Gallery of Stars

The Gallery of Stars honors 70 local and national celebrities who were either born in the East End of Pittsburgh or spent formative years in its neighborhoods, and who went on to great accomplishments in the fields of entertainment, sports, music, dance, theater, radio-TV, or literature. The collection of photots was originally assembled in the late 1990s by the East Liberty Quarter Chamber of Commerce, and the pictures were transferred to our lobby following the $1.38 million renovation of the Regent Theater.

Our theater is named after two of them:
Gene Kelly, the Broadway & Hollywood Dancer, Director, Choreographer
and
Billy Strayhorn, the Pianist, Composer, Lyricist, and arranger of jazz music

You will be surprised at the amount of talent East Liberty has produced! Here are nine other members of our Gallery Stars:

Violinist Paul Ross was the first African-American musician to become a full member of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Paul Ross had a vision wherein people of all races and walks of life could gather together in the service of great music. He made it happen, and that is how he lived his life.

The portrait of Franklin Delano Roosevelt on the dime was created by Selma Hortense Burke, a remarkable sculptor and dedicated teacher. She established the Selma Burke Art Center right here in Pittsburgh.

Edith Spurlock Sampson represents many firsts: the first African American to be appointed as a delegate to the United Nations, the first African American member of NATO, the first black woman to be elected as a judge in the United states, among the first to break the color line of the National Association of Women Lawyers and the first woman to receive an L.L.M. degree from Loyola University.

Billy Conn was one of the top ten prizefighters of the 20th century. He was tough, he was determined, he was Irish, and he was "The Pittsburgh Kid." He was still in shape at age 72 when he decked a convenience store robber and held him until the police arrived.

Tom Palamone organized The Pittsburghers, a barbershop quartet who, in 1948, won the national championship and brought a lot of honor and glory to Pittsburgh.

After a great college basketball career where he also maintained the highest of grades, John J. Clark went on to play with the best of the best - the Boston Celtics. And now he is back in Pittsburgh, setting the best possible example for our youth of today.

Chuck Austin, a trumpeter's trumpeter, a "perfect side man" and a " one-of-a-kind" Jazzman, has been making music for 70 years. And to hear him tell it, he's just getting started!

Patricia Prattis Jennings is one of just four native Pittsburghers in the Pittsburgh Symphony. As orchestra keyboardist since 1964, she has not only played within the orchestra but has accompanied many instrumental and vocal soloists in rehearsals with conductors.

Ahmad Jamal sat down to a piano at the age of three and, since then, has been blazing a trail of invention for other jazz musicians to follow. Ahmad is famous all over the world for his dedication to music and to humility, and that makes us proud that he came from the East End of Pittsburgh.

Come visit our Gallery of Stars to learn more about the many talented people who drew inspiration from East Liberty!