# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259/61 "2007-05-01T17:22:23Z")
[QUOTE=light strand] Yup. What gave it away? [/QUOTE] It took me four days to hitch-hike from Saginaw. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259/62 "2007-05-01T17:34:28Z")
[QUOTE=The Chao Goes Mu] Danny Thomas Gloria Steinem Jamie Farr Katie Holmes Dare to guess? [/QUOTE] Toledo, Ohio. The only famous person I know of that came from my hometown (a suburb of Cleveland) is Halle Berry. We went to the same high school. If you expand to Cleveland itself there are folks like Paul Newman, Tracy Chapman, Arsenio Hall and Sean Young. Lots of NFL players too. ---
**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, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259/63 "2007-05-01T17:36:09Z")
[QUOTE=The Chao Goes Mu] Danny Thomas Gloria Steinem Jamie Farr Katie Holmes Dare to guess? [/QUOTE] Since Farr and Thomas were of Lebanese ancestry I’ll guess Beirut, Iowa. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Machine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Ice\_Machine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Machine)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259/64 "2007-05-01T17:40:19Z")
[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] I actually knew that but started reading through the thread first before answering. I spent a co-op term in Sarnia. I got it off the first 2 in your list. While I’m here here’s a couple I can think of off the top of my head: David Morrell (Rambo author) Lennox Lewis (not born here but grew up here) William Lyon McKenzie King (I hope I got that right and don’t lose my citizenship) That’s all I can think of right now. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259/65 "2007-05-01T17:54:36Z")
Off the top of my head: Neil Peart - drummer, Rush Martin Short - comedian, actor Eugene Levy - comedian, actor Ray Materick - musician the legendary '70s group Crowbar was based there, and moved just outside the city to Ancaster, where their house, “Bad Manors” is immortalized. With some help: Kathleen Robertson Angela Featherstone Rick Roberts Robert Beatty Douglas Dumbrille (I’ve never heard of any of these celebrities.) Hamilton, Ontario. ---
**Author:** ![tashabot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tashabot/32/6250_2.png) [@tashabot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tashabot)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259/66 "2007-05-01T17:54:48Z")
Carson City, NV: Darrell Rasner (Yankee - I went to high school with him. His mom is trying to help me get a house as she’s a realtor). Kevin Federline lived here for a while, apparently. I take comfort in the fact that he was not, apparently, born here, nor did he spend his adult years here. ~Tasha ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259/67 "2007-05-01T17:57:32Z")
Wigan, Greater Manchester, England: Sir Ian McKellan, Richard Ashcroft (and the rest of The Verve) Lived here for a time: Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Orwell (from where one of his most famous books comes from). ---
**Author:** ![Rasa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rasa/32/3578_2.png) [@Rasa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rasa)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259/68 "2007-05-01T18:20:35Z")
The Farrelly brothers. ---
**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, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259/69 "2007-05-01T19:11:36Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] Also, his favorite acoustic guitar has “FUCK FASCISM” carved into it. I love that little punk-esque touch. [/QUOTE] Seems to me to be a harkback to Woody Guthrie’s [“This Machine Kills Fascists”](http://www.onthepage.org/outsiders/woody/woody_guthrie.jpg). I’d hardly call him punk. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259/70 "2007-05-01T20:13:38Z")
[QUOTE=scotandrsn] Seems to me to be a harkback to Woody Guthrie’s [“This Machine Kills Fascists”](http://www.onthepage.org/outsiders/woody/woody_guthrie.jpg). I’d hardly call him punk. [/QUOTE] The spirit is, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259/71 "2007-05-01T20:22:54Z")
[QUOTE=scotandrsn] Seems to me to be a harkback to Woody Guthrie’s [“This Machine Kills Fascists”](http://www.onthepage.org/outsiders/woody/woody_guthrie.jpg). I’d hardly call him punk. [/QUOTE] Hey, while Woody Guthrie wasn’t born there, my hometown is famous for being the town that turned Woody Guthrie into a Communist! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259/72 "2007-05-01T20:40:48Z")
Steve Martin Ann Richards Shannon Elizabeth Jennifer Love Hewitt Gee, they could have been a family. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259/73 "2007-05-01T21:02:20Z")
Gerald Ford Marlon Brando ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259/74 "2007-05-01T21:21:04Z")
My particular municipality within the greater St. Louis area: Kevin Kline Marlin Perkins James Franciscus (The guy from the Planet of the Apes sequel) and the most famous: [Erin Daniels](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006439/). She lived down the street from me and we dated in High School, so she’s the most famous as far as I’m concerned. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kevja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@kevja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kevja)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259/75 "2007-05-01T21:27:17Z")
I know there must be more famous people from the city I was born. But all I can think of right now is Tanya Harding and Mark Lindsay. And I can only think of two from the suburb in the East Bay where we moved to and I lived from age five to age 19 – Kristy Yamaguchi and Dennis Eckersley. ---
**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, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259/76 "2007-05-01T21:36:39Z")
[QUOTE=Dominic Mulligan] Wigan, Greater Manchester, England: Sir Ian McKellan, Richard Ashcroft (and the rest of The Verve) Lived here for a time: Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Orwell (from where one of his most famous books comes from). [/QUOTE] No love for George Formby? ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259/77 "2007-05-01T22:14:07Z")
Woolstock, Iowa (pop. 220) is sometimes proud to be known as the birthplace of George Reeves, TV’s Superman. It’s caused a lot of tension in town though. His birthplace is falling down. The owner won’t put any money into it and he won’t sell it for what it’s worth. A local group tried some fund-raising to restore the house, but the effort was a failure. Most of the townsfolk just don’t care. George only lived here for a short time, never came back (why would he?), and none of his relatives are here. The people who own the Superman logo won’t let anyone use it without paying a huge fee, and there’s already a Superman tourist site in Metropolis, Illinois. How many birthplaces of famous people born in the early 1900’s still exist? Probably not very many. ---
**Author:** ![EastCoastPearl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/aeb1de/32.png) [@EastCoastPearl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EastCoastPearl)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2007, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259/78 "2007-05-01T22:44:16Z")
Tom Robbins He was actually born a few towns over, but his family moved to my hometown (Burnsville, NC) when he was around 7. I think his family moved to Virginia only a few years later, so they weren’t there for very long. ---
**Author:** ![Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilvert_s_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2007, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259/79 "2007-05-02T00:53:26Z")
[QUOTE=ZipperJJ] Citing my ACTUAL hometown and not Cleveland or Akron… I was very proud to see that not only did we have an honest-to-goodness astronaut, **Ron Sega** (I had known about him) but he also has a [Wikipedia entry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Sega)! But digging further I see we also have Seattle Seahawk **Rob Sims** and female boxer **Vonda Ward**!! I never knew that - She is awesome! I will also give a shout out to my man [**Dan Letterle**](http://imdb.com/name/nm1307515/) who I actually know and actually went to school with. He is not very famous YET but we’d all just feel awful if I left him off this list and he became famous in the future, eh? 🙂 [/QUOTE] Macedonia? Northfield? The three I always remember without looking: Tim Conway _Calvin and Hobbes_ creator Bill Watterson - We were classmates and buddies as kids, but now he’s a recluse. His wife was a classmate as well - her dad was the school superintendent. They were both nice kids. Doug Kenney, founder of _National Lampoon_ OK, so then I peeked in Wikipedia Their list: > [@Wikipedia](#): > > Tim Conway (Comedic Actor), > Joe Eszterhas (Hollywood Screenwriter), > Doug Kenney (Co-founder of National Lampoon) > Lee Unkrich (Film Director), > Bill Watterson (Creator of Calvin and Hobbes), > Joe Trohman (Musician), guitarist of Fall Out Boy > Elena Shaddow (Broadway Actress, Singer) > Charlie Hartsock (Actor “According to Jim”,Writer, Director.} > Ted Batchelor, 2007 Guinness Book of World Records record-holder for the longest full-body burn without oxygen.[2] > Janet Kuivila ( Author, “The Gamma Girls of \_\_\_\_\_\_ \_\_\_\_” series ) > Sandy Philipson ( Author, “Annie and Max” series ) > Diana Munz (Athlete, Olympic Gold-Medalist in swimming) I knew Ted Batchelor (he was nuts) and Charlie Hartsock’s brother. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2007, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259/80 "2007-05-02T02:10:29Z")
I recently discovered Capt. Lou Albano (the wrestler guy) was born and apparently still lives in the small town I grew up in. I never heard that when I lived there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-people-come-from-your-home-town/402259.md?page=5)