Famous Virginians
These are just a few of the famous people who were either born in Virginia or spent some important time in Virginia.
Burke Allen, author
Richard Arlen, actor
Arthur Ashe, tennis player
Stephen F. Austin, Texas independence leader and governor
Nathaniel Bacon, patriot, leader of Bacon's Rebellion
Pearl Bailey, singer
Russell Baker, political columnist
Phil Balsley, country singer, member of the Statler Brothers
James Barbour, U.S. secretary of war
Philip Barbour, U.S. speaker of the house and Supreme Court justice
Kylene Barker, Miss America
Warren Beatty, actor
George Bingham, painter
Rita Mae Brown, mystery author
William Cabell Bruce, historian
Sandra Bullock, actress
Jeff Burton, race car driver
Ward Burton, race car driver
Richard Byrd, explorer
William Byrd II, historian
James Branch Cabell, novelist
Maybelle Carter, country singer
June Carter Cash, country singer
Willa Cather, novelist
Edgar Cayce, psychic
Kenny Chesney, musician, Big and Rich
Spencer Christian, TV weatherman
George Rogers Clark, explorer
Roy Clark, country singer
William Clark, explorer
Henry Clay, statesman
Patsy Cline, country singer
Stacy Compton, race car driver
Patricia Cornwell, mystery author
Joseph Cotten, actor
Katie Couric, Today Show host
Virginius Dabney, historian and newspaper editor
Peter Daniel, Supreme Court justice
Rita Dove, U.S. poet laureate
Bill Dudley, football player
John Elder, painter
Missy Elliot, hip hop singer
Moses Ezekiel, sculptor
Jerry Farwell, evangelical minister
Ella Fitzgerald, jazz singer
John Floyd, Virginia governor and U.S. secretary of war
Jimmy Fortune, country singer, member of the Statler Brothers
Douglas Southall Freeman, historian and newspaper editor
Thomas Gilmer, U.S. secretary of the navy
Ellen Glasgow, novelist
Jake Green, actor
John Grisham, novelist
Earl Hammer Jr., novelist and creator of The Waltons television series
William Henry Harrison, U.S. president
Patrick Henry, patriot
Bruce Hornsby, singer
Sam Houston, Tennessee governor, president of the Republic of Texas
Thomas Jefferson, U.S. president
Nicole Johnson, Miss America
Tim Kaine, Virginia governor
Elizabeth Keckly, dress designer
James Kilpatrick, political columnist
Barbara Kingsolver, novelist
Willie Lanier, football player
Charles Lee, U.S. attorney general
Henry “Lighthorse Harry” Lee, patriot
Richard Henry Lee, patriot
Robert E. Lee, Confederate general
Meriwether Lewis, explorer
Joanne Liggan, novelist
David Lynch, director and producer
Shirley MacLaine, actress
Dolly Madison, first lady
James Madison, U.S. president
Moses Malone, basketball player
John Marshall, first Supreme Court chief justice
George Mason, patriot and author of Virginia Declaration of Rights
John Y. Mason, U.S. secretary of navy and U.S. attorney general
Dave Mathews, singer
Matthew Fontaine Maury, explorer who mapped ocean currents
David Mays, historian
Eugene McCarthy, U.S. senator and presidential candidate
Cyrus McCormick, inventor
Sharyn McCrumb, novelist
Charles McDowell, newspaper columnist
Ephraim McDowell, father of abdominal surgery
William McGuffey, educator and author of the McGuffey Readers
Gari Melchers, painter and sculptor
James Monroe, U.S. president
Daniel Morgan, patriot and leader of Morgan's Rifles
Alonzo Mourning, basketball player
Al Neuharth, publisher, founder of USA Today
Tommy Newsom, band leader
Wayne Newton, singer
Opechancanough, Powhatan leader
Thomas Nelson Page, novelist
John Payne, actor
Pocahantas, daughter of Indian chief
Edgar Allan Poe, novelist, poet, and short story writer
Robert Porterfield, founder of the Barter Theatre
Powhatan, Indian chief
Edmund Randolph, Virginia governor, U.S. secretary of state, first U.S. attorney general
Peyton Randolph, patriot and president of First Continental Congress
Walter Reed, army surgeon
Don Reid, country singer, member of the Statler Brothers
Harold Reid, country singer, member of the Statler Brothers
Tim Reid, actor
Matthew Ridgway, general
Tom Robbins, novelist
Bill Bojangles Robinson, dancer
Pat Robinson, evangelical
John Rolfe, explorer and columnist, introduce tobacco to America
Ricky Rudd, race car driver
Edmund Ruffin, founded public education system in Virginia
James Rumsey, inventor, helped develop the steamboat
Elliott Sadler, race car driver
Hermie Sadler, race car driver
Ralph Sampson, basketball player
George C. Scott, actor
Willard Scott, TV weatherman
Winfield Scott, general
Bruce Smith, football player
John Smith, explorer and settler
Kate Smith, singer
Sam Snead, golfer
Ann Spencer, poet
Alexander Spotswood, explorer and royal governor
William Stith, historian
Curtis Strange, golfer
Alexander H.H. Stuart, U.S. secretary of the interior
James Jeb Stuart, Confederate military leader
William Styron, novelist
Thomas Sumter, general
Fran Tarkenton, football player
Lawrence Taylor, football player
Zachery Taylor, U.S. president
Nat Turner, leader of slave uprising
John Tyler, U.S. president
Blair Underwood, actor
Abel Upshur, U.S. secretary of the navy
Edward Valentine, sculptor
Michael Vick, football player
Lanny Wadkins, golfer
Maggie L. Walker, women's rights leader, first woman bank president in America
Booker T. Washington, educator
George Washington, U.S. president and military leader
Martha Washington, first lady
James Webb, U.S. senator and secretary of
the navy
James West, inventor
Pernell Whitaker, boxer
L. Douglas Wilder, Virginia governor (first African-American governor in U.S. history)
Woodrow Wilson, U.S. president
William Wirt, U.S. attorney general
Tom Wolfe, journalist and novelist
George Wythe, first professor of law at an American college
