List of people from Mobile, Alabama

This is a list of notable people (past and present) born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with the city of Mobile, Alabama.
Literature
Winston Groom, author, best known for Forrest Gump
William March, author and World War I veteran
William P. McGivern, author
John Travis Nixon, newspaper publisher in Monroe and Crowley, Louisiana; formerly worked as a journalist in Mobile; died in Mobile in 1909
Stanley R. Tiner, journalist for Mobile Press-Register and The Sun Herald in Biloxi-Gulfport, Mississippi; Tiner and staff won 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Hurricane Katrina coverage
Arts and entertainment
Yolande Betbeze, Miss America 1951
Bob Holly, professional wrestler known as "Hardcore Holly"
Bill Moody, professional wrestling manager known as Percy Pringle and Paul Bearer
Geoff Ramsey, co-founder of Rooster Teeth
Eugene Walter, labeled "Mobile's Renaissance Man" for diverse activities the arts; interred in 1998 in historic Church Street Graveyard by special resolution of the city
Business
Tim Cook, CEO of Apple Inc.
Lonnie Johnson, inventor of the Super Soaker
Movie and television
Laverne Cox, actress and producer
Phil Gordon, actor and dialect coach
Orlando Jones, comedian and actor
Jonathan Mangum, host, Let's Make a Deal
Fayard Nicholas, dancer of the Nicholas Brothers
Dan Povenmire, television director, television writer, and producer
Historic
Joseph Stillwell Cain, Jr., largely credited with the rebirth of Mardi Gras celebrations in Mobile after the Civil War; city celebrates Joe Cain Day on the Sunday before Mardi Gras
Octavia Walton Le Vert, socialite and writer
Joseph Paul Franklin, serial killer
Military
Lloyd Austin, 28th United States Secretary of Defense
Jeremiah Denton, admiral, United States Navy
William Crawford Gorgas, physician and 22nd Surgeon General of the United States Army; known for his work in abating the transmission of yellow fever and malaria
John D. New, United States Marine in World War II, only Mobile native to be awarded the Medal of Honor; Cottage Hill Park was renamed Medal of Honor Park in his honor, and Pixie Street was renamed PFC John D. New Drive
Admiral Raphael Semmes, captain of the CSS Alabama during the American Civil War; resident of Mobile; the Mobile suburb of Semmes is named in his honor
Music
The Band Perry, sibling country music trio
Jimmy Buffett, vocalist, songwriter and entrepreneur
Elley Duhe, singer and songwriter
James Reese Europe, conductor and composer
Urban Clifford "Urbie" Green, professional jazz trombonist
Allison Moorer, Oscar-nominated songwriter
Bernard Odum, bass player, best known for performing in James Brown's band
Rich Boy, hip hop artist
Ray Sawyer, lead vocalist of Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show
Beverly Jo Scott, singer and songwriter
John "Jabo" Starks, funk and rhythm and blues drummer
Ward Swingle, jazz vocalist
Fred Wesley, jazz and funk trombonist
Cootie Williams, jazz and rhythm and blues trumpeter, performed with Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman
Political
Bidwell Adam, Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi from 1928 to 1932, born in Mobile in 1894; raised in Pass Christian, Mississippi
Ann Bedsole, member of Alabama House of Representatives 1979-1983 and Alabama State Senate 1983-1995; candidate for governor 1995 and for mayor of Mobile, 2005
Jo Bonner, former U.S. Representative from Alabama's 1st congressional district
Frank Boykin, represented Mobile in Congress for 28 years
Sanford Bishop, Democratic Party, member of the United States House of Representatives
Mark E. Clayton, Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate from Tennessee in 2012; born in Mobile
Margaret Conditt, Ohio State Representative, a Republican member; born in Mobile
Mike Dow, four-term mayor of Mobile
Vivian Davis Figures, Democratic member of the Alabama State Senate
Alexis Herman, Democratic Party, served as the 23rd U.S. Secretary of Labor under President Bill Clinton
Ethan Allen Hitchcock, U.S. minister to Russia under President William McKinley, U.S. Secretary of the Interior under President Theodore Roosevelt
Samuel L. Jones, Democratic Party, elected as in 2005 as Mobile's first African American mayor
Sybil I. McLaughlin, first Clerk and Speaker in the Cayman Islands government
Joseph C. Mitchell, Democrat member of Alabama House of Representatives from District 103
Bert Nettles, Republican former member of the Alabama House of Representatives from Mobile; subsequently a lawyer in Birmingham
William Holcombe "Bill" Pryor, Jr., Republican Party, former Attorney General of Alabama; federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
Jeff Sessions, Republican Party, formerly Attorney General of Alabama; United States Senator
Donald Eugene Siegelman, Democratic Party, only person in Alabama history elected to serve in all four top statewide offices: Secretary of State, Attorney General, Lieutenant Governor and Governor
Tom Turnipseed, executive director of George Wallace's 1968 presidential campaign who became a liberal activist in South Carolina, born in Mobile
Religious
Oscar Hugh Lipscomb, first Archbishop of Mobile (Roman Catholic) and its eighth bishop
Dominic Manucy, third Bishop of Mobile
Michael Portier, first Bishop of Mobile
Abram Joseph Ryan, poet, Roman Catholic priest at St. Mary's parish; known as "Poet-priest of the South"
Thomas Joseph Toolen, sixth Bishop of Mobile
Athletics
Mobile is the birthplace of five members of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Only New York City and Chicago can claim to be the birthplace of more members of the Hall.