
  — Statesman, sole surviving signer of the United Nations Charter


• Stewart, Potter
  — Supreme Court Justice


• Still, Andrew T.
  — American Physician who devised osteopathy treatment


• Stokes, Carl B.
  — Former mayor, Cleveland, Ohio


• Stokes, Louis
  — U.S. Congressman from Ohio


• Stratton, Charles "Tom Thumb"
  — Entertainer


• Swayne, Noah H.
  — Supreme Court Justice


• Swift, Johathan
  — Author of Gulliver's Travels


• Taft, William Howard
  — President of the U.S. & Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (only man to ever head these two branches of U.S. government)


• Teets, John W.
  — Chairman and president of Dial Corporation


• Tetau, Max
  — French Doctor who presided over Homoeopathia Universalis


• Thomas, Craig
  — U.S. Senator


• Thomas, Danny
  — Entertainer, founder of St. Jude's Children's Hospital


• Thomas, Dave
  — Founder of Wendy's restaurants. The hamburgers at Wendy's are square as a reminder of Dave's motto: "Never cut corners."


• Thomas, Lowell
  — Brought Lawrence of Arabia to public notice


• Thompson, Tommy
  — Governor of Wisconsin


• Thurmond, Strom
  — U.S. Senator


• Tillis, Mel
  — Musician


• Tirpitz, Alfred Von
  — German Naval officer responsible for submarine warfare


• Todd, Thomas
  — Supreme Court Justice


• Tolstoi, Leo
  — Author


• Travis, Colonel William B.
  — Alamo


• Trimble, Robert
  — Supreme Court Justice


• Truman, Harry S
  — President of the U.S.


• Vinson, Frederick M.
  — Supreme Court Justice


• Voltaire
  — French writer and philosopher


• Wadlow, Robert Pershing
  — Tallest human on record being almost nine feet tall


• Wagner, Honus
  — Baseball legend


• Wallace, George C.
  — Former Alabama governor and presidential candidate who was nearly assasinated


• Wallace, Lewis
  — Wrote "Ben Hur"


• Wallenda, Enrico
  — Circus legend


• Waner, Lloyd
  — Baseball Hall of Fame member from Pittsburgh


• Waner, Paul
  — "Big Paul" Baseball Hall of Fame member from Pittsburgh


• Warner, Jack
  — Founder of Warner Brothers Studios


• Warren, Earl
  — Supreme Court Justice


• Warren, Joseph
  — Revolutionary War General, "Martyr of Bunker Hill"


• Washington, Booker T.
  — Educator and author


• Washington, George
  — First president of U.S.


• Wayne, John
  — Actor


• Webb, Matthew
  — First man to swim the English Channel (1875)


• Wells, H. G.
  — Author


• Whiteman, Paul
  — "King of Jazz"


• Williams, Egbert Austin "Bert"
  — Actor, comedian


• Williamson, Harry A.
  — Author/Masonic historian


• Woodbury, Levi
  — Supreme Court Justice


• Woods, William B.
  — Supreme Court Justice


• Wyler, William
  — Director of "Ben Hur"


• Wynn, Ed
  — Actor


• Young, Andrew
  — Former mayor of Atlanta, Ga.


• Zanuck, Darryl F.
  — Co-founder of 20th Century Productions in 1933


• Ziegfeld, Florenz
  — His Ziegfeld Follies began in 1907

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