List of Famous people born in United States of America
Joe Lapchick
Joseph Bohomiel Lapchick was an American professional basketball player, mostly known for playing with the Original Celtics in the 1920s and 1930s. He is commonly regarded as the best center of his era, overshadowed in his later years only by Tarzan Cooper. After ending his playing career in 1937, Lapchick became head coach at St. John's University, a position he held until 1947, when he took over the New York Knicks in the NBA. Lapchick coached the Knicks until 1957, leading them to three consecutive NBA Finals appearances (1951–53). He returned to St. John's, coaching them until 1965.
Jennifer Wilson
Jennifer Wilson is an American soprano known especially for her Wagnerian opera roles. She is the daughter of Newton Wilson and Katherine Still. The daughter, granddaughter and niece of professional singers, instrumentalists and music educators, Wilson grew up steeped in music from opera and oratorio to rock 'n' roll and bluegrass. She began tap dance lessons at age 3, ballet at 8, piano at 10, and solo classical singing at 12. Wilson attended Cornell University for several years, eventually departing on a leave of absence which she filled with advanced training in acting, languages, and vocal studies with former Metropolitan Opera coloratura soprano Marilyn Cotlow. During this time, Wilson supported herself as a news bureau assistant and wire editor for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. The consolidation of US international broadcast services in 1995 caused Wilson to lose her position with RFE/RL, forcing her to find other employment. At this point she took up singing full-time, though her breakthrough to the elusive ranks of international soloist was still several years away.
Florence Howe Hall
Florence Marion Howe Hall was an American writer, critic, and lecturer about women's suffrage in the United States. Along with her two sisters, Laura Elizabeth Richards and Maude Howe Elliott, Hall received the first Pulitzer Prize for a biography, Julia Ward Howe.
Clare Boothe Luce
Ann Clare Boothe Luce was an American author, politician, U.S. Ambassador and public conservative figure. A versatile author, she is best known for her 1936 hit play The Women, which had an all-female cast. Her writings extended from drama and screen scenarios to fiction, journalism and war reportage. She was the wife of Henry Luce, publisher of Time, Life, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Francis Lightfoot Lee was a member of the House of Burgesses in the Colony of Virginia. As an active protester regarding issues such as the Stamp Act of 1765, Lee helped move the colony in the direction of independence from Britain. Lee was a delegate to the Virginia Conventions and the Continental Congress. He was a signer of the Articles of Confederation and the Declaration of Independence as a representative of Virginia.
David Conrad
David Conrad is an American actor. From 2005 to 2010, he starred in the television series Ghost Whisperer alongside Jennifer Love Hewitt.
George Stevens, Jr.
George Cooper Stevens Jr. is an American writer, author, playwright, director and producer. He is the founder of the American Film Institute, creator of the AFI Life Achievement Award and instigator/producer of the Kennedy Center Honors. Since 2009 he has served as Co-Chairman of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities. Accolades to date for his professional career include seventeen Emmys, eight Writers Guild awards, two Peabody Awards, the Humanitas Prize and an Honorary Academy Award.
Conrad Aiken
Conrad Potter Aiken was an American writer and poet, honored with a Pulitzer Prize, a National Book Award, and was U.S. Poet Laureate from 1950 to 1952. His published works include poetry, short stories, novels, literary criticism, a play, and an autobiography.
Kevin Johnson
Kevin Maurice Johnson is an American former professional basketball player and Democratic Party politician who served as the 55th Mayor of Sacramento, California from 2008 to 2016. He is the husband of educator Michelle Rhee. Elected in 2008 and re-elected in 2012, Johnson is the first African American to serve as Mayor of Sacramento. Before entering politics, Johnson was a professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). After a stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers during a portion of his rookie year, the point guard played as a member of the Phoenix Suns for the remainder of his NBA career.
Maggie Nelson
Maggie Nelson is an American writer. She has been described as a genre-busting writer defying classification, working in autobiography, art criticism, theory, scholarship, and poetry. Nelson has been the recipient of a 2016 MacArthur Fellowship, a 2012 Creative Capital Literature Fellowship, a 2011 NEA Fellowship in Poetry, and a 2010 Guggenheim Fellowship in Nonfiction. Other honors include the 2015 National Book Critics Circle Award in Criticism and a 2007 Andy Warhol Foundation/Creative Capital Arts Writers Grant.