Difference between revisions of "Famous Mormons"

Revision as of 01:38, 27 May 2006

I'm only going to reproduce here the names of famous Mormons that stood out to me. I'm quite a nerd, so I didn't recognize half the Mormon TV personalities, actors, punk rockers, etc., even though they may be well-known. I highly recommend the site Famous Mormon, from which I got most of this information and which is far more complete.

Businessmen:

• David Neeleman: CEO, JetBlue Airways
• Stewart Nelson: COO, Novell
• Ray Noorda: CEO, Novell
• Mitt Romney: CEO, Bain Capital
• Kevin B. Rollins: CEO, Dell Computer Corporation
• Lt. General Brent Scowcroft: Board of directors, Qualcomm
• Kay Whitmore (1932-2004): CEO, Eastman Kodak

Politics:

• Michael O. Leavitt: Secretary of Health and Human Services.
• Mitt Romney: Governor of Massachusetts, possible upcoming presidential candidate.
• Terrel Bell (1921-1996): Secretary of Education
• Angela "Bay" Buchanan: US Treasurer
• David Matthew Kennedy (1905-1996): Secretary of the Treasury
• Stewart Udall (1920-1998): US Secretary of the Interior
• George W. Romney (1907-1995): Governor of Michigan
• Ivy Baker Priest (1905-1975): US Treasurer
• Ezra Taft Benson (1899-1994): US Secretary of Agriculture. He went on to become the worldwide leader of the LDS Church.
• William Ide (1796-1852): President of the California Republic. “In 1846, he joined John C. Fremont in the Bear Flag Revolt. They took Sonoma and captured the Mexican Commandante of Northern California. They raised a new flag and declared the independence of the California Republic with Ide as president. When the U.S. declared war on Mexico, Ide and the others joined the U.S. forces thus ending California's independence.” Ide may be the only Mormon head of state in history, unless rumors about the King of Tonga (or is it Samoa?) are true...
• There are currently eight Mormon senators...kind of. Five U.S. senators, one Mexican senator (his great, great grandfather was the first Mormon missionary in Mexico), the delegate to the U.S. Congress from American Samoa (if Samoa were a state, he'd be a senator), and a member of the British parliament. The “senators” come from Utah, Nevada, Oregon, Idaho, American Samoa, Chihuahua state, and England.
• Harry Reid: Current U.S. Senate Minority Leader, a democrat from Nevada. He could take command of the Senate if the Democrats do well in congressional elections this November.
• Rex Lee (1935-1996): Former U.S. Solicitor General

Educators:

• Kim Clark: President of BYU-Idaho. Former dean, Harvard Business School. He gave up his position at Harvard when the Church asked him to move to Idaho.
• Gordon Gee: Chancellor, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee
• Dr. V. Lane Rawlins: President, Washington State University
• Steven Charles Wheelwright: Senior associate dean, Harvard University
• Wilford Gardner: Once served as dean at UC Berkley.

Scientists:

• Alan Ashton: Invented word processing (WordPerfect).
• Nolan Bushnell: Founded Atari and invented the game “Pong.” He was also owner of Check-e-Cheese for a time.
• John Moses Browning (1855-1926): A famous gunsmith.
• William Clayton (1814-1879): Invented the odometer.
• Don Carlos Edwards: Invented fry sauce
• Philo T. Farnsworth (1906-1971): Invented the television.
• Lester Wire (1887-1958): Invented the traffic light. The first one was in Salt Lake City!
• Henry Eyring (1901-1981): Pioneered the application of quantum mechanics to chemistry. Received the National Medal of Science.
• Harvey Fletcher (1884-1981): As in Millikan and Fletcher, discoverers of the charge on an electron. He also invented the hearing aid and was president of the American Physical Society.
• William Hall: First to produce synthetic diamonds.

Actors/Musicians:

• Donny and Marie Osmand: Singers, talk show hosts.
• Gladys Knight: Singer from “Gladys Knight and the Pips.”
• Jenny Jordan Frogley: Singer. If you play the “King Kong” video game, hers is the last voice you hear before you die.
• Mormon Tabernacle Choir: The radio program Music and the Spoken Word, which broadcasts Mormon Tabernacle Choir performances, has been a weekly tradition since 1929 and is the longest continuous network broadcast in history. The choir has won a Grammy and has earned two platinum and five gold albums. In a desperate attempt to be cool, teenagers in Utah have taken up calling the choir's music “MoTab,” not to be confused with Motown. See also LDS Quick Facts.
• SheDaisy: Country music singers.
• Ryan Benson: Recent winner of the reality show The Biggest Looser.
• Ashlee Ashby: Contestant, Survivor Palau
• Neleh Dennis: Contestant: Survivor Marquesas (2002). She brought scriptures as her luxury item.
• Ken Jennings: Contestant on Jeopardy. Holds the record for the most winnings in Jeopardy history. The press have reported that 10% of his earnings will be donated to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (tithing).
• Lena and Kristy Jensen: Contestants: The Amazing Race 6
• Jon Peter Lewis: Contestant: American Idol, Season 3 (2004)
• Shawn Nelson: Winner of the reality TV show Rebel Billionaire.
• Carmen Rasmusen: Contestant: American Idol, Season 2 (2003)
• Kelly Wiglesworth: Contestant: Survivor Borneo (Season 1, 2000)
• Corbin Allred: Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993)
• Don Bluth: Director and producer. The Rescuers (1977), Pete's Dragon (1977), The Secret of NIMH (1982), An American Tail (1986), The Land Before Time (1988), All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989), Rock-A-Doodle (1991), Thumbelina (1994), Anastasia (1997) and Titan A.E. (2000).
• Wilford Brimley: Actor in The Thing (1981), Hotel New Hampshire (1984), The Natural (1984) and Cocoon (1986). Currently on television as the spokesperson for Liberty Medical Diabetic Supplies.
• Brady Bluhm: Voice of Christopher Robin one some of the Winnie the Pooh movies.
• Kevin J. Foxe: Producer: Blair Witch
• Jon Heder: The Napoleon Dynamite!!!
• Aaron Ruell: "Kipp" from Napoleon Dynamite
• Jared Hess: Writer and director of Napoleon Dynamite.
• Katherine Heigl: Actress on Grey's Anatomy (raised Mormon, but doesn't currently practice)
• Glen Larsen: Producer of The Six Million Dollar Man (1973), Battlestar Galactica (1978), B.J. and the Bear (1978), Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979), Magnm P.I. (1980), The Fall Guy (1981), and Knight Rider (1982)
• Kieth Merrill: Academy award-winning filmmaker
• Gerald "Jerry" R. Molen: Producer of Schindler's List (Best Picture, 1993).
• Ellen Wheeler: “In 1986 she won the Daytime Award Emmy for 'Outstanding Ingénue in a Drama Series' for her work as Marley and Vicky Love on Another World. In 1988 she won another Daytime Emmy for 'Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series', for her work as Cindy Parker Chandler on All My Children. Ellen's character was one of the first AIDS patients on daytime television.”
• Robert Ray, MD, MPP: Cosmetic surgeon from Dr. 90210. Likely no longer an active member of the Church. He was brought to the U.S. by Mormon missionaries.

Random people:

• Orson Scott Card: An author, most famous for his Ender's Game trilogy.
• Lots of military and NASA people...who knew...
• Butch Cassidy (1866-1909): I bet he wasn't a practicing Mormon, though... :)
• Christina Aguilera: Her parents met at BYU, but divorced when she was seven. Their Church activity after the divorce is unknown, although her mother was still receiving visits from Church members when Christina was nine. Could it be that Christina was baptized? Regardless, she's not a practicing member any more...
• Elvis: I don't think he was baptized, but he did receive missionary discussions while filming Blue Hawaii, part of which was filmed at the Church's Polynesian Cultural Center.
• Jewel: Again, this singer was raised Mormon, but it's unclear if she was baptized.
• Larry King: No, not Larry. But his wife is Mormon.
• Roseanne Bar: She was a Mormon from age 6 to 16, but left the Church and is now critical of it.

For sources, see AllAboutMormons.com.