The late, much-mourned writer Carol Shields was born in the U.S., married a Canadian academic who was studying there, and moved to Canada with him. By the time of her death last month, she had won the Governor-General’s prize for fiction, had published numerous novels, and was a companion of the Order of Canada, our highest civilian award. From the linked obit:
There are also former US citizens Chad Rowan, Fiamalu Penitani and Salevaa Atisano’e, better known now in Japan as sumo wrestlers Akebono, Musashimaru and Konishiki, who have all become Japanese citizens.
Btw, I had no idea until now how Kent Derricott’s name was spelled, since I’ve only seen it in katakana. Thanks.
T.S. Eliot, the poet from St. Louis, moved to the UK and became a citizen, thereby cancelling out the poet W.H. Auden’s move to the US.
The scientist Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, grew up in Woburn, Massachusetts before moving to England. OK, well, it was still an English colony at the time. But then he moved to Munich and created the Englischer Garten for the court of Bavaria.
Yes, in fact Josephine Baker did become a French citizen in 1937. This was after she had tried to make it back in the United States as a performer with the Ziegfield Follies, but was disrespected because of her race.
I think that Princess Grace (Kelly) would certainly rank high on the list, though I’m presuming that marrying a head of state requires a change of citizenship.
Anecdotal to be sure, but a close friend who has a hand in the processing of expedited passports reported handling those of all 8 members of the Gibson clan roughly 5 years ago.
TeaElle, I’m not sure if I’ve understood your post correctly. Does your friend who handled the Gibson passports work for the U.S., so that what you’re saying is that Gibson is indeed an American citizen? I was looking at your location to find out where you live, but I have no idea what “BTB, BPC, NYC” means. NYC is New York City, but what are BTB and BPC?
Sorry, Wendell Wagner, I should have been more clear. Yes, my friend works for the U.S. and the passports which she handled for the Gibsons were U.S. passports. This would indicate to my satisfaction that Gibson does hold American citizenship, and his children do as well. Upon reflection, my friend did not say that she had processed a passport for Gibson’s wife, who is AFAIK, Australian by birth and presumably by citizenship, too.
For the record, BTB = Big Tall Building. BPC = Battery Park City. This is the first time anyone has asked in the 2 years I’ve been a member of the SDMB, two months before I move. Go figger. 
How about Terry Gilliam? I’m not sure if he ever took UK citizenship, but pretty much his entire professional life has been as a Briton.
During World War II American poet Ezra Pound gained distinction as a radio commentator in Italy. Towards the end of Italy’s involvement in the war the government yanked him from the air, fearing that his rambling, confused, crazy-sounding commentaries were actually coded messages to the Allies. They overlooked that (1) anyone who tried to argue that Mussolini’s position was fair and rational was bound to sound crazy and (2) anyone who sincerely believed it–as Pound did–likely was crazy. Pound spent his later years in the U. S. institutionalized.
I don’t know if he was particularly well-known over there, but Hank Ketcham, the creator of Dennis the Menace, lived in Switzerland.
Carl Foreman, screenwriter of High Noon, had a long and successful career as a movie writer in England after being blacklisted in Hollywood. When John Wayne went to Great Britain to shoot a film in the early 1970s, he immediately began flapping his mouth about how the country was harboring a dangerous Commie.
Orson Welles got his start as an actor in Ireland, but I don’t know how much attention he got from his work with The Abbey Theater.