Famous People from Kentucky

William Joshua Hopkins (1970 - ) Is an American actor. Born in Lexington, KY (1492)

Muhammad Ali (1942 - ) World heavyweight champion of boxing. Born in Louisville, KY (198)

James Lane Allen (1849 - 1925) Was an American novelist and short story writer whose work, including the novel A Kentucky Cardinal, often depicted the culture and dialects of his native Kentucky. His work is characteristic of the late-19th century local color era, when writers sought to capture the vernacular in their fiction. Allen has been described as "Kentucky's first important novelist." Born in Lexington, KY (1478)

David Rice Atchison (1807 - 1886) A Missouri native, held the office of president of the United States for one day in 1849. Born in Frogtown, KY (328)

Alben W. Barkley (1877 - 1956) Served as the 35th Vice President of the United States. Born in Graves County, KY (202)

Ned Thomas Beatty (1937 - ) Is an American actor who has appeared in more than 100 films. Born in Louisville, KY (1484)

James Best (1926 - ) Is an American actor best known for his role as bumbling Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane in the CBS television series The Dukes of Hazzard. He has also worked as an acting coach, artist, and musician. Born in Powderly, KY (1485)

James Bowie (1796 - 1836) Known for his famous "Bowie knife" and a sometimes reckless adventurer, Jim Bowie is now immortalized as one of the true folk heroes in early Texas. Born in Springcreek, KY (204)

W. Earl Brown (1963 - ) Is an American character actor who has appeared in many mainstream film and television projects. He is perhaps best known as Dan Dority on the HBO series Deadwood. He is also well known for playing Warren in the 1998 film There's Something About Mary. Born in Murray, KY (1486)

Tod Browning (1880 - 1962) Was an American motion picture actor, director and screenwriter. Browning's career spanned the silent and talkie eras. Best-known as the director of Dracula (1931 in film), the cult classic Freaks (1932 in film), and classic silent film collaborations with Lon Chaney, Sr., Browning directed many movies in a wide range of genres. Born Charles Albert Browning, Jr. Born in Louisville, KY (1487)

Leo Burmester (1944 - 2007) Was an American actor. Burmester worked for director John Sayles several times, including in Passion Fish (1992) and Lone Star (1996), and also for directors such as John Schlesinger and Sidney Lumet, and as the Apostle Nathaniel in Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ (1988). Born in Louisville, KY (1488)

Kit Carson (1809 - 1868) Scout and Indian agent. Born in Madison County, KY (208)

Cassius Marcellus Clay (1810 - 1903) Nicknamed "The Lion of White Hall", was an emancipationist from Madison County, Kentucky, United States. He was a cousin of Henry Clay and Alabama governor Clement Comer Clay. Born in Madison County, KY (1500)

George Clooney (1961 - ) Actor made famous in the television show ER. Born in Lexington, KY (199)

Rosemary Clooney (1928 - 2002) Was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the novelty hit "Come On-a My House" written by William Saroyan and his cousin Ross Bagdasarian (David Seville) creator of Alvin and the Chipmunks, which was followed by other pop numbers such as "Botch-a-Me" (a cover version of the Italian song Ba-Ba-Baciami Piccina by Alberto Rabagliati), "Mambo Italiano", "Tenderly", "Half as Much", "Hey There" and "This Ole House", though she would go on to success as a jazz vocalist. Born in Maysville, KY (1489)

Nellie Crawford (1873 - 1959) Was an American actress. The daughter of freed slaves, she began her career in entertainment touring the east coast with various theatrical companies and moved to California to become a member of the fledgling film community. She became known as a character actress, appeared in high profile films such as Birth of a Nation (1915) and Intolerance (1916), and easily navigated the transition to the "talkies". Born in Louisville, KY (1499)

William James Crowe, Jr. (1925 - 2007) Was a United States Navy Admiral who served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, and as the ambassador to the United Kingdom under President Bill Clinton. Born in La Grange, KY (1481)

William "Billy" Ray Cyrus (1961 - ) Is an American country music singer, songwriter and actor, that helped make the country music a worldwide phenomenon. Born in Flatwoods, KY (1503)

Jefferson Davis (1808 - 1889) President of the Confederate States of America. Born in Christian county, KY (200)

Kassie DePaiva (1961 - ) Is an American soap opera actress and singer. She was credited prior to 1996 as Kassie Wesley. Born in Morganfield, KY (1490)

Johnny Depp (1963 - ) Award winning actor who is famous for his roles as Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean and Willy Wonka in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Born in Owensboro, KY (211)

Irene Dunne (1898 - 1990) Well-known actress and singer of the 1930s and 1940s; She was nominated for an Academy Award 5 times. Born in Louisville,, KY (212)

Donald Galloway (1937 - 2009) Was an American actor of stage, film and television, a political libertarian and journalist, perhaps best-known for his role as Raymond Burr's protégé, Detective Sergeant Ed Brown, on the long-running crime drama Ironside (1967-1975). He reprised the role for a made-for-TV "reunion" film in 1993. Born in Augusta, KY (1491)

Crystal Gayle (1951 - ) Born Brenda Gail Webb is an American country music singer best known for her 1977 country-pop hit, "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue. Born in Paintsville, KY (1504)

Duncan Hines (1880 - 1959) Founder of Duncan Hines company. Born in Bowling Green, KY (201)

Joseph Holt (1807 - 1894) Was a leading member of the Buchanan administration and was Judge Advocate General of the United States Army, most notably during the Lincoln assassination trials. Born in Breckinridge County, KY (1482)

John Bell Hood (1831 - 1879) Was a Confederate general during the American Civil War. Hood had a reputation for bravery and aggressiveness that sometimes bordered on recklessness. Arguably one of the best brigade and division commanders in the Confederate States Army, Hood became increasingly ineffective as he was promoted to lead larger, independent commands late in the war, and his career was marred by his decisive defeats leading an army in the Atlanta Campaign and the Franklin-Nashville Campaign. Born in Owingsville, KY (1209)

Albert Sidney Johnston (1803 - 1862) Was a career United States Army officer, a Texas Army general, and a Confederate States general. Born in Washington, KY (1210)

Wynonna Judd (1964 - ) American country music singer Born in Ashland, KY (703)

Naomi Judd (1946 - ) Is an American country music singer, songwriter, and activist. Born in Ashland, KY (1505)

Husband Edward Kimmel (1882 - 1968) Was a four-star admiral in the United States Navy. He served as Commander-in-chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet at the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Because of the attack, he was removed from office and was reduced to his permanent two-star rank of rear admiral. He would subsequently retire from the Navy with that rank. Born in Henderson, KY (1483)

Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865) The 16th President of the United States; moved from Kentucky to New Salem at the age of 21. Born in Sinking Spring Farm, KY (144)

Patty Loveless (1957 - ) Is an American country music singer. Born in Pikeville, KY (1506)

Loretta Lynn (1934 - ) Country music singer. Born in Butcher Holler, KY (203)

Terrence Vaughan Mann (1951 - ) Is an American actor, singer and dancer who has been prominent on the Broadway stage for the past three decades. Born in Ashland, KY (1493)

William Reibert Mapother, Jr. (1965 - ) Is an American actor and former teacher, known for his role as Ethan Rom on the television series Lost. Born in Louisville, KY (1494)

Victor John Mature (1913 - 1999) Was an American stage, film and television actor. Born in Louisville, KY (1495)

Ed McClanahan (1932 - ) Is an American novelist, essayist, and professor. Born in Brooksville, KY (1479)

Charles L. Napier (1936 - 2011) Is an American actor, known for his portrayals of square-jawed tough guys and military types. Born in Scottsville, KY (1496)

Patricia Neal (1926 - 2010) Was an American actress of stage and screen. She was best known for her roles as World War II widow Helen Benson in The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), wealthy matron Emily Eustace Failenson in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), and middle-aged housekeeper Alma Brown in Hud (1963), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. Born in Packard, Whitley County, KY (1497)

Marsha Norman (1947 - ) Is an American playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. She received the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play 'night, Mother. She wrote the book and lyrics for such Broadway musicals as The Secret Garden, for which she won a Tony Award and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical, and The Red Shoes, as well as the libretto for the musical The Color Purple. Born in Louisville, KY (1480)

Warren Mercer Oates (1928 - 1982) Was a prolific American actor best known for his performances in several films directed by Sam Peckinpah including The Wild Bunch (1969) and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974). He starred in numerous films during the early 1970s which have since achieved cult status including The Hired Hand (1971), Two-Lane Blacktop (1971) and Race with the Devil (1975). Oates also portrayed Sergeant Hulka in the box office hit Stripes (1981) Born in Depoy, KY (1498)

Harold "Pee Wee" Reese (1918 - 1999) Baseball shortstop with Brooklyn Dodgers. Born in Ekron, KY (207)

Diane Sawyer (1945 - ) The first female reporter on 60 Minutes. Born in Glasgow, KY (206)

Adlai Ewing Stevenson (1835 - 1914) Was a Congressman from Illinois. He was Assistant Postmaster General of the United States during Grover Cleveland's first administration and 23rd Vice President of the United States during Cleveland's second administration. In 1900, he was the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for Vice President on a ticket with William Jennings Bryan. Born in Christian County, KY (1501)

Jim Varney (1949 - 2000) Actor/Comedian. Best known for his portrayal of Ernest P. Worrell. Born in Lexington, KY (210)

Frederick Moore Vinson (1890 - 1953) Served the United States in all three branches of government and was the most prominent member of the Vinson political family. In the legislative branch, he was an elected member of the United States House of Representatives from Louisa, Kentucky, for twelve years. In the executive branch, he was the Secretary of Treasury under President Harry S. Truman. In the judicial branch, he was the thirteenth Chief Justice of the United States, appointed by President Truman. Born in Louisa, KY (1502)

Robert Penn Warren (1905 - 1989) Author known for works such as All the King's Men and Band of Angels. Born in Todd County, KY (209)

Dwight David Yoakam (1956 - ) Is an American singer-songwriter, actor and film director, most famous for his pioneering country music. Popular since the early 1980s, he has recorded more than twenty-one albums and compilations, has charted more than thirty singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, and sold more than 25 million records. Born in Betsy Layne, KY (1507)