# What Famous People Come From Your Home Town? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 1, 2007, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259 "2007-05-01T03:43:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259/21 "2007-05-01T06:43:51Z")
Since nobody but my family and maybe 8 others from the past century has come from Weokahatchee (though Emmylou Harris had two aunts who were our closest neighbors) I’ll go with Montgomery, the city where I was born. Nat King Cole Brett Butler Bart Starr Zelda Sayre (later Mrs. F. Scott Fitzgerald) Famous residents who weren’t born there but lived there during formative or very important periods of their lives: Hank Williams (whose daughter Jett was born there) George Wallace Jefferson Davis\* [poet]Sidney Lanier\*\* Rosa Parks Harper Lee Martin Luther & Coretta Scott King (who had two children born here) Deforest Kelley\*\*\* Orville & Wilbur Wright\*\*\*\* Steve Rubell & Ian Schrager\*\*\*\*\* F. Scott Fitzgerald Helen Keller\*\*\*\*\*\* \*Davis is the namesake of the biggest public high school in town, known simply as JD. (The second biggest is Robert E. Lee [who to the best of my knowledge never came to Montgomery].) \*\*Namesake of the third biggest public high school and, occupationally, of their football team, “The Poets”- wimpiest mascot any school ever had unless there’s a “Wounded Chipmunks” somewhere- “It’s the Panthers versus the Poets” gives great images of feral wildcats chasing a frantically hobbling Byron or desperately fumbling Milton or an agoraphobic Emily Dickinson all over a field. \*\*\*He was stationed at Maxwell AFB during the late 1940s. I’ll call it significant because he claimed to have seen a UFO while on duty one night. (He’s the only member of the original cast to have claimed a UFO sighting.) \*\*\*\*They started the first pilot’s school at what is now Maxwell AFB. According to completely unsubstantiated local rumor one of the two lifelong bachelors (I can’t remember which and it probably varies depending on which local old gossip you’re talking to) was arrested for “importuning” (or ‘soliciting’) from one of the students, though charges were dropped and expunged. \*\*\*\*\*Co-owners/co-founders of STUDIO 54, they spent 2 years at the prison on Maxwell AFB (a prison that really and truly is bordered by a golf course- when I was a bellman we fell over ourselves to be the drivers and gofers to prisoners who stayed at our hotel when on weekend pass as many were hugely rich drug dealers or junkbond traders who tipped like crazy. \*\*\*\*\*\*Her sister lived here and their mother moved in with her, so Helen was a frequent visitor. Montgomery is where she was “stood up” by the lover who was supposed to elope with her, so she waited all night on a porch for a man who would never arrive. (Biographers believe that it was not her family, as Helen suspected, who changed his mind but more likely Annie Sullivan, who not only understood how demanding it was to be Helen’s “voice & eyes & ears” but blamed Helen’s dependence on the demise of her own marriage.) While she wasn’t famous in her own right, H.L. Mencken’s wife was from here. I mention her only because –it’s odd such a total cynic was not only married but a completely devoted husband who nursed her through a long illness (she died young) and was devastated when she died –other Montgomery Dopers (I know of at least 3) may be interested to know that the house she grew up in was Mgy’s most famous “haunted house”, the former [666 South Perry St.](http://www.fraziergardner.com/images/haardt.JPG). The mansion is now beautifully restored but Montgomerians can remember the 20 years or so it spent as a stupendously wonderful abandoned mansion with outbuildings and sides covered in ivy and weeds, totally an Addamsesque South “we broke down on the road and wondered if we could spend our final night on Earth here” type of place. It’s antebellum, has stained glass ceiling and a hand carved staircase and magnificent woodwork and was on the market for $75,000 at one point, but didn’t sell until the address was officially changed to 66 **8** South Perry St… ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259/22 "2007-05-01T06:53:42Z")
Brian Eno. That’s it. Well, local fame for Thomas Seckford (of the Elizabethan court), too. Widen the geographic net and you get John Constable, Thomas Wolsey, Cradle of Filth, Nelson… ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259/23 "2007-05-01T07:21:17Z")
We didn’t have a lot of celebrities in my hometown. I can’t find anyone famous who was actually born there. But a few semi-famous people lived there. The most famous was Eric Harris, one of the Columbine killers. Followed by Michael Anderson, one of the astronauts killed in the Columbia crash. Then John Lloyd Young, a minor Broadway musical performer. Then John Henry Hopkins, who wrote the Christmas hymn, “We Three Kings”. And finally Doug Raaberg, who holds the world record for circumnavigating the world in a B-1B. Most of these people were associated with my hometown through its military base, which is now closed so our supply of future celebrities has been cut off. Can anyone guess this town? ---
**Author:** ![stucco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@stucco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stucco)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259/24 "2007-05-01T09:08:58Z")
I have no idea about anyone’s hometown. Mine should be a bit more obvious, given the business the first three people are/were in. Famous people from my hometown: Sean Astin Robert Redford Shirley Temple Frank Gehry wasn’t born there but he lives there now. Bertolt Brecht also lived there (in a house nextdoor to where my parents once lived. Not at the same time of course). ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259/25 "2007-05-01T12:01:02Z")
[QUOTE=Leaffan] Since no one’s guessing, my home town is … Bah Bahhh Bahhhhhh!!! Sarnia, Ontario. (Pretty exciting, I know) (I was born in Motherwell, Scotland, but grew up in Sarnia.) [/QUOTE] Shoot,I knew that(only because of Mike Weir).I used to spend a lot of time in Sarnia. People from my hometown are: Ben Hebard Fuller-Former Commandant of the US Marine Corps. Clint Hurdle-Former MLB player and current manager of the Colorado Rockies. From the town I now live in: Joseph Guyton-First American soldier killed on German-held ground in WWI. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259/26 "2007-05-01T12:27:19Z")
Football Player **Joe Theisman** Mystery Writer **Stephanie Plum** (although she rarely mentions our town in her NJ-based mysteries) Mystery Writer **Troy Soos** (who played Little League in my town) Also, NYC Commisioner and author of “How the Other Half Lives” **Jacob Riis** (who has a park in NYC named after him) lived in my town and worked as a laborer in the clay pits, making bricks. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259/27 "2007-05-01T12:41:14Z")
Francis Scott Key lived in my hometown, and is buried there. There are a lot of things named after him too. I’m not sure if he was born in the county or not, if not it was close. Barbara Fritchie Chuck Forman, NFL player Terence Morris, NBA player Shawn Hatosy, actor I’d never heard of the last two until I looked it up on wiki. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259/28 "2007-05-01T12:42:22Z")
I’ve met the two most famous people that come from the town I live in now: Bruce Harper, former Jet, and John Travolta. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259/29 "2007-05-01T13:02:10Z")
Born in my home town? I may be the most famous person from there. It’s a pretty small place. There have been many famous residents: Albert Einstein, Benjamin Britten, John Sebastian (singer), Sam and Beryl Epstein (authors), Beatrice Small (author), Sandra Scoppettone (author), Lorne Green, Jeffrey Lyons. It has a lot of summer homes and occasionally someone famous will decide to spend a summer or retire there. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259/30 "2007-05-01T13:03:47Z")
Scott Carpenter Jello Biafra Jessica Beil Kristin Davis Jon Krakauer ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259/31 "2007-05-01T13:12:31Z")
[QUOTE=MadTheSwine] Shoot,I knew that(only because of Mike Weir).I used to spend a lot of time in Sarnia. People from my hometown are: Ben Hebard Fuller-Former Commandant of the US Marine Corps. Clint Hurdle-Former MLB player and current manager of the Colorado Rockies. [/QUOTE] Whoops,I forgot: Jef Mallett-Creator of the comic strip Frazz ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259/32 "2007-05-01T13:15:20Z")
Danny Thomas Gloria Steinem Jamie Farr Katie Holmes Dare to guess? ---
**Author:** ![DfrntBreign](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f6c823/32.png) [@DfrntBreign](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DfrntBreign)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259/33 "2007-05-01T13:22:37Z")
Not born, but retired to, lived in and died in my hometown was [William Wilcy “Cy” Moore](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilcy_Moore), pitcher in the 1927 and 1932 World Series for NY Yankees. More famous was legendary Texas football coach [Darrell Royal](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Royal) who moved back there (part time, at least) a couple of years ago. My Nanny never really forgave him for chasing “her little boy” (my daddy) home from grade school saying “I’m gonna cut them ears off with my pocketknife!” Another big leaguer was [Lindy McDaniel](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindy_McDaniel). Two musicians (not counting myself) are [Glen Hardin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glen_Hardin) and [Terry Stafford](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Stafford) (who wrote _Amarillo By Morning_). Not too shabby for a town that is 1.4 square miles and home (as of 2000) to 2,264 people, hunh? ---
**Author:** ![Dazzling\_White\_Diamonds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/41988e/32.png) [@Dazzling\_White\_Diamonds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dazzling_White_Diamonds)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259/34 "2007-05-01T13:27:39Z")
Thad Matta is from my hometown - I sat behind him in Algebra I, and sat beside him in Algebra II. Damned nice guy. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259/35 "2007-05-01T13:34:42Z")
By the way, he wasn’t from my town, but the next one over – **Jon Bon Jovi**. I played in a band with his cousin, Louis, who used the original spelling of the family name – Bongiovi. ---
**Author:** ![wasson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/4da419/32.png) [@wasson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wasson)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259/36 "2007-05-01T13:35:49Z")
2 of the world’s best comics: Richard Pryor and Sam Kinison ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259/37 "2007-05-01T13:46:22Z")
My hometown, more or less, as my parents lived there even though I was physically born in Rapid City, was featured in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Actually the the Town sign is there as some cow pokes herd something and the cast come to find the Devil’s Tower. AFAIK, that was the closest brush with celebrity Morecroft Wyoming has ever had, much less someone famous that came from there. ---
**Author:** ![RancidYakButterTeaParty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/53a042/32.png) [@RancidYakButterTeaParty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RancidYakButterTeaParty)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259/38 "2007-05-01T13:52:42Z")
William Sherman Robert Heft–designed the current U.S. Flag John Sherman Thomas Ewing ---
**Author:** ![BunnyTVS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BunnyTVS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BunnyTVS)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259/39 "2007-05-01T13:57:19Z")
[scratching the bottom of the barrel] Russel Fields of [Showaddywaddy](http://www.showaddywaddy.net/) erm fame lives in the village down the road. [/stbotb] ooh and Milla Jovovich likes to come here for [holidays](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/main.jhtml?xml=/fashion/2007/04/08/stmilla108.xml). To clarify I live in Seahouses NOT a Greggs pastie. ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259/40 "2007-05-01T14:06:31Z")
I hail from Needham, Massachusetts. Our chief claim to fame for years was the illustrator N. C. Wyeth, and I believe the artist Andrew Wyeth may have been born there, or at least spent some formative years there. The family still lives there, and I went to school with one of the Wyeths. Now we have screenwriter Scott Rosenberg, penner of the Gone in Sixty Seconds remake, Con Air, Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead, and Beautiful Girls, which is essentially set in Needham, even though it was filmed somewhere else. One of my classmates had her house redone on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, by using some ruse to pretend she was needy. My sister is fairly well known, but mainly to hardcore contemporary Broadway fans. Plus, we and neighboring Wellesley have the longest-running Thanksgiving Day High School football rivalry in the nation, dating to 1882. Go Rockets! That’s all I can think of without searching. WITH searching, the Wikipedia article on the town gives me: Oregon Congressman Peter DeFazio Astronaut Sunita Williams NFL players Dave Cadigan, Eric Johnson NHL coach Robbie Ftorek Baseball player Frank Malzone (I think I went to camp with his asshole kid) ESPN anchor Karl Ravech (I’m almost positive I must have grown up down the street from this guy) American Dad writer Steve Hely Ice Dancer Rachel Mayer Daily Show/Colber Report producer Ben Karlin Folksinger Marisa Nadler Kayo Dot violinist Mia Matsumiya New Kids On the Block singer Joe McIntyre [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259.md?page=3)