List of Famous people born in Oklahoma, United States of America
Leon Russell
Leon Russell was an American musician and songwriter who was involved with numerous bestselling pop music records during his 60-year career. His genres included pop, country, rock, folk, gospel, bluegrass, rhythm and blues, folk rock, blues rock, surf, standards, and Tulsa Sound.
James Garner
James Garner was an American actor and producer. He starred in several television series over more than five decades, including popular roles such as Bret Maverick in the 1950s Western series Maverick and as Jim Rockford in the 1970s private detective show, The Rockford Files. He played leading roles in more than 50 theatrical films, including The Great Escape (1963) with Steve McQueen, Paddy Chayefsky's The Americanization of Emily (1964) with Julie Andrews, Grand Prix (1966) with Toshiro Mifune, Blake Edwards's Victor/Victoria (1982) with Julie Andrews, and Murphy's Romance (1985) with Sally Field, for which he received an Academy Award nomination. Garner's career and popularity continued through another decade in movies like Space Cowboys (2000) with Clint Eastwood, and The Notebook (2004) with Gena Rowlands.
Grant Woods
Grant Woods served as Attorney General of Arizona from 1991 until 1999. He was a supporter of John McCain in his race for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination against J. D. Hayworth in 2010. Woods was McCain's chief of staff when he was a congressman. In 2020, he endorsed McCain's vice presidential opponent Joe Biden for president.
Earl Leroy Yeakel III
Earl Leroy Yeakel III, also known as Lee Yeakel, is a judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas.
Zac Taylor
Zac Taylor is an American football coach and former quarterback who is the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Rams from 2017 to 2018 and Miami Dolphins from 2012 to 2015.
Buddy Ryan
James David "Buddy" Ryan was an American football coach in the National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL). During his 35-season coaching career, Ryan served as the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona Cardinals, as well as the defensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears and Houston Oilers of the NFL.
Will Rogers
William Penn Adair Rogers was an American stage and film actor, vaudeville performer, cowboy, humorist, newspaper columnist, and social commentator from Oklahoma. He was a Cherokee citizen born in the Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory.
Wes Studi
Wesley Studi is a Cherokee American actor and film producer who has won critical acclaim and awards, particularly for his portrayal of Native Americans in film. He has appeared in Academy Award-winning films, such as Dances with Wolves (1990) and The Last of the Mohicans (1992), and in the Academy Award-nominated films Geronimo: An American Legend (1993) and The New World (2005). He is also known for portraying Sagat in Street Fighter (1994). Other films he has appeared in are Hostiles, Heat, Mystery Men, Avatar, A Million Ways to Die in the West, and the television series Penny Dreadful. In 2019, he received an Academy Honorary Award, becoming the first Native American and the second North American Indigenous person to be honored by the Academy. In 2020, The New York Times ranked him #19 in its list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century.
Rex Ryan
Rex Ashley Ryan is an American former football coach and a television analyst. Ryan was formerly the head coach of the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL), and also held various coaching positions with eight other NFL and college teams.
Rob Ryan
Robert Allen Ryan is an American football coach. He currently is the inside linebackers coach for the Baltimore Ravens. Ryan has served as a defensive coordinator or assistant coach for seven different NFL teams. He was the linebackers coach for the New England Patriots when they won both Super Bowl XXXVI and Super Bowl XXXVIII. Ryan is the son of Buddy Ryan and the twin brother of Rex Ryan.