William Cullen Bryant High School

Herb Abrams (1955-1996):  AKA, "Mr. Electricity."  American professional wrestling promoter who founded the Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF) in 1990.

Susan Anspach (1942–2018):  1960 graduate.  American stage, film and television actress who had roles in films during the 1970s and 1980s such as Five Easy Pieces (1970), Play It Again, Sam (1972), Blume in Love (1973), Montenegro (1981), Blue Monkey (1987), and Blood Red (1989).  

Panayiota Bertzikis (1981-):  Graduate of the Class of 1999.  Born in Thessaloniki, Greece.  She founded the Military Rape Crisis Center in August 2006 while on active duty with the United States Coast Guard.  She presently serves as its Executive Director of the Crisis Center.  

Frank Caldeiro (1958–2009):  Graduate of the Class of 1976.  Argentine-born American scientist and NASA astronaut. After serving as Flight Test director for the Supersonic USAF B-1B Lancer, he was transferred by Rockwell International to the Kennedy Space Center as a Space Shuttle main propulsion system specialist, where he assisted with the ground processing and launch of the Orbiter Discovery.

Peter Chappetto (1912-1944): Attended W.C. Bryant High School from 1924-1928. Astoria native who became a Second Lieutenant in the military.  He was killed in the line of duty and buried at sea in World War II.  Chappetto Square in Astoria (Hoyt Ave. and 23rd Street) was dedicated to his memory in 1949.  

Eugenie Clark (1922–2015):  1938 graduate. Trailblazing marine biologist, known as the "Shark Lady" who dedicated her life to oceanic research and conservation.  Inducted into the W.C. Bryant High School Hall of Fame in 1992.

She debunked popular myths of sharks as monsters of the sea, popularized by Steven Spielberg's movie, Jaws. “No creature on earth has a worse, and perhaps less deserved, reputation than the shark,” she wrote in National Geographic in 1981.  Clark was a pioneer in the field of scuba diving for research purposes, conducting over 5,000 dives throughout the course of her 75 year career as a scientist.  She became the first woman to conduct any scientific research in the Red Sea, where her and her team would discover that a native species known as the “Moses sole” could produce a natural shark repellent. She also verified local stories in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula about “sleeping sharks” in undersea caves, a discovery which disproved the belief that sharks had to keep moving in order to breathe. 

Clark received her Doctorate in Zoology from New York University in 1950, and later taught Zoology at the University of Maryland.  Authored three books, including  Lady with A Spear (1953) and The Lady with the Sharks (1969).   In 1955 Clark became the founding director of the Cape Haze Marine Laboratory — now called the Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium — in Florida.  Her discoveries earned her a Gold Medal from the Society of Women Geographers.  In 1994 she received the Medal of Excellence from the American Society of Oceanographers.  (Source: "Eugenie Clark, the "Shark Lady" Who Took a Bite out of Marine Biology." Published in Hidden Voices, a collaboration with the NYC DOE and the Museum of the City of New York.)

Eleanor Clift (1940-):  American political journalist, television pundit, and author. Clift became White House correspondent for Newsweek and has covered presidential campaigns for the magazine since 1976. When Newsweek merged with The Daily Beast in 2010, Clift stayed on to cover politics for the online publication . Clift has also been a contributor to MSNBC.  She is best known as a regular panelist on the nationally syndicated television program on public affairs, The McLaughlin Group, which aired regularly from 1982-2016, and intermittently from 2018-2020. Clift is a board member at the IWMF (International Women's Media Foundation).

Florence Finney (1903–1994):  American politician and civic leader who served as the first woman president pro tempore of the Connecticut State Senate from 1973 through 1974. A Republican representing Greenwich, she served in the Connecticut House of Representatives (1949–1955) and the Senate (1955–1976).

Veronica Gedeon (1917-1937): Commercial model.  She was a 1937 New York City murder victim.

Joel Klein (1946-  ):  1963 graduate. Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education, the largest public school system in the United States, from 2002 to 2011, an appointment of Mayor Michael Bloomberg.  He previously served as the Assistant Attorney General of the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice from 1996 to 2000 during the administration of President Bill Clinton. In 2011, Joel Klein he became the CEO of Amplify and Executive Vice President at News Corporation.  Klein is the author of Lessons of Hope: How to Fix Our Schools, released in 2014.  

Richard Kline (1944-  ):  Comedic actor.  His roles include Larry Dallas on the sitcom Three's Company, Richie in the later seasons of It's a Living and Jeff Beznick in Noah Knows Best.  He also performed on Broadway in "City of Angels" and is a member of the Lincoln Center Repertory Company.

Winifred Lenihan (1898-1964): Stage actress and director who played  Joan of Arc  in George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan in its debut in 1923. 

Billy Loes (1929–2010):  Major League Baseball pitcher who helped the Brooklyn Dodgers win the 1955 World Series. Loes made five trips to the World Series while playing for Brooklyn.  While with the Dodgers, Loes won 50 games and lost 25. His best season was in 1953, when he achieved a record of 14 wins and eight losses including four shutouts and a 2.69 ERA.  Loes was traded to the Baltimore Orioles during the 1956 season and pitched for the American League in the 1957 All-Star Game. He pitched for the San Francisco Giants in his last two seasons with the Major Leagues and retired after 11 seasons with an 80-63 record.

Lou Lumenick (1949-  ):  American film critic. He was the chief film critic and film editor for the New York Post  where he reviewed films from 1999 until his retirement in 2016.

Oliver Mack (1957-  ):  American professional basketball player. Played in the NBA from 1979-1981 for the Los Angeles Lakers, Chicago Bulls and Dallas Mavericks. 

Mike Maloy (1949-2009):  American-Austrian professional basketball player who played in the ABA and in Austria in the OBB. Four times Austrian League champion (1976, 1977, 1979, 1980).  He was an All-American college basketball player for the Davidson Wildcats.

Sam Mele (1922-2017):  Right fielder, manager, coach and scout in Major League Baseball.  During his big-league career (1947–56), Mele played with six major league clubs: the Red Sox, Washington Senators, Chicago White Sox, Baltimore Orioles, Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians, batting .267 with 80 home runs in 1,046 games.  As a manager, he led the Minnesota Twins to their first American League championship in 1965.

Ethel Merman (1908-1984):  Graduate of the class of 1924.  Star of stage and screen and legend of musical comedy.  W.C. Bryant High School's auditorium was named the Ethel Merman Theater  in 1989 during its centennial celebration.  

Acting:  Known for her distinctive, powerful voice, and her leading roles in musical theater, she has been called "the undisputed First Lady of the musical comedy stage."  She performed on Broadway in Anything Goes, Annie Get Your Gun, Gypsy, and Hello, Dolly!  She is also known for her film roles in Anything Goes (1936), Call Me Madam (1953), There's No Business Like Show Business (1954), and It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963). Among her many accolades, she received the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical  for her performance in Call Me Madam, and a Drama Desk Award for Hello, Dolly!  Merman was in the inaugural class of inductees to the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1972.

Music:  Merman introduced many Broadway standards, including "I Got Rhythm" from Girl Crazy, "Everything's Coming Up Roses", "Some People" and "Rose's Turn" from Gypsy, and the Cole Porter songs "It's De-Lovely" (from Red, Hot and Blue), "Friendship"(from Du Barry Was a Lady), and "I Get a Kick Out of You", "You're the Top", and "Anything Goes" (from Anything Goes).  In 1960, she won the Grammy Award for Gypsy.  The Irving Berlin song "There's No Business Like Show Business", written for Annie Get Your Gun, became Merman's signature song.  

Merman received two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame  in 1960: One for her contribution to the motion picture industry at 7044 Hollywood Boulevard and one for recording at 1751 Vine Street  (Source: "Ethel Merman", from Wikipedia).

Dick Oliver (1939–2016):   American print journalist, radio host and television reporter, best known for his tenure as a correspondent for Good Day New York  from 1988 until 2001, broadcast on television station WNYW Fox 5. Oliver was the first journalist to report on the 9/11 attacks on live television.

Suze Rotolo (1943-2011):  American artist, book artist, author, but best known as Bob Dylan's girlfriend between 1961 and 1664. She is the woman walking with him on the cover of his album, The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. 

Edward Rundle (1947-   ):Graduate of the Class of 1965.  Professional baseball player.  Drafted by the San Diego Padres in 1969.  

Moe Spahn (1912–1991):  Professional basketball player.  Played for City College of New York (CCNY), where he was an All-American and All-Metropolitan basketball player at the guard position. He became a professional basketball player in 1934.  Spahn played for a number of teams in the American Basketball League (ABL)—the Brooklyn Visitations, the Jersey Reds, and the New York Jewels, winning two ABL championships (1938, 1942).

Fred Van Dusen (1937-2018):  Major League Baseball outfielder in 1955 for the Philadelphia Phillies. 

Elliott Wilson: (1971-   ):  American journalist and major figure in the Hip Hop world. He edited XXL, Respect , HipHopDX and Dime magazines, and the blog, RapRadar.com.  He is presently the Editorial Director of UPROXX Studios.