Famous People from Clarksville

Clarksville has been called home by many people who have gone on to be famous. Not all of these people were born here, but at one time they did live here in Clarksville, Tennessee.

To see who they are, choose a category below to jump to that section, or scroll down the whole page to read all about these famous people!

Actors/Actresses Inventors/Entrepreneurs/Founders
Artists Military/Soldiers
Athletes Musicians
Authors/Writers Politicians
Doctors/Scientists Radio/TV Personalities

Actors/Actresses

Charles Bollin Watts

Helen Wood

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Artists

Robert Loftin Newman - Renowned oil painter

Charles Schulz - Creator of "Peanuts"

Cindy Marsh - Album art on first Go Go's album

Mike Fink - Album art on first Go Go's album

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Athletes

Ben Clark (2nd youngest American to climb Mount Everest)

Sloan Thomas (Current Wide Receiver for the Tennessee Titans)

Mason Rudolph (Professional golfer) (no relation to Wilma Rudolph)

Jeff Purvis (Busch Series race car driver)

Horace Lisenbee (MLB Player)

Harry Galbreath (American football player with Miami Dolphins, Green Bay Packers, and New York Jets)

Trenton Hassell (Basketball player with Minnesota Timberwolves and Chicago Bulls)

Wilma Rudolph (First female athlete to win three Olympic Gold Medals in a single games)

Shawn Marion (Basketball player with Phoenix Suns)

Percy Howard (wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys)

George Sherrill (baseball player for the Seattle Mariners)

Jamie Walker (relief pitcher for the Detroit Tigers)

Bubba Wells (basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks)

James "Fly" Williams (legendary 1970s basketball player; later in the original American Basketball Association)

Howie Wright (1970s basketball player for the New York Knicks)

Travis Stephens (American football player with Tampa Bay Buccaneers)

Pat Summitt (UT Women's Basketball coach)

Jerry Sloan (coach of the Utah Jazz)

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Authors/Writers

Elizabeth Meriwether Gilmer also know by the pen name of Dorothy Dix (a journalist who was famous for authoring a newspaper column that gave advice to people.)

Evelyn Scott (Poet and novelist)

Caroline Gordon (Novelist and wife of Allen Tate)

Phila Hach (Chef and Cookbook Author)

Allen Tate (Poet)

Robert Penn Warren (Poet)

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Doctors/Scientists

Dr. Robert Burt (Well Known Surgeon)

Dr. Ernest William Goodpasture (American pathologist and physician)

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Inventors/Entrepreneurs/Founders

Asahel Huntington Patch, or A. H. Patch (Inventor of the Blackhawk corn sheller)

Clarence Saunders (Founder of the present day supermarket, Piggly Wiggly)

Brenda Vineyard Runyon (Founder and Director of a historic bank 1919-1926, First Woman's Bank of Tennessee)

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Military

Gen. William Westmoreland

Valentine Sevier, Revolutionary War soldier, and brother of John Sevier, Tennessee's first governor. (Built Sevier Station in Clarksville, a small fort for settlers to take refuge during attacks by the Native American Indians, this structure still stands today as a historic site.)

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Musicians

Roy Acuff (Country music star)

Jimi Hendrix (Rock guitarist)

Ferdinand Lust (Musician)

Roland Hayes (Musician)

Clarence Cameron White (Musician)

Ethan McGinnis (Country music star)

Brian Andrade (Ethan McGinnis guitarist)

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Politicians

James E. Bailey (United States Senator from Tennessee)

Riley Darnell (Secretary of State of Tennessee)

Rosalind Kurita (Member of Tennessee State Senate)

John Hartwell Marable (Member of United States House of Representatives)

James B. Reynolds (Member of United States House of Representatives)

Willie Blount Governor of Tennessee 1809-1815

Philander Claxton (Professor, United States Commissioner of Education, and APSU President)

Tommy Head (Member of Tennessee House of Representatives)

Joseph Buckner Killebrew (Educator, Lawyer, Innovator, originator of the liberal public school law of Tennessee)

Austin Peay IV (Tennessee governor from 1922 to 1927 and namesake to university)

Gustavus Adolphus Henry Sr. (1804-1880) (Whig/Kentucky and Democrat/Tennessee, known as the "Eagle Orator of Tennessee")

Cave Johnson (Democrat, U.S. Congressman from Tennessee United States Postmaster General under James K. Polk from 1845-1849)

Horace Harmon Lurton (Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States)

Isaac Murphy (First Reconstruction Governor of Arkansas.)

Key Pittman (United States Senator from Nevada)

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Radio/TV

Frank Sutton (Actor who played Sgt. Carter in television series "Gomer Pyle, USMC")

Gretchen Cordy (Reality television cast member on "Survivor: Borneo" and local radio DJ)

Ryan Shoulders (Reality television cast member and second to get voted off on "Survivor: Pearl Islands")

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If you know of any other famous people who have lived in Clarksville, Tennessee that you think should be added to the list, Contact Clarksville for Kids and tell us!