![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/93/Flag_of_the_Bahamas.svg/200px-Flag_of_the_Bahamas.svg.png)
This is a list of Bahamians, who are identified with The Bahamas through residential, legal, historical, or cultural means, grouped by their area of notability.
Artists
[edit]Business people
[edit]- Pauline Allen-Dean – first woman to become manager of a commercial bank and the first woman to serve as managing director of a commercial bank
- Garet 'Tiger' Finlayson OBE – owner of Solomon Mines (luxury retail goods), Burns House and Butler & Sands
- Sherrexcia (Rexy) Rolle – Vice-president of Operations & General Counsel of Western Air[1]
Entertainers
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/Sidney_Poitier-NPS_%28cropped%29.jpg/140px-Sidney_Poitier-NPS_%28cropped%29.jpg)
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ac/Lenny_Kravitz_by_Gage_Skidmore.jpg/140px-Lenny_Kravitz_by_Gage_Skidmore.jpg)
- Etta Cameron – jazz singer; based in Denmark; frontrunner of the Danish 1970s and 1980s music scene
- Wendy Coakley-Thompson – writer; author of the novels Back to Life (2004) and What You Won't Do for Love (2005)
- Langston Fishburne – actor, son of Laurence Fishburne
- "King" Eric Gibson – entrepreneur and musician; semi-official Ambassador of Bahamian Goodwill
- Lenny Kravitz – actor, multi-instrumentalist, music arranger, record producer and rock singer-songwriter; son of Roxie Roker
- Zoë Kravitz – actress and musician; daughter of Lenny Kravitz
- Shakara Ledard – super model
- Myles Munroe – televangelist
- Tia Mowry – actress
- Tamera Mowry – actress
- Sir Sidney Poitier – actor and diplomat; Ambassador of the Bahamas to Japan
- Roxie Roker – actress; known for role on the television series The Jeffersons
- Angelique Sabrina – teenage actor, dancer and singer-songwriter
- Persia White – actress; known for role on the television series Girlfriends
Politicians
[edit]- Perry Christie – became Prime Minister of the Bahamas in 2012
- Frederick Gottlieb – former MP and FNM activist
- Hubert Ingraham – former Prime Minister of the Bahamas
- Sir Lynden Pindling – former Prime Minister of the Bahamas
- Allan Glaisyer Minns – first Black Mayor in Britain
- Brandon Russell – Founder of the Neo-Nazi Atomwaffen Division
Sportspeople
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f1/Buddy_Hield_crop.jpg/140px-Buddy_Hield_crop.jpg)
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5c/Klay_Thompson_vs._Jared_Dudley_%28cropped%29.jpg/140px-Klay_Thompson_vs._Jared_Dudley_%28cropped%29.jpg)
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a0/Mychal_Thompson.jpg/140px-Mychal_Thompson.jpg)
- Deandre Ayton – No.1 overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft, NBA player for Phoenix Suns[2]
- Shaunae Miller – professional sprinter
- Edner Cherry – professional boxer
- André Deveaux – retired professional NHL ice hockey player
- Yves Edwards – mixed martial artist
- Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie – Olympian/Golden Girl and sprint athlete
- Rick Fox – actor and retired professional basketball player; former National Basketball Association player for the Los Angeles Lakers
- Eric Gordon – NBA player[3]
- Steven Gardiner – professional sprinter
- Buddy Hield – NBA player; consensus NCAA Division I player of the year in 2015–16[4]
- Tureano Johnson – boxer
- Mark Knowles – professional tennis player
- Antoan Richardson – Major League baseball player and coach
- Myron Rolle – professional football player; former National Football League player for the Tennessee Titans; Rhodes scholar
- Kimbo Slice – streetfighter turned mixed martial artist
- Ryan Sweeting – professional tennis player
- Klay Thompson – NBA player for the Golden State Warriors[5]
- Mychal Thompson – professional basketball player; former National Basketball Association player for the Portland Trail Blazers and the Los Angeles Lakers; nicknamed "Sweet Bells"[6]
- Tonique Williams-Darling – 2004 Olympic gold medalist (400m), 2005 IAAF World Champion, she split the Golden League – Million Dollar Jackpot ($500,000) by winning eight consecutive 400m events in the championship series; Bahamian government named a major highway the "Tonique Williams-Darling Highway"
Celebrities and billionaires
[edit]The Bahamas has one of the largest registers of celebrities who reside permanently or have legal resident status in a country, not of their native birth, hometown, or place of origin. This is primarily due to the favourable financial sector that is tax free (from income, capital gains, inheritance, among others[7]) and is one of the top three worldwide centres in offshore banking. Also, there is a high-quality tourism product, ranking first in the Caribbean and Atlantic region among island destinations. Another is a favorable immigration policy toward wealthy nationals. Those who invest $500,000 in property can be eligible for permanent residential status.[7]
- Nicolas Cage - owns estate residence on Paradise Island and a private island in the Exuma chains.[8]
- Mariah Carey - owns a house on Windermere, a private island connected to Eleuthera, where she married Nick Cannon in 2008.[9]
- Sean "Diddy" Combs[7]
- Sean Connery - owned a property in Lyford Cay; had lived in the Bahamas since the 1990s[10]
- David Copperfield
- Johnny Depp - owns private island[7]
- Rick Fox - Bahamian/Canadian
- Bill Gates[11]
- Michael Jordan
- Helen Singer Kaplan[12]
- Lenny Kravitz[7]
- Joe Lewis (British businessman) - British billionaire (347th richest person on Forbes list of billionaires[13]), owns a property in Lyford Cay[citation needed]
- Terry Manning - American record producer, operator of Compass Point Studios
- Tim McGraw and Faith Hill - own private island[7]
- Shakira Mebarak[7]
- Eddie Murphy[14]
- Daniel Nestor
- Peter Nygard - Canadian billionaire[10]
- Stephen O'Brien - politician
- Mike Oldfield - guitarist/composer (Tubular Bells etc.)
- Sidney Poitier - Bahamian
- Anna Nicole Smith (28 November 1967 – 8 February 2007)[7]
- John Travolta[7]
- Tiger Woods - owns the Albany Estate
- Louis Bacon - billionaire American investor, hedge fund manager, and philanthropist. Owns property in Lyford Cay.
See also
[edit]- Bahamian Americans
- List of Bahamian Americans
- Afro-Bahamians
- African diaspora in the Americas
- Afro-Caribbean
- List of people on stamps of the Bahamas
- List of residents of the Bahamas
References
[edit]- ^ "'Rexy' Rolle". The Nassau Guardian. 8 March 2021. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
- ^ "DeAndre Ayton, 'son of the soil'". Andscape. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
- ^ "Eric Gordon brings back memories – The Nassau Guardian". www.thenassauguardian.com. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
- ^ "Buddy Hield's March from Bahamas to NBA motivated by family". www.closeup360.com. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
- ^ "Why Klay Thompson holds firmly to his Bahamian roots". www.sfchronicle.com. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
- ^ "Mychal Thompson honored with street in his name – The Nassau Guardian". www.thenassauguardian.com. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Jessica Robertson (1 February 2007). "Bahamas a Magnet for Celebs Seeking Sun". The Associated Press. Washington Post. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
- ^ "Cage Helps Develop Bahamas Indie Cinema". The Associated Press. Fox News. 9 December 2006.
- ^ Access Hollywood (2 May 2008). "Mariah Carey reportedly marries in Bahamas - Tourism official says singer tied the knot on Windermere Island". MSNBC. Archived from the original on 10 August 2011. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
- ^ a b Boffey, D. (12 July 2014). "Sean Connery joins Bahamas campaign to stop billionaire developing mansion". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
- ^ [1] Theme Park Review, "Celebrities in the Bahamas".
- ^ [2]
- ^ "Joe Lewis profile". Forbes. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
- ^ [3] Private Islands Magazine, "Eddie Murphy - Rooster Cay, Bahamas"