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.
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.
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.
- Sports
- Music
- Film & TV
- Politics & Law
- Writing
- Science
- Other
- Filtered to 1930s Clear ×
Morgan Freeman
Born 1937
George Hamilton (actor)
Born 1939
Lane Smith
1936 - 2005
William Eggleston
Born 1939
Hal Needham
1931 - 2013
Junior Wells
1934 - 1998
Charles Lloyd (jazz musician)
Born 1938
Johnny Burnette
1934 - 1964
Anne Haney
1934 - 2001
Jack Clement
1931 - 2013
William Bell (singer)
Born 1939
Red West
1936 - 2017
Jon Hassell
Born 1937
George Coleman
Born 1935
Booker Little
1938 - 1961
Dorsey Burnette
1932 - 1979
Harold Mabern
1936 - 2019
Hank Crawford
1934 - 2009
Al Jackson Jr.
1935 - 1975
Jim Sasser
Born 1936
Dickey Lee
Born 1936
Kirk Fordice
1934 - 2004
Jamil Nasser
1932 - 2010
Louis Smith (musician)
1931 - 2016
Eddie Bond
1933 - 2013
Marvin Stamm
Born 1939
Frank Strozier
Born 1937
John S. Bull
1934 - 2008
Abu Talib (musician)
1939 - 2009
Lewie Steinberg
1933 - 2016
William Armstrong Percy III
Born 1933
Macon McCalman
1932 - 2005
Garnett Brown
Born 1936
John William Corrington
1932 - 1988
Barbara Pittman
1938 - 2005
Luther Tucker
1936 - 1993
Maury Klein
Born 1939
William Vollie Alexander Jr.
Born 1934
Richard "Pistol" Allen
1932 - 2002
David Galloway (writer)
Born 1937
Jimmy Van Eaton
Born 1937
Paul Craft
1938 - 2014
Sonny West (actor)
1938 - 2017
Ed Gregory
Born 1931
Jerry York (businessman)
1938 - 2010
Vada Pinson
1938 - 1995
Ellis Rabb
1930 - 1998
William Poduska
Born 1937
Bette Greene
1934 - 2020
Kenneth T. Jackson
Born 1939
Matt Lucas (singer)
Born 1935
Evans Bradshaw
1933 - 1978
Marino Casem
1934 - 2020
Mignon Dunn
Born 1931
Beverly Lowry
Born 1938
George Klein (DJ)
1935 - 2019
Dorothy Butler Gilliam
Born 1936
Walt Streuli
1935 - 2017
Ray Crone
Born 1931
Augustus A. White
Born 1936
P. Buford Price
Born 1932
Clarence Adams (Korean War)
1930 - 1999
Richard Lang (réalisateur)
1939 - 1997
Milton Glick
1937 - 2011
Dan Cashman
1933 - 2019
Harry F. Barnes
1932 - 2019
Norma Jean Lang
Born 1931
Johnny Bernero
1931 - 2001
Mark Freeman (baseball)
1930 - 2006
George L. Forbes
Born 1931
Hillman Robbins
1932 - 1981
Charles Thomas (pianiste de jazz)
1935 - 1999
Emerson Able
1931 - 2015
J. O. Patterson Jr.
1935 - 2011
Morris D. Busby
Born 1938
Hugh E. DeWitt
1930 - 2014
Don Leppert (second baseman)
Born 1930
Robert Ginnaven
1937 - 2008
Beverly Marrero
Born 1939
Ronald W. Yates
Born 1938
Harvey Branch
Born 1939
Robert M. MacQueen
Born 1938
William G. Leftwich Jr.
1931 - 1970
Odell McBrayer
1930 - 2008
Mae Wheeler
1934 - 2011
Buddy Leake
1933 - 2014
William Lucy (labor leader)
Born 1933
Guido Grilli
Born 1939
Arthur L. Hall
1934 - 2000
Nancy Tatum
Born 1931
Curtis S. Person Jr.
1934 - 2020
Harper Brewer Jr.
Born 1937