Ian Somerhalder

Ian Somerhalder by Gage Skidmore from Wikimedia Commons

10 Most Famous People from Louisiana


 

 
Louisiana has its quirks and treats, it’s the only state with parishes instead of counties, and home to cajun and creole cuisines. These dishes are influenced by French, West African, Amerindian, and Southern United States cultures and are served in restaurants across the state.
 
Besides cuisines and parishes, Louisiana is also home to famous personalities who are celebrated for a variety of reasons, including music, acting, and show business. Question: what do Tyler Perry, Lil Wayne, DJ Khaled, Reese Witherspoon, Louis Armstrong, and Anthony Mackie have in common? You’re right to say they all come from New Orleans. Therefore, they are homies. Get to know the prominent people from this U.S. south-eastern state of parishes.
 

10 Most Famous People from Louisiana

1. Lil Wayne

 

Lil Wayne

Lil Wayne by Megan Elice Meadows from Wikimedia Commons

 
Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., who goes by his stage name Lil Wayne, is an American rapper who is regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time. Also, is among the most influential hip-hop artists of his generation as well as a songwriter and a record executive.
 
Lil Wayne was born in Hollygrove, New Orleans, Louisiana on 27th September 1982, where he also spent his first few years. He wrote his first rap song when he was eight. A year later, he met Cash Money Records co-founder Birdman (Bryan “Baby” Williams), who mentored him and included him on several Cash Money tracks.
 
Wayne has rapped with the Hot Boys, Sqad Up, Cash Money Billionaires, and The B.G.’z. Some of his most famous songs are Lollipop, Mona Lisa, Mirror, and many others. He was married to Toya Johnson from 2004 to 2006 and has four children. 

2. Tyler Perry

 
Emmit Perry Jr., common as Tyler Perry, is an American actor, filmmaker, and playwright. His fame has spread worldwide due to his comical films and unique style of acting and producing. He was also born in New Orleans on September 13, 1969. His career began in the early 1990s with many stage plays and television series.
 
The most notable television series is Tyler Perry’s House of Payne which ran for eight seasons on TBS. Tyler struck a deal with Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) to bring scripted television to the network, and Tyler has created several series for OWN.
 
On top of that, Tyler has acted in movies that he has not directed or scripted. He is cherished for the Madea character which he created and performs in several movies that have received global reception. 

3. DJ Khaled

 

DJ Khaled

DJ Khaled at the launch of Gig-It on April 29, 2012, by Meghan Roberts from Wikimedia Commons

 
Khaled Mohammed Khaled popular as DJ Khaled is an American DJ, record producer, and record executive. He rose to fame in the 1990s as a radio host on 99 Jamz. Khaled was born on 26th November 1975 in New Orleans, just like Perry and Lil Wayne. He met Lil Wayne and Birdman in 1993 before they rose to fame when he was working at a New Orleans record store.
 
He has released thirteen albums since 2006 and has appeared in nine films, including Bad Boys for Life (2022),  Manny the Butcher, and Pitch Perfect 3 (2017) as himself. He is married to Nicole Tuck and they have a son together. 

4. Reese Witherspoon

 
Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon is an actress and producer who was also born in New Orleans (22nd March 1976), though she studied in Tennessee. She is most known for her roles in Legally Blonde, Wild, Everything is Copy and Mud. Reese has been in at least 52 movies and was the world’s richest actress by Forbes in 2021.
 
Time magazine named her as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2006 and 2015, and Forbes listed her in the world’s 100 most powerful women 2019 list. She was married to Ryan Phillipe from 1999 to 2007 but she is currently married to Jim Toth. She has three children. 

5. Ian Somerhalder

 
Ian Joseph Somerhalder is an actor appreciated for his roles in Lost (2004-2010), CWs The Vampire Diaries (2009-2017), and Netflix’s horror series V Wars (2019). He was born and raised in Covington, Louisiana on the 8th of December, 1978.
 
Additionally, he was a model from the age of ten to thirteen and then decided to become an actor when he was 17. Ian has been in over thirty movies since 1997. He boasts many accolades, is married to Nikki Reed, and has one child. 

6. Ellen DeGeneres

Ellen DeGeneres

Ellen DeGeneres by Alan Light from Wikimedia Commons

 
Ellen Lee DeGeneres is a comedian, writer, producer, television host, and actress. She hosted the talk show named after her, The Ellen DeGeneres Show on NBC from 2003 to 2022. Ellen was born in Metairie, Louisiana on 26 January 1958. She started as a stand-up comedian in Louisiana after dropping out of the University of New Orleans and rose to fame when she became an MC at Clyde’s Comedy Club in1981.
 
Her stardom came in 1986 when she performed several times on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. She has also been in several sitcoms such as Fox’s Open House (1989-1990), ABCs Laurie Hill, These Friends of Mine (later renamed Ellen), and The Ellen Show (2001) on CBS.
 
Ellen is also known for supporting many charities, some of which are associated with animal activism. She is a member of the LGBTQ+ community and is married to Portia de Rossi. 

7. NBA YoungBoy

 
Kentrell DeSean Gaulden, who is known professionally as YoungBoy Never Broke Again, is a rapper. He released six different mixtapes between 2015 and 2017, which earned him a myriad of fans. YoungBoy was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on 20th October 1999.
 
He was raised by his grandmother as his father was serving time in prison. He has also done time in juvenile detention for robbery. YoungBoy has released four albums that are Until Death Call My Name (2018), Top (2020), Sincerely, Kentrell (2021), and The Last Slimeto (2022). Currently, YoungBoy is the father of ten children with eight different women. 

8. Louis Armstrong

 
Louis Daniel Armstrong was a trumpeter and vocalist who was born on 4th August 1901 and raised in New Orleans. He has been named the first great jazz soloist. During his time, he was one of the most recognized and loved jazz musicians, and he revolutionized American music.
 
He was married four times and had one child. He died on July 6, 1971. New Orleans’s main airport is named after him, Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.
 
Learn more about him with these top 10 interesting facts about Louis Armstrong.

9. Anthony Mackie

 

Anthony Mackie

Anthony Mackie at Tribeca Film Festival 2010 by David Shankbone from Wikimedia Commons

 
Anthony Dwayne Mackie is an actor who is known for being on Marvel’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier as Falcon/Sam Wilson. Just like Tyler Perry, he is also from New Orleans, where he was born on the 23rd of September 1978.
 
Furthermore, he has starred in the Disney+ miniseries The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021). Other popular films he has featured in are The Hate U Give (2018), Detroit (2017), Synchronic (2019), and The Banker (2020).
 
Mackie has appeared in at least sixty movies. He married his childhood sweetheart Sheletta Chapital in 2014 but they divorced in 2018. They have four children together. 

10. Zachary Levi

 
Zachary Levi Pugh is an actor who is remembered for his star role in Chuck and Shazam! of DC Extended Universe. Zachary was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana on the 29th of September, 1980. He has been featured in Marvel’s Thor: The Dark World and Thor: Ragnarok as Fandral.
 
Zachary has acted in at least 30 movies. He sang I See the Light with Mandy Moore in the animated film Tangled (2010), which won a Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media. Zachary got married to Canadian actress Missy Peregrym in 2014, but they divorced in 2015.
 
Louisiana prides itself as the home of countless celebrities and note-worthy persons ranging from actors to musicians. New Orleans especially stands out as the birthplace of great rappers, actors, directors, jazz musicians, and people in show business that have acquired global fame.
 
Lovers of pop music and hip hop relate to DJ Khaled and Lil Wayne, and movie fans have come across Tyler Perry and Antony Mackie in one movie or the other. You can credit these great actors and personalities to the state of Louisiana.

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