List of people from Little Rock, Arkansas

Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Little Rock native

The following people were all born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with the city of Little Rock, Arkansas (categorized by area in which each person is best known):

Actors, musicians and others in the entertainment industry

Actors

• Frank Bonner (born 1942), an actor and television director best known for playing sales manager Herb Tarlek on the classic TV sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati, was born in the city.

• Broncho Billy Anderson, born in Little Rock, actor, writer, director, and producer

• Daniel Davis (born 1945), an actor, perhaps best known for his role of Niles the butler, in The Nanny.

• Gil Gerard (born 1943), an American actor born in the city.

• Corin Nemec (born 1971) an actor who played Parker Lloyd Lewis in the early 1990s television series Parker Lewis Can't Lose and Jonas Quinn in Stargate SG-1.

Others in the entertainment industry

• Matt Besser (born 1967), a comedian, was born in the city.

• Linda Bloodworth-Thomason (born 1947), a film and television producer and director best known for the television series Designing Women. She and her husband, Harry Thomason, are close friends of Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton and played a major role in President Clinton's election campaigns.

• John Braden (1949–2004), a writer, producer, and director of movies and television programs, was born in the city.

• Jim Dickinson a record producer, pianist and singer born in the city.

• Danielle Evans is an American fashion model who won Cycle 6 of UPN's hit show America's Next Top Model

• David Gordon Green (born 1975), a filmmaker, was born in the city.

• Lee Elhardt Hays (1914–1981), a folk-singer and songwriter best known for singing bass with the Weavers, was born in the city.

• Al Hibbler (1915–2001), a blind singer who worked eight years with Duke Ellington before becoming a soloist with several hits and a civil rights activist in the late 1950s and 1960s, was born in the city.

• Bill Hicks (1961–1994), comedian, lived in the city.

• Harry Thomason (born 1940), a film and television producer and director best known for the television series Designing Women. Thomason and his wife Linda Bloodworth-Thomason are close friends of Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton and played a major role in President Clinton's election campaigns. He was a Little Rock, Arkansas high school speech teacher and football Coach.

• Johnny Cash born J. R. Cash, (February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003)

Sports people

Baseball

• Glenn Abbott (born 1951), a former professional baseball player who pitched in the Major Leagues from 1973–1981 and 1983–1984, was born in the city.

• Bill Dickey (1907–1993), a Major League Baseball player and manager in the Baseball Hall of Fame after playing his entire career with the New York Yankees, lived much of his life in the city.

• Randy Jackson, born in Little Rock, Major League Baseball player

• Kevin McReynolds (born 1959), former outfielder/designated hitter who played for baseball teams including the San Diego Padres and New York Mets, was born in the city.

• Brooks Robinson, born in Little Rock, member of the Baseball Hall of Fame

Football

• Walt Coleman, National Football League referee and owner and operator of Coleman Dairy. Coleman is infamous for the playoff game between the Oakland Raiders and New England Patriots which incorporated the "Tuck Rule".

• Steve Foley (born 1975]), a professional linebacker for the San Diego Chargers, is a former resident.

• Ken Kavanaugh (born 1916) was a professional football player, 1940–1950, for the Chicago Bears.

• Lawrence Phillips (born 1975), a former professional American football and Canadian football running back, was born in the city.

Other sports

• John Kocinski (born 1967), a retired motorcycle road racer who won the 1990 250cc World Championship, and the 1997 World Superbike title, was born in the city.

• Jermain Taylor (born 1978), the current Undisputed World middleweight boxing champion, was born in the city.

Writers, journalists

• Margot Adler, a journalist born in Little Rock

• Joe Bob Briggs is a pseudonym and persona of John Irving Bloom (b. 1953), a syndicated American film critic, writer and actor, was raised in the city.

• Dee Brown (1908–2002), a novelist and historian whose most famous work is Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, grew up partly in the city.

• Helen Gurley Brown (born 1922), an author, publisher, and businesswoman who was editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine for 32 years, was raised in the city.

• John Gould Fletcher (1886–1950), a Pulitzer Prize winning Imagist poet and author, was born in the city.

• Fred Graham (born 1931), chief anchor and managing editor of Court TV, was born in the city.

• E. Lynn Harris (born 1955), a gay, black author with five novels that have hit the The New York Times Best Seller list, was raised in Little Rock.

• Robert Palmer (born 1945), a journalist, author of books about music and a musician, was born in the city.

• Charles Willeford (1919–1988) an author of detective novels and other books, was born in the city.

Politics, government, military

Bill Clinton, 42nd President of the United States

• Wayne H. Babbitt (1928–1994), veterinarian, Republican politician, GOP nominee against U.S. Senator John L. McClellan in 1972

• Daisy Bates (1914–1999), a civil rights leader, journalist, publisher, and author who lived in the city.

• Carmen Twillie, (19??) lawyer and politican, dean of Douglass College.

• Len E. Blaylock, Republican political activist, gubernatorial nominee in 1972, former state party chairman. Lives in Perry County.

• Bill Clinton, former President of the United States and governor of the state, lived in the city.

• Hillary Rodham Clinton, U.S. Senator from New York, wife of Bill Clinton, former first lady of Arkansas, first lady in the White House, lived in the city.

• Thomas James Churchill (1824–1905), a Confederate States of America major general during the American Civil War and a governor of the state, moved to the city in 1848.

• Ken Coon, Republican Party activist, former gubernatorial candidate, state party chairman and a Little Rock psychologist and educator.

• Orval Eugene Faubus (1906–1994), a six-term Governor of Arkansas, infamous for his 1957 stand against integration of Little Rock schools in defiance of U.S. Supreme Court rulings. Lived in Conway in later years.

• Carlos Hathcock (1942–1999), a legendary Marine sniper during the Vietnam War.

• Thomas C. Hindman (1828–1868), a U.S. Representative representing Arkansas and a Major General in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He was assassinated in 1868.

• Douglas MacArthur, U.S. general, was born in the city.

• Albert Pike (1809–1891) an attorney, soldier, writer, Freemason and the only Confederate military officer or figure to be honored with a statue in Washington D.C, lived for a time in Little Rock.

• Wade Rathke, the founder and chief organizer of ACORN, a nationwide poverty advocacy group for the poor that grew out of efforts he started in Little Rock.

• John Selden Roane (1817–1867) was a Confederate Brigadier General during the American Civil War. He also served as Governor of the State of Arkansas. he died in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and is buried at Oaklawn Cemetery in Little Rock.

• Pratt C. Remmel (1915–1991), businessman and only Republican mayor of Little Rock in the 20th century; GOP candidate for governor against Orval Faubus in 1954. He was born, lived, and died in Little Rock and is buried in Oaklawn Cemetery.

• Winthrop Rockefeller (1912–1973), businessman, philanthropist, and the first Republican governor of Arkansas since Reconstruction and the grandson of John D. Rockefeller, lived in the city and in Conway County.

• Leona Troxell (1913–2003), longtime Republican national committeewoman from Arkansas and associate of Winthrop Rockefeller, lived in Rose Bud in White County.

Others

• E. Fay Jones, (1921–2004), a noted architect and designer and an apprentice of Frank Lloyd Wright.

• Frank Pace, Jr. (1912–1988), first president of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a Secretary of the Army and president of General Dynamics Corporation, was born in the city.

• Scott E. Parazynski (born 1961), an astronaut and veteran of four space flights, was born in the city.

• Richard Thalheimer (born 1948), founder, CEO and chairman of the Sharper Image Corporation. Thalheimer is a graduate of Hall High School in Little Rock.

References

Reichler, Joseph L., ed. (1979) [1969]. The Baseball Encyclopedia (4th edition ed.). New York: Macmillan Publishing. ISBN 0-02-578970-8. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)