Celebrities from your hometown.

[greenguy]

There are far too many to single out or list.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_from_Chicago

To provide a few random ones...Hillary Clinton, Ernest Hemingway, Steve Carrell, Walter Koenig, Al Capone, David Sedaris, Pat Sajak, William H. Macy, John C. Reilly, Kathy Griffin, Dan Castellaneta, Tina Fey, Walt Disney, John & Jim Belushi, Kanye West and R. Kelly (eww @ both), Michael Jordan, Mike Ditka (da coach!), and we were also a home and launching pad for Barack Obama, who spreads the word of Chicago politics (and I love it.)

 

[RJDiogenes]

Celebrities from my hometown? Let's see: Ben Franklin, Paul Revere, Sam Adams....

Being from Boston does add an extra dimension, definitely, but it doesn't give a free pass. Boston, for example, would be an awesome band no matter what; by the same token, Aerosmith would be mediocre not matter what.

I should add that if you're from Boston, New York or LA it doesn't strictly count

The thread's less about name dropping than it is about how someone's origins make you view their work.

Well, it doesn't really influence my opinion, but it can spark my interest. I started reading Dennis Lehane because he writes about Boston (in fact, we are both from Dorchester, specifically). I also started reading Robert B Parker's Spenser novels for the same reason, but Parker himself is from Springfield, so technically wouldn't fall under the terms of the original question.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Biggest one would have to be Alex Trebek.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Gerald Ford (former prez) was born in Omaha. Only a few miles from my house, AFAIK.

Trek-wise, Gabrielle Union is from Omaha. As is Jay Karnes.

 

[gturner]

Just Lee Majors in the town where I was born.

Where I live now we had Henry Clay, Vice President John C. Breckinridge, John Hunt Morgan, Mary Todd Lincoln (both her husband and Jefferson Davis spent great amounts of time here).

Among other famous people from here or who spent significant time here are:
George Clooney,
Drew Curtis (founder of Fark),
Henry Faulkner (the artist, not to be confused with William Faulkner the novelist or Eric Faulkner the guitarist for the 70's band Bay City Rollers),
Richard Hell (godfather of punk rock and inventor of punk fashion),
Ashley Judd
J Peterman (who was portrayed as a New Yorker on Seinfeld)
and most famously Jim Varney (aka Ernest P Worrell)

 

[Mary Ann]

I lived for 9 years in my husband's home town, Weston-super-Mare, which is also John Cleese's home town. Cleese hates the place, and I must say I agree with him. This may or may not have anything to do with my in-laws living there.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

I lived for 9 years in my husband's home town, Weston-super-Mare, which is also John Cleese's home town. Cleese hates the place, and I must say I agree with him. This may or may not have anything to do with my in-laws living there.

Isn't Jeffrey Archer your Baron too?

 

[Defiant]

I grew up in the border region between Durham and Raleigh, NC

Dexter's Michael Hall and I are the same age and grew up a few miles apart.

Robert Duncan McNeill (Tom Paris) was born nearby, as well.

Reginald VelJohnson (Die Hard)

Clay Aiken


Andrew Johnson (VP to Lincoln, then pres) also came from Raleigh

 

[The Boy Who Cried Worf]

Originally from Monterey I think we're better known for people associated with the town rather than born there. Clint Eastwood was mayor of neighboring Carmel. Both John Steinbeck and Robert Louis Stevenson lived their and wrote famously about it.

The current head of the CIA is from Monterey.

We have had a few somewhat well-know athletes come out of Monterey. Hall of Fame wide receiver James Lofton. Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Herman Edwards. Pete Incaviglia was a very poor man's Mark McGwire who endeared himself to blue collar baseball fans everywhere by saying "people think athletes are rich, but they don't realize a lot of us only make half a million dollars a year".

I have never seen it but apparently one of the guys on Mythbusters is from there. And a lot of people don't know Frank Zappa lived there for awhile as a child.

Currently living in Torrance which is the focal point of manliness in the universe as both Chuck Norris and Royce Gracie lived here.

 

[RandyS]

Both Levar Burton and Tim Russ claim to be from Sacramento. As does Molly Ringwald. I've lived here all my life, and never met any of them.

 

[TrekkieMonster]

Well, it doesn't really influence my opinion, but it can spark my interest. I started reading Dennis Lehane because he writes about Boston.

Likewise. Speaking of which, did you hear he's writing another Kenzie/Gennaro book? I can't wait!

 

[Miss Chicken]

Errol Flynn - who many, many years before my birth lived for a while in the same street I grew up on (Darcy Street, South Hobart). He lived at number 10, I at no 24. He also went to the same high school as my father (Hobart High) but several years before my father.

Surprisingly very little is named after Errol. Recently the name of the Short Beach Reserve was changed to the Errol Flynn Reserve by the Hobart City Council because this is where Errol Flynn learnt to swim (he said so in his autobiography). The Nomenclature Board of Tasmania has refused to accept the change of name but the City Council more or less told them to fuck off and the signs went up with the change of name. This beach is a stone's throw from my first childhood home (Margaret Street, Sandy Bay) and is a beach we often played at and the beach my father learnt to swim at. When Errol and my father were young this beach was enclosed swimming area but by the time I was around the fences and the platforms had all been long since be removed.

Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark - formerly Mary Donaldson of Hobart. She went to Sandy Bay Kindergarten which is located on the grounds of, but separate from, the primary school I went to (Princess Street Primary School).

 

[nevermore]

Most of the well-known people from my hometown were born in the 1700's. So, I'll go with a random sampling from my current city, which is about 20 miles from my previous city:

Spiro Agnew
Tori Amos
John Astin
Charles Bukowski
David Byrne
Tom Clancy
Nancy Pelosi
Divine
David Hasselhoff
Billie Holiday
Barry Levinson
H.L. Mencken
Ed Norton
Ric Okasek
Michael Phelps
Jada Pinket Smith
Parker Posey
Robin Quivers
Cal Ripken Jr.
Babe Ruth
Pat Sajak
Dwight Schultz
Tupac
David Simon
John Waters

and

ZAPPA!

 

[trampledamage]

Well, it doesn't really influence my opinion, but it can spark my interest. I started reading Dennis Lehane because he writes about Boston (in fact, we are both from Dorchester, specifically). I also started reading Robert B Parker's Spenser novels for the same reason, but Parker himself is from Springfield, so technically wouldn't fall under the terms of the original question.

I agree with this - and not necessarily just the place where I grew up, but places I've been - I'm always intriqued by novels set in places that I know. There's a series of mysteries by a British author (who's name I can't remember, unfortunately) that I really want to read because they're set in the Welsh town of Aberystwyth and we always went there for our summer holidays.

 

[Count Zero]

Isn't Aberystwyth also the town where the documentary about how "The Life of Brian" by the Pythons was banned in various Welsh communities takes place? The woman who played Brian's girlfriend is the mayor there and so they had a belated showing of the film with some of the Pythons in attendance. But maybe it was another Welsh town.

 

[Mary Ann]

I lived for 9 years in my husband's home town, Weston-super-Mare, which is also John Cleese's home town. Cleese hates the place, and I must say I agree with him. This may or may not have anything to do with my in-laws living there.

Isn't Jeffrey Archer your Baron too?

Ah, yes, the "delightful" Lord Archer. When he was jailed WsM was desparate to disown him, to no avail. We moved from there 6 years ago so I can say with relief that Archer ain't no Baron of mine any more.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

I lived for 9 years in my husband's home town, Weston-super-Mare, which is also John Cleese's home town. Cleese hates the place, and I must say I agree with him. This may or may not have anything to do with my in-laws living there.

Isn't Jeffrey Archer your Baron too?

Ah, yes, the "delightful" Lord Archer. When he was jailed WsM was desparate to disown him, to no avail. We moved from there 6 years ago so I can say with relief that Archer ain't no Baron of mine any more.

Still, worth it for the comedy value alone, I suppose.

 

[Tom Hendricks]

The most famous person from my hometown of Hawthorne, New Jersey (a small town 15 miles west of NYC) is Debora Harry from the band Blondi. Another person, some may not consider "famous" but to me is Eric De Jong, he was JPL Chief Space Scientist. Plus we had a few NFL players, but none really stars.

 

[Miss Chicken]

Do we give a pass to people from our hometowns? Many of them are legitimately good at what they do, but some aren't. What do you guys think?

I didn't answer this question in my previous answer.

As far as Errol goes - his wicked, wicked ways wouldn't be considered as wicked today. However I know that his less than perfect reputation is why the silly farts at the Nomenclature Board don't want the beach named in his honour. I think most Tasmanians are forgiving of Errol. He was a great actor.

Most Tasmanians would say that Princess Mary seems to be doing a good job.

 

[Gaseous Anomaly]

Only two people come to mind at this time.

Terry Farrell
Ashton Kutcher