Portal:People
From Mississippi Wiki
List of notable people who were born or have lived in Mississippi.
See also: List of Mississippi people by surname
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Activists, Advocates & Civil Right figures
- Reverend James Bevel (Itta Bena)
- C. C. Bryant, (McComb)
- James Chaney, (Meridian)
- Vernon Dahmer, (Hattiesburg)
- Charles Evers, (Decatur)
- Medgar Evers, (Decatur)
- Myrlie Evers-Williams, (Vicksburg)
- Dianna Freelon-Foster, (Grenada)
- Fannie Lou Hamer, (Ruleville)
- T.R.M. Howard, (Mound Bayou)
- Oseola McCarty, Hattiesburg)
- James Meredith, (Kosciusko)
- Emmett Till
- Ida B. Wells, (Holly Springs)
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Actors/Entertainers
- Joey Lauren Adams, Oxford
- Jessica Alba, (Biloxi)
- Dana Andrews, (Covington County)
- Katherine Bailess, Vicksburg
- Earl W. Bascom, (Columbia)
- Texas Rose Bascom, (Columbia)
- Weldon Bascom, (Columbia)
- James Best, (Oxford)
- Jimmy Boyd, (McComb)
- Lacey Chabert, (Purvis)
- Michael Clarke Duncan, went to Alcorn State University in Lorman.
- John Dye, (Amory)
- Ruth Ford, (Brookhaven)
- Morgan Freeman, (Greenwood)
- Allie Grant, (Tupelo)
- Gary Grubbs, (Amory)
- Lynn Hamilton, (Yazoo City)
- Beth Henley, (Jackson)
- Jim Henson, creator of The Muppets, (Leland)
- Anthony Herrera, (Wiggins)
- Eddie Hodges, (Hattiesburg)
- Don Jeffcoat, (Gulfport)
- Ryan Jensen, (Petal)
- James Earl Jones, (Arkabutla)
- Lauren Jones, Jackson
- Simbi Khali, (Jackson)
- Diane Ladd, (Meridian)
- Daniel Curtis Lee, (Jackson)
- Tom Lester, Eb from "Green Acres," (Jackson/Laurel)
- Shane McRae, (Starkville)
- Gerald McRaney, star of "Major Dad" TV series, (Collins)
- Mary Ann Mobley, Miss America 1959, (Brandon)
- Parker Posey, (Laurel)
- Purvis Jon, (Laurel)
- Evelyn Preer, (Vicksburg)
- Beah Richards, (Vicksburg)
- Eric Roberts, (Biloxi)
- Taylor Spreitler, (Hattiesburg)
- Stella Stevens, (Yazoo City)
- Channing Tatum
- James Michael Tyler, best-known as "Gunther" on "Friends," (Winona)
- Ray Walston, (Laurel)
- Sela Ward, (Meridian)
- Oprah Winfrey, (Kosciusko)
- William Nakia Yelland, (Pascagoula)
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Artists
See Mississippi Artists.
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Broadcast media personalities & Journalists
- Red Barber, sportscaster, (Columbus)
- Campbell Brown, (Natchez)
- Bert Case, Jackson news reporter
- Robin Roberts, (Pass Christian)
- Tavis Smiley, (Gulfport)
- Shepard Smith, newscaster, (Holly Springs)
- Oprah Winfrey, talk show hostess, (Kosciusko)
- Hodding Carter, Jr., reporter
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Business
- Jim Barksdale, founder of Netscape, (Jackson)
- Fred Carl, founder of Viking Range Corporation
- Bernard Ebbers, former CEO of WorldCom, (Clinton)
- Toxey Haas, founder Mossy Oak Brand Camouflage, (West Point)
- Sam Haskell, former worldwide head of television for the William Morris Agency and author (Amory)
- T. R. M. Howard, black entrepreneur, president of Magnolia Mutual Life Insurance Company, (Mound Bayou)
- Kenneth D. Lewis, (Meridian), Chairman, CEO, and President of Bank of America
- Hartley Peavey, founder of Peavey Electronics Corporation, (Starkville)
- Gail Pittman
- Edward Pope (Cleveland)
- Robert Pittman, founder MTV, former CEO and COO AOL, (Jackson)
- J. H. Rush, founder of Rush's Infirmary, the first private hospital in Meridian, (De Kalb)
- Fred Smith, founder and CEO of FedEx, (Marks)
- James Breckenridge Speed
- Larry A. Thompson[1], television producer, (Clarksdale)
- Fred Woodward, magazine art director, (Noxapater)
- Gary Smith, Chairman & CEO of BIG RED. (Pascagoula)
- Roger Brent[2], CEO, and founder Molecular Sciences Institute, (Hattiesburg)
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Chefs & Restauranteurs
- Clark and Blake Brennan
- Luis Bruno
- Cat Cora, (Jackson)
- Martha Foose, (Greenwood)
- Robert St. John, Hattiesburg
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Comedians
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Educators
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Filmmakers
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Historians
- David Herbert Donald, (Goodman)
- Robert Brent, Fulbright Scholar, Jefferson author, historian (Hattiesburg)
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Inventors
- Earl W. Bascom, invented the hornless rodeo saddle and the rodeo one-handed bareback rigging, (Columbia)
- Harry A. Cole, inventor of Pine-Sol, (Jackson)
- Joseph Newman, (Lucedale)
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Jurists and lawyers
- Rhesa H. Barksdale, (Jackson)
- Bobby DeLaughter, (Jackson)
- Felix Huston, lawyer, (Natchez)
- Bill Luckett, (Clarksdale)
- Richard "Dickie" Scruggs, attorney, (Pascagoula)
- Gerald Chatham Sr., lawyer, (Hernando), Lead prosecutor in the Emmett Till case
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Military figures
- Nathan Bedford Forrest, (Hernando)
- Felix Huston, (Natchez)
- Samuel Reeves Keesler, (Greenwood)
- John S. McCain, Sr., Admiral in the US Navy, (Teoc)
- Charles Read, (Meridian)
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Musicians, Musical Groups, and Composers
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Photographers
See Mississippi photographers and Mississippi Fine Art Photographers
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Physicians
- Blair E. Batson, chairman of pediatrics at the University of Mississippi Medical Center and namesake of the Blair E. Batson Children's Hospital[3], (Jackson)
- Thomas Gandy, Natchez physician and photography collector, (Natchez)
- James Hardy, surgeon performed the first successful cadaveric lung transplant, (Jackson)
- T. R. M. Howard, chief surgeon at the Taborian Hospital and Friendship Clinic, (Mound Bayou)
- Thomas E. Levy, physician, attorney, author, and internationally recognized expert on the use of vitamin C and removal of dental toxicity for preventing and curing disease [4], (Biloxi)
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Politicians
- Haley Barbour, (Yazoo City)
- William Barksdale, (Jackson)
- Ross Barnett, (Standing Pine)
- Marion Barry, (Itta Bena)
- Theodore Bilbo, (Poplarville)
- Hale Boggs, (Long Beach)
- Blanche Bruce Senator
- Thomas Jefferson Busby, proponent of the Natchez Trace Parkway, (Houston)
- Thad Cochran, (Pontotoc)
- George Dale, insurance commissioner
- Jefferson Davis, US Senator and President of the Confederate States of America, (Warren County)
- James Eastland, (Sunflower)
- Alphonso Michael Espy, (Yazoo City)
- Dianna Freelon-Foster, (Grenada)
- Kirk Fordice, (Vicksburg) and other cities
- Evelyn Gandy, (Hattiesburg)
- James Z. George, (Carrollton)
- Pat Harrison, (Crystal Springs)
- Thomas C. Hindman, (Ripley)
- Jon Hinson, (Tylertown)
- David Holmes, first Governor of Mississippi
- Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar (II), US Senator and Supreme Court Justice, (Oxford)
- Elmer Litchfield, former sheriff of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, (Meridian)
- Trent Lott, (Grenada)
- John R. Lynch, first African-American Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, (Natchez)
- Ray Mabus, Governor
- "Sonny" Montgomery, (Meridian)
- Mike Moore, Attorney General, (Pascagoula)
- Charles W. Pickering, (Jones County)
- Chip Pickering, (Laurel)
- John E. Rankin, (Itawamba County)
- Hiram Rhodes Revels, first African-American US Senator
- Larry Speakes, (Cleveland)
- John Stennis, (De Kalb)
- Gene Taylor, (Bay St. Louis)
- Bennie Thompson, (Bolton)
- Amy Tuck, (Maben)
- James Vardaman, (Yalobusha County)
- Jamie L. Whitten, (Cascilla)
- Roger Wicker, (Pontotoc)
- William Winter, (Grenada)
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Science
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Sports
- Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, (Gulfport)
- Lance Alworth, (Brookhaven)
- Lem Barney, (Gulfport)
- Earl W. Bascom, rodeo pioneer and champion, co-producer first rodeo in Columbia, known as "Father of Modern Rodeo"
- Texas Rose Bascom, rodeo trick rider and trick roper, (Columbia)
- Weldon Bascom, rodeo pioneer and champion, co-produced first rodeo in Columbia
- Cool Papa Bell, (Starkville)
- Jonathan Bender, (Picayune)
- Ruthie Bolton, (Lucedale)
- "Syko" Shane Coats, Professional Wrestler (Petal)
- Ralph Boston, (Laurel)
- Dennis Ray "Oil Can" Boyd, (Meridian)
- Jeff Brantley, former major-league pitcher, current ESPN analyst, played baseball at Mississippi State University, (Starkville)
- Terrell Buckley, (Pascagoula)
- Ellis Burks, (Vicksburg)
- Lee Calhoun, winner of two Olympic Games|Olympic gold metals, (Laurel)
- Van Chancellor, (Louisville)
- Rod Coleman, (Vicksburg)
- Reggie Collier, (D'Iberville)
- Joe Courtney, (Jackson)
- Erick Dampier, (Monticello)
- Rod Davis, Carolina Panthers, (Gulfport)
- Dizzy Dean, (Wiggins)
- Ted DiBiase, former professional wrestler, (Clinton)
- Jim Dunaway, (Columbia)
- Marcus Dupree, (Philadelphia)
- Ronald Dupree, (Biloxi)
- Pearl Elder, professional rodeo trick rider, (Arm)
- Ted Elder, World Champion rodeo roman rider and trick rider, (Arm)
- Monta Ellis, (Jackson)
- Brett Favre, quarterback for the Green Bay Packers, (Kiln)
- David "Boo" Ferriss, pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, (Shaw)
- Tim Floyd, (Hattiesburg)
- Jim Gallagher, Jr., professional golfer, (Greenwood)
- Charles Gavin, (Laurel)
- Lancaster Gordon, (Jackson)
- Litterial Green, (Pascagoula)
- Louis Green, (Vicksburg)
- L. C. Greenwood, (Canton)
- Justin Griffith, (Magee)
- Bobby Hamilton, (Columbia)
- Othella Harrington, professional basketball player, (Jackson)
- Jim Harris, professional wrestler, (Senatobia)
- Charlie Hayes, (Hattiesburg)
- Joe Horn, receiver for the New Orleans Saints, (Tupelo)
- Lindsey Hunter, professional basketball player, (Utica)
- Al Jefferson, (Monticello)
- Matt Lawton, (Gulfport)
- Ken Lucas, Carolina Panthers, (Cleveland)
- Jake Lybbert, rodeo cowboy, helped produce first rodeo in Columbia in 1935
- Mel Lybbert, rodeo cowboy, (Columbia)
- Kris Mangum, Carolina Panthers, (Magee)
- Archie Manning, (Drew)
- Eli Manning
- Danny Manning, (Hattiesburg)
- Justin Mapp, (Brandon)
- Shane Matthews, (Pascagoula)
- Deuce McAllister, (Morton)
- Antonio McDyess, (Quitman)
- Derrick McKey, former professional basketball player, (Meridian)
- Steve McNair, quarterback for the Tennessee Titans, (Mount Olive)
- Eric Moulds, (Lucedale)
- Steve Newsome, (Columbia)
- Jerious Norwood, (Jackson)
- Roy Oswalt, (Weir)
- Joe Owens, (Columbia)
- Claude Passeau, former major-league pitcher, (Lucedale)
- Eddie Payton, (Columbia)
- Walter Payton, (Columbia)
- Clinton Portis, (Laurel)
- Justin Reed, (Jackson)
- Jerry Rice, (Starkville)
- James Robinson, (Jackson)
- Billy Shaw, (Natchez)
- Eugene Short, (Hattiesburg)
- Purvis Short, (Hattiesburg)
- Jackie Slater, (Jackson)
- Calvin Smith, (Bolton)
- Jimmy Lee Smith, (Jackson)
- Lake Speed, (Jackson)
- Ernie Terrell, (Belzoni)
- Fred Thomas, cornerback for the New Orleans Saints, (Bruce)
- Willie Totten, (Leflore County)
- Jermaine Van Buren, (Laurel)
- Harry Walker, former professional baseball player, (Pascagoula)
- Wesley Walls, (Batesville)
- Herb Washington, sprinter and a successful owner of McDonald's franchises, (Belzoni)
- Clarence Weatherspoon, (Crawford)
- Skeeter Webb, professional baseball player, (Meridian)
- Frank White, professional baseball player, (Greenville)
- Sammy Winder, (Madison)
- Floyd Womack, Seattle Seahawks, (Cleveland)
- Dmitri Young, (Vicksburg)
- Walter Young, professional baseball player, (Hattiesburg)
- Cooper Carlisle, Denver Broncos
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Writers
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Others
- Lypsinka, drag performer and model, (Hazlehurst)
- Terrance The Rat (fictional character)
- Leonard "Bones" McCoy (fictional character)
- Rogue (fictional character)
- Naomi Sims (supermodel)
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