List of people from Adelaide

See also: Category:People from Adelaide

This is an incomplete list of notable people from Adelaide.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

## Arts and music

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Prominent intellectuals, writers, artists, bands, and musicians to hail from Adelaide include:

### Actors

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* Dame Judith Anderson AC DBE – Rebecca, And Then There Were None; Tony and Emmy Award winner
* Elspeth Ballantyne – Prisoner
* Holly Brisley – Home and Away
* Sam Clark – Neighbours
* Kate Fischer – Sirens
* Sir Robert Helpmann CBE – Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
* Nicholas Hope – Bad Boy Bubby
* Dichen Lachman – Neighbours, Dollhouse
* Anthony LaPaglia – Without a Trace
* Jonathan LaPaglia – Seven Days, The District
* Glenn McMillan – Wonderland, Power Rangers Ninja Storm
* John Noble – Fringe
* Ben Oxenbould – Hey Dad..!
* Teresa Palmer – December Boys, I Am Number Four
* Lois Ramsey – Road to Nhill, Home and Away
* Mandahla Rose – All About E, Oranges and Sunshine[1]
* Xavier Samuel – The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
* Hugh Sheridan – Packed to the Rafters
* Sarah Snook – Succession; Golden Globe winner
* Kodi Smit-McPhee – The Power of the Dog; Oscar-nominated actor
* Sonia Todd – McLeod's Daughters
* Adam Tuominen – Power Rangers Ninja Storm, Underbelly: Razor, Escape from Pretoria
* Melanie Vallejo – Winners and Losers, Power Rangers Mystic Force
* Samara Weaving

### Comedians

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* Anthony Lehmann – aka "Lehmo" Lehmann
* Richard Marsland
* Shaun Micallef
* Greig Pickhaver AM – aka "H.G. Nelson"
* Roy Rene – aka "Mo McCackie"
* Frank Woodley

### Film directors

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* Mario Andreacchio
* David James Campbell
* Alex Frayne
* Rolf de Heer
* Scott Hicks
* Pip Karmel
* Justin Kurzel
* Anthony Maras
* Michael James Rowland

### Humanities

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* Graeme Hugo – demographer and Federation Fellow (2002)
* J. J. C. Smart – philosopher
* Hugh Stretton – historian and sociologist
* Peter Sutton – anthropologist
* Wesley Wildman – philosopher, theologian, ethicist
* Ghil'ad Zuckermann – linguist and revivalist

### Journalists

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* Annabel Crabb – political writer and commentator
* Brady Haran OAM – independent video journalist and Internet personality
* Jenni Hogan – TV reporter and host, Emmy Award winner
* Christian Kerr – political commentator and journalist
* David Koch – financial journalist and former presenter of Sunrise
* Bruce McAvaney OAM – sports broadcaster
* Hamish McLachlan – television sports commentator for the Seven Network
* David Penberthy – editor-in-chief of the Australian newspaper The Daily Telegraph

### Musicians and bands

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* Allday
* The Angels
* At Sunset
* Atlas Genius
* The Audreys
* Jimmy Barnes
* The Beards
* Beeb Birtles
* Bit By Bats
* David Campbell
* Wes Carr
* Julian Cochran
* Cold Chisel
* Beccy Cole
* Michael Crafter
* Delta
* Fraternity
* Funkoars
* Peter Furler
* Dave Graney
* Angie Hart
* Hilltop Hoods
* The Hot Lies
* I Killed the Prom Queen
* Jim Keays
* Paul Kelly
* Rachael Leahcar
* Lowrider
* Tkay Maidza
* The Mark of Cain
* The Masters Apprentices
* Reece Mastin
* Sarah McLeod
* Sister Janet Mead
* Rudy Nikkerud
* Orianthi Panagaris
* Redgum
* Aleesha Rome
* Guy Sebastian
* Glenn Shorrock
* Sia
* Benjamin Speed
* The Superjesus
* Swanee
* Michelle Tumes
* The Twilights
* Universum
* Virgin Black
* Wolf & Cub

### Visual artists

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* James Ashton – painter and arts educator
* Dorrit Black – modernist printmaker and painter
* Michal Dutkiewicz – comic book artist and illustrator, three-time winner of the Stanley Award
* Robert Hannaford AM – portrait artist, three-time winner of the People's Choice Award of the Archibald Prize
* Barbara Hanrahan – artist, printmaker and writer
* Sir Hans Heysen OBE – landscape painter, nine-time winner of the Wynne Prize
* Nora Heysen AM – portrait artist, first female winner of the Archibald Prize
* Ondrej Mares – sculptor and furniture maker
* Joseph Stanislaus Ostoja-Kotkowski AM – painting, photography, film-making, theatre design, fabric design, murals, kinetic and static sculpture, stained glass, vitreous enamel murals, op-collages, computer graphics, and laser art
* Geoffrey Proud – portrait and landscape painter, sculptor, winner of the 1990 Archibald Prize, winner of the 1975 Sulman Prize
* Jeffrey Smart AO – precisionist landscape painter
* Susan Dorothea White – painter, sculptor and printmaker

### Writers

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* Malcolm Afford – playwright and novelist
* Guy Boothby – novelist and travel writer
* James Bradley – novelist and critic
* Brian Castro – novelist
* Nancy Cato – author
* J. M. Coetzee – novelist and essayist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature
* Aidan Coleman – poet
* David Conyers – science fiction author
* Geoffrey Dutton AO – poet, author and historian, winner of the Grace Leven Prize for Poetry
* Max Fatchen AM – journalist and children's author
* Mem Fox AM – educator and children's author
* Peter Goldsworthy AM – novelist, poet and scriptwriter, winner of the Helpmann Award
* Christine Harris – children's and young adult author
* Max Harris AO – poet, critic and columnist
* Vernon Knowles – fantasy author
* Kym Lardner – children's author, illustrator, and storyteller
* Caleb Lewis – playwright
* DBC Pierre – novelist, winner of the Man Booker Prize
* Gillian Rubinstein – children's author and playwright
* Bel Schenk – poet
* Tony Shillitoe – fantasy author
* Tim Sinclair – poet and novelist
* Hugh Stretton – historian and sociologist
* Anne Summers – feminist writer and editor
* Colin Thiele AC – children's author and educator, winner of the Dromkeen medal
* David Thorne – humorist and satirist
* Russel Ward – historian and author of The Australian Legend
* Sean Williams – science fiction author
* Ben Winch – novelist
* Nan Witcomb – poet
* Laetitia Withall – poet, author and suffragette

## Business and media

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* Rick Allert AO – accountant, company director and chairperson
* Balfours family – bakery founders
* Barr Smith family – businessmen and philanthropists
* Matt Barrie – entrepreneur, CEO Freelancer Limited
* Shaun Bonétt – property developer, entrepreneur and philanthropist
* Cooper family – brewery founders
* Thomas Elder GCMG – pastoralist, politician and philanthropist
* Gerard family – founders of Clipsal
* Haigh Family – chocolatiers
* Edward Hayward Kt – owner and manager of John Martins
* Sir Sidney Kidman – pastoralist, entrepreneur and landowner
* Matthew and Zbigniew Michalewicz – entrepreneurs and co-founders of SolveIT Software
* Rupert Murdoch AC – media mogul, chairperson and CEO of News Corporation
* Mary Penfold – winemaker
* John Spalvins – managing director of Adelaide Steamship Company
* Robert Stigwood – impresario, entertainment entrepreneur and film producer
* Michael Tunn – radio announcer and program director
* Gary Turner – producer, record company owner and founder of LearnToPlayMusic.com

## Law and politics

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* Julie Bishop – Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia
* Sir John Langdon Bonython KCMG – member of the first Australian parliament
* Sir John Lavington Bonython – mayor and Lord Mayor of Adelaide
* Michael Bradley – mayor of Sarnia, Ontario, Canada
* James Crawford – Legal academic and Judge of the International Court of Justice (2014)
* Mario Despoja – leader of the Croatian community in Australia
* Natasha Stott Despoja AM – senator and leader of the Australian Democrats
* Alexander Downer AC – Foreign Affairs Minister and Leader of the Opposition
* Alexander Downer, Sr. KBE – member of the House of Representatives and High Commissioner to London
* John Downer KCMG KC – twice Premier of South Australia
* John Finnis – Professor of Law at University College, Oxford
* Julia Gillard – prime minister and leader of the Australian Labor Party
* Janine Haines – senator and leader of the Australian Democrats
* Sir Charles Kingston – Premier of South Australia and Minister for Trade and Customs in the first Commonwealth parliament
* Dame Roma Mitchell AC DBE CVO – Australia's first female QC, first female judge, and first female Governor
* Christopher Pyne – Minister for Defence
* Catherine Helen Spence – suffragist, electoral reformer, prohibitionist, and first female political candidate in Australia
* Ian Wilson AM – member of the Australian House of Representatives and Minister for Aboriginal Affairs
* Sir Keith Wilson CBE – senator and member of the Australian House of Representatives
* Penny Wong – Labor politician and Minister for Foreign Affairs
* List of mayors and lord mayors of Adelaide
* List of premiers of South Australia
* Category: Federal politicians from South Australia

## Science

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World-renowned Adelaide scientists include:

* Len Beadell OAM BEM – surveyor, roadbuilder and explorer; asteroid 3161 Beadell is named after him
* William Henry Bragg OM KBE PRS – physicist, chemist and mathematician, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics
* William Lawrence Bragg CH OBE MC FRS – physicist and crystallographer, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics and youngest Nobel Laureate
* Rodney Brooks – roboticist, director of the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and founding member of the iRobot corporation
* Baron Howard Florey OM FRS FRCP – pharmacologist and pathologist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
* Basil Stuart Hetzel AC – medical researcher who made a major contribution to combating iodine deficiency
* Cecil Madigan – geologist and meteorologist, member of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition
* Sir Douglas Mawson OBE FRS FAA – geologist and explorer, leader of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition
* Sir Mark Oliphant AC KBE FRS FAA – nuclear physicist, winner of the Hughes Medal and the Faraday Medal
* Enid Lucy Robertson AM – botanist, conservationist
* Reg Sprigg AO – geologist and conservationist
* George Szekeres FAA AM – mathematician, after whom the George Szekeres Medal is named
* Terence Tao FRS FAA – mathematician, winner of the Fields Medal
* Andy Thomas AO – aerospace engineer and NASA astronaut
* David Unaipon – inventor and writer, commemorated on the Australian fifty-dollar note
* Robin Warren AC – pathologist and researcher, winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine
* Sir Hubert Wilkins – Antarctic aviation pioneer, Arctic explorer, ornithologist and geographer
* Col Bailey – naturalist

## Sport

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Internationally and nationally recognised sports people from Adelaide include:

### Aerobatics

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* Chris Sperou – thirteen-time National Aerobatics Champion,[2] and five-time participant in the FAI World Aerobatic Championships

### Archery

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* Simon Fairweather OAM – Olympic gold medalist

### Athletics

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* Matthew Clarke (born 1995) – distance runner
* Jessica Stenson (born 1987) – distance runner

### Australian rules football

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* Nathan Buckley – captained the Collingwood Football Club, winner of the Brownlow Medal
* Mark Ricciuto – player for the Adelaide Crows, winner of the Brownlow Medal
* Adam Cooney – player for the Western Bulldogs and the Essendon Football Club, winner of the Brownlow Medal
* Matthew Pavlich – captained the Fremantle Football Club
* Adelaide Football Club players
* Port Adelaide Football Club players

### Basketball

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* Mark Bradtke – played one season in the NBA for the Philadelphia 76ers, played in the NBL for the Adelaide 36ers, Melbourne Tigers and Brisbane Bullets
* Lindsay Gaze – played for the Australian Boomers in three Olympics and coached the team in four Olympics
* Joe Ingles – plays for the Orlando Magic in the NBA
* Ben Madgen – plays in the NBL for the Sydney Kings
* Brett Maher – played in the NBL for the Adelaide 36ers
* Mike McKay – played in the NBL for the West Adelaide Bearcats, Adelaide 36ers, Brisbane Bullets, Canberra Cannons and Wollongong Hawks
* Brad Newley – plays in Spain for CB Gran Canaria, drafted to the NBA by the Houston Rockets
* Erin Phillips – plays in the WNBA for the Phoenix Mercury, played for the Connecticut Sun
* Luke Schenscher – played in the NBA for the Chicago Bulls and the Portland Trail Blazers
* Phil Smyth AM – played in the NBL for the St Kilda Saints, Canberra Cannons, Adelaide 36ers and Sydney Kings

### Brazilian jiu-jitsu

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* Craig Jones – two-time ADCC silver medalist (2019–2022)

### Cricket

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* Greg Blewett – played for the Australian national cricket team
* Sir Donald Bradman AC – captained Australia, all-time highest Test batting average of any player with 99.94 (Note: Bradman was born in Cootamundra, New South Wales in 1908 and moved to Adelaide in 1934)
* Greg Chappell MBE – captained Australia
* Ian Chappell – captained Australia
* Trevor Chappell – played for Australia
* Albert Gillespie – played first-class cricket in England
* Jason Gillespie – played for Australia
* George Goodfellow – played first-class cricket in England
* Clem Hill – captained Australia
* David Hookes – played for Australia
* Barry Jarman OAM – captained Australia
* Arthur G. Jenkins – first South Australian to umpire a cricket Test match
* Darren Lehmann – played for Australia; current (2015) coach of the Australian team
* Wayne Phillips – played for Australia
* Vic Richardson OBE – captained Australia; won Magarey Medal (Australian Rules Football) and represented Australia in Baseball; grandfather of Ian, Greg and Trevor Chappell
* Shaun Tait – plays for Australia

### Cycling

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* Alex Edmondson – Commonwealth Games Team pursuit champion, World individual pursuit champion 2014
* Annette Edmondson – Commonwealth Games gold medalist 2014, Olympic bronze medalist in the omnium 2012
* Matthew Glaetzer – Olympic gold, silver and bronze medalist for the Australian Cyclist team since 2009
* Alexandra Manly – professional cyclist at Orica-AIS
* Stephanie Morton – Commonwealth Games Individual Sprint Champion 2014
* Stuart O'Grady OAM – Olympic gold medalist in the Men's Madison, silver and bronze medalist in the 4000m Team Pursuit, bronze medalist in the Points Race, and four-time second-place finisher in the Tour de France
* Michael Turtur OAM – Olympic gold medalist in the Team Pursuit, and Race Director of the Tour Down Under
* Kimberley Wells – two-time national criterium champion, and current professional cyclist
* Sam Willoughby – Olympic silver medalist in the men's BMX and UCI BMX world champion

### Darts

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* Rob Modra – two-time Geelong Open Darts Championships

### Golf

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* Geoff Ogilvy – U.S. Open winner and three-time World Golf Championships winner
* Adam Scott – U.S. Masters winner and World number one

### Kickboxing

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* Frank Giorgi – two-time Australian champion and world Super Middleweight champion
* Paul Slowinski – four-time Muay Thai world champion

### Motor sports

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* John Boulger – two-time Australian Speedway Champion, nine-time South Australian Champion, captained Australia to win the Speedway World Team Cup
* Jeremy Burgess – MotoGP engineer, helped Wayne Gardner, Mick Doohan and Valentino Rossi to 12 World Championships
* Garrie Cooper – founder of Elfin Sports Cars, Australian 1½ Litre Champion, Australian Sports Car Champion and Singapore Grand Prix winner
* Daniel Falzon – two-time Australian Superbike Champion
* Steve Martin – Superbike World Championship veteran and World Endurance Champion
* Billy McConnell – competes in the British Supersport Championship
* Nick Percat – V8 Supercar driver, Australian Formula Ford Champion and Bathurst 1000 winner
* Vern Schuppan – Formula One driver, 24 Hours of Le Mans winner and Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year
* Johnnie Walker – Australian Drivers' Champion and Australian Grand Prix winner
* Jack Young – two-time Speedway World Champion and nine-time South Australian Champion

### Professional wrestling

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* Bronson Reed – billed from Black Forest, signed to the WWE, former NXT North American Champion
* Rhea Ripley – signed to the WWE, current 2023 Women's Royal Rumble winner; former 1/2 of the WWE Women's Tag Team Champions; former Raw Women's Champion, former Smackdown Women's Champion (before it was renamed to the Women's World Championship, former NXT Women's Champion, former NXT UK Women's Champion and 2-time Women's World Champion (including the reign when the championship was renamed) (as well as being the inaugural champion for the latter)

### Soccer

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* Dianne Alagich – played in the Women's United Soccer Association for the San Jose CyberRays, played for the Matildas
* John Aloisi – played in La Liga, Premier League and Serie A, played for the Socceroos at the FIFA World Cup
* Charlotte Grant – plays for the Matildas[3]
* Diana Hall – played for the Matildas
* Awer Mabil – plays for FC Midtjylland
* Joel Porter – played for the Socceroos
* Alex Tobin – captained the Socceroos
* Aurelio Vidmar – captained the Socceroos
* Tony Vidmar – played for the Socceroos
* Adelaide United FC players

### Sport aerobics

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* Kylie Halliday – placed second at the Aerobic Gymnastics World Championships

### Swimming

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* Kyle Chalmers – 2016 Summer Olympics gold medalist in the 100m freestyle
* Emily Seebohm – 2012 Summer Olympics gold medalist in the 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay and 2008 Summer Olympics gold medalist in the 4 × 100 metre medley relay

### Tennis

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* Darren Cahill – Australian Open doubles finalist, US Open singles semi-finalist
* Lleyton Hewitt – U.S. Open and Wimbledon winner and World number one
* Thanasi Kokkinakis
* Alicia Molik – Australian Open and French Open doubles winner, reached World top ten singles ranking
* Mark Woodforde OAM – two-time Australian Open, one-time French Open, six-time Wimbledon, and three-time French Open doubles winner; Olympic gold and silver medalist; World number one

### Trampoline gymnastics

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* Blake Gaudry – 2012 Summer Olympics competitor, Australian Gymnastics Championships Winner

### Volleyball

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* Tania Gooley-Humphry (born 1973) – beach volleyball and indoor volleyball player
* Tamsin Hinchley (born 1980) – volleyball player
* Becchara Palmer (born 1988) – beach volleyball player
* Kerri Pottharst OAM (born 1965) – Olympic gold and bronze medalist in beach volleyball
* Andrew Schacht (born 1973) – beach volleyball player

## Other

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* Garry Gordon Cooper – retired airline captain, ex RAAF pilot
* Gladys Elphick – Australian Aboriginal active in Aboriginal affairs
* David Hicks – former Guantanamo Bay inmate, falsely convicted of 'providing material support to terrorism'
* Mohammad Tawhidi (b. 1982 or 1983), also known as the Imam of Peace – influencer and Imam

## See also

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* List of University of Adelaide people

## References

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1. ^ Tedesco, Lisa (21 June 2018). "Mandahla Rose: Hollywood's Up-And-Coming Lesbian Starlet". Curve. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
2. ^ Bowman, Matt (20 November 1999). "Veteran pilot still pushing the sky's limits". The Advertiser. p. 28.
3. ^ "Matildas' Charlotte Grant hailed for true Aussie grit". The West Australian. 12 April 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2023.