Who put my town on the map?

[qwertysaur]

Does anybody famous live, or has lived where you grew up?

Tito Puente lived in my hometown until he died.

[XxSephirothxX]

Not where I lived. But some pretty famous bands have come from where I live now, in Athens Ga. R.E.M., Neutral Milk Hotel, and Of Montreal, to name a few.

[Denmark]

Samuel Tilden, the man who beat Rutherford B. Hayes in the popular vote yet lost to him in the electoral vote, was born and grew up in the town where I went to high school. :cool:

[Rengori]

I hear that Eddie Van Halen has a house near here, but I have no clue.

And Barbara Streisand bought a house in our old neighborhood. We moved because of it.

[Rase]

See for yourself. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petaluma#Notable_residents)
Also had a good number of movies (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petaluma#Film_locations) shoot there.

[Roto13]

Not where I lived. But some pretty famous bands have come from where I live now, in Athens Ga. R.E.M., Neutral Milk Hotel, and Of Montreal, to name a few.

Of Montreal is Of America? That kind of information gets right into my stomach, and then it just kinda sits there and burns....

ANYWAY, I live in Vancouver so like a million movies have been filmed here. The Watchmen movie is being filmed here right now. That excites me. :P

[Araciel]

Gordon Lightfoot is from Orillia.

Bobby Orr is from Parry Sound.

I have no idea if anyone famous is from Barrie.

[demondude]

Emma watson = Hermione granger
Rowan atkinson = Mr bean

They grew up here but bugger off to London too much so they only stay for about 1 month.

[Heath]

Timothy Dalton and Terry Jones (of Monty Python) are from Colwyn Bay where I currently live. They're pretty famous worldwide even if they did come from such an unheard of place!

[Breine]

Nope, nada. But then again I come from a town with only around 5000-6000 people living in it. It's so small that people considered famous in Denmark alone don't even come from here.

[Shauna]

John Hannah - that guy from The Mummy - was from East Kilbride. My dad says he remembers him at his high school. :D

[Raebus]

Robocop came from my town, my dad used to see him trying to play on the swings with his heavy metal body.

[Xander]

Camilla Parker Bowles lives nearby (wife of Prince Charles - I think they got married anyway XD) I guess you only know if you know the British monarchy but eh.

And films like Harry Potter and period dramas are filmed in Lacock just down the road from where I live, but I guess that doesn't really count..

[Quindiana Jones]

Loads of famous people are from where I live. But unfortunately they're famous in the historic sense, so nobody remembers who they are. All I know is that there's plenty. Admiral Blake for one.

[Zeldy]

urm, not really. My town isnt on the map! A few members of Hollyoaks live in my town, and comedian Johnny Vegas (http://www.johnnyvegas.co.uk/) was born here, we also have a really really successful rugby team, they're current world cup and challenge cup winners or something.

[Levian]

That guy from A-ha. Morten Harket. You know, Taaaaake oooon meeeee? Take on me! Yeah, that guy.

[Aerith's Knight]

mario.. that guy that was the greatest soccer player in the world for a short time lives here.. plus the philips brothers be4 they died

[Madame Adequate]

Eamon Holmes, baby! And Ian Paisley. And a bunch of other people.

[Tallulah]

I went to the same school as Richard Reid, the 'shoe bomber', and various other criminal 'masterminds' including a few teen murderers... Says a lot about my old neighbourhood, doesn't it. :rolleyes2 There was even a gun siege on my old block, about two days after my parents moved out. :eek:

In my current neighbourhood, about two years ago, whilst filming The Da Vinci Code, Tom Hanks ate in my friend's seafood restaurant! :D

[snacks]

The Pizza Bomber.

[KuRt]

Harri Kirvesniemi and Marja-Liisa Kirvesniemi (née Hämäläinen).
Google 'em up. Kinda funny they live in a small village with just 3000 people

[blim]

Engelbert Humperdinck lives near me as does Roger Daltrey.The town also invented Stilton Cheese, the Pork Pie and the phrase "paint the town red". Madelaine McCann's mother also works in the town.

Plus a relatively nearby school has Stephen Fry, Jay Kay and Bruce Dickinson as past pupils.

Also the town where i spent most of my life boasts Daniel Lambert as a famous ex-resident
His weight at the time of his death was 739 pounds (336 kg), his height was 5 feet 11 inches, and his waist measurement was 9 feet 4 inches as wellas Malcolm Christie (footballer), Lewis Moody (rugbyist, actually from a village just down the road), John George Haigh, (the "acid bath murderer") and Colin Dexter (Inspector morse author). It also appears in Middlemarch, The Da Vinci Code and Pride and Prejudice.

[chionos]

I'm not proud of it, but the Achy Breaky Heart guy, Billy Ray Cyrus went to school with my dad. In fact they played football together, and my dad played guitar for his band (black dog or somethingorother) in high school at local bars. I've even been to his parents' house and met his family. There are two or three major (for the area, it's a small town, so major is relative) roads dedicated to him. If you don't know him from his country music days (lucky you), his daughter is Hannah Montana or w/e. There are several other famous country music legends from this area, most I don't know because I dispise country music, but my aunt(dad's sister) went to school with Judds (the older one, and she went to a school in larger city a few minutes away from the school my dad went to). Also George Clooney was raised about 15 minutes from where I live, his mother (I think) still lives there, I've been by the house. I'm about 30 minutes from Marshall Uni(of We Are Marshall! fame), so I saw Randy Moss play in college in person (he sucked in every game I went to, whodathunkit). Also Jesse Stuart, the poet and author, lived and taught about 5 minutes from a house I lived in as a kid. I've been to his grave.

[Ramza Beoulve]

Where I live now (Chihuahua, Chihuahua (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chihuahua_%28Chihuahua%29), AHUUUA!!! ... *ahem*)... mmm...

Eduardo Najera
Pancho Villa (It's important here, so shut up)
Anthony Quinn

I think that's all of them (known in other parts of the world, because there are another three, but are only important here in México)

My natal city... well, I don't think of anyone famous had come or lived there, actually.

[Shoeberto]

Annie Oakley was born in my town. We have a statue of her on Broadway.

John Light from the New England Patriots is from my town, too, but most likely you've never heard of him. He's not really an A-list player on the team. The only reason people give a hoot about him is because they went to the superbowl, and because of that he has a huge head and from what I've heard acts like a giant dick when he's around.

[Shiny]

Queen Latifah, Dionne Warwick, Whitney Houston and Naughty by Nature are from the town I lived in when I was younger. I actually had the pleasure of meeting Queen Latifah while she playing basketball.

There's a few semi - famous celebs that come from the town I live in now.

[Psychotic]

Re: Thread title. A cartographer. Ha ha funniest member comin' atcha.

George Eliot. Famous novelist of the 19th Century or some such rubbish. For some reason our town's PR department decided that she is a goddess, and now hospitals, schools and so forth are named after her.

[Griff]

You know how in interviews Avril Lavigne will sometimes talk about the craphole of a town she grew up in? I'm from there.

[chionos]

Dunno why I forgot this, but Brandon Webb, the Diamondbacks starting pitcher, is from this area too. Back when I was serving/bartending at Ruby Tuesdays he came in and I waited on him. He's a nice guy, and still connected to his friends in the area, but they left a crappy tip ($75)...and it couldn't have been because of my serving abilities, b/c I'm awesome.

[No.78]

Dave Benson Phillips from get your own back.

Lol.

[Roto13]

I have no idea who the vast majority of these people are.

[smittenkitten]

William Wallace's mother was born and lived in Galston. :)

[Jessweeee♪]

Farrah Fawcett - Actress
Selena Quintanilla-Perez - Late Tejano Superstar
Eva Longoria - Gabrielle Solis on Desperate Housewives
Bobby Labonte - NASCAR Nextel Cup driver and 2000 champion
Terry Labonte - NASCAR Nextel Cup driver and 1984 + 1996 champion
Lou Diamond Phillips - Actor
Lori Singer - Actress
Priscilla Iden - Actress
Marc Singer - Actor
Dabney Coleman - Actor
Terrence McNally - Playwright
Paula DeAnda - Musician
Larry Norman - Musician, songwriter
Brooks Kieschnick - Baseball player
Amy Acuff - Athlete (High jump)
Pepe Serna - Actor
Freddy Fender - Musician
Barbara Barrie - Actress
Johnny Canales - Musician
Burt Hooton - Baseball Player
Allen Ludden - Game Show Host
Todd Oldham - Fashion Designer and Host
Raymond Berry - NFL Hall of Fame wide receiver
Brian Leetch - NHL Defenseman
Roger Creager - Country music singer and songwriter
Johnny Roland - NFL Player / Coach
Helen Donath - opera singer

Selena died here, too! Shot by her best friend! Her little shop is still running, though. I heard the hotel room she was shot in is closed off...I don't know that for sure, though. It's soooo saaaaad, have you ever seen the movie Selena?

[Lawr]

Mahammad Ali. :cool:
And the KKK were about to come to a town near us. :(

[~*~Celes~*~]

Famous ones from Toledo, Ohio? Well...:bigsmile:


Theater and film

* Cliff Arquette - actor and comedian
* Jonathan Bennett - film actor
* Joe E. Brown - actor and comedian
* Daws Butler - voice actor
* Josh Costell - actor and model
* John Cromwell - American actor, film producer and director.
* Jason Dohring - actor
* Jamie Farr - actor
o Maxwell Klinger - fictional character in the television series M*A*S*H
* Philip Baker Hall - film actor
* Katie Holmes - actress and model, wife of Tom Cruise
* Eric Kripke - television writer, director and producer
* Adrianne Palicki - television and film actress
* Alyson Stoner - actress and dancer
* Danny Thomas - actor and father of Marlo.
* Marlo Thomas - actress, daughter of Danny, wife of Phil Donahue
* Bonnie Turner - Creator of That '70s Show and 3rd Rock from the Sun.

[edit] Music

* Anita Baker - R&B singer
* Teresa Brewer - singer
* Stanley Cowell - pianist and composer
* Jon Hendricks - member of the jazz group Lambert, Hendricks & Ross
* Chester "Lyfe" Jennings, singer
* Shirley Murdoch - platinum selling R&B singer in the 1980s
* Tom Scholz, guitarist and founder of the rock band Boston (Ottawa Hills).
* Scott Shriner - bassist of the rock band Weezer
* Art Tatum - jazz pianist

[edit] Modelling

* Cynthia Myers - Playboy Playmate model and actress
* Jan Roberts - model featured as centerfold and Playmate of the Month in Playboy magazine's August 1962 issue.

[edit] Journalism

* Amy Braunschweiger - Freelance journalist for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal
* Christine Brennan, USA Today sports columnist, ESPN, ABC Sports and NPE sports analyst, and author of six books.
* Janet Cooke - journalist with The Toledo Blade and The Washington Post
* David Ross Locke - journalist and early political commentator during the American Civil War under the pen name Petroleum V. Nasby
* P. J. O'Rourke - political satirist, journalist, and writer
* Gloria Steinem - founder of Ms. magazine, feminist icon, journalist, and women's rights advocate

[edit] Literature and poetry

* Paul Lawrence Dunbar - African-American poet, originally from Dayton, Ohio
* Edward Eager - Author of many children's books
* Mari Evans - author & dramatist
* Christopher Moore - novelist
* Scott Nearing - conservationist, peace activist, educator and writer. Father of writer John Scott.
* Elizabeth Witherell - editor-in-chief of The Writings of Henry D. Thoreau
* Allen Saunders - cartoonist and creator of Mary Worth and Steve Roper comic strips.

[edit] Politics and government

* James Mitchell Ashley - abolitionist and author of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
* Walter Folger Brown - United States Postmaster General 1929-1933, president of Toledo Humane Society 1911-1961
* Stephen Hadley - National Security Advisor to President George W. Bush
* Kristina Keneally - first American-born member of Australia's New South Wales Parliament
* Thomas Noe - former Ohio Republican Party fundraiser. Center of the Coingate scandal.
* John W. Snow - United States Secretary of the Treasury
* Morrison Waite - Seventh Chief Justice of the United States
* Kiernan Sanders - esteemed theological scholar of the Church of Christ, Scientist

[edit] Science and technology

* Eugene F. "Gene" Kranz - retired NASA flight director who served during the Gemini & Apollo space programs, known for his role in the rescue of Apollo 13
* Michael S. Witherell - particle physicist, president of Fermilab

[edit] Sports

[edit] Baseball

* Roger Bresnahan - Baseball Hall of Fame
* Addie Joss - Baseball Hall of Fame
* Jim Leyland - manager of Detroit Tigers major league baseball team
* Doug Mientkiewicz - major league baseball player
* George Mullin - major league baseball player
* John Lee Richmond - baseball player who pitched the first perfect game in major league history

[edit] Basketball

* Don Donoher - former University of Dayton head basketball coach
* Jim Jackson, basketball player
* Tony Peyton - last of the original Harlem Globetrotters
* Kelvin Ransey - collegiate and professional basketball player
* Steve Mix - retired American professional basketball player
* Dennis Hopson - American former professional basketball player
* Todd Mitchell - retired American professional basketball player

[edit] Football

* Jim Harbaugh - former National Football League football quarterback
* Curtis Johnson - #45 of 1971 undefeated Miami Dolphins "no-name defense".
* Ron McDole - Professional football player, attended DeVilbiss HS
* Jim Parker - Professional Football Hall of Fame, attended Toledo Scott HS
* Rick Upchurch - Professional football player

[edit] Ice Hockey

* Pat Jablonski - NHL hockey goaltender
* Bryan Smolinski - NHL hockey player from suburban Genoa, Ohio. Attended Cardinal Stritch High School, Oregon, Ohio

[edit] Golf

* Arthur Hills - golf course designer
* Frank Stranahan - professional golfer

[edit] Wrestling

* Allen Sarven - professional wrestler with World Wrestling Entertainment & Extreme Championship Wrestling, formerly of Lima, Ohio
* Greg Wojciechowski - Olympic wrestler unable to compete due to the United States boycott. Alternate on the 1984 and 1988 U.S. Olympic wrestling teams

[edit] Other sports

* Paul Chamberlin - professional tennis player
* Edmund Coffin - saddlemaker & equestrian
* Mark Kerr - MMA fighter and subject of HBO documentary The Smashing Machine
* Scott Hamilton - American figure skater and Olympic gold medalist

[edit] Other notoriety

* Martin Frankel - former financier convicted in 2002 of insurance fraud, racketeering and money laundering.
* Ernest M. McSorley - captain of the ill-fated lake freighter SS Edmund Fitzgerald
* Gerald Robinson - Roman Catholic priest convicted of the murder of nun Margaret Ann Pahl on April 5, 1980

[TyphoonThaReapa]

New Orleanians are responsible for making themselves popular from being crime capital of the U.S in 1998 and 1999. Not to mention things like Mardi Gras and Hurricane Katrina....