A huge amount of Hollywood people come from California. This is probably more due to the fact that Hollywood is IN California than anything else. Some of the best talent and recognizable stars come from the East Coast and PA is no exception.  Pennsylvania has produced famous actors, directors, comedians, FX gurus and TV personalities. Some of these are rather obvious, while other will make you say “They’re from PA?”

Classic Hollywood

There have been some rather famous Kelly’s in Hollywood, and they come Straight Outta PA! Film legend Gene Kelly was born in 1912 in Pittsburgh. Actress Grace Kelly was born in Philadelphia in 1929 and eventually became the Princess of Monaco. Of course there is Eric Kelly, born in Hershey in 1981. I am not famous in Hollywood, but this is my list and I do what I want.

Maria Bello / Julie Benz

Maria Bello and Julie Benz have a lot in common. They are both attractive actresses and both from Pennsylvania! Bello was born in Norristown in 1967, went to Villanova and has been in movies like Coyote Ugly and The Secret Window. Benz is from Pittsburgh and was born in 1972. She has been in all kinds of cool movies like Rambo, Punisher, and Saw V.

Comediens

Pennsylvania knows comedy. Dennis Miller was born in 1953 and hails from Pittsburgh. Both Kevin Hart and Raymond Teller were born in Philadelphia – Teller in 1948 and Hart in 1979.

Manly Men

Charlie Bronson always got rope! Charles Buchinsky was born in 1921 in Ehrenfeld, PA – between Altoona and Johnstown. Fellow manly man Jack Palance was born in 1919 in a place called Lattimer Mines – between Wilkes-Barre and Hazelton. Palance was born Vladimir Ivanovich Palahniuk – no wonder he chose a stage name.

Star Trek

I think it is awesome that Star Trek has so many PA actors. Our current Mr. Spock, Zachary Quinto was born in Pittsburgh in 1977. The super-talented Robert Picardo is from Philadelphia (1953) and portrayed the holographic doctor for 7 years of Voyager. Commander William T. Riker, aka Jonathan Frakes, was born in Bellefonte in 1952. Frakes also directed two Star Trek Films including First Contact.

More Star Trek

Star Trek has guest stars from PA too! I first saw her as Evil-Lyn in Masters of the Universe – Meg Foster is from Reading (1948) and made an appearance on Deep Space Nine. (Skeletor was on DS9 too!). John de Lancie played the omnipotent Q on three different Trek series’ and was born in Philadelphia also in 1948. Daniel Dae Kim was raised in Bethlehem, PA. appearing on Voyager and Enterprise. I forgot to include John Billingsly from Media, who played Dr. Phlox for the entire run of Enterprise and F. Murray Abraham (Pittsburgh) who was the antagonist in Star Trek: Insurrection. J.G. Hertzler (Martok, Laas, Kolos, Tsunkatse Hirogen) was technically born in Georgia, but his family is from Juniata County he went to college at Bucknell. I’ll have to add those when this goes to video.

Seth Green / Jamie Kennedy

You may have mixed these guys up in the 90’s. Seth Green and Jamie Kennedy were born just a few miles apart. Green was born in Philadelphia’s Overbrook Park in 1974. Kennedy was born just down the road in Upper Darby in 1970.

Frank Gorshin / Fred Rogers

Riddle me this! Frank Gorshin portrayed the original Riddler on the Batman TV series with Adam West and was born in Pittsburgh in 1933. Won’t you be my neighbor? Fred Rogers is famous for his show Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood (which has been made into a movie starring Tom Hanks since I originally wrote this). He was born in Latrobe, PA in 1928. Latrobe is also the home of Arnold Palmer, the banana split sundae and Rolling Rock!

Directors

Directors! Irvin Kershner was born in Philadelphia (1923) and brought us The Empire Strikes Back! Brian de Palma was raised in Philadelphia and is a legend for Scarface and The Untouchables. Chris Columbus was born near Altoona and directed everything from Home Alone to Harry Potter. M. Night Shyamalan is from Philadelphia and most of his movies take place in PA.

Movie Magic

Horror! The Grandfather of Zombies – George A. Romero – was born in New York, but made Pittsburgh the birthplace of Zombie flicks. This inspired Tom Savini (born in Pittsburgh 1946) to become one of the most famous makeup fx artists in Hollywood. You may not recognize his face, but Tom Woodruff Jr. has worn the Alien Xenomorph costume more than anyone else and was born in Williamsport, PA.

BAM / Jackass

It’s no suprise that most of the Bam/Jackass crew is from PA. Brandon Margera (1979), Brandon Dicamillo (1976), and Ed Webb (aka Rakeyohn, 1975) were all born in West Chester. Chris Raab was born in 1980 in Willow Grove, which is basically Philadelphia.

Kevin Bacon / Bradley Cooper

Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon! The prolific actor was born in Philadelphia in 1958. Seventeen years later, another leading man – Bradley Cooper (1975) was born in Philadelphia.

Leading Ladies

Famous for films like Basic Instinct, Casino and Total Recall, Sharon Stone (1958) was born in a tiny little town near Erie called Meadville. Tina Fey was born Elizabeth Fey in Upper Darby in 1970. That’s the same town and year Jamie Kennedy was born!

An Officer and a Gentleman

Before he was out hunting Sean Connery on the Red October, Scott Glenn was born in 1941 in Pittsburgh. Hollywood leading man Richard Gere was born in Philadelphia in 1949 and is directly descended from Pilgrims aboard The Mayflower.

Prime Time TV

Peter Boyle was Frank Barone for 9 years of Everybody Loves Raymond. Boyle was born in Norristown in 1935. Fellow TV dad Bob Saget (1956) is best known as Danny Tanner from Full House and is from Philadelphia. Jonathan Taylor Thomas was born in Bethlehem in 1981 and is famous for his role on Home Improvement with Tim Allen and the voice of Simba from Disney’s The Lion King.

Consummate Professionals

PA sure makes good actors. He has been in nearly 100 films, but I first saw Jon Polito in The Crow. He was born in Philadelphia in 1950. Jeff Goldblum is an extremely successful actor born in Pittsburgh in 1952. I first saw Bruce Davison in the original X-men movie and he has also been on Star Trek! Davison (1946) was born in Philadelphia.

Pittsburgh

Donald P. Bellisario has been a TV producer forever and has brought us shows like Magnum, P.I., Quantum Leap, J.A.G. and NCIS. He was born in Cokeburg (south of Pittsburgh) in 1935. Director Antione Fuqua (1965) was born in Pittsburgh and made movies like The Magnificent Seven, Olympus Has Fallen, and Training Day.

Will Smith

One of the most famous Pennsylvanians ever, Will Smith (1968) really was ‘West Philadelphia Born and Raised’. Actor, comedian, producer, rapper and songwriter – Smith is one of the most powerful figures in Hollywood. That’s it for the Hollywood Edition – yeah, I left Bill Cosby out on purpose.