This is a list of notable people who were either born in, or have lived in, Charleston, South Carolina.
Athletes
- Luther Broughton (born 1974), NFL player
- Nehemiah Broughton (born 1982), NFL player
- Kwame Brown (born 1982), basketball player
- Garrett Chisolm (born 1988), NFL player
- Beth Daniel (born 1956), professional golfer
- Zola Davis (born 1975), NFL and XFL player
- Carlos Dunlap (born 1989), NFL player
- Oronde Gadsden (born 1971), NFL player
- AJ Green (born 1988), NFL player
- Harold Green (born 1968), NFL player
- Anthony Johnson (born 1974), NBA player
- Katrina McClain Johnson (born 1965), Olympic gold medalist; retired WNBA player
- Byron Maxwell (born 1988), NFL player
- David Meggett (born 1966), NFL player
- Bud Moore (born 1941), NASCAR driver
- Langston Moore (born 1981), former NFL player
- Ovie Mughelli (born 1980), NFL player
- Josh Powell (born 1983), NBA player
- Laron Profit (born 1977), NBA player
- Robert Quinn (born 1990), NFL player
- Art Shell (born 1946), NFL player and coach
- Roddy White (born 1981), NFL player
- Khris Middleton (born 1991), NBA player
- Edmond Robinson (born 1992), NFL player
Entertainers
- Angry Grandpa (born 1950), internet personality
- Stephen Colbert (born 1964), comedian
- Joel Derfner (born 1973), musical theater composer
- Andy Dick (born 1965), comedian
- Thomas Gibson (born 1962), actor
- Shanola Hampton (born 1977), actress
- Lauren Hutton (born 1943), actress
- Mabel King (1932â€"99), actress
- Logan Marshall-Green (born 1976), actor
- Will Patton (born 1954), actor
- Grace Peixotto (born 1817), madam
- Darius Rucker (born 1966), lead singer of Hootie & the Blowfish, and country star
- Elise Testone (born 1983), singer, American Idol contestant
- Melanie Thornton (1967â€"2001), singer, member of La Bouche
Military figures
- Mark Wayne Clark (1896â€"1984), United States Army general of World War II and the Korean War
- Samuel Wragg Ferguson (1834â€"1917), Confederate States Army general
- Benjamin Huger (1805â€"1877), Confederate States Army general
- Robert Charlwood Richardson, Jr. (1882â€"1954), United States Army general of World War II
- William Childs Westmoreland (1914â€"2005), United States Army general of Vietnam; U. S. Army Chief of Staff 1968â€"1972
Political figures
- William Aiken, Jr. (1806â€"1887), Governor of South Carolina
- Judah P. Benjamin (1811â€"1884), U.S. Senator from Louisiana, Confederate States Secretary of State and Attorney General
- James Francis Byrnes (1879â€"1972), U.S. Representative and Senator, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, Secretary of State, and Governor of South Carolina
- Floride Calhoun (1792â€"1866), Second Lady of the United States; wife of John C. Calhoun
- John C. Calhoun (1782â€"1850), U.S. Representative and Senator, Vice President, Secretary of State, and Secretary of War
- Henry William de Saussure (1763â€"1839), second director of United States Mint; intendant (mayor) of Charleston
- William Drayton, Sr. (1733â€"1790), associate justice of South Carolina Supreme Court
- Christopher Gadsden (1724â€"1805), American Revolutionary War leader
- James Gadsden (1788â€"1858), U.S. minister to Mexico; president of the South Carolina Railroad Company
- Robert Young Hayne (1791â€"1839), Mayor of Charleston 1836â€"1837; United States Senator 1823â€"1833; Governor of South Carolina
- Thomas Heyward, Jr. (1746â€"1809), signer of the Declaration of Independence
- Fritz Hollings (born 1922), United States Senator from South Carolina; Governor and Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina
- Henry Laurens (1724â€"1792), American Revolutionary War leader
- Burnet Maybank (1899â€"1954), Charleston mayor (1931â€"1935); South Carolina governor (1939â€"1941); United States Senator from South Carolina
- Christopher Memminger (1803â€"1888), Confederate Minister of the Treasury; proponent of public schools
- William Porcher Miles (1822â€"1899), lawyer; Mayor of Charleston 1855-1857; U.S. Representative from South Carolina; member of the Confederate Congress; designed the Confederate battle flag
- Thomas Parker (1760â€"1820), U.S. District Attorney for S.C. 1792â€"1820; married daughter of William Henry Drayton, Mary Drayton
- Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (1746â€"1825), American Revolutionary War leader; United States Ambassador to France; Federalist candidate for President in the 1804 and 1808 United States presidential elections
- Joel Roberts Poinsett (1779â€"1851), botanist, politician, and diplomat; U.S. Representative; United States Ambassador to Mexico, Secretary of War; founded precursor to the Smithsonian Institution; namesake of the poinsettia
- Joseph P. Riley, Jr. (born 1943), Mayor of Charleston 1975-2015
- Joseph O. Rogers, Jr. (1921â€"1999), member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from Clarendon County 1955â€"1966; Republican gubernatorial nominee in 1966; reared in Charleston; spent adult years in Manning
- Edward Rutledge, signed the U.S. Declaration of Independence; Governor of South Carolina, 1798-1800
- John Rutledge, President of South Carolina, 1776-1778; Commander and Chief of South Carolina forces during Revolutionary War; Governor of South Carolina, 1779-1782; second Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court; signed the U.S. Constitution
- James Skivring Smith (1825â€"1884), President of Liberia, 1871-1872
- George Alfred Trenholm (1807â€"1876), Confederate States Secretary of the Treasury
- Bill Workman (born 1940), Charleston native; mayor of Greenville, 1983-1995; economic development specialist
Scientists
- Robert Furchgott (1916â€"2009), biochemist and Nobel Laureate
- Ernest Everett Just (1883â€"1941), biologist
- William Charles Wells (1757â€"1817), physician
- Alexander David McArthur (born 1996), computer scientist
Writers and artists
- David Carson (born 1956), graphic designer
- Joel Derfner (born 1973), writer
- Shepard Fairey (1970), artist known for Andre the Giant "Obey" and Barack Obama "Hope" stencil pieces
- Arthur Freed (1894â€"1973), Hollywood producer, composer, and writer
- Frank Bunker Gilbreth, Jr. (1911â€"2001), author, Cheaper by the Dozen
- Dubose Heyward (1885â€"1940), writer and lyricist, Porgy and Bess
- Jessica Hische (born 1984), illustrator
- Robert Jordan (1948â€"2007), novelist, author of The Wheel of Time series
- Alexandra Ripley (1934â€"2004), author, Scarlett
- Stella F Simon, photographer
- Philip Simmons (1912â€"2009), ironworker
- William Gilmore Simms (1806â€"1870), poet, novelist, and historian
- Frank Lebby Stanton (1857â€"1927), lyricist; columnist for the Atlanta Constitution; author of the lyrics of "Just Awearyin' for You"
- Norb Vonnegut (born 1958), author
- Nikki DuBose (born 1985), former model turned author and activist
Other
- William Abbott, manager of the New Charleston Theatre
- Garland Bayliss, historian and administrator at Texas A&M University; taught at the Citadel in the mid-1950s
- Frank Birnbaum, 20th century Jewish cantor
- Rick Brewer (born 1956), former administrator at Charleston Southern University; current president of Louisiana College in Pineville, Louisiana
- Septima Poinsette Clark (1898â€"1987), educator, civil rights activist; "grandmother" of the Civil Rights Movement"
- Lauren Hutton (born 1943), model
- Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson (1905â€"1968), well-known African American mob boss
- Sallie Krawcheck (born 1964), Citigroup chief financial officer
- Samuel Maverick (1803â€"1870), firebrand rancher from whom the term "maverick" was coined
- Burnet Maybank III, lawyer; two-time head of South Carolina Department of Revenue
- Robert Mills (1781â€"1855), architect
- Vanessa Minnillo (born 1980), Miss USA 1998, MTV VJ, and Entertainment Tonight correspondent
- George B. Rabb, zoologist
- Merton Simpson, (born 1928), abstract expressionist artist, African art collector, musician
- David Stahl (1949â€"2010), conductor
- Elizabeth Timothy, first female newspaper publisher in America
- Lewis Timothy, first American librarian
- Denmark Vesey (1767â€"1822), freedman tried and executed for allegedly plotting a slave revolt
- J. Waites Waring (1880â€"1968), United States District Court for District of South Carolina judge; part of three-judge panel that heard school desegregation case Briggs v. Elliott
References
External links
- IMDB's List of People from Charleston, SC
