List of people from Tallahassee, Florida

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "List of people from Tallahassee, Florida" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (July 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

This is a list of notable people who were either born or raised, or have lived for a significant period of time in the Tallahassee, Florida metropolitan area.

## Academics, education, and research

[edit]

Konrad Emil Bloch, Nobel-winning biochemist G. Gabrielle Starr, president of Pomona College

* Roy Baumeister – psychologist of self-control
* Konrad E. Bloch – Nobel Prize-winning biochemist, who helped learn about the functioning of cholesterol
* Mark Frederick Boyd \- malariologist and writer
* James M. Buchanan – winner of Nobel Prize in economics
* Talbot "Sandy" D'Alemberte – attorney, civil-rights activist, former dean of the Florida State University Law School, former president of Florida State University, president of the American Bar Association and the American Judicature Society
* Paul Dirac – Nobel Prize-winning physicist whose theories predicted antimatter
* Sylvia Earle – former chief scientist for the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
* Neil Frank – former director of the National Hurricane Center
* Fred Gainous – former president of Florida A & M University, 2002–2004; former chancellor of the Alabama College System's Department of Postsecondary Education; associate vice president of St. Petersburg College
* Robert A. Holton – chemist and inventor of Taxol
* Tim Howard – president and founder of Cambridge Graduate University international, former head of doctorate program of Law & Policy at Northeastern University, former Assistant Attorney General of Florida
* Sir Harold Kroto – Nobel Prize-winning chemist who helped discover fullerenes
* Max Mayfield – former director of the National Hurricane Center
* Alfred Mele – philosopher of free will
* Robert S. Mulliken – physicist and chemist who won both the Priestley Medal and the Nobel Prize
* Michel Oksenberg – China scholar, member of National Security Council
* X. William Proenza – former director of the National Hurricane Center
* Michael Ruse – philosopher, historian of science, noteworthy atheist
* Robert Schrieffer – Nobel Laureate, BCS Theory of Superconductivity
* E. Lee Spence – underwater archeologist
* G. Gabrielle Starr – president of Pomona College[1]

### Space exploration

[edit]

* Carolyn S. Griner – former director of the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
* Winston Scott – NASA astronaut
* Norman Thagard – NASA astronaut; flew on three different U.S. Space Shuttles, and on one Russian mission to the Mir space station

## Authors

[edit]

Robert Olen Butler, Pulitzer-winning author

* Jesse Bullington – Fantasy novelist; also published as Alex Marshall
* Robert Olen Butler – Pulitzer Prize-winning author for A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain (fiction)
* Lisa De Pasquale – political writer and columnist
* Doug Marlette – Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist
* Leora Bettison Robinson (1840-1914) – author, educator
* Jeff Shaara – New York Times bestselling author of historical fiction
* Michael Shaara – Pulitzer prize-winning author (for The Killer Angels)
* Jeff VanderMeer – World Fantasy Award-winning author (for the novella The Transformation of Martin Lake)

## Aviation

[edit]

* Jerrie Mock – aviator and first woman to fly around the world solo

## Business

[edit]

* Wally Amos – founder of the "Famous Amos" chocolate chip cookie brand; actor
* Eugene Figg – engineer for such bridges as Sunshine Skyway Bridge, Linn Cove Viaduct, and Natchez Trace Parkway Bridge
* Robert B. Hilton – Tallahassee newspaper owner and Confederate congressman during the American Civil War

## Film, television, and radio

[edit]

Jim Cramer, TV host

* Red Barber – sportscaster, Radio Hall of Fame member
* Jim Cramer – host of CNBC's Mad Money

### Acting

[edit]

Faye Dunaway, actress

* Kay Aldridge – model and actress
* Matt Battaglia – actor and former NFL player
* Cathy Jenéen Doe – actress
* Brad Davis – actor (Midnight Express, Querelle)
* Kyan Douglas – the "grooming expert" from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy
* Faye Dunaway – actress, Academy Award winner for Network
* Tony Hale – actor, played Byron "Buster" Bluth on Arrested Development
* Cheryl Hines – actress, two-time Emmy nominee for Curb your Enthusiasm, director, married to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
* Polly Holliday – actress, Golden Globe winner (for television series Alice)
* Will Kirby – Big Brother 2 (2001) winner
* Christine Lahti – film actress and director, winner of Academy Award for Leiberman in Love, two Golden Globes and Emmy for Chicago Hope
* Burt Reynolds – Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning, Oscar-nominated actor, attended FSU
* Anika Noni Rose – Tony Award-winning actress, as Emmie Thibodeaux in Caroline, or Change
* Sonny Shroyer – actor who played deputy sheriff on The Dukes of Hazzard
* Roy Wood, Jr. – comedian and actor on The Daily Show

### Writing and production

[edit]

* Jim Butterworth – documentary filmmaker, winner of DuPont-Columbia Award for Seoul Train
* Ron J. Friedman – writer of Disney's Academy Award-nominated film Brother Bear

## Government and politics

[edit]

Reubin Askew, governor of Florida

* Art Agnos – former mayor of San Francisco, California
* Reubin Askew – politician, former governor of Florida
* Bobby Brantley – lieutenant governor of Florida 1987–1991
* Lawton Chiles – politician and FSU research fellow; former US Senator and Governor of Florida
* LeRoy Collins – politician and Governor of Florida; the only Tallahassee native to serve as Florida's governor
* Parris Glendening – former Governor of Maryland
* Carla Hayden – 14th Librarian of Congress
* Scott Maddox – former mayor of Tallahassee
* John Marks – Mayor of Tallahassee 2003-2014
* Kenneth Minihan – former director of the National Security Agency
* Nell Foster Rogers – lobbyist
* Orson Swindle – commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission
* Gregory Tony (born 1978) – Sheriff of Broward County, Florida
* Craig Waters – spokesman for the Florida Supreme Court

## Historical people

[edit]

* Catherine Willis Gray Murat – great-grandniece of George Washington
* Prince Achille Murat – nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte
* Charles Kenzie Steele – clergyman and civil rights activist
* Ernest I. Thomas – raiser of the original flag at Iwo Jima[2]

## Infamy

[edit]

* Marshall Ledbetter – protester who took over the Florida capitol building

## Music

[edit]

Cannonball Adderley, left, saxophonist

* Luh Tyler – rapper, songwriter
* Cannonball Adderley – jazz alto saxophone player, Grammy Award winner
* Nat Adderley – jazz cornet and trumpet player
* Ethel Cain (Hayden Anhedönia) – singer-songwriter, artist
* George Clinton – musician, founder of Funk bands Parliament and Funkadelic
* Rita Coolidge – Grammy Award-winning singer, "From the Bottle to the Bottom" and "Lover Please"
* Janice Harsanyi – vocalist and teacher
* Kenny Howes – rock musician
* K. Michelle (born Kimberly Michelle Pate) – reality TV personality and R&B singer
* Jim Morrison – lead singer and lyricist of The Doors
* Marcus Roberts – jazz pianist
* T-Pain (born Faheem Najm) – hip hop and R&B singer
* Butch Trucks (Claude Hudson Trucks) – drummer, member of the Allman Brothers band
* Mayday Parade \- Formed in 2005, the band was a result of a merger between two local Tallahassee bands, Kid Named Chicago and Defining Moment.

### Composition

[edit]

* Creed – rock band formed in Tallahassee
* Carlisle Floyd – opera composer, Susannah (1955) and others
* Marcus Roberts – jazz pianist, composer and music professor at Florida State University
* Morgan Sorne – singer-songwriter
* Ernst von Dohnányi – composer and pianist
* Ellen Taaffe Zwilich – Pulitzer prize-winning composer (for Three Movements for Orchestra (Symphony No. 1))

## Sports

[edit]

Walter Dix, sprinter

* David Ross (baseball) – MLB catcher
* Robert "Bobby" C. Bowden – college football coach, winner of two national championships
* Ricky Carmichael – motocross/supercross champion
* Kevin Carter – NFL defensive end
* Bradley Cooper – member of 1984 and 1988 Bahamas Summer Olympics team
* Gene Cox – State of Florida Sports Hall of Fame member (Leon High School football coach)[3]
* Antonio Cromartie – NFL player credited with the longest play in NFL history
* Kim Crosby – NASCAR driver, with a best race finish of 20th, in 2004
* Dwight F. Davis – founder of the international tennis Davis Cup
* Walter Dix – U.S. track team member and medalist at 2008 Beijing Olympics
* Warrick Dunn – FSU and NFL football star
* Carrie Englert (Zimmerman) – member of 1976 U.S. Summer Olympics team[4]
* Corey Fuller – played for FSU's football team, later became a wide receiver for the Vikings, Browns and Ravens
* Michael Gaines – tight end for the Detroit Lions
* DaVanche (Ron) Galimore – member of 1980 U.S. Summer Olympics team[4]
* Willie Galimore – member of College Football Hall of Fame, and NFL football player
* William Gay – NFL cornerback for the Pittsburgh Steelers
* Althea Gibson – winner of several Wimbledon and US Open tennis championships
* Frances C. Griscom – U.S. Women's amateur golf champion
* Ken Harnden – hurdler and sprinter who represented Zimbabwe in the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games
* Tahesia Harrigan – professional sprinter (BVI)
* Bob Hayes – sprinter and gold medal winner on 1964 U.S. Summer Olympics team; NFL football wide receiver for Dallas Cowboys
* Missy Hyatt – professional wrestling valet and commentator for World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling
* Taylor Jacobs – professional football player, wide receiver with Washington Redskins, San Francisco 49ers, and Denver Broncos
* Marty Jannetty – professional wrestler, best known for his work with WWE
* Reggie Jefferson – MLB player
* Brad Johnson – NFL quarterback
* Brandy Johnson – member of 1988 U.S. Summer Olympics team
* Desmond Koh – amateur swimmer who represented Singapore in the 1988, 1992, and 1996 Olympic Games
* Nevin McCaskill – NFL player for the Green Bay Packers
* Mike "11" Martin – All-Time winningest coach in NCAA Division I College Baseball; 2019 inductee in National College Baseball Hall of Fame
* Michelle McCool – World Wrestling Entertainment diva (formally Diva Champion)
* Fondren Mitchell – football player
* Brian Olson – member of 1996, 2000 and 2004 U.S. Summer Olympics teams[5]
* Burgess Owens – professional football player, member of Oakland Raider team that won Super Bowl XV
* Bill Peterson – college and NFL head football coach
* Zach Piller – NFL guard for the Tennessee Titans
* Don Pumphrey, Jr – offensive tackle for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers[6]
* Elise Ray – gymnast, represented United States in 2000 Olympic Games
* Gabrielle Reece – professional volleyball player, model
* Deion Sanders – FSU football star, NFL cornerback, Major League Baseball outfielder, NFL Network commentator
* Ernie Sims – NFL linebacker
* Dwight Smith – MLB outfielder
* Bobby Thigpen – MLB relief pitcher and coach
* Craphonso Thorpe – NFL wide receiver
* Marion Tinsley – world checkers champion 1955–58, 1975–91
* Charlie Ward – 1993 Heisman Trophy winner
* Pat Watkins – NFL safety for the Dallas Cowboys
* Chris Weinke – 2000 Heisman Trophy winner
* Boo Williams – NFL tight end for the New Orleans Saints
* Jameis Winston – 2014 Heisman winner and quarterback for the Tampa
* Woody Woodward – MLB shortstop - Braves, Reds; FSU Baseball Head Coach (1975–78); MLB GM - Yankees, Phillies, Mariners
* Wally Williams – NFL (1993-2003) Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens, and New Orleans Saints (First Franchise Player in Ravens History)

## Visual arts

[edit]

* Karl Zerbe – expressionist painter using the encaustic painting technique

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Xia, Rosanna (9 December 2016). "Pomona College's new president will be the first woman and African American to lead the campus". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
2. ^ van der Vat, Dan (1991). The Pacific Campaign. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-671-73899-2.
3. ^ Tallahassee Treasure Uncovered!
4. ^ a b "Tallahassee Tumbling Tots-8". Archived from the original on 2008-08-18. Retrieved 2008-06-17. Tallahassee Tumbling Tots' Olympians
5. ^ http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200880611021 "Olson vies for fourth straight Olympics in Judo" (Tallahassee Democrat, 11 June 2008)
6. ^ "Don Pumphrey: Career Stats at NFL.com". www.nfl.com. Retrieved 2019-07-15.