# List of people from Tallahassee, Florida

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

* 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

### Space exploration

* 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

* 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)
* 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

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

## Business

* 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

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

### Acting

* Kay Aldridge – model and actress
* Matt Battaglia – actor and former NFL player
* Brad Davis – actor (Midnight Express, Querelle)
* Cathy Jenéen Doe – actress
* 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

* 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

* 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

* 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

## Infamy

* Marshall Ledbetter – protester who took over the Florida capitol building
* Wade Wilson – serial killer, also known as the "Deadpool Killer" due to the fact that they share a name

## Music

* 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
* Roland Kent LaVoie (born July 31, 1943), better known by his stage name Lobo (Spanish for "wolf") – singer-songwriter who was successful in the 1970s
* Mayday Parade – band formed in 2005, the result of a merger between two local Tallahassee bands, Kid Named Chicago and Defining Moment
* K. Michelle (born Kimberly Michelle Pate) – reality TV personality and R&B singer
* Jim Morrison – lead singer and lyricist of The Doors
* Real Boston Richey – rapper, songwriter
* 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
* Luh Tyler – rapper, songwriter

### Composition

* 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

* 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)
* 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
* Corey Fuller – played for FSU's football team, later became a wide receiver for the Vikings, Browns and Ravens
* Amari Gainer – professional American football player for the Las Vegas Raiders
* Michael Gaines – tight end for the Detroit Lions
* DaVanche (Ron) Galimore – member of 1980 U.S. Summer Olympics team
* 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
* Mike "11" Martin – all-Ttme winningest coach in NCAA Division I College Baseball; 2019 inductee in National College Baseball Hall of Fame
* Nevin McCaskill – NFL player for the Green Bay Packers
* 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
* 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
* Elise Ray – gymnast, represented United States in 2000 Olympic Games
* Gabrielle Reece – professional volleyball player, model
* David Ross – MLB catcher
* 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
* Wally Williams – NFL (1993-2003), Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens, and New Orleans Saints; first franchise player in Ravens history
* Jameis Winston – 2014 Heisman winner and quarterback for the Cleveland Browns
* Woody Woodward – MLB shortstop, Braves, Reds; FSU Baseball head coach (1975–78); MLB GM, Yankees, Phillies, Mariners

## Visual arts

* Karl Zerbe – expressionist painter using the encaustic painting technique