List of United States Air Force personnel

This is a list of notable people who served in the United States Air Force, the Air National Guard, or their antecedents in the Army. See also Graduates of the United States Air Force Academy.

A

Oscar Zeta Acosta – Attorney, Chicano Movement activist, novelist and close friend of American author Hunter S. Thompson
Charles J. Adams – brigadier general and aviator
John Agar – Film actor
Paul W. Airey – First Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force
Frank Albertson – Film actor
Robert Aldrich – DGA Award-nominated filmmaker
Buzz Aldrin – Astronaut (Gemini 12 and Apollo 11 – second man to walk on the Moon)
Robert Altman – Seven-time Oscar-nominated filmmaker who flew more than 50 bombing missions as a co-pilot of a B-24 Liberator in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of World War II
Leon Ames – Film and TV actor who served in the field artillery of the U.S. Army and later in the flying corps (the Army Air Service) during World War I
Wally Amos – Television personality, businessman, author and founder of the Famous Amos chocolate chip cookie, the Cookie Kahuna, and Aunt Della's Cookies gourmet cookie brands, and host of the adult reading program Learn to Read
William Anders – Astronaut (Apollo 8 – first flight to orbit the Moon)
Michael P. Anderson – NASA astronaut killed in the Columbia Space Shuttle disaster (STS-89, STS-107)
Sunny Anderson – Radio and television personality
Keith Andes – Film, TV and stage actor
Edward Anhalt – Novelist and screenwriter
Al Anthony – Radio personality
Richard Arlen – Film actor
Michael F. Armstrong – Attorney
Hap Arnold – Aviation pioneer and General of the Air Force
Jack Arnold – Oscar-nominated filmmaker
Luke Askew – Film and TV actor
Leon Askin – Film and TV actor
Xavier Atencio – Film animator
Gene Autry – Grammy Award-winning musician, singer, Oscar-nominated songwriter, film actor and Major League Baseball team owner

B

Alonzo Babers – Airline pilot and Olympic athlete
Jacob “Buddy” Baer – Boxer, film and TV actor
Max Baer, Jr. – Film actor
Max Baer, Sr. – Boxer and World Heavyweight Champion, Film and TV actor
Parley Baer – Film and television actor
Hobey Baker – Amateur hockey player
Bernt Balchen – Norwegian-born aviation explorer
Thomas Scott Baldwin – Pioneer balloonist
Martin Balsam – Oscar-winning film actor
John Banner – Film and television actor
Sy Bartlett – Screenwriter and producer, co-author of Twelve O'Clock High
Warren Beatty – Oscar-winning film actor, filmmaker, producer and screenwriter
Don Beddoe – Film and television actor
Chuck Bednarik – Professional football player
Art Bell – Talk radio personality
Brooks Benedict – Actor of the silent and sound film eras who served with the American Ambulance Corps and in the U.S. Army Air Service during the First World War
Lloyd Bentsen – Senator from Texas, 1988 vice presidential nominee, 69th Secretary of the Treasury
Elmer Bernstein – Oscar and Emmy-winning and Grammy Award-nominated film composer
Charles A. Berry – Flight surgeon during the Apollo space program and Director of Life Sciences at the NASA
Mark H. Berry – American politician
James Best – Film and television actor
Edward Binns – Film and television actor
John Birch – East China missionary
Barry Bishop – Member of the first American team to summit Mount Everest
Whit Bissell – Film and television actor
Charles F. Blair, Jr. – General officer and husband of actress Maureen O'Hara
Esther Blake – First female member of the United States Air Force
Michael Blake – Oscar-winning screenwriter and author of Dances with Wolves and its 1988 best-selling novel
William Peter Blatty – Oscar-winning screenwriter, film producer, director and author known for his 1971 novel The Exorcist and for writing and producing the hugely successful 1973 film adaptation
Guion Bluford – Astronaut and first African American to fly in space (STS-8, STS-61-A, STS-39, STS-53)
John Boccieri – Member of Congress of Ohio.
Paul Bogart – Five-time Emmy Award-winning television director and producer
Richard Bong – American Ace of Aces
Frank Borman – Astronaut (Gemini 7 and Apollo 8 – first flight to orbit the Moon)
Robert Sidney Bowen – Newspaper journalist, magazine editor and author of the Dave Dawson War Adventure Series and the Red Randall Series. Served as a fighter pilot in both the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the United States Army Air Service, and as an ambulance driver with the American Field Service (AFS) during World War I.
William Bowers – Screenwriter
Boxcar Willie – Country music entertainer
Vance D. Brand – Astronaut who also served as a naval aviator in the U.S. Marine Corps (Apollo–Soyuz Test Project, STS-5, STS-41-B, STS-35)
Albert Brenner – Five-time Oscar-nominated production designer and art director
Lewis H. Brereton – Aviation pioneer and only active duty member of USAF and all of its forebears
John Briley – Oscar-winning screenwriter
Charles Bronson – Emmy Award-nominated film and television actor
Rand Brooks – Film and television actor (Babes in Arms, Gone with the Wind)
Al Brown – Film and television actor known for The Wire who served 29 years in the Air Force including two tours in Vietnam
Charles Q. Brown Jr. – USAF general who is currently serving as the 21st chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as of January 2024
Clarence Brown – Six-time Oscar-nominated filmmaker who served as a fighter pilot and flight instructor with the U.S. Army Air Service during World War I
Dale Brown – Author
Roscoe C. Brown, Jr. – Tuskegee Airman, educator, and TV personality
Roger Browne – Film actor best known for his work in the peplum and Eurospy films popular in Europe in the 1960s and 1970s
Robert Brubaker – Film and TV actor
Don Budge – American tennis player most famous as the first tennis player to win the Grand Slam
John Bunch – Jazz pianist
William Bundy – CIA analyst and foreign affairs advisor
George W. Bush – 43rd President of the United States
Aaron Bushnell – 25-year-old airman who live streamed his self-immolation and resultant death outside the front gate of the Embassy of Israel in Washington, D.C. in protest of genocide and U.S.-backed support of Israel in the Israel–Hamas war
Craig D. Button – Victim of mysterious flight and crash
Red Buttons – Oscar-winning film actor

C

Bruce Cabot – Film actor
Frank Cady – Film and TV actor
Ben Nighthorse Campbell – Cheyenne politician who represented Colorado's 3rd congressional district in the House of Representatives from 1987 to 1993 and was a U.S. Senator from Colorado from 1993 to 2005
Dann Cahn – Film editor
Daniel Caine – Air Force major and F-16 fighter pilot whose mission (along with three other pilots, including USAF Major Heather Penney, Captain Brandon Rasmussen and Lieutenant General Marc Sasseville) on 9/11 was to find United Flight 93 and destroy it however they could, including ramming the aircraft.
George Carlin – Emmy Award-nominated and Grammy-winning stand-up comedian and actor
Don Carpenter – Novelist and WGA Award-nominated screenwriter
John Carroll – Film actor
Johnny Cash – Grammy Award-winning country music singer and musician
Don Castle – Film actor
Clint Castleberry – College football player
James Lea Cate – Historian
Clarence Chamberlin – Barnstormer and aviation pioneer
Harry Chapin – Singer/songwriter
Hollis B. Chenery – Economist
John Ciardi – Poet
Theresa Claiborne – First female African-American pilot in the U.S. Air Force
Beryl Clark – Professional football player
Hal Clement – Author
Larry Clinton – Band leader
William Close – Surgeon and physician, father of Oscar-nominated actress Glenn Close
Lee J. Cobb – Oscar-nominated film actor
Bill Cobbs – Emmy Award-winning film and TV actor
Jacqueline Cochran – Aviator; co-founder and director of the Women Airforce Service Pilots
Red Cochran – Professional football player, coach, and scout
Fred Coe – Oscar-nominated film and TV director, film and TV producer and screenwriter
Gene Colan – comic book artist best known for his work for Marvel Comics
Charles J. Colgan – Virginia politician and founder of Colgan Air.
Eileen Collins – Astronaut (STS-84, STS-93, STS-114)
Michael Collins – Astronaut (Gemini 10 & Apollo 11)
Ramón Colón-López – First Hispanic recipient of the Air Force Combat Action Medal
Darva Conger – former emergency department nurse and winner on Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire? in 2000
John Connell – Film, TV, stage and voice actor
Mike Connors – Emmy-nominated and Golden Globe Award-winning film and TV actor best known for playing private detective Joe Mannix
William Conrad – Emmy and Golden Globe Award-nominated film and TV actor, director and producer
Jackie Coogan – Film and television actor
Gordon Cooper – Mercury astronaut (Mercury 9 & Gemini 5)
Merian C. Cooper – Oscar-nominated filmmaker, adventurer and producer who served as a fighter pilot in World War I. Cooper also served as an aviator in the Polish Air Force.
Joseph Cotten – Film actor
Joe Coulombe – American entrepreneur who founded the grocery store chain Trader Joe's
James E. Counsilman – Collegiate swimming coach
Alexander Courage – Oscar-nominated and Emmy Award-winning film composer
Clyde Cowan – Physicist and discoverer of the neutrino
James Gould Cozzens – Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist
Brad Crandall – Radio personality, voice-over announcer and film narrator, best known for his radio show on WNBC in New York City which aired from March 1964 to September 1971. Crandall also served in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Broderick Crawford – Oscar-winning film and television actor
Adrian Cronauer – Lawyer, media expert and inspiration for the film Good Morning, Vietnam
Floyd Crosby – Oscar and Golden Globe Award-winning cinematographer
Robert Cummings – Emmy Award-winning film and television actor

D

James Daly – Emmy Award-winning actor (Planet of the Apes)
Tom D'Andrea – Film and television actor
Tom Daschle – Senator from South Dakota
Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. – First African-American USAF general officer
Bud Day – Medal of Honor recipient and prisoner of war in Vietnam
Jimmy Dean – Grammy Award-winning country music singer, television host, actor, businessman and creator of the Jimmy Dean sausage brand
Brad Dexter – Film actor and producer
James Dickey – Poet, author of the 1970 novel Deliverance and Golden Globe-nominated screenwriter of the 1972 film adaptation
William Diehl – Author of the novel Primal Fear which was adapted into the 1996 film of the same name
Joe DiMaggio – New York Yankees center fielder
Lawrence Dobkin – Emmy Award-nominated actor (North by Northwest)
Brian Donlevy – Oscar-nominated film actor
Jimmy Doolittle – Test pilot and aeronautical engineer
Bob Dornan – Member of Congress from California and talk radio personality
Gary Drinkwater – Maine state representative^[1]
Howard Duff – Film and television actor (Kramer vs. Kramer, The Late Show)
Charles Duke – Astronaut (Apollo 16)
Ed Dwight – Sculptor, author, former test pilot, astronaut and first African American to have entered the Air Force training program from which NASA selected astronauts. He was controversially not selected to officially join NASA. He finally achieved spaceflight on May 19, 2024, surpassing William Shatner as the oldest person to fly in space.

E

Donn F. Eisele – Astronaut (Apollo 7)
Robert Ellenstein – Film and television actor
Sam Elliott – Oscar-nominated film actor
Cliff Emmich – Film and television actor (Payday)
Jules Engel – Oscar-nominated film producer, filmmaker and animator
Joe Engle – Astronaut, X-15 and space shuttle pilot
Eralia – YouTuber who specializes in reaction videos to film, TV and video game content
Bill Erwin – Character actor known for his 1993 Emmy Award-nominated performance on Seinfeld, portraying the embittered, irascible retiree Sid Fields in the episode "The Old Man"

F

Fred D. Fagg Jr. – 2nd Director of Air Commerce and 6th president of the University of Southern California
Al Feldstein – Writer, editor and artist best known for his work at EC Comics and as editor of the satirical magazine Mad
Norman Fell – Film and television actor
Michael Fincke – Astronaut (STS-134)
Morton S. Fine – Emmy and Edgar Award-nominated and WGA Award-winning screenwriter known for his writing partnership with David Friedkin (The Pawnbroker, I Spy)
Bryce Fisher – Professional football player
Joe Flaherty – Emmy Award-winning actor, writer and comedian known for his role as Donald the heckler in Happy Gilmore (1996)
Pat Flaherty – Film actor and professional baseball and football player who also served in the U.S. Army during the Pancho Villa Expedition, as a fighter pilot in the U.S. Army Air Service during the First World War and as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II and the Korean War
Kelly Flinn – First female B-52 pilot
Med Flory – Jazz saxophonist, bandleader and actor
Tennessee Ernie Ford – Television comedian and recording artist
Nathan Bedford Forrest III – Great-grandson of Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest
John Forsythe – Emmy-nominated and Golden Globe Award-winning film and television actor
Roger Fortson – Black Air Force serviceman who was fatally shot in his home in Fort Walton Beach, Florida by Deputy Eddie Duran of the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office in May 2024. The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office concluded that Duran's "use of deadly force was not objectively reasonable".
Joe Foss – U.S. Marine Corps flying ace and 20th Governor of South Dakota
William Price Fox – Novelist and screenwriter
John Frankenheimer – Emmy Award-winning and Golden Globe-nominated filmmaker
Arthur Franz – Film actor
Al Freeman Jr. – Emmy Award-nominated film and TV actor
Morgan Freeman – Oscar-winning film actor
Theodore Freeman – Astronaut (first fatality)
Jacque Fresco – American futurist, social engineer, founder of The Venus Project, and advocate of global implementation of a socioeconomic system known as a "resource-based economy"
Bruce Jay Friedman – Oscar-nominated screenwriter, novelist, playwright and actor

G

Clark Gable – Oscar-winning film actor
William Gaines – Publisher and co-editor of EC Comics
Ernest K. Gann – Novelist
Daniel Garber – Artist
William T. Gardiner – 55th Governor of Maine
Arthur Gardner – Film actor and producer
Robert Gates – 22nd United States Secretary of Defense
Marvin Gaye – Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter
Michael V. Gazzo – Broadway playwright and Oscar-nominated film actor best known for playing Frank Pentangeli in The Godfather: Part II (1974)
Elmer Gedeon – Three-sport college athlete and professional baseball player
Leigh Gerdine – Musician, civic leader, Webster University president
Henry Gibson – Golden Globe Award-nominated film actor and Grammy Award-nominated singer and songwriter
Nelson Gidding – Oscar-nominated screenwriter
Lewis Gilbert – Oscar-nominated and BAFTA Award-winning filmmaker
Guy Gilpatric – Pilot, flight instructor, journalist, short-story writer and novelist, best known for his Mr. Glencannon stories
Sidney Glazier – Oscar-winning film producer
John Glenn – Aviator, engineer, astronaut, businessman and politician who became the first American to orbit the Earth. Glenn initially enlisted in the Army Air Corps during World War II, then later served as a naval aviator in the Marine Corps.
George Gobel – Television comedian
Arthur Godfrey – Television personality
Barry Goldwater – Senator from Arizona and 1964 Republican presidential nominee
Alberto Gonzales – 80th United States Attorney General
Bert I. Gordon – Visual effects artist and filmmaker
Dick Grace – Film stunt flyer
Lindsey Graham – Senator from South Carolina
Susan Grant – Novelist
Peter Graves – Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning film and television actor
Hank Greenberg – Major League Baseball player
Frederick D. Gregory – Astronaut (STS-51-B, STS-33, STS-44)
John Howard Griffin – Journalist and author best known for his 1959 project to temporarily pass as a black man and journey through the Deep South in order to see life and segregation from the other side of the color line first-hand published under the title Black Like Me (1961)
Gus Grissom – Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo Astronaut

H

Larry Hagman – Emmy and Golden Globe Award-nominated film and television actor, director and producer
William Wister Haines – Novelist, screenwriter and playwright
Fred Haise – Naval aviator, Air Force pilot, test pilot and NASA astronaut (Apollo 13 and Space Shuttle Enterprise). Of the 24 men to have ever flown to the moon, Haise is also the only Marine.
Arch Hall Sr. – Screenwriter, actor and filmmaker
James Norman Hall – American writer best known for The Bounty Trilogy who holds the distinction of serving in the militaries of three Western allies during World War I; Great Britain as an infantryman, and then France and the United States as an aviator
Iceal Hambleton – Missile expert, subject of "Bat 21" rescue
Arthur B. Hancock, Jr. – Thoroughbred racehorse breeder
Jack Hanlon – Child actor known for his role in Our Gang and silent films
Brian Harnois – former paranormal investigator for Ghost Hunters and Ghost Hunters International
Pat Harrington Jr. – Emmy Award-winning stage and television actor
Harry Harrison – Science fiction author known mostly for his novel Make Room! Make Room! (1966)
Paul Harvey – Peabody Award-winning radio broadcaster for ABC News Radio
Bob Hastings – Film and TV actor
Howard Hawks – Oscar-nominated filmmaker who served as an aviator and flight instructor with the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps and with the United States Army Air Service during World War I
Michael Hayden – 19th CIA Director
John Morse Haydon – Governor of American Samoa from 1969 to 1974
Peter Lind Hayes – Vaudeville entertainer and film and television actor
Van Heflin – Oscar-winning film actor
H. John Heinz III – Senator from Pennsylvania
Joseph Heller – Novelist
Susan Helms – Astronaut (STS-54, STS-64, STS-78, STS-101, Expedition 2 - STS-102 / STS-105)
Sherman Hemsley – Emmy and Golden Globe Award-nominated actor and musician
Skitch Henderson – Band leader
Chad Hennings – Professional football player
Jim Hensley – Beer executive and father-in-law to John McCain
Don Herbert – Television personality better known as "Mr. Wizard"
Charlton Heston – Oscar-winning film actor
Nat Hiken – Five-time Emmy Award-winning television writer, director, producer and songwriter
John Hillerman – Film actor
Don Ho – Hawaiian traditional pop musician, singer and entertainer
Ben Hogan – Professional golfer
Dick Hogan – Film actor
William Holden – Oscar-winning film actor
Tim Holt – Film actor
LeRoy Homer Jr. – Airline pilot, co-pilot of United Airlines Flight 93
John Hope – Television meteorologist
Rance Howard – Film and television actor, also father of actor and filmmaker Ron Howard and actor Clint Howard, and grandfather of actresses Bryce Dallas Howard and Paige Howard
David Huddleston – Emmy Award-nominated film and television actor
John Hudson – Film and TV actor
Rune Hultman – Film actor
E. Howard Hunt – Intelligence officer and author known for his involvement in the Watergate scandal, also served in the U.S. Navy and the Office of Strategic Services
Rick Husband – NASA astronaut killed in the Columbia Space Shuttle disaster (STS-96, STS-107)
Bobby Hutchins – Child actor known for his role in Our Gang shorts
Mac Hyman – Novelist

I

James Irwin – Astronaut (Apollo 15 - eighth person to walk on the Moon)
Burl Ives – Oscar-winning film actor and Grammy Award-winning musician

J

James Jabara – First American jet ace
Bernard James – NBA player for the Dallas Mavericks
Randall Jarrell – Poet
Rick Jason – Film and television actor
Russell Johnson – Film and television actor
Sam Johnson – Member of Congress of Texas
Bobby Jones – Amateur golf champion
David M. Jones – Doolittle Raider and POW of Stalag Luft III.

K

James Karen – Saturn Award-winning film, television and theater actor
Phil Karlson – Emmy-nominated film and television director
Todd Karns – Film actor who played George Bailey's younger brother, Harry, in the 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life
Nicholas Katzenbach – 65th United States Attorney General
William Keighley – Film director and actor who supervised the First Motion Picture Unit of the United States Army Air Forces during World War II
DeForest Kelley – Film and television actor
Jack Kelly – Film, TV and stage actor
Orry-Kelly – Three-time Oscar-winning Hollywood costume designer
Arthur Kennedy – Five-time Oscar-nominated film actor
Ron Kenoly – Christian music worship leader
Irvin Kershner – Film director
Algene and Frederick Key – Brothers and aviation pioneers
Shawna Kimbrell – Lieutenant Colonel and first female African-American fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force
Iven Kincheloe – Air Force test pilot
Micki King – Olympic diving gold-medalist and athletic coach
Wally Kinnan – Pioneering meteorologist
Julian Koenig – American copywriter who was inducted into The One Club Creative Hall of Fame in 1966
Lester Koenig – Screenwriter, film producer, and founder of the jazz record label Contemporary Records
Gene Kranz – aerospace engineer who served as NASA's second Chief Flight Director, directing missions of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs, including the first lunar landing mission, Apollo 11
Norman Krasna – Oscar-winning screenwriter

L

Alan Ladd – Film actor
David Ladd – Film and TV producer and former actor
Fiorello H. La Guardia – Mayor of New York City
Tim LaHaye – Baptist evangelical Christian minister who wrote more than 85 books, both fiction and non-fiction, including the Left Behind apocalyptic fiction series
Frank Purdy Lahm – First military aviator
Jay Lambert – Olympic and professional boxer and general surgeon
Paul Lambert – Film and television actor
Tom Landry – Dallas Cowboys football coach
Mario Lanza – Grammy Award-nominated tenor and actor
Arnold Laven – Film and television director and producer
Beirne Lay, Jr. – Screenwriter, co-author of Twelve O'Clock High
Norman Lear – Emmy Award-winning TV and film producer, director and Oscar-nominated screenwriter
Jeannie Leavitt – First female USAF fighter pilot in 1993 and first woman to command a combat fighter wing
Robert LeFevre – American libertarian businessman, radio personality and primary theorist of autarchism
Curtis LeMay – USAF Chief of Staff and 1968 vice presidential candidate
C.W. Lemoine – author, fighter pilot and YouTuber who also served as an aviator in the U.S. Navy
John Levitow – Enlisted recipient of the Medal of Honor
Jules V. Levy – Film and television producer and screenwriter
Buddy Lewis – Major League Baseball player
Larry Lieber – Comic book artist and writer best known as co-creator of Iron Man, Thor and Ant-Man
Charles Lindbergh – Legendary aviator
George Lindsey – Film and TV actor and stand-up comedian
James Lipton – Emmy Award-winning writer, lyricist, actor and dean emeritus of the Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University in New York City. He was also the executive producer, writer and host of the Bravo TV series Inside the Actors Studio.
Roger Locher – USAF pilot whose rescue was the deepest inside North Vietnam of the entire Vietnam War
Jon Locke – Film and TV actor
Frank Loesser – Oscar, Grammy, Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning songwriter
Donald S. Lopez, Sr. – Ace with the Flying Tigers
Pare Lorentz – Filmmaker known for his film work about the New Deal
Robert Moffat Losey – Meteorologist; considered to be the first American military casualty of World War II
Charlie Louvin – Grammy Award-nominated country music singer and songwriter best known as one of the Louvin Brothers
Nancy Harkness Love – Aviator and co-founder of the Women Airforce Service Pilots
Frank Luke Jr. – Medal of Honor recipient during World War I
Anna Paulina Luna – Maxim magazine model and politician
Jeffrey Lynn – Actor and film producer

M

John E. Mack – Psychiatrist
Gavin MacLeod – Film and television actor
Gordon MacRae – Broadway and Film actor
John Lee Mahin – Screenwriter and film producer
Nicole Malachowski – First woman pilot with United States Air Force Thunderbirds
Karl Malden – Oscar-winning film actor
Henry Mancini – Four-time Oscar-winning and 20-time Grammy Award-winning film composer and musician
Herman J. Mankiewicz – Oscar-winning screenwriter of Citizen Kane who also served in the U.S. Marine Corps
Delbert Mann – Oscar-winning film and TV director
Paul Mantz – Film stunt pilot
Steven Marlo – Film and television actor
Barney Martin – Film and television actor and retired NYPD detective
Dean Paul Martin – Singer and actor
Tony Martin – Entertainer
Vernon Martin – Professional football player
Candy Massaroni – Republican member of the Kentucky House of Representatives from Kentucky's 50th House district^[2]
Jerry Mathers – Television actor
Kerwin Mathews – Film and television actor
Walter Matthau – Oscar-winning film actor
MC Tee – Musician
T. Allen McArtor – Business executive and FAA Administrator
Cormac McCarthy – Pulitzer Prize-winning author and screenwriter
Kevin McCarthy – Oscar-nominated film actor
Joseph C. McConnell – Leading U.S. ace of the Korean War
Tim McCoy – Film actor
James McDivitt – Astronaut (Gemini 4, Apollo 9)
Spanky McFarland – Child actor known for playing Spanky in the Our Gang series of short-subject comedies of the 1930s and 1940s
George McGovern – Senator from South Dakota, 1972 presidential nominee
Andrew J. McIntyre – Cinematographer and friend of movie star Clark Gable who enlisted together in the Army Air Force during World War II
Robert McNamara and the Whiz Kids – Ford Motor Company executives
Pamela Melroy – Astronaut (STS-92, STS-112, STS-120)
Lee Mendelson – Six-time Emmy-winning animation producer and executive producer of many Peanuts animated specials
Burgess Meredith – Oscar-nominated film, theater and TV actor and filmmaker
James Meredith – Civil Rights figure; first African-American to attend the University of Mississippi
Gary Merrill – Film actor

Ray Milland – Oscar-winning film actor and director who served in the British Army and later as a civilian flight instructor with the U.S. Army Air Force during WWII
Glenn Miller – Grammy Award-winning musician and band leader
Walter M. Miller, Jr. – Science fiction author
John Purroy Mitchel – 95th Mayor of New York City
Billy Mitchell – Grandfather of the U.S. Air Force.
Cameron Mitchell – Film actor
Nicole Mitchell – TV meteorologist
Dana Mohler-Faria – President, Bridgewater State College
George Montgomery – Film and television actor
Clayton Moore – Television actor
Robin Moore – Author of The Green Berets and The French Connection and Razzie Award-winning screenwriter
Dodge Morgan – Single-handed sailor and entrepreneur
Tad Mosel – Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and one of the leading dramatists of hour-long teleplay genre for live television during the 1950s
Charlie Munger – Billionaire investor
Richard Murphy – Oscar-nominated screenwriter

N

Jack Narz – TV game show host
George N. Neise – Film actor
Barry Nelson – Film and television actor noted as the first actor to portray Ian Fleming's secret agent character James Bond
Ralph Nelson – Oscar-nominated and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker who served as a fighter pilot and flight instructor in the Army Air Corps during WWII
Willie Nelson – Oscar-nominated and Grammy Award-winning musician, singer and songwriter
Mike Nesmith – Guitarist, member of "The Monkees," and heir to the Liquid Paper fortune
Jack Nicholson – Oscar-winning film actor, director, producer and screenwriter
Cody Nickson – American television personality, winner of The Amazing Race 30, contestant of Big Brother 19^[3]
Charles Nordhoff – American writer best known for The Bounty Trilogy who served in the Ambulance Corps during World War I, as well as a military aviator in both the French Lafayette Flying Corps and the U.S. Army Air Service
Chuck Norris – B-movie actor

O

Edmond O'Brien – Oscar-winning film actor
Donald O'Connor – Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning film actor
Jarvis Offutt – U.S. Army Air Service aviator and namesake of Offutt Air Force Base
Robin Olds – Two-war triple flying ace
George Olesen – Cartoonist
Patrick O'Neal – Film actor
Robert Osborne – Actor, film historian and author best known as the primary host of the cable channel Turner Classic Movies (TCM) for more than 20 years

P

Reverend Bernard T. Pagano – Roman Catholic priest and high school teacher who was falsely accused and arrested in 1979 for committing nine robberies in Delaware and Pennsylvania, in which an otherwise polite man held store clerks at gunpoint, demanding money. Pagano was cleared of the charges when the real culprit Ronald W. Clouser turned himself in. Pagano's story was dramatized in the 1981 film The Gentleman Bandit (directed by Jonathan Kaplan), in which Pagano served as technical advisor. Pagano later taught theology at Notre Dame High School in Easton, Pennsylvania in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Jack Palance – Oscar-winning film actor
Gregg Palmer – Film and TV actor
Ron Paul – Member of Congress; 1988, 2008 & 2012 Presidential candidate
John Payne – Film actor
Stacy Pearsall – Combat photographer, two-time winner of the NPPA Military Photographer of the Year award
Leo Penn – Film director
Leonard Pennario – Concert pianist and composer
Heather Penney – Former Air Force major and F-16 fighter pilot whose mission (along with three other pilots, including USAF Major Daniel Caine, Captain Brandon Rasmussen and Lieutenant General Marc Sasseville) on 9/11 was to find United Flight 93 and destroy it however they could, including ramming the aircraft.
Oscar Francis Perdomo – "Ace in a Day"
Sonny Perdue – 81st Governor of Georgia.
H. Ross Perot, Jr. – Member of the Forbes 400 and son of Ross Perot
Rick Perry – 47th Governor of Texas
House Peters Jr. – Actor
Paul Picerni – Actor
Slim Pickens – Actor and rodeo performer
William H. Pitsenbarger – Enlisted recipient of the Medal of Honor
Robert M. Polich, Sr. – Recipient of Distinguished Flying Cross and POW of Stalag Luft III
Gregg Popovich – Head Coach of the NBA professional basketball team San Antonio Spurs
Wiley Post – Famed American aviator during the interwar period and the first pilot to fly solo around the world. Also known for his work in high-altitude flying, Post helped develop one of the first pressure suits and discovered the jet stream.
Tom Poston – Television comedian
H.C. Potter – Film director and producer
Jody Powell – White House Press Secretary
Francis Gary Powers – CIA U-2 spy plane pilot
Robert Preston – Oscar-nominated film and Broadway actor
Robert Prosky – Film actor
Mario Puzo – Author of The Godfather (1969) and Oscar-winning screenwriter of the 1972 film adaptation and its sequels

Q

Elwood R. "Pete" Quesada – Aviation pioneer
Robin Quivers – Co-host of The Howard Stern Show

R

Dennis Rader – BTK Serial Killer
John Randolph – Broadway and film actor
Brandon Rasmussen – Air Force Captain and F-16 fighter pilot whose mission (along with three other pilots, including USAF Major Heather Penney, Major Daniel Caine and Lieutenant General Marc Sasseville) on 9/11 was to find United Flight 93 and destroy it however they could, including ramming the aircraft.
Gene Rayburn – Emmy-nominated radio and television personality
Gene Raymond – Film actor
Ronald Reagan – B-movie actor and 40th President of the United States
Chuck Reed – Mayor of San Jose, California and his daughter, Kim Campbell, a decorated Iraq War pilot
George Reeves – Television and film actor
William Rehnquist – 16th Chief Justice of the United States
Carl Reiner – Emmy and Grammy Award-winning film and television actor, comedian, filmmaker, producer and screenwriter
John Rich – Emmy Award-winning film and television director
Lloyd Richards – Emmy Award-nominated television director, theatre director, actor, and dean of the Yale School of Drama
Eddie Rickenbacker – Leading American World War I flying ace
Roy Riegels – All-American football player
Robinson Risner – Decorated USAF General and Vietnam POW.
R. Stephen Ritchie – USAF Ace in the Vietnam War
Martin Ritt – Oscar-nominated filmmaker
Hal Roach – Oscar-winning producer and screenwriter
Gene Roddenberry – Emmy Award-nominated television and film producer
Marion Rodgers – Communications Specialist, Former Tuskegee Airman
Gilbert Roland – Golden Globe Award-nominated film and television actor
Frank Ronzio – Film and TV actor best known for playing Litmus in Escape from Alcatraz
Stuart Roosa – Astronaut (Apollo 14)
Elliott Roosevelt – Son of Franklin D. Roosevelt
Quentin Roosevelt – Youngest son of Theodore Roosevelt, killed in aerial combat as a pursuit pilot in World War I
Leonard Rosenman – Oscar-winning film composer
Bob Ross – Painter, art instructor and television host
Chelcie Ross – Film actor
Dan Rowan – Comedian and television actor
Joe Mack Roy – TikTok star known for his "Pop Watch" videos
Kurt Russell – Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated film and television actor
Dick Rutan – Aviation record-holder and aircraft designer

S

Sabu – Film actor
William Sachs – Film director, producer and screenwriter (Joe)
James Salter – Novelist
Tommy Sands – Pop music singer and film actor
Mark Sanford – 115th Governor of South Carolina
Marc Sasseville – Retired Air Force lieutenant general and F-16 fighter pilot whose mission (along with three other pilots, including USAF Major Heather Penney, Major Daniel Caine and Captain Brandon Rasmussen) on 9/11 was to find United Flight 93 and destroy it however they could, including ramming the aircraft. Sasseville later served as the 12th Vice Chief of the National Guard Bureau.
John Monk Saunders – Oscar-winning screenwriter, film director and novelist
William Schallert – Emmy Award-nominated actor
Roy Scheider – Oscar-nominated film and TV actor
Bob Schieffer – Television journalist
Tex Schramm – President and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys
Rusty Schweickart – Astronaut (Apollo 9)
Dick Scobee – Astronaut, killed in Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster
David Scott – Astronaut (Gemini 8, Apollo 9, and Apollo 15)
Donald E. Scott – All-American college football quarterback
Dr. Seuss – Famed American children's author, political cartoonist, illustrator, poet, Emmy Award-winning animator and filmmaker
Carroll Shelby – Automotive designer, racecar driver and entrepreneur who served as a bomber pilot in World War II
Jim Siedow – Film and TV actor
Gregory Sierra – Film and TV actor
Lance Sijan – Medal of Honor recipient
John Simon – Literary, theater and film critic
Neil Simon – Four-time Oscar-nominated and Golden Globe Award-winning screenwriter, playwright and author
Sinbad – Actor and comedian
Tom Skerritt – Film actor
Richard X. Slattery – Film and TV actor
Deke Slayton – Mercury and Apollo-Soyuz Test Project astronaut
Jack Smight – Theater, film and television director
Dean Smith – American men's college basketball head coach for 36 years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Gretchen Smith – Founder of the charity organization "Code of Vets"
Hal Smith – Film and television actor
Tubby Smith – NCAA Men's Basketball Coach
William Smith – Film and television actor and champion arm-wrestler
Carl Spaatz – Pioneer airman, first Chief of Staff of the Air Force
Aaron Spelling – Film and television producer
Mickey Spillane – Crime novelist
Caroll Spinney – Puppeteer, cartoonist and artist most famous for playing Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street
G.D. Spradlin – Film actor known for The Godfather: Part II (1974)
Thomas P. Stafford – Astronaut and aviator (Gemini 6A, Gemini 9A, Apollo 10)
Bill Stealey – Business CEO and co-founder of MicroProse
David Steeves – Pilot who crashed in the Sierra Nevada and endured a nearly two month survival ordeal.
George Steinbrenner – Team owner of the New York Yankees
Robert Sterling – Film actor
Craig Stevens – Television actor
George Stevens Jr. – Oscar-nominated producer, TV director, playwright and author
Ted Stevens – Senator from Alaska
James Stewart – Oscar-winning film actor
Bert Stiles – Author
Ralph Story – Television personality who served as a P-51 fighter pilot and flight instructor during World War II
Dale E. Stovall – USAF General, decorated Vietnam War search and rescue pilot
Joseph Strick – Oscar-winning film director, producer and screenwriter
Woody Strode – Golden Globe Award-nominated film actor and football player
John Sturges – Oscar-nominated filmmaker
Preston Sturges – Oscar-winning filmmaker
Chesley Sullenberger – Airline pilot, hero of Miracle on the Hudson
Bruce Sundlun – 71st governor of Rhode Island
Charles Sweeney – Pilot who flew the Fat Man bomb to Nagasaki.
Dolph Sweet – Film and TV actor
David Swift – WGA Award-nominated screenwriter, animator, director and producer
Jack Swigert – Astronaut and congressman-elect

T

Don Taylor – Actor and filmmaker known for directing Tom Sawyer (1973) and Echoes of a Summer (1976) starring Jodie Foster. Also directed Damien: Omen II (1978).
Fred Taylor – College basketball coach
Kenneth M. Taylor – World War II ace at the Attack on Pearl Harbor
Jack Teixeira – American airman of the Massachusetts Air National Guard who was convicted on espionage charges in 2024 after leaking hundreds of classified Pentagon documents
Hunter S. Thompson – WGA Award-nominated author and journalist
Stephen W. Thompson – First U.S. aviator to shoot down an enemy aircraft.
Bobby Thomson – Major League Baseball player
Leo K. Thorsness – Medal of Honor recipient and Vietnam POW.
Harrison R. Thyng – Two-war ace and Senate candidate
Paul Tibbets – Commander of the Enola Gay
Mel Tillis – Country music singer
Grant Tinker – Peabody Award-winning television executive who served as chairman and CEO of NBC
Kenneth Tobey – Actor known for It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955) and The Candidate (1972)
Tuskegee Airmen – First African-American military pilots
Archie R. Twitchell – Actor and test pilot known for Out of the Past (1947), Sunset Boulevard (1950) and The Gunfighter (1950)

U

Stewart Udall – 37th United States Secretary of the Interior

V

Dick Van Dyke – Emmy Award-winning and Golden Globe-nominated film and television actor, comedian, writer, singer and dancer
Jerry Van Dyke – Emmy Award-nominated film and television actor, musician and comedian
Melvin Van Peebles – Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, actor, playwright, novelist and composer best known for Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, regarded as one of the earliest and most successful films in the blaxploitation genre
Richard Verma – American diplomat serving as the deputy secretary of state for management and resources since April 2023

W

Joseph A. Walker – X-15 test pilot
Kenneth N. Walker – Medal of Honor recipient, airpower visionary
George Wallace – 45th Governor of Alabama and presidential candidate
Walter Wanger – Oscar-nominated producer (Stagecoach, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Cleopatra)
Fred Ward – Actor and producer
Jack L. Warner – Oscar-winning producer and Hollywood film executive
Jack Webb – Film and television actor, director, and producer
George Welch – World War II flying ace, decorated for heroism at the Attack on Pearl Harbor
William A. Wellman – Oscar-winning filmmaker who, during World War I, served as a fighter pilot in the French Foreign Legion, as a driver in the Norton-Harjes Ambulance Corps on the Western Front, and as a flight instructor in the United States Army Air Service. He was also the first American to join Escadrille N.87 in the Lafayette Flying Corps of the French Air Force during the war. As a fighter pilot, he is credited with three confirmed kills and five probables.
David Westheimer – Novelist
Donald E. Westlake – Oscar-nominated screenwriter and novelist
Ed White – Astronaut (Gemini 4, first American to walk in space)
Frank D. White – 41st Governor of Arkansas
Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney – Businessman
John Hay Whitney – Newspaper publisher and Ambassador to Great Britain
Thornton Wilder – Novelist and playwright (The Bridge of San Luis Rey, Our Town, The Skin of Our Teeth)
Charles Willeford – Novelist and poet (Cockfighter, Miami Blues, The Woman Chaser, The Burnt Orange Heresy)
Grant Williams – Film, theater and television actor
John Williams – Five-time Oscar-winning film composer
Gordon Willis – Oscar-nominated cinematographer
Flip Wilson – Emmy, Grammy and Golden Globe Award-winning actor and comedian
Heather Wilson – U.S. Member of Congress from New Mexico
Jason Wingreen – Film and television actor known as the original voice of Boba Fett in Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back
Reality Winner – Whistleblower
Harris Wofford – U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania
Morgan Woodward – Film and television actor
Alfred Worden – Astronaut (Apollo 15)
James C. "Jim" Wright, Jr. – U.S. Representative from Texas and 56th Speaker of the House
William Wyler – Three-time Oscar-winning filmmaker

Y

Chuck Yeager – Air Force test pilot who became the first person to exceed the speed of sound in level flight
Coleman Young – Mayor of Detroit (1974–1994)

Z

Louis Zamperini – Olympic distance runner
Darryl F. Zanuck – Three-time Oscar-winning film producer and studio executive
Howard Zinn – Historian, playwright, philosopher, socialist intellectual

References

^ "Drinkwater Gary – Maine House Republicans". mainehousegop.org. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
^ "Nelson County woman seeking to unseat McCoy in 50th District 2022 primary - Nelson County Gazette". nelsoncountygazette.com. 2021-12-01. Retrieved 2023-11-24.
^ Walker, Jodi (February 22, 2018). "The Amazing Race winners on how they turned their Big Brother eviction into a Happily Ever After". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 10, 2018.

[1] "Drinkwater Gary – Maine House Republicans". mainehousegop.org. Retrieved 2024-03-19.

[2] "Nelson County woman seeking to unseat McCoy in 50th District 2022 primary - Nelson County Gazette". nelsoncountygazette.com. 2021-12-01. Retrieved 2023-11-24.

[3] Walker, Jodi (February 22, 2018). "The Amazing Race winners on how they turned their Big Brother eviction into a Happily Ever After". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 10, 2018.

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