List of Famous people born in Alabama, United States of America
Joe Louis
Joseph Louis Barrow was an American professional boxer who competed from 1934 to 1951. Nicknamed the Brown Bomber, Louis is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential boxers of all time. He reigned as the world heavyweight champion from 1937 to 1949, during which he participated in 27 championship fights. The 27th fight, against Ezzard Charles in 1950, was a challenge for Charles' heavyweight title and so is not included in Louis' reign. He was victorious in 25 consecutive title defenses. In 2005, Louis was ranked as the best heavyweight of all time by the International Boxing Research Organization, and was ranked number one on The Ring magazine's list of the "100 greatest punchers of all time". Louis had the longest single reign as champion of any heavyweight boxer in history. He has been ranked as the world's best heavyweight by BoxRec 11 times and has been placed within ten best 15 times. Six of his victorious fights were rated 5-Star by BoxRec.
Kay Ivey
Kay Ellen Ivey is an American politician serving as the 54th and current governor of Alabama since 2017. A member of the Republican Party, she was the 38th Alabama State Treasurer from 2003 to 2011 and the 30th lieutenant governor of Alabama from 2011 to 2017.
Edmund Pettus
Edmund Winston Pettus was an American politician who represented Alabama in the United States Senate from 1897 to 1907. He served as a senior officer of the Confederate States Army, commanding infantry in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. After the war, he was politically active in the Ku Klux Klan, serving as a Grand Dragon.
Reuben Foster
Reuben Foster is an American football linebacker for the Washington Football Team of the National Football League (NFL). A consensus All-American in high school, Foster was regarded as the best linebacker prospect of his class before committing to Alabama, where he played from 2014 to 2016. In his final season there he was awarded the Butkus Award, which is given to the nation's best linebacker.
Brittany Howard
Brittany Howard is an American musician, singer, and songwriter known for being the lead vocalist, guitarist, and main songwriter of rock bands Alabama Shakes and Thunderbitch. She released her debut studio album Jaime in 2019. Her work as a solo artist have earned her 7 Grammy Award nominations, as well as 4 wins from 9 nominations as part of Alabama Shakes.
A. J. McCarron
Raymond Anthony "A. J." McCarron Jr. is an American football quarterback for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Alabama and was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the fifth round of the 2014 NFL Draft. Alabama won the BCS National Championship in 2011 against LSU and 2012 against Notre Dame, making him the only quarterback to win back-to-back BCS national championships. McCarron is one of only seven quarterbacks in history to win back-to-back titles in some form and the first FBS quarterback to win back-to-back consecutive titles since USC's Matt Leinart in 2003 and 2004. In addition, including his freshman/redshirt year, McCarron was associated with three national title teams under coach Nick Saban: 2009, 2011, and 2012.
Lucas Black
Lucas York Black is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his roles in the CBS television series American Gothic (1995–1996), and Special Agent Christopher LaSalle on CBS's NCIS: New Orleans (2014–2020). His notable films are Sling Blade (1996), Flash (1997), Crazy in Alabama (1999), All the Pretty Horses (2000), Friday Night Lights (2004), Jarhead (2005), The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006), Get Low (2009), Legion (2010), and Seven Days in Utopia (2011).
Luther Strange
Luther Johnson Strange III is an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senator from Alabama from 2017 to 2018. He was appointed to fill that position after it was vacated by Sen. Jeff Sessions upon Sessions's confirmation as U.S. Attorney General.
Robert Horry
Robert Keith Horry is an American former professional basketball player and current sports commentator. He played 16 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), winning seven championships, the most of any player not to have played on the 1960s Boston Celtics. He is one of only four players to have won NBA championships with three teams; he won two with the Houston Rockets, three with the Los Angeles Lakers and two with the San Antonio Spurs. He earned the nickname "Big Shot Rob", because of his clutch shooting in important games; he is widely considered to be one of the greatest clutch performers and winners in NBA history. Horry now works as a commentator on Spectrum SportsNet for the Lakers.
DeMeco Ryans
DeMeco Ryans is an American football coach and former linebacker who is the defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). Ryans played college football at the University of Alabama, where he was named an unanimous All-American.