Actors & Actresses Born, Raised, or Lived in Memphis, TN
by ReRun28 | created - 23 Oct 2011 | updated - 12 Jun 2018 | PublicJust to start off -- I am born, raised, and lived in Memphis all my life. While Memphis seems to get a bad wrap because of social and economic struggles, but on the flip, we Memphians do have a lot to be proud of -- especially when it comes to the talent! This list is dedicated to all the great talented stars that has come through this city. Hopefully there will be many more in the near future to add to this list!
1. Morgan Freeman
Actor | Driving Miss Daisy
With an authoritative voice and calm demeanor, this ever popular American actor has grown into one of the most respected figures in modern US cinema. Morgan was born on June 1, 1937 in Memphis, Tennessee, to Mayme Edna (Revere), a teacher, and Morgan Porterfield Freeman, a barber. The young Freeman...
2. Justin Timberlake
Soundtrack | Trolls
Justin Randall Timberlake was born on January 31, 1981, in Memphis, Tennessee, to Lynn (Bomar) and Randall Timberlake, whose own father was a Baptist minister. At the age of 11, he appeared on the show Star Search (1983), and even though he didn't win, it didn't dampen his ambitions. He also ...
3. Kathy Bates
Actress | Misery
Multi-talented, multi-award-winning actress Kathleen (Doyle) Bates was born on June 28, 1948, and raised in Memphis, Tennessee. She is the youngest of three girls born to Bertye Kathleen (Talbot), a homemaker, and Langdon Doyle Bates, a mechanical engineer. Her grandfather was author Finis L. Bates...
4. Ginnifer Goodwin
Actress | Zootopia
Ginnifer Goodwin was born Jennifer Michelle Goodwin on May 22, 1978, in Memphis, Tennessee, to Linda (Kantor), a doctor of educational technology, and Tim Goodwin, a musician and the owner of Memphis Sound Productions recording studio. Ginnifer graduated from Lausanne Collegiate School in 1996 and ...
5. Cybill Shepherd
Actress | Cybill
Cybill Lynne Shepherd was born in Memphis, Tennessee, to Patty, a homemaker, and William Shepherd, a small business owner. Named after her grandfather, Cy, and her father, Bill, Shepherd's career began at a young age in modeling, when she won the "Miss Teenage Memphis" contest in 1966 and the "...
6. Elvis Presley
Soundtrack | Girls! Girls! Girls!
Elvis Aaron Presley was born on January 8, 1935 in East Tupelo, Mississippi, to Gladys Presley (née Gladys Love Smith) and Vernon Presley (Vernon Elvis Presley). He had a twin brother who was stillborn. In 1948, Elvis and his parents moved to Memphis, Tennessee where he attended Humes High School. ...
7. Elise Neal
Actress | Hustle & Flow
Elise Neal was born in Memphis, Tennessee and began dancing at age six. She credits her success to her mother, Arletha Neal, who always supported her and drove her to many talent shows and recitals. After moving to New York and quickly booking many off-Broadway shows and musical revivals, she ...
8. K. Michelle
Actress | American Soul
K. Michelle was born on March 4, 1982 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. She is an actress and composer, known for American Soul (2019), The Birth of a Nation (2016) and K. Michelle: Fakin' It (2009).
9. Leslie Jones
Actress | Ghostbusters
Leslie Jones is an American actress and comedienne from Memphis, Tennessee who is known for playing in Saturday Night Live, Trainwreck, Sing, Top Five, Lottery Ticket, Coming 2 America, Masterminds and The Angry Birds Movie 2. She played Patty Tolan in the 2016 reboot of Ghostbusters, directed by ...
10. Chris Parnell
Actor | Rick and Morty
Born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, Chris Parnell enrolled at Germantown High School where he took drama and auditioned for every play. In 1985, when he was a senior at Germantown, he was voted "Most Talented" by his classmates. Right after graduating high school, Chris attended North Carolina ...
11. Drake
Actor | Degrassi: The Next Generation
Aubrey Drake Graham was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Dennis Graham, an African-American musician born in Memphis, Tennessee, and Sandi (Sher) Graham, a Canadian Jewish educator. As a young man, Drake appeared in several commercials, for such retailers as Sears and GMC. In 2001, Drake rose ...
12. Danny Thomas
Actor | Make Room for Daddy
Known primarily as a TV actor, he starred as a nightclub singer on the popular The Danny Thomas Show (1953).
He also served TV behind the cameras partnering with Sheldon Leonard and Aaron Spelling to create such shows as Dick Van Dyke's show, The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961), The Andy Griffith Show (...
13. William Sanderson
Actor | Blade Runner
Prolific and versatile character actor William Sanderson was born on January 10, 1944, in Memphis, Tennessee. His mother was an elementary school teacher and his father was a landscape designer. William served two years in the US Army. Following his military service he attended Southern Methodist ...
14. Shannen Doherty
Actress | Beverly Hills, 90210
Shannen Doherty was born in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, on April 12, 1971, to Rosa Doherty (Wright) and Tom Doherty. Her father worked in a bank, while her mother owned a beauty parlor. She has an older brother, Sean B. Doherty. Her ancestry includes Irish, English, Scottish, and French. In 1978, at ...
15. Three 6 Mafia
Soundtrack | Rocky Balboa
Perhaps the most famous group of rappers to come from Memphis, Tennessee, rap group Three Six Mafia was formed in 1991. While the members of the group have changed over time as members have left and unfortunately passed, the most famous members of the group include DJ Paul, Juicy J, Gangsta Boo, ...
16. George Hamilton
Actor | Zorro: The Gay Blade
Noted these days for his dashing, sporting, jet-setting playboy image and perpetually bronzed skin tones in commercials, film spoofs and reality shows, George Hamilton was, at the onset, a serious contender for dramatic film stardom. Born George Stevens Hamilton in Memphis, TN, on August 12, 1939, ...
17. Tennessee Williams
Writer | A Streetcar Named Desire
Tennessee Williams met long-term partner Frank Merlo in the summer of 1948 (Merlo died of lung cancer in the fall of 1963). Though separated briefly in 1961 and again in 1962, the two were partners for 15 years. Merlo acted as his personal manager/secretary.
Williams spent much of his most prolific ...
18. Gina Neely
Self | Down Home with the Neelys
Gina Neely has been married to Patrick Neely since 1994. They have one child.
19. Patrick Neely
Self | Down Home with the Neelys
Patrick Neely is known for Down Home with the Neelys (2008), Save to Win (2016) and David's Food Court (2013). He has been married to Gina Neely since 1995. They have two children.
20. Missi Pyle
Actress | Captain Fantastic
Missi Pyle was born Andrea Kay Pyle on November 16, 1972 in Houston, Texas, and was raised in Memphis, Tennessee. The daughter of Linda and Frank Pyle, she has four older siblings, sisters Debbie and Julie, and brothers Sam and Paul. Pyle attended the North Carolina School of the Arts and graduated...
21. Dixie Carter
Actress | Designing Women
Dixie is the middle of three children. Her father owned several small retail stores. Early on, she dreamed of being an opera singer, but a botched tonsillectomy at age 7 spoiled any chances for that dream. Still, she sang regularly and studied classical music. She can play the piano, trumpet, and ...
22. Linda Thompson
Soundtrack | The Bodyguard
Linda Thompson was born in Memphis, Tennessee. She attended Kingsbury High School where she was Homecoming Queen, and after graduation, she attended Memphis State University for 4 years, majoring in English and Drama. Linda was named Miss Tennessee Universe 1972, Miss Liberty Bowl, Miss Shelby ...
23. Michael Jeter
Actor | Open Range
Michael Jeter was an American actor from Tennessee. His best known roles were that of math teacher and assistant football coach Herman Stiles in the sitcom "Evening Shade" (1990-1994) and "Mr. Noodle's brother, Mister Noodle" in "Sesame Street", a role he played from 2000 to 2003. He specialized in...
24. Ashley Jones
Actress | True Blood
Ashley Jones was born on September 3, 1976 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for True Blood (2008), The Bold and the Beautiful (1987) and For All Mankind (2019). She was previously married to Joel Henricks and Noah Nelson.
25. Ric Flair
Actor | WWE Monday Night RAW
Richard Morgan Fliehr isn't what you'd expect from a professional wrestler. A medical student at Minnesota University (his father was a doctor, his mother an actress), Flair dropped out college to train for the mat wars under legendary former AWA World champ Verne Gagne. He made his professional ...
26. Priscilla Presley
Actress | The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear
Priscilla Presley's stepfather was an Air Force officer stationed in West Germany when as a teenager she met Elvis Presley in 1959, then four years into his meteoric career in rock and roll and serving with the U.S. Armed Forces. After an eight year courtship, she married him on 1 May 1967. As ...
27. Jerry Lawler
Actor | Man on the Moon
Jerry Lawler was born on November 29, 1949 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Man on the Moon (1999), WWE Raw (1993) and WWE '13 (2012). He was previously married to Stacy Carter, Paula Jean Carruth and Martha Kay Williams.
28. Aretha Franklin
Actress | The Blues Brothers
Grammy-winning Queen of Soul and the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Aretha Louise Franklin was born in Memphis, Tennessee, to Barbara Vernice (Siggers) and C. L. Franklin, a Baptist minister, who preached at the New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit for over thirty ...
29. Wink Martindale
Producer | Second Honeymoon
Wink Martindale was born on December 4, 1933 in Jackson, Tennessee, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Second Honeymoon (1987), Bumper Stumpers (1987) and The Lively Set (1964). He has been married to Sandy Ferra since August 2, 1975. They have four children. He was previously married to ...
30. Lisa Marie Presley
Actress | Lisa Marie Presley: Idiot
Lisa Marie Presley was born on February 1, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. She was a music artist and actress, known for Lisa Marie Presley: Idiot (2005), Michael Jackson: You Are Not Alone (1995) and Lisa Marie Presley: Dirty Laundry (2005). She was married to Michael Lockwood, Nicolas Cage, ...
31. Project Pat
Soundtrack | F9
Project Pat was born in 1972 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. He is an actor and composer, known for F9: The Fast Saga (2021), P-Valley (2020) and Insecure (2016).
32. Garrett Wang
Actor | Star Trek: Voyager
Garrett Richard Wang was born on December 15, 1968 in Riverside, California to Chinese immigrant parents. He and his sister Laura spent their childhood on the move. He lived in Indiana, then moved to Bermuda and finally to Tennessee. Later, he graduated from Harding Academy High School, Memphis, ...
33. Olivia Holt
Actress | Cloak & Dagger
Olivia Holt was born in Germantown, Tennessee to parents, Mark and Kim Holt. When she was only 3 years old, she started singing and acting on the stage. Besides acting and singing, she has been a competitive gymnast for the past 5 years, and a competitive cheerleader for the past few years. At ...
34. Lucy Hale
Actress | Truth or Dare
Lucy Hale has captured the attention of millions through her dynamic on-screen performances in some of the most buzzed about projects in film and television. Hale recently starred as the lead, DC Lake Edmunds, in the new series, Ragdoll, which is streaming on AMC and Alibi. Last year, she finished ...
35. Red West
Actor | Road House
Robert Gene "Red" West was a close friend of Elvis Presley and a member of Presley's inner circle, known as "The Memphis Mafia". He first met Elvis in high school, where he was a year behind him. West played football for the Memphis Tigers high school football team, boxed in the Golden Gloves and ...
36. Michael Beck
Actor | The Warriors
Michael Beck was born on February 4, 1949 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. He is an actor, known for The Warriors (1979), Xanadu (1980) and Megaforce (1982). He has been married to Carolyn Louise Brendel since September 1980. They have two children.
37. Fred Thompson
Actor | The Hunt for Red October
Fred Thompson was born on August 19, 1942 in Sheffield, Alabama, USA. He was an actor, known for The Hunt for Red October (1990), No Way Out (1987) and Baby's Day Out (1994). He was married to Jeri Kehn Thompson and Sarah Elizabeth Lindsey. He died on November 1, 2015 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
38. Lane Smith
Actor | My Cousin Vinny
Lane Smith was born on April 29, 1936 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. He was an actor, known for My Cousin Vinny (1992), Red Dawn (1984) and The Mighty Ducks (1992). He was married to Deborah Lynn Price and Sydnee Roberta Balaber. He died on June 13, 2005 in Northridge, California, USA.
39. Ike Turner
Soundtrack | Kill Bill: Vol. 1
Ike Turner is best known for his career as half of the duo Ike & Tina Turner with his former wife Tina Turner, but before he discovered her, Turner was already a pioneer in rhythm & blues and rock & roll.
Izear Luster Turner Jr. was born on November 5, 1931 in Clarksdale, Mississippi. His father ...
40. Chris Hardwick
Producer | Talking Dead
Chris Hardwick was born on November 23, 1971 in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. He is a producer and actor, known for Talking Dead (2011), @midnight (2013) and The Wall (2016). He has been married to Lydia Hearst since August 20, 2016. They have one child.
41. Chris Ellis
Actor | Armageddon
Chris Ellis was born on April 14, 1956 in Dallas, Texas, USA. He is an actor, known for Armageddon (1998), The Island (2005) and Transformers (2007).
42. Isaac Hayes
Actor | Escape from New York
Isaac Hayes, the second-born child of Eula and Isaac Hayes Sr., was raised by his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Willie Wade Sr. The child of a poor family, he grew up picking cotton in Covington, Tennessee. He dropped out of high school, but later his former high-school teachers to get his diploma, ...
43. Sheila Kennedy
Actress | Spring Break
Smoldering brunette beauty Sheila Kennedy was born on April 12, 1962 in Memphis, Tennessee. Sheila first gained public recognition as a Pet of the Month in the December, 1981 issue of "Penthouse." (She had previously graced the cover of the October, 1981 issue of the same popular men's magazine.) ...
44. Hailey Anne Nelson
Actress | Big Fish
Hailey Anne Nelson is an American child actress. After commencing her career (age 5) in various stage performances, such as Gretl in The Sound of Music Nelson appeared in Big Fish. Her most notable film appearances were in Big Fish (2003), as young Jenny, and Walk the Line (2005), in which she ...
45. Lane Smith
Actor | My Cousin Vinny
Lane Smith was born on April 29, 1936 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. He was an actor, known for My Cousin Vinny (1992), Red Dawn (1984) and The Mighty Ducks (1992). He was married to Deborah Lynn Price and Sydnee Roberta Balaber. He died on June 13, 2005 in Northridge, California, USA.
46. Stella Stevens
Actress | The Poseidon Adventure
The early film career of Stella Stevens could be said to mirror that of Marilyn Monroe. She began by playing a succession of sensuous, blond glamour girls, from naïve virgins and funny coquettes to precocious or briny-tongued floozies. Her early maturity on screen may have reflected her own ...
47. Florence Kahn
Actress | Secret Agent
Florence Kahn was born on March 3, 1878 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. She was an actress, known for Secret Agent (1936). She was married to Max Beerbohm. She died on January 13, 1951 in Rapallo, Liguria, Italy.
49. Joe Brown
Actor | The Forbidden the Affair
Joe Brown was born on July 5, 1947 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. He is an actor, known for The Forbidden the Affair, Judge Joe Brown (1998) and Buck Breaking (2021).
50. Al Green
Soundtrack | Scrooged
Al Green was born on April 13, 1946 in Forrest City, Arkansas, USA. He is a music artist and actor, known for Scrooged (1988), Hellboy (2004) and He's Just Not That Into You (2009). He was previously married to Shirley Kyles.
51. Woody Paige
Actor | Rocky Balboa
Woody Paige was born on June 27, 1946 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. He is an actor, known for Rocky Balboa (2006), Playmakers (2003) and Around the Horn (2002).
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