This list contains people who were born or lived in the U.S. state of Mississippi.
Activists and advocates Ruby Bridges (born 1954), first African-American child to attend an all-white school in the South (Tylertown) Will D. Campbell (1924–2013), Baptist minister and activist (Amite County) James Chaney (1943–1964), civil rights activist (Meridian) Vernon Dahmer (1908–1966), civil rights activist (Hattiesburg) Charles Evers (1922–2020), civil rights leader, mayor of Fayette (Decatur) Medgar Evers (1925–1963), civil rights leader (Decatur) Myrlie Evers-Williams (born 1933), civil rights activist, journalist (Vicksburg) C. L. Franklin (1915–1984), Baptist minister, father of Aretha Franklin (Shelby) Lloyd L. Gaines (1911–1939?), challenged segregation at University of Missouri School of Law, disappeared in 1939 (Water Valley) Duncan M. Gray Jr. (1926–2016), Episcopal clergyman, civil rights activist (Canton) Winifred Green (1937–2016), civil rights activist (Jackson)Jackson, MS: Winifred Green | Jackson Free Press | Jackson, MS, accessdate: February 21, 2016 Percy Greene (1897–1977), journalist, activist (Jackson) Lawrence Guyot (1939–2012), civil rights activist (Pass Christian) Fannie Lou Hamer (1917–1977), civil rights, voting rights activist (Ruleville) Winson Hudson (1916–2004), civil rights activist (Harmony) Clyde Kennard (1927–1963), civil rights activist (Hattiesburg) Germany Kent (born 1975), journalist, social activist (Greenville) Edwin King (born 1936), civil rights activist, Tougaloo College chaplain (Jackson) Joyce Ann Ladner (born 1943), civil rights activist and educator (Wayne County) Tommie Mabry (b. 1987), author, and activist for impoverished youth (Jackson) Angela McGlowan (born 1970), Republican political commentator, author, and consulting firm CEO James Meredith (born 1933), first African-American student at the University of Mississippi (Kosciusko) Anne Moody (1940–2015), civil rights activist, author (Centreville) Ida B. Wells-Barnett (1862–1931), civil rights activist, women's rights activist (Holly Springs)
Actors and actresses Mary Alice (1941–2022), actress (Indianola) Dana Andrews (1909–1992), actor (Covington County) Fred Armisen (born 1966), actor, comedian, and musician (Hattiesburg) Roscoe Ates (1895–1962), actor and musician (Grange) Katherine Bailess (born 1980), film and television actress (Vicksburg) Laura Bailey (born 1981), voice actress (Biloxi) Earl W. Bascom (1906–1995), actor (Columbia) Willie Best (1916–1962), television and film actor (Sunflower) Jimmy Boyd (1939–2009), singer and actor (McComb) Don Briscoe (1940–2004), soap opera actor (Yalobusha County) Geneva Carr (born 1971), television and stage actress (Jackson) Finn Carter (born 1960), actress (Greenville) Wally Cassell (1912–2015), film and television actor Lacey Chabert (born 1982), film and television actress (Purvis) Alvin Childress (1907–1986), actor (Meridian) Gary Collins (1938–2012), film and television actor (Biloxi) Wyatt Emory Cooper (1927–1978), Broadway actor (Quitman) Cassi Davis (born 1964) (Holly Springs) John Dye (1963–2011), film and television actor (Amory) Mary Elizabeth Ellis (born 1979), television and film actress (Laurel) J. D. Evermore (born 1968), film and television actor (Greenville) Ruth Ford (1911–2009), stage and film actress (Brookhaven) Morgan Freeman (born 1937), Academy Award-winning actor (Charleston) M. C. Gainey (born 1948), film and television actor (Jackson) Cynthia Geary (born 1965), actress (Jackson) Gavin Gordon (1901–1983), film, television, and radio actor (Chicora) Allie Grant (born 1994), actress (Tupelo) Gary Grubbs (born 1949) (Amory) Lynn Hamilton (born 1930), actress (Yazoo City) Beth Henley (born 1952), playwright and actress (Jackson) Jim Henson (1936–1990), creator of The Muppets (Greenville) Anthony Herrera (1944–2011) (Wiggins) Wilbur Higby (1867–1934), silent film actor (Meridian) Shauntay Hinton (born 1979), actress and Miss USA 2002 (Starkville) Eddie Hodges (born 1947), child actor (Hattiesburg) Olivia Holt (born 1997), actress (Nesbit) Thelma Houston (born 1943), actress (Leland) James Earl Jones (1931–2024), actor (Arkabutla) Robert Earl Jones (1910–2006), actor (Senatobia) Germany Kent (born 1975), actress (Greenville) Simbi Khali (born 1971) (Jackson) Diane Ladd (born 1935), actress (Meridian) Daniel Curtis Lee (born 1991) (Clinton) Tom Lester (1938–2020) (Jackson) Martha Mattox (1879–1933), silent film actor (Natchez) Shane McRae (born 1977) (Starkville) Gerald McRaney (born 1947), actor (Collins) RJ Mitte (born 1992), Breaking Bad actor (Jackson) Carrie Nye (1936–2006), soap opera and stage actress (Greenwood) Gil Peterson (born 1936), actor (Winona) Evelyn Preer (1896–1932) (Vicksburg) Thalmus Rasulala (1939–1991), actor (Arkabutla) Beah Richards (1920–2000), stage, screen and television actress (Vicksburg) Eric Roberts (born 1956), actor (Biloxi) Toni Seawright (born 1964), actress (Pascagoula) Larry Semon (1889–1928), silent film actor, director, producer (West Point) Jamie Lynn Spears (born 1991), actress, singer (McComb) Taylor Spreitler (born 1993), actress, model (Wiggins) Stella Stevens (1938–2023), actress (Yazoo City) Tonea Stewart (born 1947) (Greenwood) Trinitee Stokes (born 2006), actress (Jackson) Byron Thames (born 1969), actor (Jackson) Joe M. Turner (born 1969), actor, magician, professional speaker (Brandon) James Michael Tyler (born 1962) (Winona) Brenda Venus (born 1957), actress (Biloxi) Ray Walston (1914–2001), actor (Laurel) Sela Ward (born 1956), actress (Meridian) James Wheaton (1924–2002) (Meridian) Kit Williamson (born 1985), actor (Jackson) Hattie Winston (born 1945), actress (Greenville)
Artists Jere Allen (born 1944), painter (Oxford) James McConnell Anderson (1907–1998), potter and painter (Ocean Springs) Peter Anderson (1901–1984), potter (Ocean Springs) Walter Inglis Anderson (1903–1965), painter (Ocean Springs) Earl W. Bascom (1906–1995), painter, sculptor, "King of the Cowboy Artists" (Columbia) Howard Bingham (1939–2016), photographer (Jackson) Marshall Bouldin III (1923–2012), portrait painter (Clarksdale) Andrew Bucci (1922–2014), painter (Vicksburg) Byron Burford (1920–2011), painter (Greenville) William Dunlap (born 1944), painter (Webster County)University of Mississippi Dept. of Art Alumni: William Dunlap Sam Gilliam (1933–2022), color field painter (Tupelo) Theora Hamblett (1895–1977), painter (Oxford)Paul Grootkerk, "The Visionary Paintings of Theora Hamblett," Woman's Art Journal 11 (Autumn 1990–Winter 1991): 19–22. Ted Jackson (born 1956), photojournalist (McComb) Chris LeDoux (1948–2005), bronze sculptor (Biloxi) Alex M. Loeb (1918–2015), painter (Meridian) John McCrady (1911–1968), painter, printmaker (Canton) Ed McGowin (born 1938), sculptor, painter (Hattiesburg)EdMcGowin.comUniversity Press of Mississippi: Ed McGowin Joshua Meador (1911–1965), animator, artist (Greenwood) Fred Mitchell (1923–2013), abstract expressionist painter (Meridian) Ethel Wright Mohamed (1906–1992), folk stitchery artist (Belzoni)Smithsonian Magazine: Mississippi Cultural Destinations George E. Ohr (1857–1918), potter (Biloxi) James Seawright (1936–2022), sculptor (Jackson) J. Kim Sessums, bronze sculptor, painter (Brookhaven) Floyd Shaman (1935–2005), sculptor (Cleveland) Glennray Tutor (born 1950), painter (Oxford) Gary Walters (born 1941), painter (Jackson) James W. Washington Jr. (1908–2000), painter, sculptor (Gloster) Dick Waterman (1935–2024), photographer and blues promoter (Oxford)
Athletes and sports-related people
Broadcast media personalities Paul Gallo (born 1947), radio host (Shaw) Lee Habeeb (born 1961), conservative talk radio producer (Oxford) Iris Kelso (1926–2003), newspaper journalist and television commentator in New Orleans (Philadelphia) Germany Kent (born 1975), media personality, author (Greenville) Angela McGlowan (born 1970), Fox News political commentator (Oxford) Randall Pinkston (born 1950), newscaster (Yazoo County) Robin Roberts (born 1960), newscaster (Pass Christian) Norman Robinson (born 1951), news anchor (Toomsuba) Tavis Smiley (born 1964), talk show host (Gulfport) Shepard Smith (born 1964), Fox News anchor (Holly Springs) Paula White (born 1966), televangelist, author (Tupelo) Oprah Winfrey (born 1954), talk show host (Kosciusko)
Comedians Rod Brasfield (1910–1958) (Smithville) Jerry Clower (1926–1998) (Liberty) Tommy Davidson (born 1963), stand-up comedian, most notable for time on In Living Color (Rolling Fork) Karlous Miller (born 1983), stand-up comedian (Oxford) Tig Notaro (born 1971), stand-up comedian (Jackson) Cardis Cardell Willis (1937–2007), stand-up comedian (Forest)
Educators Thea Bowman (1937–1990), Roman Catholic religious sister, teacher, and scholar (Yazoo County) James Madison Carpenter (1888–1983), folklorist (Prentiss County) Richard Carson (born 1955), professor of economics (Jackson) Joseph Crespino (born 1972), political scientist (Macon) Jesse Dukeminier (1925–2003), professor of law (West Point) William R. Ferris (born 1942), folklorist, chairman of National Endowment for the Humanities (Vicksburg) Charles Betts Galloway (1849–1909), Methodist bishop, editor (Kosciusko) Edgar Godbold (1879–1952), college president (Lincoln County) George W. Grace (1921–2015), linguist (Corinth) William Baskerville Hamilton (1908–1972), historian, born in Jackson, taught public school in Holly Springs and Jackson Robert Khayat (born 1938), chancellor of the University of Mississippi (Moss Point) Rory Lee (born 1949), clergyman, college president (Ridgeland) Mamie Locke (born 1954), political scientist, dean at Hampton University (Brandon) John A. Lomax (1867–1948), folklorist (Goodman) Frances Lucas (born 1957), president of Millsaps College (Jackson) Bernie Machen (born 1944), president of University of Florida (Greenwood) Walter E. Massey (born 1938), physicist, University of Chicago (Hattiesburg) William H. Miller (born 1941), theoretical chemist (Kosciusko) William Muse (born 1939), chancellor at East Carolina University Rod Paige (1933–2025), U.S. secretary of education (Monticello) Milburn Price (born 1938), hymnologist, dean of School of Performing Arts, Samford University (Electric Mills) Dan Reneau (born 1940), president of Louisiana Tech University (Woodville) Argile Smith (born 1955), clergyman and educator (Poplarville) Louis Westerfield (1949–1996), law professor, first African-American dean of the University of Mississippi School of Law (De Kalb) Fannie C. Williams (1882–1980), normal school educator (Biloxi)
Entrepreneurs and business leaders Jim Barksdale (born 1943), president and CEO of Netscape (Jackson) Joseph A. Biedenharn (1866–1952), confectioner, first Coca-Cola bottler (Vicksburg) George W. Bryan (1944–2023), Sara Lee executive (West Point) John H. Bryan (1936–2018), Sara Lee executive (West Point) Bill Bynum, credit union founder and philanthropist Cynthia Cooper, WorldCom vice president, whistleblower (Clinton) Bernard "Bernie" Ebbers (1941–2020), founder and CEO of WorldCom, convicted of fraud and conspiracy (Brookhaven) Joshua Green (1869–1975), shipping magnate, banker (Jackson) Toxey Haas (born 1960), founder and CEO of Haas Outdoors, Inc. (West Point) Robert L. Johnson (born 1946), founder of Black Entertainment Television (Hickory) Ken Lewis (born 1947), Bank of America executive (Meridian) Matteo Martinolich (1860–1934), master shipbuilder (DeLisle) Walter E. Massey (born 1938), corporate executive (Hattiesburg) Glenn McCullough (born 1954), chairman and CEO of GLM Associates, LLC (Tupelo) Charles Moorman (born 1952), CEO of Norfolk Southern (Hattiesburg) Clarence Otis Jr. (born 1956), CEO of Darden Restaurants (Vicksburg) Hartley Peavey (born 1941), founder of Peavey Electronics (Meridian)