Famous People from Atlanta

Famous people who have lived in the area in and near Atlanta, Georgia, including both natives and residents.

Selected individuals taken from Wikipedia. To see the entire list, please click here.

·         Margaret Mitchell – 1937 Pulitzer Prize for the Novel Gone with the Wind

·         Alice Walker – 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction The Color Purple

·         Lewis Grizzard – journalist and author

·         Pat Conroy, contemporary Atlanta-born author of The Prince of Tides, Beach Music, and The Great Santini.

·         Elton John

·         Neel Reid – he “made Atlanta beautiful,” a student of École des Beaux-Arts who died at the height of his career

·         Asa Griggs Candler – founder of The Coca-Cola Company

·         John Pemberton – chemist and inventor of Coca-Cola

·         Robert W. Woodruff – Coca-Cola executive

·         Ted Turner – media mogul 

·         Tyler Perry – media mogul 

·         Charles Brewer founder of Mindspring, now known as Earthlink

·         Anne Cox Chambers – co-owner of Cox Enterprises

·         Arthur Blank – Co-founder of Home Depot and the current owner of the Atlanta Falcons

·         Bernard Marcus – Co-founder of Home Depot and primary funding source for the Georgia Aquarium

·         S. Truett Cathy – founder of Chick-fil-A

·         Forrest Sawyer – news anchor and journalist winner of multiple Emmy Awards and the Peabody Award and the Associated Press award and more

·         Ty Pennington – television personality

·         Clark Howard – talk radio host

·         Paula Deen – cooking show host on Food Network

·         Ryan Seacrest – TV/radio personality and host of American Idol

·         Gutzon Borglum – sculptor of Mount Rushmore and the first aborted Stone Mountain carving

·         Holly Hunter – actress

·         Julia Roberts – actress

·         Spike Lee – film director

·         Jeff Foxworthy – actor & comedian

·         Jennifer Holliday – Broadway Actress/Singer

·         Richard Marx – singer

·         Shawn Mullins – Singer / Songwriter

·         John Mayer – Singer / Songwriter

·         Indigo Girls – Folk and Pop duo

·         Gladys Knight & the Pips – popular music act

·         Drivin N Cryin – Folk/Rock band featuring Kevn Kinney

·         Raven-Symoné – R&B singer and actress

·         Usher – singer

·         Monica – R&B singer and actress

·         Alan Jackson – Country Singer

·         Travis Tritt – Country Singer

·         Trisha Yearwood – Country Singer

·         Arrested Development – Conscious Hip Hop group

·         Keith Sweat-singer/songwriter/producer

·         Babyface – singer/producer

·         Hulk Hogan

·         Evander Holyfield – heavyweight champion boxer

·         Bobby Jones – only player ever to have won golf’s Grand Slam

·         Jean-Marc Pelletier – Goaltender (Hockey)

·         Deion Sanders – two-sport athlete (MLB and NFL)

·         John Heisman – coach and college trophy namesake

·         Hank Aaron – Baseball Hall of Famer and the major leagues’ home run leader from April 1974 to August 2007

·         Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. – Civil Rights Leader; Nobel Peace Laureate 1964 (he was the youngest man ever to receive this award)

·         Andrew Young – Ambassador to the UN under President Carter, Civil rights activist and former mayor of Atlanta

·         Woodrow Wilson – 28th President of the United States (1913–1921)