Top 5 Most Famous People From Kentucky
There are a surprising number of famous and prominent people who were born in Kentucky, but here are five of them.
The great country music star Loretta Lynn was born Loretta Webb in Butcher Holler. Married when she was only thirteen, she took up singing when she was in her early twenties and shot to superstardom with songs like “The Pill,’ and “Coal Miner-s Daughter.’ Many of her songs have a distinctive and refreshingly feminist slant, like “Don-t Come Home A- Drinkin- (With Lovin- on Your Mind’) and “One-s On the Way.’ The biopic Coal Miner-s Daughter was made in 1980 and starred Sissy Spacek as Loretta and Tommy Lee Jones as her husband, Doolittle.
Bill Monroe, considered the father of Bluegrass Music, was born in Rosine. He formed the Blue Grass Boys and achieved stardom. Though his fortunes waxed and waned over the years, Monroe didn-t stop touring till shortly before his death, just before he turned 85. His influence upon country western and even rock n- roll music remains inescapable.
“Gonzo’ journalist Hunter S. Thompson was born in Louisville. He-s famous not only for his over-the-top lifestyle, but his book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, which was published in 1971. The book evolved, allegedly, out of a photo caption he was supposed to write for a sporting event.
Helen Thomas, the former doyenne of the White House press corps, was born in Winchester and was famous for fifty years of asking pointed questions of Presidents from both parties. She got into a bit of trouble when she made remarks that many people interpreted as anti-Israeli, and retired soon after. It was a couple of months before her 90th birthday.
George Clooney, director, Academy Award winning actor and humanitarian, was born in Lexington. He-s also the nephew of singing star Rosemary Clooney, who was born in Maysville.The information party rocks on: Best-Selling Memoir, Loretta Lynn: Coal Miner’s Daughter, to be Re-Issued in September 2010 as Trade Paperback, E-book, and Audio Book