18 celebrities who come from The Buckeye State

Perhaps one of the most recognizable celebrity faces from the state of Ohio has to be LeBron James. The four-time NBA champion was born in Akron, Ohio, in 1984 and played for the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2003 to 2010.

John Legend is a multi-time Grammy winner from Springfield, Ohio, who's always ready to rep his home state regardless of where he's at.

Halle Berry, known for her blockbuster hits like Catwoman and X-Men, grew up in Oakwood, a small Ohio town 20 miles north of Akron. In a 2018 Instagram post, the actress gave a shout-out to the state, proving she's forever #OhioProud.

Joe Burrow was once just a kid from Southeast Ohio , but now, he's the face of the Cincinnati Bengals (and a growing fashion icon).

Urban Meyer is an Ohio legend who coached the Ohio State Buckeyes football team from 2012 to 2018. In 2015, he led his team to a 42-20 victory over the Oregon Ducks during the 2015 National Championship presented by AT&T.

Who would've thought the first person to walk the moon would be an Ohio native?

As an Ohio native myself, it pains me to praise Jim Harbaugh (head coach of the Michigan Wolverines), but I can't ignore his National Championship win over the Washington Huskies on January 8, 2024.  

You know this name because you've eaten their world-famous sausage for breakfast, but did you know the food chain is named after an Ohio-born man from Gallipolis? 

Woody Hayes is another former OSU coach who led the Buckeyes to several national championships in 1954, '57, '61, '68, and '70. He was born in Clifton, Ohio, in 1913 and passed away in Upper Arlington, a suburb of Columbus, in 1987.

Many readers may recognize Yvette Nicole Brown (Cleveland, Ohio) as Helen (the over-the-top movie manager) in Drake & Josh. But she also starred in series like A Black Lady Sketch Show and often filled in as a co-host on the popular talk shows The View, The Talk, and The Real.

We all know Steven Spielberg from his popular films, such as Jaws, The Color Purple, and Jurassic Park, but we had no idea the film director hailed from the Queen City, which is Cincinnati, if you didn't know.

Another NFL quarterback who grew up in the Buckeye State is Ben Roethlisberger. The 6'5" pro-baller from Lima, Ohio, played for the Pittsburgh Steelers and won two Super Bowl Championships in 2006 and 2009.

Toni Morrison from Lorain, Ohio, was an esteemed writer who had impactful conversations about race in America. Not only did she win a Pulitzer for her 1987 novel Beloved, the author became the first Black woman to win a Nobel Prize.

We can't forget about Sherrod Brown, one of Ohio's senators (from Mansfield) who's been serving the Buckeye State since 2007.

Orville and Wilbur Wright, also known as the Wright brothers, were from Dayton, Ohio, and were credited with creating and flying the world's first successful airplane. What Ohioian wouldn't be proud of that?

One thing residents of Ohio can be proud of is knowing that Simone Biles, the world's most decorated gymnast, was born in the state's capital, Columbus, in 1997.

R.L. Stine has been making Ohioans proud since 1992, when he released the first Goosebumps novel, Welcome to Dead House. Since then, he's released over 60 books under the franchise and has shown no sign of stopping anytime soon. 

For any of my reality TV readers out there, did you know that former Real Housewives of Atlanta cast member Shereé Whitfield comes from Cleveland, Ohio? In a previous interview with Bravo, she spoke about her upbringing, saying the city helped make her the firecracker reality star we know and love.