35.2064° N, 90.0889° W

MEMPHIS

Most Famous People Born in Memphis, United States

Notable people
950
Peak decade
1940s
Median birth year
1953
Most distinctive
Rapper 16.4×

The 7.4× songwriter over-index is Stax and Sun Studio in one number — the city where Aretha Franklin was born and Elvis is buried still disproportionately manufactures the people who write American pop. The 16.4× rapper multiplier is a newer chapter, Three 6 Mafia and a generation of Memphis horror-rap running through the same neighborhoods that taught Morgan Freeman his accent.

Through the Decades

One face per decade — the most globally famous figure born in Memphis during each.

Notable Births by Decade

Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1940s with 127 notable births.

What Memphis Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Football is Memphis's biggest profession — 15% of all notables (140).

Memphis over-indexes on rapper — 16.4× the global rate.

Memphis under-produces politician — only 0.6× the global rate.

  1. Football140
  2. Basket91
  3. Actor69
  4. Singer68
  5. Politician67
  6. Music61
  7. Baseball57
  8. Lawyer25
  1. Rapper1716.4×
  2. Basket917.6×
  3. Songwriter137.4×
  4. Baseball575.3×
  5. Music614.5×
  6. Pianist114.3×
  7. Singer683.5×
  8. Lawyer251.5×
  1. Politician670.6×
  2. Writer200.7×

Profession Mix Over Time

Each band shows a profession family's share of Memphis's notable births by decade. Hover the chart for the breakdown at any decade.

1700175018001850190019502000
  • Sports
  • Music
  • Film & TV
  • Politics & Law
  • Writing
  • Science
  • Other
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Showing 58 of 950 notable people

0027 MUSIC

Koko Taylor

1928 - 2009

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0043 MUSIC

Johnny Ace

1929 - 1954

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0049 MUSIC

Bill Black

1926 - 1965

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0077 GUITAR

Luther Perkins

1928 - 1968

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0088 LITERARY

E. D. Hirsch

Born 1928

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0099 MUSIC

Sonny Criss

1927 - 1977

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0103 WRITER

Louise Fitzhugh

1928 - 1974

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0136 SINGER

Rosco Gordon

1928 - 2002

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0147 COMPOSER

Anita Kerr

Born 1927

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0160 SINGER

Willie Mabon

1925 - 1985

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0200 ACTOR

Barbara Cason

1928 - 1990

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0255 SINGER

Willie Nix

1922 - 1991

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0292 HISTORIAN

Speros Vryonis

1928 - 2019

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0326 MUSIC

Chris Woods (musician)

1925 - 1985

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0330 LAWYER

Jack Hightower

1926 - 2013

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0345 ACTOR

Ainslie Pryor

1921 - 1958

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0357 BANDLEADER

Ben Branch

1924 - 1987

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0359 PHOTOGRAPHER

Ernest Withers

1922 - 2007

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0369 CIVIL RIGHTS

Benjamin Hooks

1925 - 2010

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0380 POLITICIAN

Bill Slavick

Born 1927

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0399 FOOTBALL

Tommy Prothro

1920 - 1995

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0427 WRITER

Lloyd Thaxton

1927 - 2008

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0466 JOURNALIST

John Herbers

1923 - 2017

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0476 ACTIVIST

Evelyn G. Lowery

1925 - 2013

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0488 ACTOR

Arthur Julian

1923 - 1995

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0490 ACTOR

George Touliatos

1929 - 2017

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0493 PIANIST

Joseph Scianni

Born 1928

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0496 JUDGE

Harry W. Wellford

Born 1924

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0508 PRIEST

Angelo Thomas Acerra

1925 - 1990

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0509 TRANSLATOR

James A. Sanders

1927 - 2020

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0568 MODEL

Barbara Jo Walker

1926 - 2000

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0590 POLITICIAN

Lloyd Barbee

1925 - 2002

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0599 JUDGE

Charles Clark (judge)

1925 - 2011

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0619 FOOTBALL

Harry Thompson (American football)

1926 - 2003

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0624 LAWYER

Otis M. Smith

1922 - 1994

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0635 FOOTBALL

Joe Signaigo

1923 - 2007

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0640 SINGER

Othella Dallas

Born 1925

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0647 COACH

Doug Porter

Born 1929

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0677 SPORT

Jack Cristil

1925 - 2014

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0679 BUSINESS

Joe Bihari

1925 - 2013

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0717 LAW

Vol Dooley

1927 - 2014

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0732 CIVIL RIGHTS

Maxine Smith

1929 - 2013

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0736 INVENTOR

Harold von Braunhut

1926 - 2003

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0739 AUTHOR

Walt Richmond

1922 - 1977

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0763 BASEBALL

Joe B. Scott

1920 - 2013

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0783 FOOTBALL

Burl Toler

1928 - 2009

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0791 FOOTBALL

Dick Danehe

1920 - 2018

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0815 OFFICER

John Keith Wells

1922 - 2016

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0830 BASEBALL

Art Pennington

1923 - 2017

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0868 POLITICIAN

Russell Sugarmon

1929 - 2019

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0871 PHYSICIAN

John J. Shea Jr.

1924 - 2015

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0886 JUDGE

Robert Malcolm McRae Jr.

1921 - 2004

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0889 MUSIC

Andy Goodrich

1928 - 2008

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0902 ENTREPRENEUR

Granville Semmes

1927 - 2012

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0914 POLITICIAN

E. William Henry

Born 1929

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0929 FOOTBALL

Ed Withers

1926 - 1975

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0938 POLITICIAN

Bob Hawks (Tennessee politician)

Born 1926

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0941 PERFORMER

Lou Wills Hildreth

1928 - 2019

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