List of Famous people born in Kentucky, United States of America
Michael Shannon
Michael Corbett Shannon is an American actor, producer, director, and musician. He has been nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his roles in Revolutionary Road (2008) and Nocturnal Animals (2016). He earned Screen Actors Guild Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for his role in 99 Homes (2014), and a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play for Long Day's Journey into Night (2016).
Boyd Holbrook
Robert Boyd Holbrook is an American actor and producer. He has appeared in films such as Milk, Out of the Furnace, Run All Night, A Walk Among the Tombstones and Gone Girl, and starred as DEA agent Steve Murphy in the Netflix series Narcos. In 2012, he also starred in the series Hatfields & McCoys as "Cap" Hatfield. He starred as Donald Pierce in Logan (2017) and Thomas Lockhart in In the Shadow of the Moon (2019).
Chris Hardwick
Christopher Ryan Hardwick is an American comedian, actor, television and podcast host, writer, and producer. He hosts Talking Dead, an hourly aftershow on AMC affiliated with the network's zombie drama series The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead, as well as Talking with Chris Hardwick, a show in which Hardwick interviews prominent pop culture figures, and The Wall, a plinko-inspired gameshow on NBC. Hardwick created Nerdist Industries, operator of the Nerdist Podcast Network and home of his podcast The Nerdist Podcast, which later left the network and was renamed to ID10T with Chris Hardwick. His podcast has broadcast 1,000 episodes as of December 2019.
D'Angelo Russell
D'Angelo Danté Russell is an American professional basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected as a McDonald's All-American in 2014 and played college basketball for the Ohio State Buckeyes. He was the second overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. Playing point guard, he was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team with the Lakers in 2016. He was traded to the Brooklyn Nets in 2017, and received his first All-Star selection in 2019. In the 2019 off-season he joined the Golden State Warriors via a sign-and-trade deal, and was then traded to the Timberwolves at the 2020 trade deadline.
Diane Sawyer
Lila Diane Sawyer is an American television broadcast journalist known for anchoring major programs on two networks including ABC World News Tonight, Good Morning America, 20/20, and Primetime newsmagazine while at ABC News. During her tenure at CBS News she hosted CBS Morning and was the first woman correspondent on 60 Minutes. Prior to her journalism career, she was a member of U.S. President Richard Nixon's White House staff and assisted in his post-presidency memoirs. Presently she works for ABC News producing documentaries and interview specials.
Larry Flynt
Larry Claxton Flynt Jr. is an American publisher and the president of Larry Flynt Publications (LFP). LFP mainly produces magazines, such as Hustler, pornographic videos, and three pornographic television channels named Hustler TV. Flynt has fought several high-profile legal battles involving the First Amendment, and has unsuccessfully run for public office. He is paralyzed from the waist down due to injuries sustained in a 1978 murder attempt by serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin. In 2003, Arena magazine listed him at No. 1 on the "50 Powerful People in Porn" list.
Kim Davis
Kimberly Jean Davis is a former county clerk for Rowan County, Kentucky, who gained international attention in August 2015 when she defied a U.S. federal court order to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. She was defeated by Democratic challenger Elwood Caudill Jr. in the November 6, 2018, election and vacated the office on January 7, 2019.
Sean Young
Sean Young is an American actress. She is best known for her performances in the films Stripes (1981), Blade Runner (1982), Dune (1984), No Way Out (1987), Wall Street (1987), Cousins (1989), Fatal Instinct (1993), and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994).
Josh Hutcherson
Joshua Ryan Hutcherson is an American actor and producer. Hutcherson began his acting career in the early 2000s and appeared in several commercials and minor film and television roles before landing his first major role in 2002 in the pilot episode of House Blend. His first film role was in Miracle Dogs (2003) on Animal Planet, followed by a motion-capture performance in The Polar Express (2004) and a voice-acting role in Howl's Moving Castle (2005).
Rumer Willis
Rumer Glenn Willis is an American actress and singer. She is the eldest daughter of actress Demi Moore and actor Bruce Willis. She has appeared in films Hostage (2005), The House Bunny (2008), Sorority Row (2009) and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019). She portrayed Gia Mannetti in CBS' teen drama series 90210 (2009–10) and Tory Ash in FOX's musical drama series Empire (2017–18). Willis won season 20 of ABC's dance competition television series Dancing with the Stars. She made her Broadway debut in Chicago as Roxie Hart on September 21, 2015.