List of Famous people born in Arkansas, United States of America
Jana Duggar
Jana Marie Duggar is an American television personality. She is known for her appearances on TLC as part of the reality television shows 19 Kids and Counting (2008-2015) and Counting On (2015-).
Wes Bentley
Wesley Cook Bentley is an American actor best known for his roles as Ricky Fitts in American Beauty (1999), which earned him a nomination for a BAFTA Award for Supporting Actor, Seneca Crane in The Hunger Games (2012), Doyle in Interstellar (2014) and Erik in Mission: Impossible - Fallout. He was one of four subjects in the documentary My Big Break (2009), which covered his fame after American Beauty and struggles with substance abuse. Rebuilding his career, he starred in the premiere of Venus in Fur by David Ives in the off-Broadway production in 2010. His other film roles include The Four Feathers (2002), Ghost Rider (2007), P2 (2007), and Pete's Dragon (2016).
Mary Mouser
Mary Matilyn Mouser is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Lacey Fleming on the ABC series Body of Proof. She took over the role of Karen Grant, Fitz & Mellie's daughter on Scandal in Season 4. She is currently starring in the Netflix series Cobra Kai.
Malik Monk
Malik Ahmad Monk is an American professional basketball player for the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats.
Joycelyn Elders
Minnie Joycelyn Elders is an American pediatrician and public health administrator who served as Surgeon General of the United States from 1993 to 1994. A vice admiral in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, she was the second woman, second person of color, and first African American to serve as Surgeon General. Elders is best known for her frank discussion of her views on controversial issues such as drug legalization, masturbation, and distributing contraception in schools. She was forced to resign in December 1994 amidst controversy as a result of her views. She is currently a professor emerita of pediatrics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
Tommy Tuberville
Thomas Hawley Tuberville is an American retired college football coach and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Alabama since 2021. Before entering politics, Tuberville was the head football coach at Auburn University from 1999 to 2008. He was also the head football coach at the University of Mississippi from 1995 to 1998, Texas Tech University from 2010 to 2012, and the University of Cincinnati from 2013 to 2016.
Tom Cotton
Thomas Bryant Cotton is an American politician serving as the junior United States Senator from Arkansas since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2013 to 2015.
Melinda Dillon
Melinda Ruth Dillon is an American actress. She received a 1963 Tony Award nomination for her Broadway debut in the original production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her roles as Jillian Guiler in Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and Teresa in Absence of Malice (1981). Her other film appearances include Bound for Glory (1976), F.I.S.T. (1978), A Christmas Story (1983), Harry and the Hendersons (1987), The Prince of Tides (1991), and Magnolia (1999).
Bobby Bones
Bobby Bones is an American radio and television personality, best known for hosting the nationally syndicated The Bobby Bones Show, originating at WSIX-FM in Nashville, TN, and for his role as a full-time mentor on American Idol on ABC. He was the winner of season 27 of Dancing with the Stars with partner Sharna Burgess. He has also written two New York Times best sellers.
Drew Smyly
Todd Andrew Smyly, nicknamed "Big Shooter", is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Detroit Tigers, Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers, Philadelphia Phillies, and San Francisco Giants. Prior to his professional career, Smyly played college baseball at the University of Arkansas. He competed for the United States national baseball team, winning the silver medal in the 2011 Pan American Games. The Tigers drafted Smyly in the second round of the 2010 MLB draft. He made his MLB debut in 2012.