Five Famous Celebrities From Louisville, KY

Photo by Miles Manwaring on Unsplash

Many people have called Louisville home over the years. The city boasts a wide range of talent from all fields.

This will be a quick look at some of those famous people. Since this is a brief article, it's impossible to cover everyone, so some of your favorites may be unintentionally left off.

Some of the people were born here, and some weren't, but they came to Louisville at some point. This list will be in no particular order and will give you a quick sampling of some of those famous people.

Jennifer Lawrence

Jennifer Lawrence has emerged as one of the most popular actors of the last decade. She has appeared in many big-time films and has had a major impact on the movie industry.

Lawrence was born in Indian Hills, Kentucky in 1990. She would go to school at Kammerer Middle School in Louisville. She was involved in many activities, including cheerleading, field hockey, and even played on the boys basketball team.

It was during this time that she developed a fondness for acting. Lawrence started appearing in plays at a young age and was spotted by a talent scout at age 14 while the family was visiting New York.

Lawrence appeared in several TV shows, but one of her first big roles came in 2010's "Winter's Bone." This role got her nominated for a Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild Award, and she became the second-youngest actress ever to be nominated for an Acadamy Award.

From there, some other notable movies include:

• X-Men
• The Hunger Games franchise
• Silver Linings Playbook
• American Hustle

Tom Cruise

Even though he wasn't born there, both of Tom Cruise's parents come from Louisville. And he spent a lot of his life in various places including Canada, Cincinnati, New York, and New Jersey.

Cruise was involved in both sports and acting growing up. He appeared in a high school production of Guys and Dolls. At age 18, he moved to New York to pursue acting.

Not much happened in New York and Cruise would move to Los Angeles. He had some small parts in a few films but then appeared in Risky Business and All the Right Moves in 1983.

These roles helped to elevate his stock. By the time 1986 came around, he had made the massively popular Top Gun. Cruise was now box office gold and was a major draw for studios and producers.

There are so many roles and awards he has won, but here is just a sampling of his incredibly popular movies:

• Legend
• Rain Man
• Born on the Fourth of July
• A Few Good Men
• Jerry Maguire
• Independence Day
• Mission Impossible

Diane Sawyer

Diane Sawyer was born in Glasgow, Kentucky in 1945 and went on to become one of the most popular TV journalists and news anchors in TV history.

Sawyer moved to Louisville at a young age and attended Seneca High School. She had an early interest in journalism and was editor-in-chief for the school's newspaper.

After college Sawyer spent a period of time as the weather forecaster in Louisville for WLKY-TV. Eventually, she would move to Washington.

Sawyer has been the evening anchor for two huge networks. She has appeared on Good Morning America, ABC World News Tonight, 20/20, and also hosted CBS Morning, and was the first woman to be a correspondent for 60 Minutes.

Edwin Hubble

Edwin Hubble changed the way that we view our world and the universe. Hubble was an astronomer who made giant contributions to astronomy and cosmology.

Hubble was born in Missouri in 1889, but his father would eventually move the family to Louisville. He would go on to study at the University of Chicago, and the University of Cambridge.

Hubble was the man who revealed that what appeared to be clouds in the universe were in fact other galaxies. He also helped point out that the universe is actually expanding.

Before Hubble, it was thought that the entire universe was just the Milky Way Galaxy. Hubble revealed that there were galaxies outside our own.

His contributions to science include having a law named after him (Hubble's Law) and the Hubble Space Telescope was named in his honor.

Muhammad Ali

Even though this list is in no particular order, we can't finish without mentioning the greatest. It's hard to do justice to the career and legacy of the great Muhammad Ali in just a few short paragraphs, but this will be a quick summary.

Ali was born in Louisville on January 17th, 1942. Again, there's not much that needs to be mentioned as the world knows the majority of his life story. Born as Cassius Clay, he started boxing at age 12.

When he was 18, he won a gold medal at the 1960 Olympics. The next year, he turned pro. From there, his career took the world by storm. His fights have become some of the most famous moments in sporting history.

Bouts versus Sonny Liston are legendary. There was the "Thrilla in Manilla," and then "the Rumble in the Jungle" against George Foreman.

Ali was a man ahead of his time and perfected the art of trash-talking and self-promotion. This made him an expert showman which drew more attention to him and his fights.

He's considered the greatest heavyweight boxer ever, and Sports Illustrated named him the greatest sportsman of the 20th century.

Wrapping it Up

Whether they were born in Louisville, moved here, or just passed through; some incredibly talented people have called the city home.

As mentioned, it's impossible to cover all the famous people from Louisville, and this is just a quick snapshot.

You may have your favorites, but this list shows what a wide range of incredible--and influential--talent come from Louisville.