Robert E. Lee
Elvis
Flannery O’Connor
Dolly Parton
William Faulkner
Erskine Caldwell
Huey Long
George Wallace
Carson McCullers
Male:
Robert E Lee
Thomas Jefferson
Martin Luther King
Female:
Harper Lee
Flannery O’Connor
Mary Chestnut
Mark Twain
Foghorn Leghorn
Jimmy Carter
Scarlett O’Hara
Dolly Parton
Reba McEntire
I instantly thought of Colonel Sanders, and his smiling face blocked any other names from entering my mind. What a nice guy, and some fine chicken to boot.
I didn’t read any posts after the OP to make sure my opinions weren’t tainted by your filthy minds.
MALE
Bo & Luke Duke
Burt Reynolds (particularly in Smokey & the Bandit)
Alan Jackson (or whichever country singer does that horrible Mercury Blues song)
ETA: forgot the ladies
Dolly Parton
Scarlett O’Hara
Julia and Suzanne Sugerbaker.
What??
Male:
Andrew Lytle
Shelby Foote
William Faulkner
Andy Griffith
Female:
Eudora Welty
Flannery O’Connor
Rosa Parks
Fannie Flagg
I am Southern and these lists seem awfully short. There are too many musicians to name because rock n roll, the blues, jazz, and country music all originated in the South. Here are some others.
Male
George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
Andrew Johnson
William Henry Harrison
Jimmy Carter
Robert E. Lee
Jefferson Davis
Bill Clinton
Patrick Henry
James Monroe
Lyndon Johnson
Woodrow Wilson
Andrew Jackson
Booker T. Washington
Billy Graham
Louis Armstrong
Andy Griffith
Gene Autry
John Grisham
Woody Guthrie
Edgar Allan Poe
Daniel Boone
Elvis Presley
Jim Bowie
Sam Houston
Will Rogers
Howard Hughes
Babe Ruth
George Washington Carver
Jesse James
Henry Clay
Ty Cobb
Michael Jordan
Francis Scott Key
Zachary Taylor
Martin Luther King, Jr
Clarence Thomas
Jim Thorpe
Davy Crocket
Mark Twain
Huey Long
Earl Long
John Tyler
James Madison
Frederick Douglass
James Buchanan
John Marshall
George Wallace
William Faulkner
Hank Williams
Audie Murphy
Thomas Wolfe
Hank Aaron
Female
Ann Rice
Rosa Parks
Pocahontas
Ladie Bird Johnson
Helen Keller
Harriet Tubman
I assumed the OP wanted the first few people who most immediately came to the top of your head. I mean, if the thread is “name some significant Southerners” I could go on for pages.
I do not believe that James Carville and Brett Butler have been mentioned as yet.
First three that come to mind, eh?
Males
Ted Turner
Huey Long
David Brinkley
Females
Holly Hunter
Shirley Franklin
Flannery O’Connor
Kind of an odd list. But those are the first three of each who came to mind.
First thought: rich, Texas billionaires
These are what popped into my noggin:
Males:
Sam Walton
Mark Twain
Conway Twitty
Chipper Jones
Bill Clinton
Mike Huckabee
Alan Jackson
Garth Brooks
Johnny Cash
Elvis
Jeff Foxworthy
Huck Finn
Tom Sawyer
John Grisham
William Faulkner
Martin Luther King, Junior
Female:
Dolly Parton
Trisha Yearwood
Amy Lee (of Evanescence)
Reba McEntire
Scout (from To Kill a Mockingbird)
Harper Lee
For males:
The Williams trio–Don, Hank, and Tennassee
I would also add King Richard and Huey Long
For females:
Scarlett O’Hare
Daisy Duke
Otto McNabb’s Mom (I can’t remember her name, but she was in the novel Texas)
Selma Hyack (what, you didn’t say how far south we could go)
SSG Schwartz
George Washington, Robert E. Lee, Mark Twain, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton.
Nobody’s mentioned Courtney Cox?
William Faulkner
Shelby Foote
Molly Ivins
Ann Richards
Without reading any posts other than the opener, I’ll list the next three that come to mind for each:
William Faulkner
George Wallace
Huey Long
Ann Richards (I know some people don’t consider Texas Southern, but it was part of the Confederacy, and many of the residents sound like stereotypical Southerners)
Holly Hunter
Elizabeth Dole
Trying not to include anyone already mentioned:
Beyonce, the Cyruses, the Spearses, Bill Clinton
Jefferson Davis
Jeb Stuart
William Faulkner
Tammy Faye Baker
Dolly Parton
Scarlett O’Hara