Famous Celebrities from North Carolina (Raleigh, Greensboro: chapel, home, high school)

[SunnyKayak]

• Ryan Adams — singer-song writer from Jacksonville
• Clay Aiken — American Idol finalist
• Tori Amos — Singer and pianist. Born in Newton, North Carolina.
• Fantasia Barrino — American Idol winner
• George Clinton —funk musician. Born in Kannapolis.
• John Coltrane — jazz musician
• Charlie Daniels — Singer of "Devil Went Down to Georgia". Born in Wilmington, North Carolina.
• Sammy Davis Sr. — Born in Kinston, North Carolina.
• Rick Dees — radio DJ
• Cecil B. DeMille — film director made famous by The Ten Commandments
• Fred Durst — Born in Gastonia, North Carolina.
• Roberta Flack — Grammy-winning singer who wrote "Killing Me Softly with His Song"
• Ben Folds — musician
• Gallagher — Comedian. Born in Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
• Ava Gardner — actress
• Andy Griffith — actor who played on The Andy Griffith Show and Matlock
• Michael C. Hall — Actor famous for playing "David Fisher" in the HBO series Six Feet Under. Born in Raleigh, North Carolina.
• Byron Hill — Nashville songwriter, from Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
• Gill Holland — producer (Spring Forward, Loggerheads) Born in Chapel Hill and raised in Davidson, North Carolina.
• Darwin Joston — actor. Born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
• Si Kahn — folk singer-songwriter, labor and prison reform activist
• Ben E. King — Singer. Born in Henderson, North Carolina.
• Tim Kirkman — filmmaker (Loggerheads, Dear Jesse)
• Bascom Lamar Lunsford — folk singer
• Terry McMillan, harmonica player from Lexington, NC
• Thelonious Monk — legendary jazz pianist
• Phil Morrison — filmmaker (Junebug)
• Petey Pablo — rapper
• Jaime Pressly — Actress. Born in Kinston, North Carolina.
• Peyton Reed — filmmaker (Bring It On (film), Down With Love)
• Earl Scruggs — legendary bluegrass musician
• Nina Simone — singer
• Arthur Smith — Country Music show host
• James Taylor — 1970s singer
• Bob Timberlake — artist
• Randy Travis — country music performer
• Luther Vandross — R&B singer
• Doc Watson — legendary blind bluegrass and folk musician

[DaBears]

cant forget Skeet Ulrich (Scream movie)...I cant recall where he lived but he grew up somewhere in NC

[dandevder]

Wow! I had no idea some of them were from NC! I remember seeing the sign in Anson County for Randy Travis.

[I LOVE NORTH CAROLINA]

Also Eileen Fulton from the soap opera As The World Turns is from Asheville.

[saralee]

Originally Posted by dandevder

Wow! I had no idea some of them were from NC! I remember seeing the sign in Anson County for Randy Travis.

I * think * I saw the sign in Marshville, which is Union County, right?

SL

[CharlotteAgent]

Michael Jordan Wilmington

[superk]

Andie MacDowell, Asheville.

[SunnyKayak]

Writers
Maya Angelou — award-winning novelist and poet who teaches at Wake Forest University
Jerry Bledsoe — journalist from Asheboro who has written several bestselling "true crime" books (including "Blood Games").
Orson Scott Card — novelist who lives in the Greensboro area, author of the "Ender's Game" series and other bestselling science fiction novels. He teaches writing workshops through Appalachian State University.
Sarah Dessen — novelist writer of young-adult novels, from Chapel Hill. Two of her novels formed the basis for the movie How to Deal starring Mandy Moore.
Clyde Edgerton — novelist
Kaye Gibbons — novelist who wrote "Ellen Foster" and "A Cure for Dreams."
Allan Gurganus — author ("Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All")
William Sydney Porter — famed short story writer is better known by his pen name, O. Henry
Tom Robbins — a modern, best-selling novelist and journalist.
Lee Smith — author ("Family Linen," "Fair and Tender Ladies")
Thomas Wolfe — Born in Asheville, Wolfe was a noted novelist and author of books such as "Look Homeward, Angel" and "You Can't Go Home Again."

Journalists

David Brinkley — tv news reporter
Howard Cosell — Sports Commentator and original host of Monday Night Football
Josephus Daniels; founder, publisher, and editor of the Raleigh News and Observer daily newspaper; served as Secretary of the Navy from 1913-1921 under President Woodrow Wilson; gave Franklin D. Roosevelt his first job with the federal government by appointing him Assistant Secretary of the Navy.
Charles Kuralt — Emmy winning CBS news anchor
Edward R. Murrow — A five-time Emmy winning journalist and member of the Television Hall of Fame
Sam Ragan — Former editor of The Pilot; He was honored as North Carolina's Poet Laureate in 1982
Gene Roberts — Former editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer
Charlie Rose — An Emmy and Peabody award-winning journalist and interviewer
Vermont Royster; editor of the Wall Street Journal from 1957 to 1970; earned two pulitzer prizes during his career.

[dandevder]

Originally Posted by saralee

I * think * I saw the sign in Marshville, which is Union County, right?

SL

Yes Saralee you are correct! It was in Marshville.

[kmway]

Originally Posted by DaBears

cant forget Skeet Ulrich (Scream movie)...I cant recall where he lived but he grew up somewhere in NC

He lived in Kannapolis and went to Northwest Cabarrus High School! He's the lead actor on that new show "Jericho".