The following is a list of notable people who were either born in, raised in, or were one-time residents of Roanoke, Virginia. Roanoke natives are also referred to as Roanokers.
Born in Roanoke Lisa Aliff, pageant winner and actress Tony Atlas, wrestler Ronde Barber, NFL player Tiki Barber, NFL player Lynn Bari, actress Beth A. Brown, NASA astrophysicist George E. Bushnell, Michigan Supreme Court justice Challen Cates, actress Tai Collins, model and actress Ross Copperman, record producer, singer and songwriter Troy Daniels, basketball player Lew DeWitt, founding tenor and guitarist of the Statler Brothers Henry H. Fowler, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury John Fishwick, railroad executive Lily Franklin, member of Virginia House of Delegates from Virginia's 41st district since 2026 Dorothy Gillespie, artist, sculptor Antoinette Hale, painter Luke Hancock, basketball player Jim Harrell, professional wrestler K. J. Hippensteel, tennis player James Hylton, racing driver Louis A. Johnson, United States Secretary of Defense Danny Karbassiyoon, soccer player Henrietta Lacks, medical patient Tosca Lee, author George Lynch, NBA player John C. Mather, astrophysicist and Nobel laureate John Alan Maxwell, artist Walter Muir, International Master of Correspondence Chess John Payne, actor Don Pullen, jazz pianist Billy Sample, MLB player John St. Clair, NFL player Curtis Staples, basketball player Lee Suggs, NFL player Nicholas F. Taubman, former United States ambassador to Romania Lois Weaver, artist, activist, writer, director, and professor of Contemporary Performance at Queen Mary University of London Eric Weinrich, NHL player Zach Zimmerman, comedian and author Rainey Bethea, the last American criminal to have been publicly executed
Raised in Roanoke George Canale, MLB player India Ferrah, drag queen Kyle Fraser, Survivor contestant Diana B. Henriques, financial journalist and author Wayne LaPierre, CEO of the National Rifle Association of America John McAfee, founder of McAfee Wayne Newton, singer J. J. Redick, NBA player Ross Scott, YouTuber and activist Joshua Strachan, musician
One-time residents Fleming Alexander, minister, businessman and publisher of the Roanoke Tribune Nelson S. Bond, author Margaret Wise Brown, author Mark David Chapman, murderer of John Lennon Sarah Johnson Cocke, writer and civic leader Whitney Cummings, comedian and actress Annie Dillard, author Edward Richard Dudley, lawyer, judge, civil rights activist, and the first African American Ambassador of the United States Lester Flatt, musician Pearl Fu, longtime leader of the Local Colors festival and namesake of Pearl Fu Plaza Nidal Hasan, shooter in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting Oliver Hill, civil rights attorney Kermit Hunter, playwright Johan Kriek, tennis player Quigg Lawrence, Anglican bishop Samuel W. Martien, Louisiana cotton planter and politician Jill McCorkle, author Sharyn McCrumb, author Oscar Micheaux, early 20th century filmmaker John Forbes Nash, mathematician and Nobel laureate Harry Penn, dentist and civic rights activist John Henry Pinkard, businessman, banker and herb doctor Debbie Reynolds G. Samantha Rosenthal, historian, author, and academic Jane Stuart Smith, soprano, hymnologist, and author Lee Smith, author Andrew Strelka, attorney Henry S. Taylor, poet, academic, and translator Curtis Turner, NASCAR driver and Hall of Famer Harriet French Turner, folk artist Morgan Wade, singer and songwriter
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