Famous Oklahoman's Past and Present

NAME	PROFESSION	BORN OR LIVED IN
Troy Aikman	Football	Henryetta
Carl Albert	Former Speaker, US House	McAlester, Bugtussle
Suzy Amis	Actress	Oklahoma City
Maxie Anderson	Geologist, Entrepreneur, Renowned Balloonist	Okeene, Fittstown
Gene Autry	Actor, musician	Gene Autry, Sapulpa
Mae Axton	Songwriter	Roff
Lou Ballard	Composer	Miami, Tulsa
Russell Bates	Author	Anadarko
Standing Bear	Ponca Chief	Ponca City
Johnny Bench	Baseball	Binger, Oklahoma City
John Berryman	Poet, Pulitzer Prize Winner	Anadarko, McAlester
Black Beaver	Indian Scout	Anadarko
Black Kettle	Cheyenne Chief	Cheyenne
David L. Boren	President, Univ. of Okla., Statesman	Seminole
Sam Boyd	Casino/hotel owner	Enid
William "Hopalong Cassidy" Boyd	Actor	Tulsa
Paul & Thomas Braniff	Aviation pioneers	Oklahoma City
Garth Brooks	Musician	Yukon
Allison Brown	Miss Teen USA	Edmond
Anita Bryant	Entertainer	Tulsa
Greg Burns	Artist	Oklahoma City
Gary Busey	Actor	Tulsa
Joe Carter	Baseball Player	Oklahoma City
Tony Casillas	Football Player	Tulsa
Jeremy Castle	Singer and Songwriter	Blanchard
Lon Chaney	Actor	Oklahoma City
Lon Chaney, Jr.	Actor	Oklahoma City
Kristin Chenowith	Singer and Actor	Broken Arrow
C. J. Cherryh	Author	Norman, Oklahoma City
Jesse Chisholm	Pioneer trader	Geary
Yvonne Chouteau	Ballerina	Norman, Vinita
Charles Christian	Musician	Oklahoma City
Joseph "Jocko" Clark	US Navy admiral, WWII hero	Pryor
Roy Clark	Musician	Tulsa
Bill Cleaver	Author	Hugo
Jerrie Cobb	Aviator	Oklahoma City
Bart Conner	Gymnast	Norman
Ancel Cook	Actor	Oklahoma City
Danny Cooksey	Actor	Midwest City
Gordon Cooper	Astronaut	Shawnee, Tecumseh
Joan Crawford	Actress	Lawton
Walter Cronkite	Broadcast journalist	Oklahoma City
Admiral William J. Crowe	Statesman, author	Oklahoma City
Bill Dalton	Outlaw	Ardmore, Ingalls
Alvin Dark	Baseball	Comanche
Gail Davies	Singer	Broken Bow
Steve Davis	Football/ABC announcer	Sallisaw
Jerome "Dizzy" Dean	Baseball	Holdenville
Paul Dean	Baseball	Holdenville
John Denver	Musician	Corn, Clinton
Joe Diffee	Musician	Hinton
Larry Drake	Actor	Tulsa
Ronnie Dunn	Musician	Tulsa
Candice Early	Actress	Lawton
Blake Edwards	Film producer	Tulsa
Douglas Edwards	Reporter	Ada
Ralph Ellison	Author	Oklahoma City
Gary England	Weatherman and author	Oklahoma City
Tom Ferguson	Rodeo	Miami
Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd	Outlaw	Akins, Sallisaw
Scott Ellsworth	Historian, writer	Tulsa
Jane Fancher	Author	Oklahoma City
Dennis T. Flynn	Civic Leader	Guthrie/OKC
Grant & Carolyn Foreman Steve Powell "Foreman Scotty"	Historians Local TV Personality	Muskogee Oklahoma City
Jay Fox	Director	Purcell
Kay Francis	Actress	Oklahoma City
John Hope Franklin	Black historian	Rentiesville
James Garner	Actor	Norman
Owen K. Garriott	Astronaut	Enid
David Gates	Musician	Tulsa
Edward L. Gaylord	Newspaper publisher, Owner, Grand Ole Opry	Oklahoma City
Geronimo	Apache Warrior	Fort Sill
Father Gregory Gerrer	Artist	El Reno, Shawnee
J. Paul Getty	Financier	Tulsa
Alice Ghostley	Actress	Henryetta, Norman
Vince Gill	Musician	Oklahoma City
Jack Ging	Actor	Alva, Norman
S. N. Goldman	Inventor of shopping cart	Ardmore, Oklahoma City
Chester Gould	Cartoonist	Pawnee
Curt Gowdy	Sports Reporter	Oklahoma City
Alan Greenburg	Financier	Tulsa
Frank Greer	Newspaper Editor	Guthrie
Terry L. Griffith	Author	OKC
Jane A. Knipe Gubelin	Author	OKC
Clu Gulager	Actor	Tahlequah, Muskogee
Woody Guthrie	Singer/Songwriter	Okemah
Rosa Lee "Aunt Jemima" Hall	Advertising	Oklahoma City
Argus Hamilton	Comedian	Ardmore
Enoch Kelly Haney	Artist	Seminole
Jon Hansen	Former Asst. Okla. City Fire Chief & author	Oklahoma City
The Hansons	Musicians	Tulsa
Roy Harris	Composer	Lincoln City
Sam Harris	Singer/Writer	Cushing, Sand Springs
Carolyn Hart	Author	OKC
Mary Hart	TV anchorwoman	Oklahoma City
Jim Hartz	TV news reporter	Tulsa
Paul Harvey	Broadcast journalist	Tulsa
Wade Hayes	Musician	Bethel
Van Heflin	Actor	Walters, Oklahoma City
Brad Henry	Governor	Shawnee
Tony Hillerman	Author	Sacred Heart
S. E. Hinton	Author	Tulsa
Tim Holt	Actor	Harrah
Darla Hood	Actress	Leedy
Temple Houston	Attorney	Woodward
Clint Howard	Actor	Duncan
Ron Howard	Actor/Director	Duncan
Carl Hubbell	Baseball	Meeker
Patrick J. Hurley	Statesman	Tulsa
Henry P. Iba	Basketball	Stillwater
Wanda Jackson	Musician	Oklahoma City
Marquis James	Author	Enid
Jane Ann Jayroe	Miss America	Laverne, Oklahoma City
Ferguson Jenkins	Baseball	Guthrie, Oklahoma City
Ben Johnson	Actor	Pawhuska
Jennifer Jones	Actress	Oklahoma City
Larry Jones	Evangelist, "Feed the Children"	Oklahoma City
Cathy Keating	Author and First Lady	Tulsa
Frank Keating	Governor	Tulsa
Harold Kieth	Author	Lambert
Toby Keith	Musician	Moore
Maybelle Kennedy	US Treasurer	Pawhuska
Robert S. Kerr	Oilman, senator	Ada, Oklahoma City, Poteau
Barney Kessel	Musician	Muskogee
Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick	Stateswoman	Duncan
Henry Kravis	Financier	Tulsa
Mercedes Lackey	Author	Tulsa
R. A. Lafferty	Author	Tulsa
Louis L'Amour	Author	Oklahoma City
Nancy Lamb	Author	Oklahoma City
Stephen LaPorte	Make-up artist	Oklahoma City
Steve Largent	Football/U.S. Congressman	Oklahoma City
Gordon William "Pawnee Bill" Lillie	Wild West Show	Pawnee
Clevon Little	Actor	Chickasha
Nancy Lopez - Knight	Golf	Tulsa
Shannon Lucid	Astronaut	Oklahoma City
Wilma Mankiller	Indian Chief, Author	Tahlequah
Mickey Mantle	Baseball	Commerce
E. W. Marland	Oilman	Ponca City
Leon McAuliffe	Musician	Tulsa
Rue McClanahan	Actress	Healdton, Ardmore
David McCurdy	Statesman	Norman
Mel McDaniel	Grand Ole Opry Star	Okmulgee
Reba McEntire	Musician	Chockie, Durant
Carl McGee	Newsman, inventor of parking meter	Oklahoma City, Tulsa
Dean McGee	Oilman	Oklahoma City
Frank McGee	Broadcast journalist	Oklahoma City
Phillip C. McGraw  "Dr. Phil"	TV Host	Oklahoma City
Mike McQuay	Author	Oklahoma City
Clem McSpadden	Pro rodeo announcer	Chelsea
Perle Mesta	Washington, DC hostess	Oklahoma City
Augusta Metcalfe	Artist	Durham
Vera Miles	Actress	Boise City
George W. Miller	Founder, 101 Ranch	Lamont
Jody Miller	Singer	Blanchard
Joe Miller	101 Ranch Wild West Show	Lamont
Roger Miller	Musician	Erick
Shannon Miller	Gymnast	Edmond
Zack Miller	101 Ranch Wild West Show	Lamont
Dale Mitchell	Baseball	Cloud Chief
Leona Mitchell	Singer	Enid
Tom Mix	Cowboy, actor	Dewey, Guthrie
Al Momaday	Indian artist	Mountain View
N. Scott Momaday	Author	Lawton
Hon. Daniel Patrick Moynihan	US Senator from NY	Tulsa
Gil Morgan	Golf	Wewoka
Tommy Morrison	Boxer, Actor	Jay
Bill Moyers	Journalist, statesman	Hugo
Lucille Mulhall	First show cowgirl	Mulhall
Zack Mulhall	Wild West Show	Mulhall
Meg Mullally	Actress	Oklahoma City
Bobby Murcer	Baseball	Oklahoma City
William "Alfalfa Bill" Murray	Politician	Tishomingo
Russell Myers	Cartoonist	Tulsa
Carrie Nation	Prohibitionist	Guthrie, Seiling
Justin Nimmo	Actor	Lexington
Chuck Norris	Actor	Wilson, Ryan
Mel Odom	Author	Oklahoma City
Joseph Oklahombi	World War I Hero	Wright City
Henry Overholser	Philanthropist	OKC
Steve Owens	Football	Miami, Norman
Clarence Page	Aviator	Oklahoma City
Patti Page	Musician	Claremore, Tulsa
Quannah Parker	Comanche Chief	Fort Sill
John L. Peters	Founder, World Neighbors	Oklahoma City
Dorothea Petrie	Film Producer	Lawton, Oklahoma City
Frank & Watie Phillips	Oilmen	Bartlesville, Tulsa
T. Boone Pickens	Oil Industry	Holdenville
Bill Pickett	Inventor, bulldogging	Ponca City
Brad Pitt	Actor	Shawnee
Mary Kay Place	Actress	Tulsa
William Reid Pogue	Astronaut	Okemah
Darrell Porter	Baseball	Oklahoma City
Wiley Post	Aviator	Maysville
Susan Powell	Miss America	Elk City
Paula Prentiss	Entertainer	Tulsa
Tony Randall	Actor	Tulsa
Wilson Rawls	Author	Scraper
Joe A. Rector	Native American Indian Artist, Champion Weightlifter	Muskogee
Donna Reed	Actress	Tulsa
Allie Reynolds	Baseball	Bethany, Stillwater
Lynn Riggs	Author	Claremore
Oral Roberts	Evangelist	Tulsa
Alice Mary Robertson	1st US Congresswoman, Founder Tulsa University	Muskogee
Dale Robertson	Actor	Harrah
Will Rogers	Humorist/entertainer	Claremore, Oologah
Stuart Roosa	Astronaut	Claremore
Dan Rowan	Comedian	Beggs
Darrell Royal	Football	Hollis
Leon Russell	Musician	Tulsa
Troy Ruttman	Race Car Driver	Mooreland
Gaylard Sartain	Actor	Tulsa
Bill Scott (Weldon Hill)	Author	Purcell, Skeedee
Bert Seabourn	Artist	Oklahoma City
Joe Sears	Playwright/Actor	Bartlesville
Sequoyah	Inventor, Cherokee alphabet	Sallisaw
Blake Shelton	Musician	Ada
Jackie Shipp	Football Player	Muskogee
Jim Shoulders	World champion cowboy	Henryetta
Billy Sims	Football	Norman
William Skelly	Oilman	Tulsa
Norma Smallwood	Miss America	Tulsa
Shantel Smith	Miss America	Muldrow
Warren Spahn	Baseball	Hartshorne
Thomas P. Stafford	Astronaut	Oklahoma
Belle Starr	Outlaw	Eufaula
Kay Starr	Musician	Dougherty
Robert Stemmons	Professional Whistler	Tulsa
Willard Stone	Sculptor	Locust Grove
Hon. Juanita Kidd Stout	Jurist	Wewoka
George M. Sutton	Artist	Norman
Ross Swimmer	Statesman	Tahlequah
Barry Switzer	Football	Norman
Maria Tallchief	Ballerina	Fairfax
Marjorie Tallchief	Ballerina	Fairfax
Bertha Frank Teague	Basketball coach, 1st woman in National Basketball Hall of Fame.	Byng
Henry "Heck" Thomas	Lawman	Lawton, Guthrie
Joyce Carol Thomas	Author	Ponca City
Hank Thompson	Musician	Sand Springs
Jim Thorpe	Athlete	Yale
Jerome Tiger	Indian artist	Muskogee
Johnny Tiger	Indian artist	Eufaula, Muskogee
Bill Tilghman	Lawman	Chandler, Cromwell
Clarence Tinker	US Army General, aviator	Pawhuska
Wayman Tisdale	Basketball, Musician	Tulsa
Melvin B. Tolson	Poet	Langston
Truman "Pinky" Tomlin	Actor, musician	Durant, Norman
Jeanne Tripplehorn	Actress	Tulsa
Conway Twitty	Musician	Oklahoma City, Norman
Billy Vessels	Football	Cleveland, Norman
Uwe von Schamann	Football	Norman
Brig. Gen. Stand Waite, CSA	Cherokee Statesman	Honey Creek, IT
Jimmy Wakely	Musician	Oklahoma City
Samuel Moore Walton	Philanthropist	Kingfisher
Loyd Waner	Baseball	Harrah
Paul Waner	Baseball Hall of Fame	Harrah
Dennis Weaver	Actor	Norman
Jimmy Webb	Musician	Elk City
Bryan White	Musician	Oklahoma City
Bud Wilkinson	Football	Norman
Mason Williams	Musician	Oklahoma City
Bob Wills	Musician	Tulsa
Johnnie Lee Wills	Musician	Tulsa
G. Clifton Wilser	Author	OKC
Charles Banks Wilson	Artist	Miami
Alfre Woodard	Actress	Tulsa
Shelby "Sheb" Wooley	Actor/musician	Plainview, Erick
Gretchen Wyler	Actress	Bartlesville
Raymond A. Young	Philanthropist & OKC Civic Leader	Kingfisher

Other Famous People
Who Claimed Oklahoma Heritage

Iron Eyes Cody, an American Indian actor who appeared in more than 100 films, is best known for standing beside a littered highway and shedding a tear in the "Keep America Beautiful" television advertisements in the 1970s. Cody's career began when a film crew came to his family's farm in the Oklahoma territory to shoot "Back to God's Country" (1919), and Cody got a job as an extra. His family then moved to Los Angeles, where Cody's father, Thomas Longplume Cody, worked as a technical advisor on Westerns.

Iron Eyes Cody appeared in nearly 100 films, starting in 1919. Here is just a sampling of his Western movies: Texas Pioneers (1932), Figting with Kit Carson (1933), Rustlers of Red Dog (1935), Ride Ranger Ride (1936), Wild West Days (1937), Wild Bill Hickok (1938), Union Pacific (1939), Kit Carson (1940), Ride 'Em Cowboy (1942), Under Nevada Skies (1946), The Paleface (1948), Tulsa (1949), Cherokee Uprising (1950), Fort Defiance (1951), The Big Sky (1952), Son of Paleface (1952), Sitting Bull (1954), The Great Sioux Massacre (1965), A Man Called Horse (1970) and Greyeagle (1978)Cody appeared in dozens of Westerns from the late 1920s through the 1940s, usually in small, often uncredited roles. By the late 1940s, Cody was appearing in larger roles in films, including "The Paleface" (1948), with Bob Hope and Jane Russell, and "Sitting Bull" (1954), in which he portrayed Chief Crazy Horse. Cody also often worked as a technical advisor on films, on issues related to American Indian culture and history. Throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, Cody appeared in nearly every television Western series, including "Bonanza," "Gunsmoke," "The Virginian," "Rawhide," "The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin," "The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok" and "Maverick." In 1996, a newspaper in Louisiana reported that Cody was not really an American Indian born in the Oklahoma territory, as he claimed, but was actually of Italian heritage, and was born in a small town in southern Louisiana. Cody denied the report. Cody is buried next to his wife, who is simply identified as, "Mrs. Iron Eyes Cody (1907 - 1978)." Her name was Bertha "Birdie" Parker Cody. Depending on which source you believe, Cody was either born Oscar Cody in 1904 on a farm in the Oklahoma territory, or Oscar DeCorti on April 3, 1907, in Gueydan, LA. Either way, he died on Jan. 4, 1999, in Los Angeles, CA.

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