List of people from Charleston, South Carolina
This is a list of notable people who were either born in, or have lived in, Charleston, South Carolina.
Athletes
- Kwame Brown (born 1982), basketball player
- Beth Daniel (born 1956), professional golfer
- Bud Moore (born 1941), NASCAR driver
- Anthony Johnson (born 1974), retired NBA player
- Josh Powell (born 1983), NBA player
- Laron Profit (born 1977), former NBA player
- Katrina McClain Johnson (born 1965), Olympic gold medalist/retired WNBA player
- Nehemiah Broughton (born 1982), NFL player
- Oronde Gadsen (born 1971), former NFL player
- David Meggett (born 1966), former NFL player
- Art Shell (born 1946), former NFL coach and player
- Langston Moore (born 1981), former NFL player
- Roddy White (born 1981), NFL player
- Luther Broughton (born 1974), former NFL player
- Ovie Mughelli (born 1980), NFL player
- Carlos Dunlap (born 1989), NFL player
- Robert Quinn (born 1990), NFL player
- AJ Green (born 1988), NFL player
- Harold Green (born 1968), former NFL player
Entertainers
- Stephen Colbert (born 1964), comedian
- Andy Dick (born 1965), comedian
- Thomas Gibson (born 1962), actor
- Logan Marshall-Green (born 1976), actor
- Elise Testone (born 1983), singer, American Idol finalist
- Mabel King (1932–1999), actress
- Will Patton (born 1954), actor
- Bill Murray (born 1950), actor, comedian
- Darius Rucker (born 1966), lead singer of Hootie & the Blowfish
- Melanie Thornton (1967–2001), singer and former member of La Bouche
- Shanola Hampton (born 1977), actress
Military figures
- Mark Wayne Clark (1896–1984), United States Army general of World War II and the Korean War
- Benjamin Huger (1805–1877), Confederate Army general
- Robert C. Richardson, Jr. (1882–1954), United States Army general of World War II
- William Childs Westmoreland (1914–2005),United States Army general of Vietnam. U. S. Army Chief of Staff (1968–1972)
Political figures
- William Aiken, Jr. (1806–1887), Governor of South Carolina[1]
- Judah P. Benjamin (1811–1884), U.S. Senator from Louisiana, Confederate States Secretary of State and Attorney General
- James Francis Byrnes (1879–1972), U.S. Representative and Senator, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, Secretary of State, and Governor of South Carolina
- Edward Rutledge, Signed the U.S. Declaration of Independence - Governor of South Carolina 1798 thru 1800
- John C. Calhoun (1782–1850), U.S. Representative and Senator, Vice President, Secretary of State, and Secretary of War
- Floride Calhoun (1792–1866), Second Lady of the United States and wife of John C. Calhoun
- John Rutledge, President of South Carolina, 1776 thru 1778 - Commander and Chief of South Carolina forces during Revolutionary War - Governor of South Carolina 1779 thru 1782 - 2nd Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court - Signed the U.S. Constitution.
- William Drayton, Sr. (1733–1790), associate justice of South Carolina Supreme Court[1]
- Christopher Gadsden (1724–1805), American Revolutionary War leader
- James Gadsden (1788–1858), U.S. minister to Mexico, president of the South Carolina Railroad Company
- Robert Young Hayne (1791–1839), Mayor of Charleston (1836–1837), United States Senator (1823–1833), Governor of South Carolina[2]
- Thomas Heyward, Jr. (1746–1809), signer of the United States Declaration of Independence
- Fritz Hollings (born 1922), United States Senator from South Carolina, Governor and Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina
- Henry Laurens (1724–1792), American Revolutionary War leader
- Burnet Maybank (1899–1954), Charleston mayor (1931–1935), South Carolina governor (1939–1941), and United States Senator from South Carolina[3]
- Burnet Maybank II, lawyer and Lieutenant governor of South Carolina[citation needed]
- Christopher Memminger (1803–1888), Confederate Minister of the Treasury, proponent of public schools
- William Porcher Miles (1822–1899), lawyer, Mayor of Charleston 1855-1857, U.S. Representative from South Carolina, member of the Confederate Congress, designed the Confederate battle flag[4]
- William McGillivray Morrison, elected Mayor 1947.[5]
- Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (1746–1825), American Revolutionary War leader, United States Ambassador to France, Federalist candidate for President in the 1804 and 1808 United States presidential elections
- Joel Roberts Poinsett (1779–1851), botanist, politician, and diplomat; U.S. Representative, United States Ambassador to Mexico, Secretary of War, founded precursor to the Smithsonian Institution; namesake of the poinsettia
- Joseph P. Riley, Jr. (born 1943), Mayor of Charleston since 1975
- Henry William de Saussure (1763–1839) second director of United States Mint, intendant (mayor) of Charleston
- James Skivring Smith (1825–1884), President of Liberia 1871–1872
- George Alfred Trenholm (1807–1876), Confederate States Secretary of the Treasury
- Thomas Parker (district attorney) (1760—1820), U.S. District Attorney for S.C. 1792–1820; married daughter of William Henry Drayton, Mary Drayton[6]
Scientists
- Robert Furchgott (1916-2009), biochemist and Nobel Laureate
- Ernest Everett Just (1883–1941), biologist
- William Charles Wells (1757–1817), physician
- Edward Frost Parker (1910–1998), Physician
Writers and artists
- David Carson (Born 1956), Graphic Designer
- Arthur Freed (1894–1973) Hollywood producer, composer, and writer
- Shepard Fairey (1970) Artist known for Andre the Giant "Obey" and Barack Obama "Hope" stencil pieces.
- Frank Bunker Gilbreth, Jr. (1911–2001), author, noted for Cheaper by the Dozen
- Dubose Heyward (1885–1940) writer and lyricist, noted for Porgy and Bess
- Robert Jordan (1948–2007) novelist, author of the The Wheel of Time series
- Carew Rice (1899–1971), silhouettist
- Alexandra Ripley (1934–2004), author, noted for Scarlett
- Philip Simmons (1912–2009), ironworker
- William Gilmore Simms (1806–1870) poet, novelist, and historian
- Frank Lebby Stanton (1857–1927), lyricist, columnist for the Atlanta Constitution, author of the words for "Just Awearyin' for You"[7]
- Norb Vonnegut (born 1958), author
- Kali Bowyer (born 1973), journalist, celebrity publicist, and author
Other
- William Abbott, manager of the New Charleston Theatre [1]
- Frank Birnbaum, notable 20th century Jewish cantor
- Septima Poinsette Clark (1898–1987), educator, civil rights activist; "grandmother of the American civil rights movement"
- Lauren Hutton (born 1943), model
- Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson (1905–1968), well known African American mob boss
- Sallie Krawcheck (born 1964), Citigroup chief financial officer
- Samuel Maverick (1803–1870), firebrand rancher from whom the term "maverick" was coined.
- Burnet Maybank III, lawyer and two time head of the South Carolina Department of Revenue
- Robert Mills (1781–1855), architect
- Vanessa Minnillo (born 1980), Miss USA 1998, MTV VJ, and Entertainment Tonight correspondent
- Merton Simpson, (born 1928), abstract expressionist artist, African art collector, musician
- Denmark Vesey (1767–1822), freedman tried and executed for allegedly plotting a slave revolt
- J. Waites Waring (1880–1968), United States District Court for the District of South Carolina judge; was part of three-judge panel that heard the school desegregation case Briggs v. Elliott
- David Stahl, Conductor
- Molly O'Connell, runner up of ANTM 16 contestant
References
- ^ a b c d Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607-1896. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who. 1963.
- ^ "Robert Young Hayne" http://www.HalseyMap.com/Flash/mayors-detail.asp?polID=28
- ^ "Burnet Rhett Maybank" http://www.HalseyMap.com/Flash/mayors-detail.asp?polID=44
- ^ "William Porcher Miles" http://www.HalseyMap.com/Flash/mayors-detail.asp?polID=32
- ^ "William McGillivray Morrison" http://www.halseymap.com/Flash/mayors-detail.asp?polID=51
- ^ O'Neall, John Belton (1859). "Thomas Parker". Biographical sketches of the bench and bar of South Carolina 2. Charleston, S.C.: S.G. Courtenay & Co. pp. 47–50. Retrieved October 21, 2011.
- ^ See references in the Frank Lebby Stanton article.
