Famous People From Missouri: Who’s Who From the Show-Me State?

Any fan of the show Mad Men will automatically recognize Jon Hamm, the man behind Don Draper, the head of a powerful advertising agency in the 1960s. Hamm was born in St. Louis and once received a scholarship to study acting at Mizzou. Hamm taught for a time at John Burroughs High School in St. Louis; just long enough to be Ellie Kemper's drama teacher. Kemper would go on to play a major character on the hit show The Office.

Rosanne's Dan Connor himself also hails from the Gateway City. Goodman's character on the family sitcom was rated #13 in TV Guide's list of "The 50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time." Goodman is also well known for his roles in movies like The Big Lebowski and Oh Brother Where Art Thou?. Goodman has also hosted Saturday Night Live fourteen times.

Actor Don Cheadle was born in Kansas City in 1964. His childhood, however, would see him moving from city to city until he graduated high school in Denver, Colorado. Cheadle has appeared in multiple Hollywood blockbusters, including Oceans Eleven, Iron Man 2, Traffic, Boogie Nights, and several others.

"The Real Slim Shady," as he's widely called, started out in the real west Show-Me. Eminem was born Marshall Bruce Mathers III in St. Joseph and lived much of his childhood in Kansas City until he moved to Detroit with his mother at the age of 12. It was in these early years that the boy who would become one of the most successful white rappers in the music industry found his love for rhyming when "battling" classmates at lunch.

Hollywood's favorite hunk can also be called a Missouri boy by almost all standards. The son of a school counselor and  a trucker, and the oldest of three siblings, Pitt grew up in Springfield and attended Kickapoo High School. While at Kickapoo, he was highly involved in sports, debating, school government, and school musicals. Pitt went on to major in Journalism/Advertising at Mizzou, but left for California two college credits away from graduation.

Famed Singer/Songwriter/Environmental Activist Sheryl Crow has her roots in the southern bootheel of Missouri. Born and raised in Kennett to a trumpet-playing mother and a father who worked as a piano teacher, it seemed Crow was destined for the world of music. In her high school years, Crow was an All-State medalist in track events. Moving on through college, she graduated from Mizzou with a degree in music. She was also a member of the women's music fraternity Sigma Alpha Iota and the Alpha Mu chapter of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority. Crow was also once a music teacher at Garlin Kellison Elementary School in Fenton.

Born Cedric Antonio Kyles in Jefferson City, the Entertainer attended Berkeley High School in Ferguson. To this day, each year, Cedric gives a scholarship to one graduating Berkeley senior. Cedric the Entertainer went on to Southeast Missouri State University where he would major in Mass Communication and become a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. Cedric the Entertainer started out working for State Farm Insurance before getting his comedy break.