Battle of the States

[Midgetqueen]

I know I'm not going to win this one, but it should still be fun and informative. I propose that we pit a good-natured competition to see whose state/province/commonwealth/prefecture/region/etc. (be it where you were born/raised, or where you currently reside--I'm not picky!) has the richest history of yielding famous (or infamous!) persons. Wherever you're from, please step out and represent! Hopefully this will be fun, and help instill a little more pride in all of us for where we came from.

I'll go first. Indiana, U.S.A. is, or has been, the home of:

James Dean
Kurt Vonnegut
Abraham Lincoln during his boyhood
KKK Grand Dragon D.C. Stevenson (Yikes.)
Ron Glass (of Barney Miller and Firefly)
the whole Jackson family (they're from Gary)
Gil Hodges of the Brooklyn Dodgers (He's from Petersburg, same as me!)
John Andrietti
Larry Bird
Damon Bailey
Hoagy Carmichael
Jim Davis (the creator of a certain famous orange cat)
Vivica A. Fox
Jared the Subway guy
Brendan Fraser (I didn't know this! He's from Indy!)
Jeff Gordon (Raised in Pittsboro, IN)
presidents Benjamin Harrison and William Henry Harrison
Florence Henderson (Dale, IN),
former St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Scott Rolen (Jasper, IN)
Jimmy Hoffa (Brazil, IN)
sex researcher Alfred Kinsey
Madame C.J. Walker
Red Skelton
Ryan White
Axl Rose
Dan Quayle
Steve McQueen
Orville Redenbacher
John Mellencamp
Don Mattingly
Cole Porter
James Whitcomb Riley
Shelley Long
David Letterman
And, of course, temperamental former IU basketball coach Bobby Knight

Not too shabby, Hoosier State! I'm also amused to note we've got both Mrs. Bradys, from the 70's TV show (Henderson) *and* the 90's movies (Long).

 

[Twitch]

I was born in Missouri but the only notable person I know of that came from there is Harry Truman

 

[Midgetqueen]

Dude! Don't forget Mark Twain!

And a few feminist first that make my little heart happy:
Claire McCaskill, the first woman elected U.S. senator from Missouri
Nellie Tayloe Ross (1876–1977), first female governor of a U.S. State

You've also got Atty. General John Ashcroft.

And Josephine Baker! You lucky folks! And Jean Harlow and Betty Grable! Brad Pitt, Vincent Price... BOB BARKER! And Rush Limbaugh (But I'll forgive you ), Maya Angelou, T.S. Eliot, and one of my favorites from back in the day--Laura Ingalls Wilder.

And that's just for a start!

More here.

 

[LadyStardust]

O. Henry's the one I'm proudest of from my state.
My state is also the proud birthplace of:
Dolley Madison
Edward R. Murrow
Charlie Rose
Andy Griffith
Charles Frazier (author of Cold Mountain)
Orson Scott Card
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Johnson
James Polk
Ava Gardner
Kathryn Grayson

That's just of the top of my head, I know there are many more.

 

[Atterbury Dodd]

I sure won't be winning the competition.

Famous actor: Dick Powell (the house he was born in is quite close to where I live)

President: Bill Clinton

Writer: John Grisham

Musician: Scott Joplin

Musician: Johnny Cash


There has got to be more famous people from Arkansas, but that's all I can think of.

PS, Jimmy Driftwood (wrote The Battle of New Orleans). Possibly not famous enough to be famous.

 

[PhilS]

We got nothing here in NYC.

Just kidding - but I'd say where people ended up is more important than where they came from. And some of the people on the earlier lists ended up here.

 

[Paisley]

Colorado: Maggie Brown (aka Molly Brown), Hattie McDowell (Mammie in Gone with the Wind).

Somehow, I think Virginia will come out on top on this contest.

 

[donCarlos]

Are participants from other countries welcome?

 

[Feraud]

You can take your pick of favorite New Yorkers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_famous_New_Yorkers

 

[Midgetqueen]

donCarlos: Oh, absolutely, of course! I'm not sure how many other nations besides the US divide themselves up--I know Canada's got provinces, Japan's got prefectures, but... other than that, I'm shamefully undereducated. Please do participate, and proudly so!

I'm actually gonna go edit my original post so it isn't so US-centric.

 

[Big Man]

Also from North Carolina ...

O. Henry's the one I'm proudest of from my state.
My state is also the proud birthplace of:
Dolley Madison
Edward R. Murrow
Charlie Rose
Andy Griffith
Charles Frazier (author of Cold Mountain)
Orson Scott Card
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Johnson
James Polk
Ava Gardner
Kathryn Grayson

That's just of the top of my head, I know there are many more.

And don't forget:

Sen. Sam J. Ervin, Jr.
Billy Graham
James Taylor
Doc Watson
David Brinkley
Thomas Wolf
Virginia Dare

 

[sixsexsix]

Ontario:

Mary Pickford
Guy Lombardo
Nellie McClung
Alexander Graham Bell
Mike Myers
Oscar Peterson
Glen Gould
Will Arnett
Rachel McAdams
Ryan Gosling
Dan Aykroyd
Sarah Polly
Martin Short
Linda Evangelista
Paul Anka
Alanis Morrisette
Shania Twain
Alex Trebek
Neil Young
Phil Hartman
Avril Lavigne
Jim Carrey
Laura Secord
Margaret Atwood
Eugene Levy
Wayne Gretzky
Sebastien Bach

That's all I can think of...

 

[Mr. Lucky]

You can take your pick of favorite New Yorkers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_famous_New_Yorkers

Well, my personal favorite (i.e. Roll Model) from my HOME state is none other than Paddy Chayefsky. I know, kinda' obscure. But, well, there he be.

 

[freebird]

I sure won't be winning the competition.

Famous actor: Dick Powell (the house he was born in is quite close to where I live)

President: Bill Clinton

Writer: John Grisham

Musician: Scott Joplin

Musician: Johnny Cash


There has got to be more famous people from Arkansas, but that's all I can think of.

PS, Jimmy Driftwood (wrote The Battle of New Orleans). Possibly not famous enough to be famous.

I'm not from Arkansas, have relatives there though. You forgot Dizzy and Daffy Dean, Levon Helm (from The Band), here's a link to more Arkansans.

 

[AmateisGal]

Nebraska has some good ones, including several classic movie stars...Marlon Brando being a big one! Here's an incomplete list (name, profession, city of birth):


Fred Astaire dancer, actor, Omaha
Max Baer boxer, Omaha
Marlon Brando, actor, Omaha
Warren Buffett, investor, Omaha
Dick Cavett, TV entertainer, Gibbon
Montgomery Clift actor, Omaha
James Coburn, actor, Laurel
Sandy Dennis actress, Hastings
Mignon Eberhart author, Lincoln
Harold Edgerton, inventor, Fremont
Ruth Etting, singer, actress, David City
Henry Fonda, actor, Grand Island
Gerald Rudolph Ford, U.S. president, Omaha
Hoot Gibson, actor, Tememah
Leland Hayward, producer, Nebraska City
David Janssen, actor, Naponee
Malcolm X, civil rights advocate, Omaha
Irish McCalla, actress, Pawnee City
Dorothy McGuire, actress, Omaha
Nick Nolte, actor, Omaha
Mari Sandoz, author, Sheridan Cty
Inga Swenson, actress, Omaha
Robert Taylor, actor, Filley
Paul Williams, singer, composer, actor, Omaha
Julie Wilson, singer, actress, Omaha
Darryl F. Zanuck, film producer, Wahoo

 

[freebird]

List of Okie's

Troy Aikman
Mickey Mantle
Shannon Miller
Jim Thorpe
Gene Autry
Garth Brooks
Vince Gill
Hanson
Reba McEntire
Will Rogers
Carl Albert
Seqouyah
Stand Watie
Bill Dalton
Bill Doolin
Pretty Boy Floyd
Belle Star
Johnny Bench
Iron Eyes Cody
James Garner
Paul Harvey
Van Heflin
Ron Howard
Ben Johnson
Bill Moyers
Patti Page
Brad Pitt
Tony Randall
Dan Rowan
Ted Shackleford
William "Hopalong Cassidy" Boyd
Gary Busey
Lon Chaney
Roy Clark
Walter Cronkite
Joe Diffee
Ronnie Dunn
J. Paul Getty
Tim Holt
Toby Keith
Steve Largent
Leon McAuliffe
Gaylard Sartain
Hank Thompson

 

[Sarge]

I know I'm not going to win this one, but it should still be fun and informative. I propose that we pit a good-natured competition to see whose state/province/commonwealth/prefecture/region/etc. (be it where you were born/raised, or where you currently reside--I'm not picky!) has the richest history of yielding famous (or infamous!) persons. Wherever you're from, please step out and represent! Hopefully this will be fun, and help instill a little more pride in all of us for where we came from.

I'll go first. Indiana, U.S.A. is, or has been, the home of:

Other famous people born in the Hoosier State:

Bill Blass (Fort Wayne, Ind.)
Carole Lombard (Fort Wayne, Ind.)
Ernie Pyle (Dana, Ind.)
Phil Harris (Linton, Ind.)
Wendell Willkie (Elwood, Ind.)
Tony Stewart (Columbus, Ind.)
Ryan Newman (South Bend, Ind.)
Anne Baxter (Michigan City, Ind.)
David Lee Roth (Bloomington, Ind.)
Dick York (Fort Wayne, Ind.)
John Dillinger (Indianapolis, Ind.)
Wilbur Wright (Millville, Ind.)
Sam Bass (Mitchell, Ind.)

 

[Foofoogal]

We even have our own webpage.
http://www.famoustexans.com/index.html

Push on the different categories to see the different ones. lol

 

[KY Gentleman]

We have "The Greatest"

Muhammad Ali is from Louisville
Abe Lincoln
Kit Carson
Jefferson Davis
Victor Mature
Rosemary Clooney
Bill Monroe
The Everly Brothers
Loretta Lynn
Dwight Yoakam
Hunter S. Thompson
Theres a lot more... available by request.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The Pine Tree State has given the world, off the top of my head --

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Poet)
Rudy Vallee (crooner, radio star)
B. F. Keith (Vaudeville impresario, the "K" of RKO)
Louis Sockalexis (First Indian baseball star, for whom the Cleveland club was named)
Chester Greenwood (Inventor of Earmuffs and the whistling teakettle)
Dorothea Dix (19th century health reformer)
Margaret Chase Smith (Senator, Presidential candidate)
William S. Cohen (Senator, Secretary of Defense)
George Mitchell (Senator, Secretary of State)
Edmund Muskie (Senator, Secretary of State, Presidential candidate)
Edna St. Vincent Millay (Poet)
Louise Nevelson (Sculptor)
Ben Ames Williams (Novelist)
Stephen King (Novelist)