List of people from Memphis, Tennessee

This is a list of notable people who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Memphis, Tennessee, and its surrounding metropolitan statistical area, including Crittenden County, Arkansas, DeSoto County, Mississippi, Marshall County, Mississippi, Tate County, Mississippi, Tunica County, Mississippi, Fayette County, Tennessee, Shelby County, Tennessee, and Tipton County, Tennessee.

This list is in alphabetical order by last name.

A

• Estelle Axton — co-founder of Stax Records

B

Marion Barry - civil rights activist, Mayor of Washington DC

Kathy Bates

Bobby "Blue" Bland

• Archbishop LeRoy Bailey — Senior Pastor of The First Cathedral, a megachurch in Bloomfield, Connecticut; clergy
• Julien Baker — singer, songwriter, and guitarist
• Lloyd Barbee — Wisconsin legislator and civil rights activist
• The Bar-Kays — musicians
• Kathy Bates — actress
• Kenneth Lawrence Beaudoin — poet
• Michael Beck — actor, best known for The Warriors
• Diane Meredith Belcher — concert organist, teacher, and church musician
• Chris Bell — musician
• James Blackwood — American Gospel singer, one of the founding members of legendary Gospel quartet The Blackwood Brothers
• Bobby "Blue" Bland — musician
• Elizabeth Bolden — oldest person in the world during most of 2006
• Charles Boyce — syndicated cartoonist
• Cory Branan — singer/songwriter
• Craig Brewer — film director
• Joe Brown — politician
• Isaac Bruce — NFL player for the St. Louis Rams
• Leonard Burton — NFL player
• Dorsey Burnette — rockabilly pioneer, singer-songwriter
• Johnny Burnette — rockabilly pioneer, singer-songwriter

C

Alex Chilton

Edward H. Crump

• Tyrone Calico — NFL player for the Tennessee Titans
• James A. (Jim) Carson - Author from Memphis TN.
• Dixie Carter — actress
• Bob Caruthers — Major League Baseball player^[1]
• Kellye Cash — Miss America 1987
• Cy Casper — NFL player for Green Bay Packers, St. Louis Gunners, and the Pittsburgh Pirates
• David Catching — musician
• Egypt Central — musicians
• Alex Chilton — musician
• Robert Reed Church, Sr. — entrepreneur and philanthropist
• Philip Claypool — musician
• Lashundra Trenyce Cobbin — American Idol contestant
• Steve Cohen — politician
• Richard Colbert — American rapper better known as iLoveMemphis or iHeartMemphis
• George Coleman — musician
• Barron Collier — businessman
• John Cooper- musician, Skillet
• Hank Crawford — musician
• Steve Cropper — musician
• Edward H. Crump — political boss and U.S. Representative

D

Donald "Duck" Dunn

• Chastity Daniels — musician
• Rick Dees — radio personality
• Nancy Denson — mayor of Athens-Clarke County, Georgia
• Peter C. Doherty — Nobel laureate; scientist at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
• Shannen Doherty — actress
• Vol Dooley — Louisiana sheriff
• Johnny Dowd — musician
• Drumma Boy — hip hop music producer
• William B. Dunavant — businessman, CEO of Dunavant Enterprises
• Donald "Duck" Dunn — musician

E

• Johanna Edwards — author
• William Eggleston — photographer
• Eightball & MJG — musicians

F

Aretha Franklin

• Ben Ferguson — nationally syndicated talk radio host
• Paul Finebaum — television and radio sports-talk host
• Veronica Finn — pop singer of now-disbanded group innocence
• Ric Flair — professional wrestler (adopted at six weeks; raised in Minnesota)
• Rey Flemings — music commissioner
• Avron Fogelman — former owner of the Kansas City Royals and other various Memphis-based sports teams; namesake of the southeastern leg of Interstate 240 in Memphis
• Shelby Foote — author
• George L. Forbes — Cleveland City Council President, President of the Cleveland NAACP
• Harold Ford, Jr. — politician
• Jacob Ford — NFL player, Tennessee Titans
• Abe Fortas — politician and U.S. Supreme Court justice
• Morgan Jon Fox — film director
• Aretha Franklin — singer
• Nelson Frazier, Jr. — wrestler
• Morgan Freeman — actor
• Judy Freudberg — writer
• John Fry — music producer, engineer, founder of Ardent Studios

G

Al Green

Logan Guleff

• The Gentrys — 1960s rock band with Larry Raspberry and Larry Wall
• Cassietta George — gospel singer and composer
• David Gest — event and concert producer
• Lee Giles — academic and computer scientist
• Ginnifer Goodwin — actress
• Robert Gordon — filmmaker and writer
• Yo Gotti — rapper
• Al Green — singer, musician
• Larkin Grimm — folk singer
• Logan Guleff — MasterChef Junior Season 2 winner
• Gyft — rapper signed to E1 Music, known for his single "They Just Don't Know"

H

W.C. Handy

• Lucy Hale — singer and actress
• Richard Halliburton — explorer and author
• George Hamilton — actor
• W.C. Handy — musician
• Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway — professional basketball player
• Chris Hardwick — comedian and actor
• E. Hunter Harrison — CEO of Canadian Pacific Railway
• Jimmy Hart — singer, pro wrestling personality
• Jon Hassell — musician
• Isaac Hayes — actor and Academy Award-winning musician
• Olivia Holt — singer and actress
• John Lee Hooker — blues musician
• Howlin' Wolf — blues musician
• John Hulse — porn actor
• Andy Hummel — musician

I

• Ingram Hill — band

J

Mother Jones

• Juicy J — rapper
• Al Jackson, Jr. — musician
• Quinton "Rampage" Jackson — mixed martial arts fighter
• Jimi Jamison — singer, songwriter
• Josh Jasper — All-American college football placekicker
• John Wayles Jefferson — mixed-race grandson of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, colonel in the Union Army, cotton broker in Memphis after the Civil War
• Michael Jeter — actor
• Ashley Jones — actress
• Booker T. Jones — musician
• Mary Harris "Mother" Jones — prominent labor and community organizer

K

K. Michelle

• Florence Kahn — early Ibsen actress and wife of Max Beerbohm
• George "Machine Gun" Kelly — Great Depression-era bank robber and kidnapper
• Larry Kenon — basketball player, led Memphis State to 1973 NCAA title game
• Carlton W. Kent — Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps
• K.Michelle — musician

L

Jerry Lee Lewis

• Snooky Lanson — singer and television personality
• Chuck Lanza — NFL player
• Brian Lawler — professional wrestler
• Jerry Lawler — professional wrestler
• Jerry Lee Lewis — musician
• Alan Lightman — novelist and physicist
• Lil Wyte — rapper
• Booker Little — musician
• Charles Lloyd — musician
• Andre Lott — football player
• Matt Lucas — singer, drummer, songwriter
• Jimmie Lunceford — musician

M

Wink Martindale

Willie Mitchell

• Jim Mabry — Arkansas Razorbacks football All-American
• Terry Manning — music producer
• The Mar-Keys — musicians
• Roy O. Martin, Jr. — timber businessman and philanthropist in Alexandria, Louisiana; born in Memphis in 1921
• Wink Martindale — disc jockey and television personality
• Tim McCarver — professional baseball player and broadcaster
• Hilton McConnico — designer and artist
• Kenneth D. McKellar — long-serving U.S. Senator
• Edward J. Meeman — journalist with former Memphis Press-Scimitar
• The Memphis Horns — horn section
• Memphis Slim — musician
• Shaun Micheel — professional golfer
• Cary Middlecoff — professional golfer
• Ryan Miller — professional tennis player
• Lola Mitchell — musician
• Willie Mitchell — musician
• Chips Moman — music producer
• Sputnik Monroe — professional wrestler
• Allen B. Morgan, Jr. — businessman, founded Morgan Keegan
• Haley Morris-Cafiero — photographer^[2]
• Wendy Moten — singer
• Steven J. Mulroy — singer
• David W. Mullins, Jr. — former Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve
• Charlie Musselwhite — blues musician
• Zach Myers — lead guitarist for rock band Shinedown

N

Elise Neal

• Elise Neal — actress
• Pat and Gina Neely — celebrity chefs on Food Network
• Hailey Anne Nelson — actress
• Phineas Newborn, Jr. — jazz musician
• Nights Like These — Victory Records metalcore band

O

• Michael Oher — NFL player

P

• Woody Paige — sportswriter, panelist on ESPN's Around the Horn
• Cindy Parlow — athlete
• Chris Parnell — actor
• Gilbert E. Patterson — bishop of Church of God in Christ
• Luther Perkins — musician
• Elliot Perry — professional basketball player
• Dewey Phillips — early rock 'n' roll disc jockey
• Sam Phillips — founder of Sun Records
• Danny Pittman — athlete
• David Porter — musician
• Elvis Presley — iconic singer, musician and actor, lived in Graceland
• Project Pat — rapper
• Tommy Prothro — football coach at UCLA
• Ainslie Pryor - American actor, born in Memphis in 1921
• Missi Pyle — actress and singer

Q

• Lisa Quinn — actress, author, designer

R

Otis Redding

• Michael Ramirez — Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist
• Jay Reatard — musician
• Otis Redding — musician
• Charlie Rich — musician
• Loren Roberts — professional golfer
• Russell Roberts — economist
• Claire Robinson — television host, author and cook
• Adrian Rogers — former pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church and president of the Southern Baptist Convention
• Joe Russell — former world backgammon champion
• Lance Russell — pro wrestling announcer

S

Sam and Dave

Cybill Shepherd

Stella Stevens

• Saliva — musical group
• Sam and Dave (Sam Moore and David Prater) — musicians
• Sam the Sham — musician, leader of Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs
• William Sanderson — actor
• J. Peter Sartain — Archbishop of Seattle
• Clarence Saunders — founder of world's first self-service supermarket, Piggly Wiggly
• Dan Schneider — actor
• Josey Scott — musician
• Will Shade — musician
• Gwen Shamblin — author and founder of The Weigh Down Workshop and Remnant Fellowship Church
• Paul Shanklin — personality on Rush Limbaugh's radio program
• Cybill Shepherd — actress
• George Sherrill — MLB player
• Lee Shippey — journalist
• McKinley Singleton – NBA player, New York Knicks
• Fred Smith — founder and chairman of FedEx
• Lane Smith — actor
• Bobby Sowell — musician
• Marvin Stamm — musician
• Jody Stephens — musician
• Andrew Stevens — actor
• Stella Stevens — actress
• Jim Stewart — record producer and co-founder of Stax Records
• Lewis Ossie Swingler — editor of the Memphis World, editor and publisher of Tri-State Defender

T

• Gary Talley — musician and singer of The Box Tops

Carla Thomas

• Cliff Taylor — football player
• Lloyd Thaxton — television personality
• Carla Thomas — musician and daughter of Rufus Thomas
• Danny Thomas — entertainer and founder of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
• Rufus Thomas — musician
• Fred D. Thompson — actor and U.S. Senator (alumnus of the University of Memphis)
• Harry Thompson — football player
• Three 6 Mafia — Academy Award-winning rap musicians
• Justin Timberlake — Grammy Award-winning musician, actor and record producer
• Ike Turner — musician

V

• Andrew VanWyngarden — musician of psychedelic rock group MGMT

W

Ida B. Wells

Junior Wells

Tennessee Williams

• Sam Walton — football player
• Garrett Wang — actor
• Anita Ward — singer and schoolteacher; 1979 number one Billboard Hot 100 single "Ring My Bell"
• Thomas Waterson — police officer who captured Machine Gun Kelly in Memphis raid in 1933
• Ida B. Wells — civil rights advocate and women's rights advocate
• Junior Wells — musician
• David West — baseball player
• Red West — actor
• Kirk Whalum — musician
• Maurice White — musician, lead singer of Earth, Wind & Fire
• Reggie White — NFL player; began his career with the Memphis Showboats of the USFL
• Bobby Whitlock — musician, keyboardist in Derek and the Dominoes
• John Shelton Wilder — politician
• Elliot Williams — NBA player
• Louis Williams — NBA player
• Tennessee Williams — playwright
• Kemmons Wilson — businessman, founder of Holiday Inn
• Mike Wilson, NBA player
• Francis Winkler — NFL player
• Lorenzen Wright — NBA player

Y

• Roy Yeager — musician
• Thaddeus Young — NBA player (grew up in Memphis)

References

1. Reichler, Joseph L., ed. (1979) [1969]. The Baseball Encyclopedia (4th ed.). New York: Macmillan Publishing. ISBN 0-02-578970-8.
2. Clark, Kym (2013-04-26). "Photographer's social experiment gains exposure". WXIX-TV. Retrieved 2014-11-20.