I was confused. I always figured Tarantino was from California. Looked it up. He moved there when he was 4.
Okay. So drop him off the list. I knew he was of minimal Tennessee importance anyway. Christina is not a Tennessee notable any more than anywhere else. And Elvis was born in Tupelo, MS.
From Maine, probably:
Edmund Muskie
Margaret Chase Smith
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Dorothea Dix
IMHO I think you are safe with Elvis. My gut feeling is both states have equal claim. But I’m not from there so there’s that.
Fair point. So many “state’s pride” personalities share at least two states’ bragging rights. Hank Williams for one. I almost listed Peyton Manning because of his UT success, but I’m sure Indiana would want their share and maybe even Colorado.
How many people would put Truman Capote in Alabama? Probably not Capote himself.
Once you get into the entertainment industry or sports you’re going to get opposition between “birth state” and “place where the mark was made” and maybe even “death state.” Think The Alamo for that last group.
And who would you pick as Mickey Rooney’s most famous wife, or Liz Taylor’s most famous husband?
NJ is rich in musicians and actors born and raised here but light on heroes and major political figures that were born and raised here. We do better on not all that important Supreme Court justices. I think our top sports figure is Derek Jeter and he was raised in Michigan and is famous for NY.
For Musicians we have Sinatra & Springsteen of course as mentioned by Loach. Also Count Basie, The Ramones, Whitney & Cissy Houston, Dionne Warwick, Debbie Harry, Queen Latifah, George Clinton, Connie Francis & Bon Jovi.
Umm, no.
For Washington, Bing Crosby, Jimi Hendrix, Lenny Wilkins, and Henry “Scoop” Jackson.
Sorry I hit enter too soon:
One I forgot, we did give the world H. Norman Schwarzkopf one of our better Generals I would say.
**For comedians we have: **
Start with Abbott and Costello who gave us the best comedy routine of all time. Both Jersey born and raised. Jon Stewart was born in NYC but raised in NJ and still chooses to live here. We also gave the world Ernie Kovacs, a genius that most my age and under probably don’t know. Jerry Lewis, Joe Piscapo, Janeane Garofalo grew up here and acts like it though born in Texas. Richard Lewis and Bill Maher are more NYC born but raised in NJ, Jay Mohr, Kevin Smith of course though if you don’t know why I am listing him rent either of his first 2 evenings with Kevin Smith, the guy is a raconteur like few others. Flip Wilson & Robert Wuhl finish up this list.
**
Then in acting NJ really shines: First, thanks to Edison, the birth place of movies. **
Bud Abbott, Edie Adams, Alan Alda, Jason Alexander, John Amos, Joan Bennett, Jason Biggs, Vivian Blaine, Robert Blake, Zach Braff of course, Avery Brooks, Roscoe Lee Browne, Tisha Campbell, David Copperfield, Lou Costello, Vincent Curatola, Joe Dante, Hope Davis, Sandra Dee, Brian De Palma, Danny DeVito, Peter Dinklage, Michael Douglas, Kirsten Dunst, Christine Ebersole, Madge Evans, Vera Farmiga, Josh Flitter, Calista Flockhart, John Forsythe, James Gandolfini, Janeane Garofalo, Paul Gleason, Savion Glover, Ed Harris, Anne Hathaway, Sterling Hayden, Robert Hegyes, Celesta Holm, Linda Hunt, Stanley Kamel, Brian Keith, Ernie Kovacs, Jane Krakowski, Michael Landon, Nathan Lane, Frank Langella, Jerry Lewis, Richard Lewis, Ray Liotta, Camryn Manheim, John C McGinley, Bob McGrath (Sesame Street), Thomas Mitchell, Jay Mohr, Ozzie Nelson, Bebe Neuwirth, Phyllis Newman, Jack Nicholson, Joe Pantoliano, Piper Perabo, Joe Pesci of course, Joe Piscopo, Laura Prepon, Keshia Knight Pulliam, Tara Reid, Anne Revere, Christina Ricci, Kelly Ripa, Paul Rudd, Eva Marie Saint , Laura San Giacomo, Susan Sarandon, Natalie Schafer (Lovey Howell on Gilligan’s Island), Dore Schary, Roy Scheider, Kevin Smith, Tasha Smith, Mira Sorvion, Kevin Spacey, Meryl Streep, Loretta Swit, John Travolta, Lee Van Cleef, Uncle Floyd, Patrick Warburton, Jack Warden, Alice White, Bruce Willis.
For Cayman we can display:
William Warren Conolly - politician, one of the founding fathers of modern Cayman politics
Gladwyn Bush - folk artist
Marco Giglioli - entomologist whose work on mosquito control made life much more bearable.
Owen “Bobby” Roberts - pioneer of local aviation upon which the modern tourism sector is built.
Charles Darwin
William Shakespeare
Sir Isaac Newton
Sir Winston Churchill
From the 51st state.
Fair point. Not sure whom I would displace to get him on there, though. Probably Flanagan or Carson, but either would hurt.
Oklahoma:
Will Rogers
Jim Thorpe
T Boone Pickens
Mickey Mantle and Johnny Bench are both from Oklahoma, but they would belong to NY and Cincinnati in terms of what they’re known for.
At least half the state would argue that Barry Switzer should be up there. 
I got nothin’ else. Any Oklahomies want to help me?
Check the first page 
Wouldn’t Woodie Guthrie almost go without saying?
Interesting, fun question.
John Adams is the only no-brainer for Massachusetts. JFK is close but I think his legacy has taken a bit of a hit; on the other hand if Bay Staters are voting for who gets put on Mt. Rushmass then he’s on it. After that there are a whole bunch of worthy candidates. One that hasn’t been mentioned is Alexander Graham Bell–he lived there for a while and did much of his notable work in the Boston area.
If we’re trying to have a well-rounded representation then I’ll go with:
-
Adams (politics+history)
-
Bell (inventor+humanitarian)
-
Emerson (arts)
-
Bill Russell (sports/pop culture)
I’m sure there’d be a push to have a woman represented. The problem is that one of the best candidates is Abigail Adams; dunno if having a married couple would be well-rounded.
That’s a strong list, but I would replace Bob Hope with John D. Rockefeller who founded Standard Oil while in Cleveland, staying until 1884. He is buried there, too.
No, but he’s from Knoxville and you will see some of his distaff relations at times. They look just like him.
I should think Emily Dickinson would fill out that spot rather well, probably in place of Russell - or Bell, given the controversy over how he may have poached the telephone patent. (I haven’t studied this in any kind of depth - if the “Bell steals patent” story has been debunked, please forgive me.)
MN -
Ann Bancroft
Walter Mondale
Bob Dylan
Kate Millett
Or-
Prince Rogers Nelson
Judy Garland
Warren Burger
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Illinois:
Carl Sandberg, Frank Lloyd Wright, Ernest Hemingway, Jeff Tweedy.