35 celebrities you probably didn’t know attended high school in Alabama

Before you even start reading, I’m going to bet at least one person on this list will surprise you. If I’m wrong, feel free to email me at kkazek@al.com.

It’s always fun to think about what celebrities were like before they were famous so I looked up which ones attended high school in Alabama. Some where born in Alabama and stayed through high school, some were born elsewhere and moved to Alabama for high school. The list includes actors, authors, comedians, sports stars and musicians.

Note: Of course, there are more famous people who attended high schools in Alabama. This is not meant to be an all-inclusive list.

Hank Aaron, baseball great

Born in Mobile, Ala., in 1934, Hank Aaron is one of baseball’s all-time greats. He played right field played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball, from 1954 through 1976. holds the MLB records for the most career RBI (2,297), extra base hits (1,477), and total bases (6,856). He attended Josephine Allen Institute, a private high school in Mobile in 1951, according to the History Makers. He died in 2021.

Tallulah Bankhead, actor

Tallulah Bankhead, born in Huntsville, Ala., Jan. 31, 1902, was the daughter of Speaker of the House William Bankhead. She attended the Margaret Booth School for Girls, a private school in Montgomery. Tallulah starred in such plays as “The Little Foxes,” written by fellow Alabamian Lillian Hellman, and “A Streetcar Named Desire,” as well as films including Alfred Hitchcock’s “Lifeboat.” She died in 1968.

MORE: Alabama legend starred in her last film 60 years ago

Charles Barkley, basketball star/sports analyst

Born Feb. 20, 1963, in Leeds, Charles Barkley graduated from Leeds High School in 1981. Barkley was a standout at Auburn University and in the NBA. He earned 11 NBA All-Star games, was All-Star MVP in 1991, and won two gold medals as part of the men’s Olympics basketball team. He is a sports analyst for TNT and CB Sports.

Lucas Black, actor

Lucas Black was born Nov. 29, 1982, at Decatur General Hospital but his parents lived in Speake, Ala., at the time. He attended Speake High School, where he played football, baseball, basketball and golf. He graduated in 2001. He is known for his roles in “Sling Blade,” “Jarhead,” “Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift,” “Friday Night Lights,” and TV shows like “NCIS: New Orleans.”

Johnny Mack Brown, UA football standout/actor

Johnny Mack Brown was born Sept. 1, 1904, in Dothan, Ala. He graduated from Dothan High School in 1922. A halfback on the University of Alabama football team, Brown was credited with helping the team win the 1925 national championship and 1926 Rose Bowl. Read about that game here. He went on to star in numerous films, mostly Westerns, and died in 1974.

Jimmy Buffett, singer/author/businessperson

Jimmy Buffett was born on Christmas Day 1946 in Pascagoula, Miss. Known for his beach music and songs like “Margaritaville,” Buffett lived for a time in Mobile, Ala., where he attended McGill-Toolen Catholic High School, graduating in 1964. He also opened restaurants and resorts with the name Margaritaville. He died in 2023.

Pat Buttram, actor/voice artist

Born Maxwell Emmett Buttram on June 19, 1915, in Addison, Ala., Buttram attended Mortimer Jordan High School in Morris in the 1930s. He was best known for his role as Mr. Haney on the TV show “Green Acres.” He also did voice work in numerous animated films such as “The Artistocats,” “The Rescuers” and “Robin Hood.” He died in 1994.

Reg E. Cathey, actor

Born Aug. 18, 1958, in Huntsville, Ala., Cathey attended J.O. Johnson High School in 1976. (Johnson closed in 2016). Cathey was best known for roles in films such as “Seven,” “American Psycho” and “SWAT.” He died in 2018.

Courteney Cox, actor

Born June 15, 1964, in Mountain Brook, Courteney Cox graduated from Mountain Brook High School in 1982. While there, she was a cheerleader, tennis player and swimmer. Cox portrayed Monica Geller on TV’s “Friends.” She has played Gale Weathers in the every installment of the “Scream” franchise and is currently filming “Scream 7.”

RELATED: Courteney Cox returns for ‘Scream 7,’ here’s where it’s filming

John Denver, singer/actor

John Denver was born Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. in Roswell, N.M., Dec. 31, 1943. Started Bellingrath Junior High School in Montgomery in 1957, when ninth grade was part of the junior high school, according to a former classmate. His Air Force father was based in Montgomery for a year or two, according to the biography “John Denver: Mother Nature’s Son.” His family moved again and he graduated from Arlington Heights High in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1961. He was best known for country hits such as “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” “Leaving on a Jet Plane,” “Sunshine on My Shoulders,” and “Rocky Mountain High.” He also starred in several films, including “Oh, God!” Denver died in a plane crash in 1997.

Kim Dickens, actor

Kim Dickens was born June 18, 1965, in Huntsville, Ala., where she graduated from Lee High School in 1983. She was named a senior class favorite. She is best known for TV’s “Fear the Walking Dead.” She has had film roles in “Gone Girl,” “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children,” “The Blind Side,” “House of Sand and Fog.”

Fannie Flagg, actor/comedian/author

Born Sept. 21, 1944, in Birmingham, where she attended Ramsay High School. She is best known for writing the novel and screenplay for “Fried Green Tomatoes,” in which she also acted. She has starred in films such as “Five Easy Pieces” and was a comedian who was a regular on the game show “Match Game.” She is the author of 10 novels.

Louise Fletcher, Oscar-winning actor

Louise Fletcher was born July 22, 1934, in Birmingham, where she graduated from Ramsay High School in 1951. She won an Academy Award for her portrayal of Nurse Ratched in 1975’s “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” She later had roles in such films as “Cruel Intentions” and “Firestarter” and appeared in numerous TV shows. She died in 2022.

Betty Lou Gerson, actor/Disney voice artist

Betty Lou Gerson was born April 20, 1914, in Chattanooga, Tenn. She was an early star of radio and television, acted in several films and did voice work in numerous Disney films. Her family moved to Birmingham, Ala., where she attended Loulie Compton Seminary, a private school. She was best known as the voice of Cruella de Vil in 1961’s “101 Dalmatians,” the narrator in 1950s “Cinderella,” and the “old crone” in 1964’s “Marry Poppins.” She also acted in films, including 1958’s “The Fly” and 1959’s “The Miracle of the Hills.” She died in 1999.

Winston Groom, author of ‘Forrest Gump’

Winston Groom was born March 23, 1943, in Washington, DC. His family moved to Fairhope, Ala., when he was young and he attended University Military School (now known as UMS-Wright Preparatory School). He served in the Vietnam War. Groom wrote seven novels and more than a dozen books of non-fiction about military history. He was credited as a writer for the film version of “Forrest Gump” and the television adaptation of his novel “As Summers Die.” He died in 2020.

Albert Hall, actor

Born Nov. 10, 1937, in Brighton, Ala., where he attended Brighton High School, which has since been converted to a K-5 school. Known for portraying Chief Phillips in “Apocalypse Now,” and also had roles in soap operas and films such as “Malcolm X” and “National Treasure: Book of Secrets.”

Polly Holliday, actor

Polly Holliday was born in Jasper on July 2, 1937, where she attended Childersburg High School in the 1950s. She is best known for playing the sassy waitress Flo on the TV show “Alice” and the spin-off, “Flo.” She appeared in numerous TV shows and films, including 1993’s “Mrs. Doubtfire,” 1984’s “Gremlins” and 1976’s “All the President’s Men.”

READ: Polly Holliday made ‘Kiss my grits’ an iconic Southern phrase

Brittany Howard, musician/songwriter

Brittany Howard was born Oct. 2, 1988, in Athens, Ala., where she graduated from East Limestone High School in 2007. Howard, who released her debut solo album in 2019, is best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the group Alabama Shakes, with whom she won four Grammy awards.

MORE: Brittany Howards' high school days in Alabama

Bo Jackson, multi-sport athlete

Vincent Edward “Bo” Jackson was born Nov. 30, 1962, in Bessemer, where he graduated from McAdory High School in 1982. Jackson is best known for being a standout in multiple sports. While at Auburn University, he was on the football, baseball and track teams. He won the Heisman Trophy while playing football and was named an all-star in both football and baseball. Jackson went on to play professional football and baseball. He has also acted on occasion and has an IMDb listing, including in the adaptation of John Grisham’s “The Chamber.”

Kate Jackson, actor

Born Oct. 29, 1948, in Birmingham, Jackson graduated from the Brooke Hill School, now Altamont School, in Mountain Brook. She’s known for her popular TV roles in “Dark Shadows,” “Charlie’s Angels,” and “The Scarecrow and Mrs. King,” and for starring in such movies as “Satan’s School for Girls.”

Dean Jones, actor

Dean Jones was born in Decatur, Ala., Jan. 25, 1931, where he attended Riverside High School. Jones was best known for his roles in such 1960s Disney classics as “The Love Bug” and “That Darn Cat!” Later roles included the villainous vet in the family film “Beethoven” and a judge in the action film “Clear and Present Danger.” Jones died in 2015.

MORE: 11 facts about ‘The Love Bug’ and his Alabama driver

Eddie Kendricks, singer/songwriter

Eddie Kendricks, who co-founded the group The Temptations, was born in Union Springs, Ala., Dec. 17, 1939. He added an “s” to the end of his surname Kendrick. He attended Jackson-Olin High School, sometimes called Western Olin, in Birmingham. Kendrick was one of the singers for The Temptations from 1960-1971, when he was the lead voice on hits such as “Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)” and “The Way You Do the Things You Do.” He went on to have a successful solo career. He died in 1992.

George Lindsey, actor/film festival founder

George Lindsey was born Dec. 17, 1928, in Fairfield, Ala., but grew up Jasper, where he attended Walker County High School, graduating 1946. He played on the football team and was voted “funniest boy.” He was best known for his role as Goober Pyle in TV’s “The Andy Griffith Show,” and as a regular on “Hee Haw.” He founded the George Lindsey Film Festival at the University of North Alabama, where he played football and graduated in 1952.

Willie Mays, baseball great

Willie Mays was born May 6, 1931, in Westfield, Ala. He attended Fairfield Industrial High School. Mays played for the Birmingham Black Barons while he was a high school student, which made him ineligible for school sports, according to “Say Hey: The Autobiography of Willie Mays.” Mays was a two-time MLB MVP and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He died in 2024.

Jim Nabors, actor/singer

Jim Nabors was born June 12, 1930, in Sylacauga, Ala., where he attended Sylacauga High School. There, he sang in the glee club and graduated in 1947. Nabors was best known for his role as Gomer Pyle on “The Andy Griffith Show,” “Gomer Pyle: USMC” and guest starring on numerous TV variety shows. He also recorded numerous albums. He died in 2017.

Randy Owen, singer/songwriter

Randy Owen was born Dec. 13, 1949, in Fort Payne, Ala., He graduated from Fort Payne High School in 1969. Owen was a founder of the country group, Alabama, one of the most successful country bans in history. With Alabama, Owen had more than 20 gold and platinum records and dozens of No. 1 singles, including “Dixieland Delight,” “Tennessee River,” “The Closer You Get,” “Song of the South.” Owen is also a solo performer.

Harper Lee, Pulitzer Prize-winning author

Born Nelle Harper Lee April 28, 1926, in Monroeville, Ala. Lee attended Monroe County High School in 1944. She won the Pulitzer for 1960’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” and released her second book in 2015, “Go Set a Watchman.” Her publisher recently announced that a book of Lee’s essays will be published in October 2025. She died in 2016.

MORE: Legendary Alabama author Harper Lee has a new book, 9 years after her death

Michael Papajohn, actor/stuntman/speaker

Michael Papajohn was born Nov. 7, 1964, in Birmingham. He graduated from Vestavia Hills High School in 1983, where he was a star baseball player. He started his career as a stunt double for Dennis Quaid in the baseball film “Everybody’s All-American.” He is known for roles in films such as “The Iron Claw,” “The Bourne Legacy,” “Spider-Man,” “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” and “Jurassic World,” and in TV shows such as “Fear the Walking Dead” and “Paradise Lost.”

Gail Patrick, actor

Gail Patrick was born Margaret LaVelle Fitzpatrick on June 20, 1911, in Birmingham, Ala. She graduated from Woodlawn High School in 1928. She was known for her roles in movies such as 1936’s “My Man Godfrey,” 1945’s “Brewster’s Millions,” and numerous TV shows. She died in 1980.

Wayne Rogers, actor

Wayne Rogers was born in Birmingham, Ala., April 7, 1933. He attended Ramsay High School in Birmingham and later graduated from the Webb School in Bell Buckle, Tenn. Rogers was best known for his role as Trapper John on TV’s “M*A*S*H.” Also appeared in movies such as “Cool Hand Luke,” “Ghosts of Mississippi,” and numerous TV roles. He died Dec. 31, 2015.

Glenn Shadix, actor

Glenn Shadix was born April 15, 1952, in Bessemer, Ala. When he was a child, his family moved to Jasper, where he attended Walker County High School. Shadix is best known for his role as Otho in “Beetlejuice,” and also appeared in such films as “Planet of the Apes” and “Demolition Man.” He died in 2010.

Octavia Spencer, Oscar-winning actor/children’s author

Octavia Spencer was born May 25, 1970, in Montgomery, Ala., where she graduated from Jefferson Davis High School in 1988. Spencer won an Academy Award for her role in “The Help" and also had roles in movies such as “Hidden Figures,” “Beauty Shop,” “Bad Santa,” and numerous TV shows. She is also the author of books for young readers about Randi Rhodes, Ninja Detective.

Bart Starr, renowned NFL quarterback

Bart Starr was born Jan. 9, 1934, in Montgomery, Ala., where he attended Sidney Lanier High School in 1952. He played at the University of Alabama and was quarterback and later coach for the Green Bay Packers. He won the Lombardi Trophy. He was a co-founder of the Rawhide Boys Ranch. He died in 2019.

David Howard Thornton, actor

David Howard Thornton was born in 1979 in Huntsville, Ala., where he graduated from Grissom High School in 1998. Thornton may not be easily recognizable because many of his roles feature him in heavy makeup. He is best known for his role as Art the Clown in “The Terrifier” film series and also starred as the Grinch in the 2022 horror film, “The Mean One.”

Roy Wood Jr., comedian/actor

Roy Norris Wood Jr. was born Dec. 11, 1978, in New York. He spent part of his youth in Birmingham, Ala., where he graduated from Ramsay High School in 1996. He is a standup comedian who has been a correspondent on “The Daily Show” and is on the news-entertainment panel for CNN’s “Have I Got News for You.”