The Greatest Tennesseans
by shearerelizabeth | created - 03 Jan 2012 | updated - 03 Jan 2012 | PublicThose great people from my home state
1. Lucy Hale
Actress | Truth or Dare
Lucy Hale has captured the attention of millions through her dynamic on-screen performances in some of the most buzzed about projects in film and television. Hale recently starred as the lead, DC Lake Edmunds, in the new series, Ragdoll, which is streaming on AMC and Alibi. Last year, she finished ...
Thank you Memphis for this beauty
2. Morgan Freeman
Actor | Driving Miss Daisy
With an authoritative voice and calm demeanor, this ever popular American actor has grown into one of the most respected figures in modern US cinema. Morgan was born on June 1, 1937 in Memphis, Tennessee, to Mayme Edna (Revere), a teacher, and Morgan Porterfield Freeman, a barber. The young Freeman...
Another great love from Memphis
3. Ginnifer Goodwin
Actress | Zootopia
Ginnifer Goodwin was born Jennifer Michelle Goodwin on May 22, 1978, in Memphis, Tennessee, to Linda (Kantor), a doctor of educational technology, and Tim Goodwin, a musician and the owner of Memphis Sound Productions recording studio. Ginnifer graduated from Lausanne Collegiate School in 1996 and ...
I only like her sometimes, but since I found out that she's from TN I like her more
4. Kathy Bates
Actress | Misery
Multi-talented, multi-award-winning actress Kathleen (Doyle) Bates was born on June 28, 1948, and raised in Memphis, Tennessee. She is the youngest of three girls born to Bertye Kathleen (Talbot), a homemaker, and Langdon Doyle Bates, a mechanical engineer. Her grandfather was author Finis L. Bates...
Her Misery accent was no exaggeration
5. Leslie Jordan
Actor | The Help
For such a diminutive (4' 11") frame, character actor Leslie (Allen) Jordan had a tall talent for scene-stealing. Hailing from the South, as his dead-giveaway drawl quickly exposed, he was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 29, 1955, and raised in a highly conservative, deeply religious ...
This shrimp is amazing.
6. Shannen Doherty
Actress | Beverly Hills, 90210
Shannen Doherty was born in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, on April 12, 1971, to Rosa Doherty (Wright) and Tom Doherty. Her father worked in a bank, while her mother owned a beauty parlor. She has an older brother, Sean B. Doherty. Her ancestry includes Irish, English, Scottish, and French. In 1978, at ...
I've loved her since Mallrats and I really try to look past her trials with Aaron Spelling, but let's get real, if you piss of Alyssa Milano & Holly Marie Combs, there must be something horrible about you.
7. Cybill Shepherd
Actress | Cybill
Cybill Lynne Shepherd was born in Memphis, Tennessee, to Patty, a homemaker, and William Shepherd, a small business owner. Named after her grandfather, Cy, and her father, Bill, Shepherd's career began at a young age in modeling, when she won the "Miss Teenage Memphis" contest in 1966 and the "...
I was never really a huge fan of hers, but now that she's been in Psych, I love her.
8. Colin Ford
Actor | We Bought a Zoo
The "Supernatural" kid isn't so supernatural. Born in Nashville, Tennessee, he soon aspired to the career of acting at the age of 4, where he first got his modeling job in Atlanta, Georgia. He broke into feature films at the age of 5 where he played as Clinton Jr, in "Sweet Home Alabama". He made ...
I really think this kid has a future. He's done well so far
9. David Keith
Actor | An Officer and a Gentleman
David Lemuel Keith was born on May 8, 1954 in Knoxville, Tennessee, the son of Lemuel Grady Keith Jr. and Hilda Earle. He graduated from the University of Tennessee with a Bachelor of Arts in Speech and Theater. Keith had a supporting role in The Rose (1979) starring Bette Midler, had a supporting ...
I love this man. He is just a very nice person. I can't think of a single bad thing to say about him. He's just great.
10. Quentin Tarantino
Writer | Reservoir Dogs
Quentin Jerome Tarantino was born in Knoxville, Tennessee. His father, Tony Tarantino, is an Italian-American actor and musician from New York, and his mother, Connie (McHugh), is a nurse from Tennessee. Quentin moved with his mother to Torrance, California, when he was four years old.
In January of...
I guess crazy grows in Tennessee
11. Christina Hendricks
Actress | Ginger & Rosa
Christina Rene Hendricks was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, and grew up in Twin Falls, Idaho. Her father, Robert, originally from England, worked for the U.S. Forest Service, while her mother, Jackie Sue (Raymond), was a psychologist. At the age of 13 her father transferred to the Forest Service ...
12. Megan Fox
Actress | Transformers
Megan Denise Fox was born on May 16, 1986 in Oak Ridge, Tennessee and raised in Rockwood, Tennessee to Gloria Darlene Tonachio (née Cisson), a real estate manager and Franklin Thomas Fox, a parole officer. She began her drama and dance training at age 5 and at age 10, she moved to Port St. Lucie, ...
13. Lori Petty
Actress | Tank Girl
After this feisty, highly offbeat actress from Chattanooga, Tennessee, broke into TV in the 1980s, she immediately set herself apart from the norm with a prime role as new owner Bud Cort's female friend in the bizarre mini-movie Bates Motel (1987). This rather inauspicious beginning would also set ...
I cried the first time I watched A League of Their Own... who am I kidding? I cry every time I watch it. Dangit Kit!
14. Isaac Hayes
Actor | Escape from New York
Isaac Hayes, the second-born child of Eula and Isaac Hayes Sr., was raised by his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Willie Wade Sr. The child of a poor family, he grew up picking cotton in Covington, Tennessee. He dropped out of high school, but later his former high-school teachers to get his diploma, ...
I told myself that I wasn't going to go the way of musicians and put people like Justin Timberlake or Kenny Chesney on the list, but I just love Isaac Hayes so much I have to.
15. James Denton
Actor | Desperate Housewives
The second of three children born to a dentist and his wife in Nashville, Tennessee, Denton grew up in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, attended Goodlettsville High School, briefly played basketball at a junior college, then went on to graduate with honors from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, ...
I'm not really a huge fan of him, but I see him around town sometimes, so I have to have him on the list
16. Elaine Hendrix
Actress | Dynasty
Born in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Elaine Hendrix spent her early years in nearby Knoxville and Morristown. At 15 she moved with her divorced mother to Atlanta, Georgia, where she attended the Northside School of Performing Arts. She started her professional career as a dancer and model but gave up ...
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