The list of famous people from Westchester is much longer than I realized.
Okay, full disclosure: I was today years old when I realized how many famous faces have Westchester roots. I mean, I KNEW we had a few celebrities floating around Bedford Village, but when I actually sat down and made the list? I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. So pour a coffee, settle in, and let me tell you who’s been hiding in our hedgerows.
And I’m keeping it honest – there’s a big difference between “grew up here” and “is here right now, possibly buying eggs at the same farm stand as you,” and I’m keeping those lists very separate. But first, the story I actually called you here for.
The Fatal Attraction House Is on My Street
You know Fatal Attraction. 1987. Michael Douglas, Glenn Close, the affair that launched a thousand “I’m not going to be ignored, Dan” impressions, and the scene that made an entire generation nervous around pots of boiling water.
The country house the Gallagher family moves to in the movie? It’s here. In Bedford. On MY street. I drive past it all the time, and yes, I still think about the bunny every single time.
It’s a gorgeous 1920s estate (fun Hollywood-insider bonus: it was once owned by Irene Mayer Selznick, wife of Gone with the Wind producer David O. Selznick), and only the exteriors were filmed there – so no actual rabbits were harmed on the premises. Probably.
And here’s the part that gives me chills: life imitated real estate. After the movie, BOTH of its stars ended up as my neighbors.
Glenn Close spent almost 30 years in Bedford Hills at her farmhouse, Beanfield – she was a real local, the kind you’d see at village events, not a celebrity hiding behind a gate. She sold it in 2020 and moved to Montana, and here is my favorite detail ever: at her estate sale, she included a pan of ceramic bunnies as a wink to the movie. A PAN OF BUNNIES. That’s how you leave a town with style.
And Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones owned not one but two Bedford estates over the years before selling up in 2019. So yes – the stars of the most famous thriller ever filmed in Westchester both chose, separately, to actually live here. Can you blame them?
Who’s in Bedford RIGHT NOW
Let’s start close to home. Literally. Like, walking distance from my house.
Matt Damon. Yes, THAT Matt Damon. He and his wife Luciana bought a gorgeous stone-and-clapboard colonial here in Bedford back in 2022 – $8.5 million, 13.5 acres, saltwater pool, a pond, hiking trails, rope bridges, and a tree house. A TREE HOUSE. He still owns it, and he’s talked about how family dinner every night is nonnegotiable. Matt, if you’re reading this, my door is always open.
Chevy Chase. This one surprised even me, and I’ve been here for years. Chevy and his wife Jayni moved to Bedford in 1995, raised their three daughters here (all three went to Rippowam Cisqua), and never left. Jayni is a serious environmental force in town – 30 years on the board of Friends of the Earth, deep in Bedford 2030. These are not “weekend celebrities.” They’re neighbors.
Martha Stewart. The queen of all of it lives right here on her 152-acre farm, Cantitoe Corners, on the Bedford-Katonah line. She’s been there since 2000 and she is very much still there – hosting garden tours, leading super-fan celebrations, serving croissants from LMNOP Bakery in Katonah. If Martha trusts Katonah’s croissants, that’s all the endorsement I need.
Ralph Lauren. THE Ralph Lauren has his estate right here in Bedford, and with it one of the greatest car collections on the planet – dozens of vintage Bugattis, Ferraris, and Jaguars housed in a secret 48,000-square-foot garage that the New York Times compared to the Bat Cave. He’s even shown a fashion collection inside it, because of course he has. Ginormous doesn’t begin to cover it.
Chazz Palminteri. The man who wrote and starred in A Bronx Tale is living a Bedford tale – he and his wife Gianna built their stone-and-marble home here and have raised their family in Bedford for years. The New York Times literally called it that. Sonny would approve.
Rob Thomas. The Matchbox Twenty frontman – “Smooth,” “3 A.M.,” “Lonely No More,” basically the soundtrack of an entire era – lives right here in Bedford with his wife Marisol. He’s told Westchester Magazine he loves that Bedford feels unpretentious, that everyone’s in jeans and boots, and that he likes “not being the most famous person in my neighborhood.” Same, Rob. Same. His favorite local hang is Le Jardin du Roi in Chappaqua, which now makes it officially the most rock-and-roll cafe in the county.
Natasha Bedingfield. “Unwritten” herself! She and her husband bought a five-bedroom Colonial right here in Bedford in 2022, and she’s very much around. If this post had a theme song, it would be hers – “the rest is still unwritten” is basically the town motto.
Jennifer Lawrence. Yes, J-Law is a Bedford local too. This one comes straight from my own local knowledge – the kind you pick up by actually living here, not scrolling celebrity real-estate maps. An Oscar winner in our backyard? Very Bedford: huge name, zero fuss.
Brendan Fraser. Another Bedford local, and another one I know from being here. The Oscar-winning star of The Whale and everyone’s forever favorite from The Mummy is part of the neighborhood too. Honestly, Bedford’s unofficial awards shelf is getting crowded.
Jim Parsons. Yes, Sheldon Cooper is one of ours too. This one’s pure local knowledge – he’s been spotted eating at 234 right in Bedford Village. An Emmy winner at the next table, and nobody even looks up from their burger? That’s exactly the point of this town. Bazinga.
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds. Technically they’re just over the line in Pound Ridge – they bought their place back in 2012, right after they got married, and they’ve raised their four kids there. Pound Ridge is basically Bedford’s sister, so I’m claiming them. By all accounts they’ve made it a real home, not a Hollywood hideaway, which is exactly the energy of this whole area.
Zoe Kravitz reportedly has a little converted 1700s cider mill in Pound Ridge too – a total fairytale hideaway on two wooded acres. (This one’s from a single real-estate writeup, so take it with a grain of salt – notes for me at the bottom.)
And a fun Bedford bonus: Kate and Rooney Mara were BORN in Bedford and both graduated from Fox Lane High School. So did Susan Dey, if you grew up on The Partridge Family like I did.
Local Legends We’ve Said Goodbye To
This part is newer, and a little bittersweet – we’ve lost three absolute giants who called our corner of the world home.
Clive Davis. The music legend – the man who discovered and championed Whitney Houston, Alicia Keys, Barry Manilow, basically everyone on your playlist – spent every weekend for more than 30 years at his 17-acre estate in Pound Ridge. And he was a genuine local-arts hero: when our community lost its movie theater, he helped bring back the Bedford Playhouse. He passed away this June at 94. That house full of art and Grammy stories was one of ours.
Phil Ramone. If you own a Billy Joel album (and if you don’t, we need to talk), you’ve heard Phil Ramone’s work – he produced The Stranger, 52nd Street, and a stack of other classics, and he lived and worked right here in Bedford on Guard Hill Road. We lost him in 2013, but every time “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant” plays at a Westchester wedding, he’s in the room.
Christopher Reeve. Superman himself lived just over the line in Pound Ridge with his wife Dana – they bought their home on Great Hill Farms Road back in 1992 and raised their son here. After his riding accident, he spent the rest of his life fighting for a cure from right here in our backyard, and when we lost him in 2004, Dana picked up the fight and carried it until we lost her too, far too soon, in 2006. The most heroic thing Superman ever did had nothing to do with a cape.
The “Grew Up Here and You Had NO IDEA” List
Now for the part that genuinely shocked me. These aren’t people who bought estates as adults – these are people who were raised in our towns, walked our hallways, sat in our classrooms.
Denzel Washington – Mount Vernon. Born and raised. His father was a Pentecostal minister, his mother owned a beauty parlor, and he credits the Boys & Girls Club of Mount Vernon with keeping him on track. Two Oscars later, he’s still one of Mount Vernon’s proudest claims.
Stanley Tucci – Katonah. Born in Peekskill, grew up in Katonah, went to John Jay High School in Cross River, then SUNY Purchase. The man from The Devil Wears Prada and Big Night is northern Westchester through and through. Honestly, it tracks – he has excellent taste.
Vanessa Williams – Chappaqua. Grew up in Millwood, graduated from Horace Greeley High School, and has stayed a longtime Chappaqua resident. First Black Miss America, Broadway, Ugly Betty, the whole resume – and she’s one of ours.
Matt Dillon – Mamaroneck. Born in New Rochelle, raised in Mamaroneck, discovered as a teenager and cast in Over the Edge while he was still a Westchester kid. The Outsiders, Drugstore Cowboy, Crash – all launched from right here.
Mark Zuckerberg – Dobbs Ferry. Born in White Plains, raised in Dobbs Ferry, went to Ardsley High School. Whatever you think of Facebook, one of the most influential companies on earth started with a kid coding at his family’s Dobbs Ferry kitchen table. (His dad’s dental office used his early software. Cute.)
Jon Voight – Yonkers. Born in Yonkers in 1938, went to Stepinac in White Plains. Midnight Cowboy, Coming Home, an Oscar – southern Westchester roots.
Alan Menken – New Rochelle. If you’ve ever hummed a Disney song – The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin – you can thank a New Rochelle High School grad.
Jonathan Larson – White Plains. Born in Mount Vernon, raised in White Plains, created RENT. The Pulitzer, the Tonys – it all started in Westchester community theater.
DMX – Yonkers. Born in Mount Vernon, raised in Yonkers, and he carried Yonkers in his sound forever. One of the defining voices of late-90s hip-hop, straight from our backyard.
Recently Moved On (But We’ll Claim Them Forever)
Two more names, because their Westchester chapters only just closed:
Paul Shaffer. David Letterman’s bandleader for THIRTY-THREE YEARS – the man behind the World’s Most Dangerous Band – lived right here in Bedford from 1991 until he sold his eight-acre home in 2024. Every late-night musical gag you grew up on was dreamed up by a Bedford neighbor.
Ian Schrager. The man who co-founded Studio 54 – STUDIO 54 – and then basically invented the boutique hotel had his family retreat on nearly 12 acres in Bedford Corners for over a decade. He sold it this past January for $6.2 million. Disco royalty, Bedford edition.
And the legends: Ella Fitzgerald spent her childhood in Yonkers before becoming the First Lady of Song. Dick Clark grew up in Mount Vernon. Art Carney – Ed Norton himself – was a Mount Vernon boy. Even Joseph Campbell, the hero’s-journey guy, was born in White Plains and raised in New Rochelle.
Also Floating Around the County
A few more current-ish neighbors worth knowing about: David Letterman has had his North Salem estate for decades, and Richard Gere is in North Salem now too after selling his Pound Ridge place. And of course Bill and Hillary Clinton have been in Chappaqua for over 25 years – say what you will, but Chappaqua’s Memorial Day parade is a whole thing.
The Real Talk Part
Here’s what I love about this list: nobody here is performing. Bedford, Katonah, Pound Ridge – this isn’t where celebrities go to be seen. It’s where they go to NOT be seen. To raise kids, grow vegetables, keep bees (Jayni Chase has beehives AND chickens), and buy croissants in Katonah like the rest of us.
So next time you’re strolling the Bedford Village green or grabbing coffee in Katonah, keep your eyes open. The person in front of you in line might have an Oscar at home. And if you drive past a certain very famous movie house on your way, wave. I probably just did.
And Matt – family dinner, any night. I’m just around the corner.
