name 3 famous people born near you
Me
John Wooden
David Letterman
John Dillinger
I grew up in Penticton, BC, Canada:
Duncan Keith
Andy Moog
Bob Nicholson
(noticing a trend? :P)
Nobody, really. Even Sarah Palin was born in Idaho. Other than a couple of Olympic athletes, most famous people from Alaska were born elsewhere.
James Franco
Stevie Nicks
That blonde cheerleader from Glee
Spencer Tracy
Gene Wilder
Heather Graham (my aunt babysat her)
Jane Kaczmarek
The Zucker Brothers
Usher Raymond
Reggie White
Mr. Belding
Mark Spitz
Jeremy Renner
George Lucas
Renée O’Connor
Renée Zellweger
Kenny Rogers
And as bonuses, Jennifer Garner and Hilary Duff.
Thomas Marshall (vice president under Woodrow Wilson, attributed originater of the quote “What this country needs is a good $.05 cigar.” , from North Manchester, IN)
Janie Fricke (country music star of the 80s, hails from South Whitley, IN)
Sinbad (stand-up comic, hails from Benton Harbor, MI)
From my hometown?
I can name five born in my hometown of Johnstown, PA:
Carroll Baker - 1956 Best Actress nominee for Baby Doll.
Ray Scott - famous Green Bay Packers announcer.
Jack Ham - Hall of Fame linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers during the 70s.Pete Vukovich - Major league baseball pitcher, American League Cy Young Award winner in 1982.
Tim Kazurinsky - Former Saturday Night Live cast member, played Sweetchuck in the Police Academy movies.
Famous people from my current residence of Tucson include:
Barbara Eden - Star of “I Dream of Jeannie.”
Sean Elliot - small forward for the San Antonio Spurs.
Linda Ronstadt - One-time “Queen of Rock” and a multi-Grammy Award winning singer.
Kerri Stug - member of the U.S. gymnastics team in the 1996 Olympics
Morgan Freeman (Greenwood)
Oprah Winfrey (Kosciusko)
B.B. King (Itta Bena)
Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedy’s)
Scott Carpenter (Apollo Astronaut)
Kristen Davis (Sex and the City)
Ottawa, Ontairo
Paul Anka
Dan Aykrod
Alanis Morissette
My locker buddy from High School also turned out to be famous, but I ain’t telling. Ha !
Paul Newman
Halle Berry
Jerry Siegel (co-creator of Superman; my mother dated him)
Judging by the long-ass list of famous people supposedly from my hometown on wikipedia that I’m too lazy to actually go through, no one. They’re all a bunch of carpetbaggers from elsewhere. It’s possible my sister and I are the only people ever actually born in San Francisco.
Oh! OJ Simpson. He and I are from the same neighborhood (opposite sides of the hill, though).
I think the only famous Americans who I even know where were born are Arnold Schwarzenegger (Austria) and President Obama (Hawaii). Neither of those are near to where I was born.
Is this something that people actually keep track of?
The only people you’ve ever (maybe) heard of, from a town you’ve never heard of:
Caroline Miller, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1934 for “Lamb in His Bosom.”
Janisse Ray, author of “Ecology of a Cracker Childhood.”
Dexter Carter, running back for the San Francisco 49ers during the Joe Montana years.
Paul Scholes, footballer. Lived just up the road in Middleton.
Mark Burgess, singer. Also from Middleton.
Gary “Mani” Mounfield, bass guitarist with The Stone Roses. Lived in Failsworth, a stone’s throw away from my neighborhood.
–Actress Kirsten Dunst
–Former pro hockey player Jim Dowd (side note – went to high school with him, where I found him to be a complete douche – although that was probably just a standard “jock v. burnout” thing)
–Former ECW and WWE professional wrestler Mike Bucci (aka “Nova” and “Simon Dean”)
When the Interview With A Vampire film came out, it became a local buzz that the little girl in the movie was born here. When the Devils won the Stanely Cup, everyone knew that Dowd was local because of all the parades and “Jim Dowd” day and all that crap.
Not familiar with Bucci, but the easiest way for anyone to find this stuff out is to put their hometown into Wikipedia and check the “notable residents” section.
Also from Ottawa, Ontario, but I’ll list different ones…
Sarah Chalke (Actress…Rosanne, Scrubs)
Lorne Green (Actor…Bonanza)
Matthew Barnaby (Former NHL player - I went to grade school with him)
And a bunch of other NHL players.