# Who is the most famous person BORN in your state? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 11, 2010, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-born-in-your-state/560341 "2010-11-11T18:41:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**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:** [November 12, 2010, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-born-in-your-state/560341/121 "2010-11-12T19:08:04Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Fair enough. I withdraw Walt Disney and replace him with [Walter Cronkite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Cronkite). > > Aslo, [Chuck Berry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Berry). And John Goodman. ---
**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:** [November 12, 2010, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-born-in-your-state/560341/122 "2010-11-12T19:10:05Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > Virginia has Patsy Cline, Thomas Jefferson, Robert E. Lee, James Madison, Warren Beatty, Wayne Newton, Patton Oswalt. How famous each of those people are to you depends on your interests. And Woodrow Wilson. ---
**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:** [November 12, 2010, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-born-in-your-state/560341/123 "2010-11-12T19:15:28Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > California…I would say Tom Hanks rivals Marilyn Monroe for most famous actor. My first thought was John Steinbeck. Lots of famous people come from CA. Don’t forget Richard Nixon. ---
**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:** [November 12, 2010, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-born-in-your-state/560341/124 "2010-11-12T19:20:46Z")
> [@gwendee](#): > > Maryland here. Who’s more famous, Babe Ruth or Frank Zappa? Michael Phelps is also from here. He might be more recognized internationally. Not sure. Perhaps you’re forgetting Francis Scott Key? Though in terms of pure fame Phelps is probably more well known now. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-born-in-your-state/560341/125 "2010-11-12T19:37:48Z")
> [@PeskiPiksi](#): > > Oklahoma has a lot, surprisingly. I’ll post the ones that come to mind and ya’ll can decide who’s most famous: > > Garth Brooks (still lives here) > Reba McEntire > Ron Howard (born here, moved age 4 years) > James Garner > Ralph Ellison > Woody Guthrie > Mickey Mantle > Brad Pitt (born here, didn’t stay long) > Tony Randall > Oral Roberts > Will Rogers (my vote for “most famous” but maybe that’s 'cause I live here) > Carrie Underwood I’d add Geronimo to the list even though he was born well before statehood. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-born-in-your-state/560341/126 "2010-11-12T19:46:59Z")
Louisiana - Louis Armstrong, Huey Long ---
**Author:** ![palindromemordnilap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/db5fbb/32.png) [@palindromemordnilap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palindromemordnilap)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-born-in-your-state/560341/127 "2010-11-12T19:59:23Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > Florida would probably be Pat Boone (Jacksonville) or Tom Petty (Gainesville). Petty is worth bonus points. IMO these two are the most internationally famous Floridians. Not so sure about the extra points. I believe Tom Petty moved to California in 1974 about the time Mudcrutch broke up and he started his solo career. Mudcrutch was popular in Gainesville but TP did not become famous until afterward. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-born-in-your-state/560341/128 "2010-11-12T20:15:49Z")
I think “international facial recognition” is a lousy criterion for “fame.” If we were serious, this whole thread would be nothing but sports stars, actors, and musicians. Those are the only people recognizable worldwide. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-born-in-your-state/560341/129 "2010-11-12T20:20:33Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > I’d add Geronimo to the list even though he was born well before statehood. So was Will Rogers. ---
**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:** [November 12, 2010, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-born-in-your-state/560341/130 "2010-11-12T20:31:55Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > I’d add Geronimo to the list even though he was born well before statehood. But the territory where Geronimo was born is now part of New Mexico not Oklahoma. ---
**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:** [November 12, 2010, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-born-in-your-state/560341/131 "2010-11-12T20:43:41Z")
Anyone want to take a shot at Delaware? Joe Biden, Robert Crumb, and Christine O’Donnell all live in Delaware but all three were born in Pennsylvania. The most famous native-born Delawareans I can find are Valerie Bertinelli, Jennifer Leigh, Ryan Phillippe, Teri Polo, Judge Reinhold, Elisabeth Shue, Sean Patrick Thomas, and George Thorogood. None of whom are really world famous. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-born-in-your-state/560341/132 "2010-11-12T21:04:50Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > Virginia has Patsy Cline, Thomas Jefferson, Robert E. Lee, James Madison, Warren Beatty, Wayne Newton, Patton Oswalt. How famous each of those people are to you depends on your interests. I’d say Jefferson trumps all of these regardless, but I’d take the man with the most extant portraits of any American over the whole bunch. That would be one George Washington 😉 ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-born-in-your-state/560341/133 "2010-11-12T21:13:00Z")
…and I see \*\*Arnold \*\*already has him. Nevermind. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-born-in-your-state/560341/134 "2010-11-12T21:24:10Z")
Names included up to post 130. List one: my choices for US States (reflecting my biases - e.g. I don’t follow sports). List two: US territories since Colibri brought it up. List three: candidates that have been brought up and might, IMHO, be defensible. I’ve omitted a bunch of names that don’t come close. **List 1** State / Most famous person born in that state Alabama / Helen Keller or James Cleveland “Jesse” Owens Alaska / Curtis Montague Schilling Arkansas / William Jefferson “Bill” Clinton or John R. “Johnny” Cash California / Norma Jeane Baker aka Marilyn Monroe or Richard Milhous Nixon Colorado / William Harrison “Jack” Dempsey Florida / Thomas Earl Petty aka Tom Petty Georgia / Martin Luther King or James Earl “Jimmy” Carter Hawaii / Barack Hussein Obama Illinois / Ronald Wilson Reagan or Miles Dewey Davis Indiana / Michael Joseph Jackson (trumps Mellencamp because of MJ’s extreme worldwide fame) Iowa / Marion Mitchell Morrison aka John Wayne Kansas / Amelia Earhart Kentucky / Abraham Lincoln Louisiana / Louis Daniel Armstrong Maine / Stephen Edwin King Maryland / Frank Vincent Zappa or George Herman Ruth aka “Babe” Ruth Massachussetts / John Fitzgerald Kennedy Michigan / Madonna Louise Ciccone Minnesota / Robert Allen Zimmerman aka Bob Dylan Mississippi / Elvis Aaron Presley Missouri / Samuel Langhorne Clemens aka Mark Twain (Walt Disney was born in Chicago, Illinois!) Montana / Frank James “Gary” Cooper Nebraska / Marlon Brando New Hampshire / Franklin Pierce or Dan Brown New Jersey / Francis Albert “Frank” Sinatra New Mexico / John Denver or Demi Gene Guynes aka Demi Moore or Geronimo or Alfred “Al” Unser New York / Franklin Delano Roosevelt aka FDR North Carolina / Andy Samuel Griffith or William Franklin “Billy” Graham Ohio / Thomas Alva Edison or Steven Allan Spielberg Oklahoma / William Penn Adair “Will” Rogers or William Bradley “Brad” Pitt Oregon / Matthew Abram “Matt” Groening or Linus Carl Pauling or Raymond Clevie Carver Pennsylvania / William Henry “Bill” Cosby South Dakota / Sitting Bull or Thomas John “Tom” Brokaw Tennessee / Dolly Rebecca Parton or David Crockett Texas / Lyndon Baines Johnson aka LBJ or Howard Robard Hughes or Dwight David “Ike” Eisenhower Vermont / Joseph Smith Virginia/ George Washington (I’ll accept him even though the state didn’t exist yet) Washington / William Henry “Bill” Gates III (beats Jimi Hendrix) Washington, DC / Albert Arnold “Al” Gore (being a political figure, he deserves to be the most famous native) West Virginia / Charles Elwood “Chuck” Yeager Wisconsin / Frank Lloyd Wright Wisconsin / George Orson Welles Wyoming / Paul Jackson Pollock **List 2** Territories Canal Zone - John Sidney McCain **List 3** Other suggestions that don’t quite make the cut Kentucky / John Christopher “Johnny” Depp Maryland / Michael Fred Phelps New Hampshire / Sarah Kate Silverman New Mexico / Jeffrey Preston “Jeff” Bezos or William Henry “Bill” Mauldin New York / Michael Jeffrey Jordan Ohio / LeBron Raymone James Oklahoma / Troyal Garth Brooks or Mickey Charles Mantle South Dakota / Thomas Andrew Daschle Tennessee / Aretha Louise Franklin or Morgan Porterfield Freeman ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-born-in-your-state/560341/135 "2010-11-12T21:25:12Z")
> [@Erdosain](#): > > I think “international facial recognition” is a lousy criterion for “fame.” If we were serious, this whole thread would be nothing but sports stars, actors, and musicians. Those are the only people recognizable worldwide. I also mentioned “name recognition”. Someone whose name is universally recognized is famous, even if you wouldn’t recognize his face. e.g. Jesus Christ, or Alexander the Great, or Thomas Edison (how many people could pick Thomas Edison out of a lineup?) Or are you proposing a better definition of fame? ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-born-in-your-state/560341/136 "2010-11-12T21:33:33Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Just a little idea for the OP to consider: > > Once the thread has had at least one entry for each state by someone identified as being in that state, and once there appears to be some reasonable dispute over who is the “most famous” for a state, simply list the ones in contention in a poll and let Dopers decide who is most famous. That would be a bunch of polls, unless I take all the disputed names for all the states and create one poll including all of them. A poll would be the best way to pick the “winner”. I’ll think about the best method. > [@](#): > > States like Massachusetts, Ohio, Texas, and even Tennessee (just to name some) already have some reasonable contentions going. Massachusetts seems pretty clear-cut to me. For the other ones you mention, I agree that there’s not one clear answer yet. > [@](#): > > As I say, just an idea. I’m thinking of starting such a poll for Tennessee based on my pick of maybe 20 from the list at [Category:People from Tennessee - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:People_from_Tennessee) but I would gladly leave that exercise to the OP of this thread for consistency’s sake. If you want to do a separate poll just for Tennesse, feel free. My definition: I consider someone famous if you hear the name (or see the photo) and know who the person is, meaning you can say one _accurate_ fact about them. For example, in my case, I heard LeBron James and thought he was a football player at first (like I said, I don’t follow sports.) To know who is most famous, for a scientific study, you would poll a random group of people and choose the person recognized by the most people. ---
**Author:** ![Bamboo\_Boy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@Bamboo\_Boy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bamboo_Boy)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-born-in-your-state/560341/137 "2010-11-12T22:58:37Z")
Hawaii- Barak! \ ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-born-in-your-state/560341/138 "2010-11-13T00:18:06Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > Virginia has Patsy Cline, Thomas Jefferson, Robert E. Lee, James Madison, Warren Beatty, Wayne Newton, Patton Oswalt. How famous each of those people are to you depends on your interests. I still think Sandra Bullock beats everyone but George Washington. ---
**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:** [November 13, 2010, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-born-in-your-state/560341/139 "2010-11-13T00:18:30Z")
I’d argue that Henry Ford is more famous than Madonna. And certainly more a part of Michigan history. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-born-in-your-state/560341/140 "2010-11-13T02:35:14Z")
An alternative for California might be Clint Eastwood, though I guess Marilyn Monroe really is more famous. There’s really a lot of choice for this state. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-born-in-your-state/560341.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-born-in-your-state/560341.md?page=8)