Creative Lefties

Is it true that lefties pack more creative punch than their righty pals? Maybe, maybe not, but here's an impressive sampling of left-handed talent from the past and present. Just click on their names for more details.

Music

Annie Lennox, singer
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, composer
Paul McCartney, musician
Bix Beiderbecke, jazz musician
Cole Porter, songwriter
Michael Card, musician
Jimi Hendrix, guitar player
Enrico Caruso, opera singer
Glenn Frey, musician
Sergei Rachmaninoff, composer
Ringo Starr, musician

Literature

Lewis Carroll, writer
Richard Condon, novelist
Jean Genet, French dramatist
Hans Christian Andersen, Danish writer
James Baldwin, author
Dave Barry, humorist
Peter Benchley, novelist
John H. Ritter, author
Joanne Rocklin, author of children's books
Eudora Welty, novelist
Jessamyn West, writer
Rosemary West, writer

Art

Leonardo da Vinci, genius of the Renaissance
Cecil Beaton, photographer
Rembrandt van Rijn, Dutch painter
Matt Groening, cartoonist
M.C. Escher, artist
Raphael, Renaissance painter
Edvard Munch, Norwegian painter
Milton Caniff, cartoonist
Paul Klee, Swiss painter
Francis Burdett-Mills, designer and craftsman
Pat Oliphant, cartoonist
Peggy Guggenheim, art collector

Science and Technology

Benjamin Franklin, inventor
Marie Curie, physicist
Linus Pauling, biochemist
Bill Gates, businessman
Eric Isaacson, Zipkey
Harold Holmes, Lincoln Beach Software
Mike Hommel, Hamumu Software
Elias Howe, inventor

Stage, Film, TV, Radio

Albert Brooks, filmmaker
Carol Burnett, actress
George Burns, comedian
James Cameron, Hollywood bigshot
Drew Carey comedian
Divine, drag queen
Tina Fey, writer, performer, producer
Larry Fine, stooge
Cary Grant, movie star
Steve Harvey, comedian
Jim Henson, puppeteer
Rock Hudson, movie star
Angelina Jolie, movie star
Marcel Marceau, mime
Harpo Marx, entertainer
Sally Rand, burlesque dancer
Jerry Seinfeld, comedian
Rip Torn, actor

Politics

F.W. de Klerk South African President
Bill Clinton, U.S. President
George Bush, U.S. President
Napoleon Bonaparte, French dictator
Gerald Ford, U.S. President
James A. Garfield U.S. President
Harry S Truman, U.S. President

And More

Matt Roloff, entrepreneur
Alexander the Great, world conqueror
Clarence Darrow, attorney
Steve Forbes, businessman
Uri Geller, entertainer
Billy Graham, preacher
Tommy Hilfiger, fashion designer
Helen Keller, writer, lecturer
Paul Prudhomme, chef
Albert Schweitzer, humanitarian

Ambidextrous

These are people who are sometimes classified as left-handed, but who are (or appear to be) ambidextrous or cross-dominant.

Fidel Castro, Cuban dictator
Bob Dylan, songwriter
Michelangelo, renaissance artist
Alex Shapiro, outstanding composer
Nikola Tesla, inventor

Switched!

These are people who were born left-handed but forced to switch.

Mary Roberts Rinehart, mystery writer
Ronald Reagan, U.S. president

Left-Handed by Necessity

These are people who started out right-handed but became left-handed because of loss or injury to the right hand.

Chang Bunker, Siamese twin
Bob Dole, politician
Daniel Inouye, U.S. senator
Joseph Stalin, evil dictator
Paul Wittgenstein, pianist

Not a Lefty

Here are some people who often appear on lists of famous left-handers, even though they are not left-handed.

William Bonney (Billy the Kid)
Winston Churchill
Albert Einstein
Herbert Hoover
David Letterman
James Michener
Marilyn Monroe