List of Bahamians

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

Business people

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

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

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

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

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.

References

^ "'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"