List of Famous people born in Oklahoma, United States of America
Brad Pitt
William Bradley Pitt is an American actor and film producer. He has received multiple awards, including two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award for his acting, in addition to another Academy Award, another Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award as producer under his production company, Plan B Entertainment.
Olivia Munn
Lisa Olivia Munn is an American actress and former television host. Born in Oklahoma City, she spent her formative years in Utah and later Tokyo, where her stepfather was stationed in the United States Air Force. She returned to Oklahoma as a teenager, and subsequently earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism at the University of Oklahoma, intending to become a broadcast journalist. After interning at a news station in Tulsa, Munn relocated to Los Angeles, where she began her professional career as a television host for the gaming network G4, primarily on the series Attack of the Show! from 2006 until 2010. She was also a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart from 2010 to 2011.
Kristin Chenoweth
Kristin Dawn Chenoweth is an American actress and singer, with credits in musical theatre, film and television. In 1999, she won a Tony Award for her performance as Sally Brown in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown on Broadway. In 2003, Chenoweth received wide notice for originating the role of Glinda in the musical Wicked, including a nomination for another Tony. Her television roles have included Annabeth Schott in NBC's The West Wing and Olive Snook on the ABC comedy-drama Pushing Daisies, for which she won a 2009 Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. She also starred in the ABC TV series GCB in 2012.
Ron Howard
Ronald William Howard is an American film director, producer and actor. Howard first came to prominence as a child actor, guest-starring in several television series, including an episode of The Twilight Zone. He gained national attention for playing young Opie Taylor, the son of Sheriff Andy Taylor in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show from 1960 through 1968. During this time, he also appeared in the musical film The Music Man (1962), a critical and commercial success. He was credited as Ronny Howard in his film and television appearances from 1959 to 1973. Howard was cast in one of the lead roles in the coming-of-age film American Graffiti (1973), and became a household name for playing Richie Cunningham in the sitcom Happy Days, a role he would play from 1974 through 1980.
Elizabeth Warren
Elizabeth Ann Warren is an American politician and former law professor serving as the senior United States senator from Massachusetts, serving since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party and regarded as a progressive, Warren has focused on consumer protection, economic opportunity, and the social safety net while in the Senate. She was a candidate in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries.
Chelsea Manning
Chelsea Elizabeth Manning is an American activist and whistleblower. She is a former United States Army soldier who was convicted by court-martial in July 2013 of violations of the Espionage Act and other offenses, after disclosing to WikiLeaks nearly 750,000 classified, or unclassified but sensitive, military and diplomatic documents. She was imprisoned from 2010 until 2017 when her sentence was commuted. A trans woman, Manning stated in 2013 that she had a female gender identity since childhood and wanted to be known as Chelsea Manning. She also expressed a desire to begin hormone replacement therapy.
Carrie Underwood
Carrie Marie Underwood is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. She rose to prominence after winning the fourth season of American Idol in 2005. Her debut single, "Inside Your Heaven," made her the only country artist to debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the only solo country artist in the 2000s to have a number-one song on the Hot 100. Her debut album, Some Hearts (2005), was bolstered by the successful crossover singles "Jesus, Take the Wheel" and "Before He Cheats," becoming the best-selling solo female debut album in country music history, the fastest-selling debut country album in Nielsen SoundScan history and the best-selling country album of the last 17 years. She won three Grammy Awards for the album, including Best New Artist.
Blake Shelton
Blake Tollison Shelton is an American country music singer and television personality. In 2001, he made his debut with the single "Austin". The lead-off single from his self-titled debut album, "Austin" spent five weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. The now Platinum-certified debut album also produced two more top 20 entries.
Reba McEntire
Reba Nell McEntire is an American country singer, songwriter, and actress. She began her career in the music industry as a high school student singing in the Kiowa High School band, on local radio shows with her siblings, and at rodeos. While a sophomore in college at Southeastern Oklahoma State University, she performed the National Anthem at the National Finals Rodeo in Oklahoma City and caught the attention of country artist Red Steagall who brought her to Nashville, Tennessee. She signed a contract with Mercury Records a year later in 1975. She released her first solo album in 1977 and released five additional studio albums under the label until 1983.
Lee Pace
Lee Grinner Pace is an American actor. He is known for starring as Thranduil the Elvenking in The Hobbit trilogy and as Joe MacMillan in the AMC period drama television series Halt and Catch Fire. Pace has also appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Ronan the Accuser, a role he first portrayed in Guardians of the Galaxy and reprised in Captain Marvel. He has also received an Emmy Award nomination for his portrayal of Ned in the ABC comedy-drama Pushing Daisies.
Chuck Norris
Carlos Ray "Chuck" Norris is an American martial artist, actor, film producer, and screenwriter. After serving in the United States Air Force, Norris won many martial arts championships and later founded his own discipline Chun Kuk Do. Norris is a black belt in Tang Soo Do, Brazilian jiu jitsu and judo. Shortly after, in Hollywood, Norris trained celebrities in martial arts. Norris went on to appear in a minor role in the spy film The Wrecking Crew (1969). Friend and fellow actor Bruce Lee invited him to play one of the main villains in Way of the Dragon (1972). While Norris continued acting, friend and student Steve McQueen suggested to him that he take it seriously. Norris took the starring role in the action film Breaker! Breaker! (1977), which turned a profit. His second lead Good Guys Wear Black (1978) became a hit, and Norris became a popular action film star.
Mike Gundy
Michael Ray Gundy is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head football coach at Oklahoma State University. Gundy played college football at Oklahoma State, where he played quarterback from 1986 to 1989. He became Oklahoma State's coach on January 3, 2005.
John Hinckley
John Warnock Hinckley Jr. is an American criminal who, on March 30, 1981, attempted to assassinate U.S. President Ronald Reagan in Washington, D.C. He wounded Reagan with a bullet from a revolver that ricocheted and hit Reagan underneath his arm in his armpit. He also wounded police officer Thomas Delahanty and Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy, and he critically wounded Press Secretary James Brady, who was permanently disabled in the shooting.
Bobby Cox
Robert Joe Cox is an American former professional baseball third baseman and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). He first led the Atlanta Braves from 1978 to 1981, and then managed the Toronto Blue Jays from 1982 to 1985. He later rejoined the Braves in 1986 as a general manager. He moved back to the manager's role during the 1990 season and stayed there until his retirement following the 2010 season. The Atlanta Braves have since retired the number 6 in commemoration of Bobby Cox. He led the Atlanta Braves to the World Series championship in 1995. He holds the all-time record for ejections in Major League Baseball with 158, a record previously held by John McGraw.
Garth Brooks
Troyal Garth Brooks is an American singer and songwriter. His integration of rock and pop elements into the country genre has earned him popularity, particularly in the United States with success on the country music single and album charts, multi-platinum recordings and record-breaking live performances, while also crossing over into the mainstream pop arena.
Bill Goldberg
William Scott "Bill" Goldberg, also known mononymously as Goldberg, is an American professional wrestler, actor, and former football player. He is currently signed to WWE on a part-time deal. He is best known for his time in World Championship Wrestling (WCW). He has acted in various films and television shows, including Universal Soldier: The Return (1999) and NCIS: Los Angeles.
Anita Hill
Anita Faye Hill is an American lawyer and academic. She is a university professor of social policy, law, and women's studies at Brandeis University and a faculty member of the university's Heller School for Social Policy and Management. She became a national figure in 1991 when she accused U.S. Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas, her supervisor at the United States Department of Education and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, of sexual harassment.
Jim Thorpe
James Francis Thorpe was an American athlete and Olympic gold medalist. A member of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe became the first Native American to win a gold medal for the United States. Considered one of the most versatile athletes of modern sports, he won two Olympic gold medals in the 1912 Summer Olympics, and played American football, professional baseball, and basketball. He lost his Olympic titles after it was found he had been paid for playing two seasons of semi-professional baseball before competing in the Olympics, thus violating the amateurism rules that were then in place. In 1983, 30 years after his death, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) restored his Olympic medals with replicas after ruling that the decision to strip him of his medals fell outside of the required 30 days, but he is to date listed as co-champion in both the Decathlon and Pentathlon events according to official IOC records
Hoda Kotb
Hoda Kotb is an Egyptian American broadcast journalist, television personality, and author. She is a main co-anchor of the NBC News morning show Today and co-host of its entertainment-focused fourth hour. Kotb formerly served as a correspondent for the television news magazine program Dateline NBC.
Bill Hader
Bill Hader is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and director. He is the creator, producer, writer, occasional director, and star of the HBO dark comedy series Barry (2018–present), for which he has won two and been nominated for three Emmy Awards for both of its first two seasons.