Notable Residents
Born in Roanoke:
- Astrophysicist and Nobel laureate John C. Mather, one of TIME Magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2009
- United States Ambassador to Romania Nicholas Taubman
- American artist John Alan Maxwell
- Wrestler Tony Atlas
- Twin NFL players Ronde Barber and Tiki Barber (Roanoke County)
- MLB outfielder Billy Sample
- model and actress Tai Collins
- Former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Henry H. Fowler
- Entrepreneur Cameron Johnson
- Former United States Secretary of Defense Louis A. Johnson
- Durell Coleman, Star Search Winner, recording artist & bandleader
- Famous medical patient Henrietta Lacks
- NBA basketball player George Lynch (city)
- Actor John Payne
- Former Basketball player Curtis Staples (city)
- Former NHL Defensemen Eric Weinrich
- NFL football player Lee Suggs
- Former Arsenal FC soccer player Daniel Karbassiyoon
- Former Tennis Professional K. J. Hippensteel
- NFL football player John St. Clair
Raised in Roanoke:
- Singer Wayne Newton
- McAfee founder John McAfee
- NBA basketball player J. J. Redick (Roanoke County)
- Wayne LaPierre, CEO of the National Rifle Association
One-time resident:
- Former South African Tennis Professional Johan Kriek
- Former Miss America Nicole Johnson Baker
- Author Nelson S. Bond
- Civil rights attorney Oliver Hill
- Mark David Chapman, killer of John Lennon
- Playwright Kermit Hunter
- Mathematician and Nobel laureate John Forbes Nash
- Movie actress Debbie Reynolds (metro area)
- American National Socialist Workers' Party Commander (neo-Nazi) Bill White
- Opera Soprano Elizabeth Futral (metro area)
- Early 20th century African American filmmaker Oscar Micheaux
- Comedian and actress Whitney Cummings
Read more about this topic: Roanoke, Virginia
Famous quotes containing the words notable and/or residents:
“a notable prince that was called King John;
And he ruled England with main and with might,
For he did great wrong, and maintained little right.”
—Unknown. King John and the Abbot of Canterbury (l. 2–4)
“In most nineteenth-century cities, both large and small, more than 50 percent—and often up to 75 percent—of the residents in any given year were no longer there ten years later. People born in the twentieth century are much more likely to live near their birthplace than were people born in the nineteenth century.”
—Stephanie Coontz (20th century)