| Leroy |
Anderson | American composer |
| Caesar |
Augustus | Former Roman emperor |
| Yogi |
Berra | American baseball catcher |
| Lillian |
Boxfish | America's highest-paid advertising woman; poet, wife, mother, and divorcée |
| Sadie |
Boxfish | Lillian's adventurous, unmarried aunt |
| Charles |
Bronson | American actor |
| Robert |
Burns | Scottish poet and lyricist |
| Massimiliano Gianluca |
Caputo | Lillian's ex-husband. Aka: Max |
| Massimiliano Gianluca |
Caputo Jr. | Lillian's son. Aka: Gian |
| Johnny |
Carson | American television host and comedian |
| William |
Caxton | English merchant and diplomat |
| Emanuel |
Celler | American Democratic politician from New York |
| Dick |
Clark | American television and radio personality |
| Andrew |
Cuomo | Lawyer and former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development |
| Emily |
Dickinson | American poet |
| Richard |
Diebenkorn | American painter |
| Olive |
Dodd | Junior copywriter |
| John |
Dryden | English poet and literary critic |
| E.P. |
Dutton | Publishing company |
| Chester |
Everett | Lillian's boss at R.H. Macy |
| Peter |
Falk | American actor |
| Betty |
Furness | American actress |
| Dashiell |
Hammett | American writer |
| Herbert |
Hoover | 31st President of the United States |
| Lindy |
Hoppers | Dancers who perform the Lindy Hop |
| Lyndon B. |
Johnson | 36th President of the United States |
| Cesar |
Julius | Lillian's new acquaintance. Aka: C.J. |
| John F. |
Kennedy | 35th President of the United States |
| Geraldine |
Kidd | Lillian's best friend from her youth |
| Aunt |
Kitty | Skip's aunt |
| Ed |
Koch | Former United States Representative |
| Stu |
Koszinski | Construction site guard |
| Fiorello |
La Guardia | Former United States Representative |
| Herbert H. |
Lehman | Former United States Senator |
| Bernice |
Lockhart | Matron to Lillian and Helen |
| Henry |
Luce | American magazine publisher |
| John |
Macrae | Current president of the publishing house |
| R.H. |
Macy | Prestigious Manhattan department store where Lillian worked as a top advertising copywriter |
| Joseph R. |
McCarthy | Lawyer and former U.S. Senator |
| Helen |
McGoldrick | Talented illustrator |
| Tuck |
Merkington | Show host |
| Edna St. Vincent |
Millay | American poet and playwright |
| Leslie |
Monroe | Advertising executive |
| Clement Clarke |
Moore | American writer and scholar |
| Emily |
Morgan | British journalist |
| J.P. |
Morgan | American financier and investment banker |
| Robert |
Moses | Urban planner and former New York Secretary of State |
| Mr. |
Murray Hill | Lillian's living friend |
| Ogden |
Nash | American poet |
| Dorothy |
Parker | American poet and literary critic |
| Frances |
Perkins | Former United States Secretary of Labor |
| Dickie |
Prestwick | Lillian's partner |
| Nancy |
Reagan | Actress and former First Lady of the United States |
| Ronald |
Reagan | 40th President of the United States |
| Jerome |
Robbins | American dancer and choreographer |
| Theodore |
Roosevelt | 26th President of the United States |
| Mr. |
Schling | Florist |
| William |
Shakespeare | English playwright and poet |
| Frank |
Sinatra | American singer and actor |
| Phoebe |
Snow | American singer-songwriter and guitarist |
| Arthur Eugene |
Stanley | Lillian's editor. Aka: Artie |
| Gertrude |
Stein | American novelist and poet |
| Wallace |
Stevens | American poet |
| Barbra |
Streisand | American singer and actress |
| Abe |
Strong | Helen's partner |
| Dylan |
Thomas | Welsh poet and writer |
| Queen |
Victoria | Former Queen of the United Kingdom |
| Dwight |
Zweigert | Helen's husband |
| Alberto |
| Lillian's friend |
| Bennie |
| One of Lillian's past beaux |
| Coco |
| Son of Luis and Maritza |
| Darrell |
| One of Lillian's new acquaintances |
| Fabiola |
| Alberto's partner |
| Frankie |
| Max's friend |
| Ginny |
| Lillian's boardmate |
| Hattie |
| Lillian's downstairs neighbor |
| Jason |
| Lillian's new acquaintance |
| Joel |
| Orthodontist |
| Julia |
| Max's second wife |
| Kathy |
| Lillian's new acquaintance |
| Keith |
| One of Lillian's new acquaintances |
| Lily |
| Lillian's youngest granddaughter |
| Luis |
| Lillian's new acquaintance |
| Maritza |
| Pregnant woman Lillian meets during her walk |
| Merritt |
| Helen's only child |
| Mindy |
| Television show producer |
| Paul |
| Limousine driver. Aka: Skip |
| Penelope |
| Kathy's daughter. Aka: Penny |
| Peter |
| Wendy's good friend |
| Phoebe |
| Lillian's cat |
| Rosemont |
| Psychiatrist. Aka: Dr. R |
| Sam |
| Bartender |
| Tallulah |
| Red-haired kitten |
| Vera |
| Lillian's friend |
| Wendy |
| Photographer |
