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20 Celebrities You May Not Know Have Ties To Oregon

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Saturday, September 20, 2014

GoLocal Staff

Pinto Colvig as Bozo the Clown

There's no place like home, especially if that home is in Oregon. Bozo the Clown, Dick Fosbury of "Fosbury Flop" fame, and Alfred Peet of Peet's Coffee are just a few of the people on this list of 20 Celebrities that you may or may not know are from Oregon. Who knew?

Photo credits to the Oregon Cyclopedia

Related Slideshow: 20 Celebrities You May Not Know Have Ties to Oregon

Bozo the Clown, Dick Fosbury of "Fosbury Flop" fame, and Alfred Peet of Peet's Coffee are just a few of the people on this list of 20 Celebrities that you may or may not know are from Oregon.

Pinto Colvig

Pinto Colvig was an American vaudeville actor, a radio actor, a newspaper cartoonist, a movie voice actor, and a circus performer. Even with all those side jobs, he is most well known as the original "Bozo the Clown," and also known as the voice actor of the Disney charcter Goofy. "Hu-yuck!"

Photo Credit: "Pinto Colvig in Jacksonville School" by Unknown - . Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons - Live Look

Richard Diebenkorn

Richard Diebenkorn was an American painter whose work was associated with Abstract expressionism and the Bay Area Figurative Movement of the 1950's and 60's. His most famous painting series titled 'Ocean Park' was worked on for 18 years and produced 135 paintings.

photo credits: The Art of Richard Diebenkorn (Ahmanson-Murphy Fine Arts Book)

*only for visual use*

Dick Fosbury

Dick Fosbury was a track and field Olympic athlete. He revolutionized the high-jump event, with his 'back-first' technique, better titled the Fosbury Flop, that is used to this day for the event. He is stil involved in the Olympics and is a part of the board for the World Olympic Association. He is also running for Idaho state representative, as a Democrat.

photo credits: C4.1.2 "Reproduced under licence from BBC Sport / bbc.co.uk - © [2012] BBC" (BBC High Jump)

Herbert Hoover

President Herbert Hoover was born in West Branch, Iowa to Jesse and Hulda Hoover. After the tragic death of first his father and then, four years later, his mother, young Herbert found a new home in Newberg, Ore., where he spent the rest of his youth with his maternal uncle and aunt, John and Laura Minthorn.

Photo credit: This image is available from the United States Library of Congress

Terri Irwin

Terri Irwin is an American-Australian naturalist and author, the widow of "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin and owner of the Australia Zoo in Australia. She co-starred with her husband on the "Crocodile Hunter" and a few other documentary series in the same vein. She was born in Eugene, but since marrying Steve she has lived in Australia.

Photo Credit: By Photo by Airman 1st Class Stacy Sanchez [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons (image cropped)

Matt Kearney

Matt Kearney, an American musician, was born in Eugene but is now based in Nashville, Tenn. He sings, plays guitar, and piano and has been in the top 40 chart with five of his hits. His higher tenor voice blends well with his rock/country-styled rap songs.

Photo Credit: By Flickr user portorikan [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Gary Loudermilk

Gary Loudermilk, also known as "Gary the Retard," was born in Albany. A frequent guest on Howard Stern's radio show, there isn't anything Gary wouldn't do for Howard or the show.

photo credits: howard stern.wikia.com

Brent Musburger

Born in Portland Brent Musburger is a sportscaster for ESPN and ABC who has covered sports incuding NBA, MLB, NCAA football, NCAA basketball, Nascar, and others. He hosts games, play-by-play segments, and halftime as well as commentating during the live games.

Photo Credit: By RD W from Austin,Texas (College Game Day) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Alfred Peet

Alfred Peet is the founder of Peet's Coffee & Tea, based in Berkeley, Calif. He introduced custom coffee roasting to the United States. He retired from coffee and moved to Ashland, where he lived out the rest of his life.

photo credits: Coffee Cup News Podcast

John Reed

John 'Jack' Reed was born in Portland, in what we call the Goose Hollow area. He was an American journalist, poet, and social activist. He grew up in Portland and had gone to the Portland Academy, a private school, before graduating from Harvard and is best known for his first-hand account of the Bolshevik Revolution. Warren Beatty played him in the movie "Reds."

Photo Credit: By Bronks at en.wikipedia [Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons

Rebecca Schaeffer

Rebeccas Schaeffer was an American model and tv and film actress. She starter her career being a teen model and then moved into acting. She played the role of Patricia "Patty" Russell in the sitcom "My Sister Sam," and later starred in a few films before her death from an obsessive stalker.

Photo Credit: "Rebecca Schaeffer My Sister Sam". Via Wikipedia - Live Look

Doc Severinsen

Doc Severinsen is an American pop and jazz trumpeter. He was well regarded for his work on The Tonight Show. Born iin Arlington, his big debut was playing live on a radio program in The Dalles.

Photo Credit: By William Morris Agency (management) (eBay item photo front photo back) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Esperanza Spaulding

Esperanza Spaulding is an American jazz bassist, cellist, and singer who composes her own music. She was born and raised in Portland, and her mother's Portuguese culture and love of music inspired her to have an interest in music and culture herself. She has won four Grammys including a 2011 Best New Artist, a 2013 Best Jazz Vocal Album, a 2013 Best Instrumental Arrangement accompanying Vocalist, and a 2014 Best Instrumental Arrangement accompanying Vocalist.

Photo Credit: By tom.beetz (Flickr: Esperanza Spaulding) [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Erik Spoelstra

Erik Spoelstra is an American professional basketball coach, who currently coachs the Miami Heat. He was born in Illinois, moved to New York and landed in Portland where he played as point guard for the Jesuit High School Basketball team in Beaverton. He was a scholarship student who excelled through his years and worked at a professional basketball club in Germany before joining the Miami Heat.

Photo Credit: By Erik Spoelstra and Joe DeRosa.jpg: Keith Allison from Baltimore, USA derivative work: Lpdrew [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons (image cropped)

David Ogden Stiers

David Ogden Stiers is an American actor, director, vocal actor, and musician best known as Major Charles Emerson Winchester III from TV series M*A*S*H. He was born in Illinois, but went to Eugene for high school and attended University of Oregon.

Photo Credit: By CBS Television (eBay front back) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Drew Struzan

Drew Struzan is an American artist who is known for his vast production of movie posters. From "Indiana Jones" to "Star Wars" to "Back to the Future," he is the king of ink when it comes to movie posters and iconic film images.

Photo Credit: By pop culture geek [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0">CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Tommy Thayer

Tommy Thayer is an American musician and songwriter. He is the lead guitarist for the band KISS, and also former guitarist for the band Black 'n Blue. He was born in Portland and grew up playing gigs all over the area before moving to Southern California were he was immediately signed to a record label.

Photo Credit: By oregonmildep from Salem, Oregon, United States (DSC_7337 Uploaded by russavia) [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Laura Viers

Laura Viers is an American singer-songwriter of folk music. She started with an all-girl punk band and then graduated to playing solo guitar, a genre in which she has been releasing albums. She was raised in Colorado and now lives in Portland.

Photo Credit: "Laura Veirs" by Pam Cantú - Flickr. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - Live Look (image cropped)

Don Walsh

Don Walsh is an American oceanographer, explorer and marine policy specialst. He was aboard the bathyscaphe Trieste, a diving vessel, when its reached a record descent of the Marians Trench, 35,798 feet (10,911 m). Born in California, he resided there most of his life, but now he lives in the Dora-Sitkum area near Coquille on the Southern coast of Oregon. He still manages a small marine consulting business and conducts expeditions as well.

Photo Credit "Bathyscaphe Trieste Piccard-Walsh". Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons - Live Look (image cropped)

Rainn Wilson

Rainn Wilson is an American actor best-known for his role as Dwight Schrute from the hit American version of "The Office." He was born in Seattle, lived in Illinois a bit and then went to college in New York. He owns a summer house near Sisters where he stays for a period of time every year.

photo credits: Rainn Wilson by David Shankbone [CC BY 3.0]

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