5 of the Most Famous Celebrities From Cincinnati, OH

Photo by Matt Koffel on Unsplash

We often think that famous actors, celebrities, and household names only come from places like New York or Los Angeles, but they come right from your own backyard, including Cincinnati.

Many famous people have called Cincinnati home over the years, and this will be a look at just a few of them. There are, of course, many more, but this should give you a quick insight into some from this area.

This list will be in no particular order and will show you some famous people that you may or may not know come from Cincinnati.

Ted Turner

It doesn't get much bigger than Ted Turner. He is one of the biggest media moguls of our time and hails from Cincinnati. He was born here on November 19, 1938.

We often associate Turner with just TV broadcasting, but he has done so much more. He is also an entrepreneur and philanthropist. One of his biggest contributions to entertainment was the creation of the TBS superstation.

He also pioneered 24-hour news channels by launching CNN in the late 70s. Turner has tried some other big takeovers and attempted to buy CBS in 1986. He would end up buying MGM for over $1.5 billion.

TBS merged with Time Warner in 1996 and was part of one of the biggest acquisitions at the time when they were purchased by AOL. Turner is also the owner of the Atlanta Brave MLB team

Neil Armstrong

It's hard to say much more about Neil Armstrong than what's already been said. He has gone down in record books as part of one of the most important moments in the history of our species.

Armstrong was born in Wapakoneta, OH on August 5th, 1930. He started in the Navy and was eventually recruited to the US Air Force. Armstrong fought in the Korean War where he flew 78 different missions.

Before his work with NASA, Armstrong was also a test pilot. He would join the NASA Astronaut Corps in 1962. Armstrong was a part of the Gemini program before the Apollo program was launched to put a man on the moon.

Armstrong would be a part of the Apollo 11 mission and would be the first human being to step foot on something other than our own Planet. When Armstrong set foot on the moon, nearly 20% of the human population was watching on TV.

Fun fact: Armstrong intended to say: "that's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind," instead of "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

In his later years, Armstrong would be based in Cincinnati and teach at the University of Cincinnati.

Doris Day

One of the most popular entertainers of all time was born in Cincinnati in 1922. She started out as a big band singer and had a few number one hits.

Day then became one of the biggest movie stars of the 50s and 60s and was part of the Golden Age of Hollywood.

She starred alongside some other iconic actors including James Stewert, Clark Gable, Cary Grant, Ginger Rogers, Frank Sinatra, and James Cagney among many others.

She's been nominated for Acadamy Awards and won the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement in motion pictures. Day was also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2008.

Steven Spielberg

One of the greatest filmmakers of our time was born in Cincinnati on December 18, 1946. It's hard to know where to start with Spielberg as his work is a part of our pop culture and is known worldwide

Spielberg studied film in college and began work by directing TV shows. This allowed him to work on some smaller films. His talent was obvious, but he didn't have a chance to fully display it.

This would all change when he filmed Jaws in 1975. This movie became one of the first true blockbusters and Spielberg became a sought-after director. Jaws--along with Star Wars--is responsible for creating the summer movie season when big blockbuster films are released.

Jaws would take Spielberg into Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and then the gigantic hit: E.T: the Extra-Terrestrial. E.T. would be the highest-grossing film of all time until it was beaten by another Spielberg film: Jurassic Park.

There are so many films of his we could cover, but some other notable movies of Speilberg's include:

• The Indiana Jones series
• The Color Purple
• War of the Worlds
• Lincoln
• Schindler's List
• Saving Private Ryan
• Catch Me If You Can

L.A. Reid

Antonio "L.A." Reid was born in Cincinnati on June 7th, 1956. Reid has been an instrumental part of the music industry and is a producer, songwriter, and record executive among many other things.

Reid started out as a drummer in a band where he met future star, Kenneth "Babyface" Edwards. The two of them started LaFace Records. The label was part of Arista Records and launched some big artists including TLC, Outkast, and Toni Braxton.

Reid would go on to work with Island Def Jam and was instrumental in the relaunch of Mariah Carey's career. Reid has worked with a countless amount of big-time artists including Kanye West, Justin Bieber, and Rihanna.

Reid was a judge on the X Factor while also working for Epic Records.

Final Thoughts

As mentioned, this is just a small sampling of the talent that comes from Cincinnati. You may have your own favorites, but it just goes to show how diverse the talent is that comes from this city.

Hopefully, this list gives you a quick insight into some people who have been a huge influence on history, pop culture, and the fields they work in.

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