This is a list of individuals who are natives of, or are notable in association with, the city of Birmingham, Alabama.
Academia Monnie T. Cheves, Samford University professor; member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1952 to 1960; died in Birmingham in 1988 Frank Moore Cross, religious scholar Angela Davis, social activist and author Richard Nelson Frye, scholar of Iran and Central Asia Roland Frye, scholar Carol Garrison, ex-president of University of Alabama at Birmingham Zenkei Blanche Hartman, first abbess of the San Francisco Zen Center Freeman Hrabowski III, educator Herman H. Long, president of Talladega College and United Negro College Fund J. Gordon Melton, religious scholar Emil Wolfgang Menzel, Jr., emeritus professor in psychology Edward Taub, behavioral neuroscientist and professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Julia Tutwiler, educator and social reformer
Arts and literature Allen Barra, journalist, sportswriter John Beecher, activist poet Edgar Peters Bowron, art historian Joe David Brown, journalist, novelist Mark Childress, author Jon Coffelt, artist Clayton Colvin, artist Dennis Covington, journalist, writer George R. Ellis, author, art historian and director of Honolulu Academy of Arts Fannie Flagg, author Charles Gaines, novelist, screenwriter Charles Ghigna, poet, children's author Christopher Gilbert, poet Gail Godwin, novelist John Green, author Joe Hilley, novelist Caitlín R. Kiernan, novelist and paleontologist Kerry James Marshall, artist Harold E. Martin, Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaperman Spider Martin, photojournalist Robert R. McCammon, novelist Kevin McGowin, novelist, reviewer Diane McWhorter, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Walker Percy, author Howell Raines, New York Times editor James Redfield, novelist John Rhoden, sculptor Sonia Sanchez, poet Rowland Scherman, Grammy-award-winning photographer Melissa Springer, photographer Ann Waldron, authorHevesi, Dennis. "Ann Waldron, Biographer of Southern Writers, Is Dead at 85", The New York Times, July 6, 2010. Accessed July 13, 2010. Margaret Walker, poet and author Daniel Wallace, novelist Mary Ware (1828–1915), poet, prose writer John Weld, newspaper reporter, writer, Hollywood stunt man Tobias Wolff, author
Business and economics Cynthia Bathurst, animal rights activist, former mathematical analyst, founder/director of Safe Humane Chicago and Court Case Dog Program Ashton B. Collins, Sr., inventor, creator of Reddy Kilowatt Newton Collins, businessman and community builder Samuel DiPiazza, former chairman and chief executive officer of PricewaterhouseCoopers A. G. Gaston, prominent African-American businessman Franklin Potts Glass, Sr., newspaper editor Jay Grinney, president and chief executive officer of HealthSouth Corporation John M. Harbert, billionaire and founder of Harbert Corporation Elmer Harris, chief executive officer of Alabama Power Ron Holt, CEO and founder of Two Maids & A Mop Charles Linn, founder of First National Bank of Birmingham (AmSouth Bancorporation) Don Logan, chief executive officer of Time Inc.; chairman of Warner Media; chief executive officer of Southern Progress, owner of Birmingham Barons baseball team Michael K. Powell, Federal Communications Commission chairman Rufus N. Rhodes, founder of Birmingham News Richard M. Scrushy, founder and former CEO of HealthSouth Corporation James Sloss, industrialist and founder of Sloss Furnaces Skippy Smith (1913–2003), founder of Pacific Parachute Company in San Diego, California, stunt skydiver Alvin Vogtle, chairman and CEO of Alabama Power and Southern Company Allen Harvey Woodward, industrialist and baseball team owner
Entertainment Mary Anderson, actress R. G. Armstrong, actor (Pleasant Grove, Alabama) Mary Badham, juvenile actress Candace Bailey, actress Amber Benson, actress Anna Lee Carroll, actress Lynne Carver, actress Nell Carter, actress and singer Courteney Cox, actress (Mountain Brook, Alabama) Paul Finebaum, radio/TV personality Jordan Fisher, actor, singer, and dancer Fannie Flagg, author, actress Louise Fletcher, actress David F. Friedman, director and producer Lili Gentle, actress Betty Lou Gerson, actress Gladys Gillem, wrestler Walton Goggins, actor Hank Green, Internet personality, podcaster Paula Hill, actress Alan Hunter, MTV VJ Tamisha Iman, drag queen Kate Jackson, actress David Jaffe, video game designer (God of War and Twisted Metal) Jasika Nicole, actress, illustrator Gail Patrick, actress, television producer Ibrehem Rahman, Survivor: Palau contestant Rick and Bubba, radio/TV personalities Wayne Rogers, actor Dorothy Sebastian, film actress Daniel Scheinert, music video and film director Glenn Shadix, actor (Bessemer, Alabama) Rickey Smiley, radio personality Trinity the Tuck, drag queen Roy Wood, Jr., comedian Byron York, conservative author and journalist Tom York, television personality
Music Inez Andrews, gospel singer Barry Beckett, pianist and record producer Adolphus Bell, electric blues musician, best known as a one-man band Benny Benjamin, drummer Bo Bice, singer, American Idol runner-up (Helena, Alabama) Helvetia Boswell, singer with The Boswell Sisters Piney Brown, R&B and blues singer-songwriter Oteil Burbridge, bassist Dorothy Love Coates, gospel singer J.R. Cobb, songwriter and guitarist Sam Dees, soul music singer Diana DeGarmo, American Idol 3rd season runner-up Big Joe Duskin, blues pianist Dennis Edwards, soul music singer Erra, progressive metalcore band Al Gallodoro, jazz saxophonist and clarinetist Gucci Mane, rapper Hardrock Gunter, rockabilly pioneer Lionel Hampton, vibraphonist and bandleader Emmylou Harris, singer Erskine Hawkins, composer, trumpeter and bandleader Haywood Henry, jazz saxophonist / clarinetist Taylor Hicks, soul music singer, American Idol winner Odetta Holmes, folk singer Jo Jones, jazz drummer Bill Justis, musician Eddie Kendricks, soul music singer William King, singer, founding member of The Commodores Baker Knight, songwriter and bandleader Sammy Lowe, jazz trumpeter and arranger Rebecca Luker, Broadway singer, actress Hugh Martin, songwriter and film composer Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, Southern rock/metalcore band Johnny O'Neal, jazz pianist Avery Parrish, composer and jazz pianist Hank Penny, Western swing musician Ray Reach, jazz vocalist and pianist St. Paul and The Broken Bones, neo soul band Dan Sartain, rock musician Johnny Smith, jazz guitarist Ruben Studdard, singer, American Idol winner Sun Ra, jazz composer and bandleader Maria Taylor, singer Through the Sparks, indie rock band Verbena, indie rock band Virgos Merlot, hard rock band Wild Sweet Orange, indie rock band Paul Williams, soul singer Tammy Wynette, country singer YBN Nahmir (Nick Simmons), rap/hip hop artist Jerry Yester, singer
Government, law and politics Arthur Alber, Los Angeles City Council member, 1927–29 John Amari, District 10 Circuit Court judge, former member of both houses of the Alabama State Legislature Douglas Arant, attorney and co-founder of Bradley Arant Boult & Cummings Richard Arrington, first African-American mayor of Birmingham B. B. Comer, former governor of Alabama Eugene "Bull" Connor, former commissioner of Public Safety Hugh Culverhouse, lawyer and owner of Tampa Bay Buccaneers Russell McWhortor Cunningham, governor of Alabama Mike Fair, Oklahoma state legislator John Grenier, Republican politician in Alabama Art Hanes, mayor of Birmingham Gil Hill, Detroit, Michigan city council president and actor Perry O. Hooper, Sr., 27th chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court; born in Birmingham in 1925; later lived in Montgomery Bernard Kincaid, mayor of Birmingham Michael Landsberry, Marine and math teacher Raymond Lee Lathan, Wisconsin state legislator Helen Shores Lee, District 10 Circuit Court judge, first African-American woman to serve Chris McNair, Alabama state legislator and businessman Warren A. Morton, Wyoming state legislator Bert Nettles, lawyer in Birmingham; Republican member of the Alabama House of Representatives from Mobile (1969–1974) Charles Redding Pitt, chairman of Alabama Democratic Party Cecil F. Poole, federal judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for Ninth Circuit Condoleezza Rice, United States secretary of state George G. Siebels, Jr., first Republican to serve as mayor of Birmingham (1967–1975) Luther Strange, attorney general of Alabama 2011–2017 and former senator of Alabama, born in Birmingham Margaret Tutwiler, diplomat Randall Woodfin, mayor of Birmingham Robert S. Vance, chairman of Democratic Party, plaintiff's lawyer, federal judge United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
United States Senate Hugo Black (1927–1937), also Supreme Court justice (1937–1971) B. B. Comer (1920), also governor of Alabama (1907–1911) Joseph Forney Johnston (1907–1913) Doug Jones (2018–2021) Richard Shelby (1987–2023) Luther Strange (2017–2018) Oscar W. Underwood (1915–1927) Francis S. White (1914–1915)
United States House of Representatives Truman H. Aldrich (Alabama's 8th congressional district, 1896) Spencer Bachus (6th District, 1993–2015) John H. Bankhead (6th District, 1887–1907) Laurie C. Battle (9th District, 1947–1955) Sydney J. Bowie John H. Buchanan, Jr. (6th District, 1965–1981) Reuben Chapman (6th District, 1843–1847) Newton Nash Clements (6th District, 1880–1881) Williamson Robert Winfield Cobb (6th District, 1847–1861) Artur Davis (7th District, 1982–1992) Edward deGraffenried (6th District, 1949–1953) William Henry Denson (7th District, 1893–1895) Jack Edwards (1st District, 1965–1985) Ben Erdreich (6th District, 1983–1993) Claude Harris, Jr. (7th District, 1987–1993) Thomas Haughey (6th District, 1867–1869) Goldsmith W. Hewitt (6th District, 1876–1879, 1881–1885) Earl F. Hilliard (7th District, 1993–2003) Richmond P. Hobson (6th District, 1907–1915) George Huddleston (9th District, 1913–1935) George Huddleston, Jr. (9th District, 1955–1963) Pete Jarman (6th District, 1937–1949) Burwell Boykin Lewis (6th District, 1879–1880) Elaine Luria (VA 2nd District, 2019–2023), and former United States Navy commander John Mason Martin (6th District, 1885–1887) John P. Newsome (9th District, 1943–1945) William B. Oliver (6th District, 1915–1937) Luther Patrick (9th District, 1935–1943, 1945–1947) Armistead I. Selden, Jr. (6th District, 1953–1965) Terri Sewell (7th district, 2011–present) Richard Shelby (7th District, 1979–1987) William Crawford Sherrod (6th District, 1869–1871) Joseph Humphrey Sloss (6th District, 1871–1875) Albert L. Smith, Jr. (6th District, 1981–1983) Jesse F. Stallings Louis Washington Turpin (9th District, 1893–1895) Oscar W. Underwood (8th District, 1895–1896; 9th District 1897–1915)
Math, science, and technology Mary Anderson, inventor of windshield wipers Andrew Jackson Beard, inventor of automatic railcar coupling Edward M. Burgess, chemist and inventor of the Burgess reagent Lawrence J. DeLucas, biophysical engineer; Space Shuttle Columbia astronaut Annie Easley, mathematician and rocket scientist Clyde Foster, scientist and mathematician Thelma Perry, microbiologist and mycologist E. O. Wilson, entomologist and author
Medicine James Andrews, orthopedic specialist Tinsley Harrison, editor of first five editions of Harrison's Principals of Internal Medicine, dean of UAB School of Medicine Alan Heldman, interventional cardiologist and pioneer of the drug eluting stent John W. Kirklin, heart surgeon Larry Lemak, orthopedic surgeon, owner of the Lemak Group Albert Pacifico, heart surgeon Michael Saag, AIDS researcher Luther Leonidas Terry, Surgeon General of the United States
Sports Mario Addison, NFL player Mike Anderson, University of Arkansas men's basketball coach Jay Barker, football player, college and pro quarterback