This is a list of notable people, past and present, who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Mobile, Alabama:
Literature Manda Collins, historical romance author Augusta Jane Evans, author Abby Fisher, cook, author Winston Groom, author, best known for Forrest Gump Melinda Haynes, author Roy Hoffman, author Michael Knight, university professor and author Anne Bozeman Lyon, writer William March, author and World War I veteran William P. McGivern, author Albert Murray, author Michelle Richmond, author Emma Langdon Roche, author and artist
Arts and entertainment Curry Barker, YouTuber and film director Yolande Betbeze, Miss America 1951 Dorothy E. Hayes, graphic designer, educatorDeMarko, Sharon (February 19, 1971). "Black Artists Graphics Displayed at Art Center". Pensacola News Journal. p. 11– 12. – via Newspapers.com. Bob Holly, professional wrestler known as "Hardcore Holly" Bill Moody, professional wrestling manager known as Percy Pringle and Paul Bearer Kathryn Morgan, ballet dancer Dan Povenmire, animator and co-creator of Phineas and Ferb Geoff Ramsey, co-founder of Rooster Teeth John Augustus Walker, artist known for his paintings and murals Eugene Walter, labeled "Mobile's Renaissance Man" for diverse activities in the arts; interred in 1998 in historic Church Street Graveyard by special resolution of the city
Business Tim Cook, CEO of Apple Inc. George Washington Dennis, former slave, entrepreneur, real estate developer, and advocate for Black rights James M. Fail, chairman of Bluebonnet Savings Bank Lonnie Johnson, inventor of the Super Soaker Geoffrey Sauer, web publisher, theorist, and author
Film and television Laverne Cox, actress and producer Phil Gordon, actor and dialect coach Connie Bea Hope, television personality Orlando Jones, comedian and actor Danny Lipford, contractor and TV host Jonathan Mangum, host, Let's Make a Deal Fayard Nicholas, dancer of the Nicholas Brothers Dan Povenmire, television director, television writer, and producer James "JT" Thomas Jr., million-dollar winner of Survivor: Tocantins Richard Tyson, film actor Curry Barker, film director of “Obsession”. Actor and director of YouTube skits.
Historic Joseph Stillwell Cain, Jr., largely credited with the rebirth of Mardi Gras celebrations in Mobile after the Civil War; city celebrates Joe Cain Day on the Sunday before Mardi Gras Michael Donald, lynching victim Joseph Paul Franklin, serial killer Octavia Walton Le Vert, socialite and writer Cudjoe Lewis, last adult survivor of the Atlantic slave trade Florence Chandler Maybrick, born into a wealthy Mobile family, her mother remarried after her father's death and became Baroness von Roques; Florence married a British cotton factor, James Maybrick, and they lived at Battlecrease House in Aigburth, a suburb of Liverpool; both were known for their extramarital affairs; Florence was later found guilty of murdering her husband Alva Erskine Smith Vanderbilt, born and raised in Mobile, wife of Cornelius Vanderbilt's grandson William K. Vanderbilt and mother of Consuelo Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough; known for building several of the most noted houses of the Gilded Era; later a crusader for the women's suffrage movement and the Equal Rights AmendmentStuart, Amanda Mackenzie. Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt: The Story of a Daughter and a Mother in the Gilded Age. New York: HarperCollins, 2006. ISBN 0-06-621418-1
Military Lloyd Austin, 28th United States Secretary of Defense J. Gary Cooper, major general, US Marines Jeremiah Denton, admiral, United States Navy William Crawford Gorgas, physician and 22nd Surgeon General of the United States Army; known for his work in abating the transmission of yellow fever and malaria Gordon T. Gould, US Air Force lieutenant general Charles Keller, U.S. Army brigadier general and oldest Army officer to serve on active duty during World War IIHistorical Vignette 079 – The Oldest U.S. Army Officer to Serve in World War II Was an Engineer John D. New, United States Marine in World War II, only Mobile native to be awarded the Medal of Honor; Cottage Hill Park was renamed Medal of Honor Park in his honor, and Pixie Street was renamed PFC John D. New Drive Sidney Phillips, United States Marine, portrayed by Ashton Holmes in the HBO miniseries The Pacific Admiral Raphael Semmes, captain of the CSS Alabama during the American Civil War; resident of Mobile; the Mobile suburb of Semmes is named in his honor Eugene Sledge, United States Marine Corps, author of New York Times bestselling book With the Old Breed, portrayed by Joseph Mazzello in the HBO miniseries The Pacific, university professor, and World War II veteran Leighton W. Smith, Jr., admiral, U.S. Navy; in 1994, became commander-in-chief of U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Allied Forces Southern Europe
Music Backwater, late 1970s jazz fusion band The Band Perry, sibling country music trio Billy Bang, jazz violinist and composer Eric Benét, singer and songwriter Vice Cooler, lead vocalist and songwriter for XBXRX Elley Duhé, singer and songwriter James Reese Europe, conductor and composer Red Clay Strays, Band Flo Milli, hip hop artist, rapper Urban Clifford "Urbie" Green, professional jazz trombonist Jimmy Hall, lead vocalist and harmonica player for Wet Willie Walker Hayes, country singer Will Kimbrough, vocalist, songwriter, musician and producer Allison Moorer, Oscar-nominated songwriter NoCap, hip hop artist, singer, rapper Bernard Odum, bass player, best known for performing in James Brown's band Terrance Quaites, aka TQ, R&B artist Rich Boy, rap and hip hop artist Rylo Rodriguez, rap and hip hop artist Ray Sawyer, lead vocalist of Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show Beverly Jo Scott, singer and songwriter John "Jabo" Starks, funk and rhythm and blues drummer Ward Swingle, jazz vocalist Fred Wesley, jazz and funk trombonist Cootie Williams, jazz and rhythm and blues trumpeter, performed with Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman Linda Zoghby, soprano, Metropolitan Opera
Government and politics Bidwell Adam, lieutenant governor of Mississippi from 1928 to 1932, born in Mobile in 1894; raised in Pass Christian, MississippiJohn H. Lang, History of Harrison County, Mississippi Dixie Press, 1935, p. 135 Robert Emmett Bledsoe Baylor, former U.S. Congressman for the 2nd District of Alabama Ann Bedsole, member of Alabama House of Representatives 1979–1983 and Alabama State Senate 1983–1995; candidate for governor 1995 and for mayor of Mobile, 2005 Sanford Bishop, Democratic Party, member of the United States House of Representatives Jo Bonner, former U.S. representative from Alabama's 1st congressional district Frank Boykin, represented Mobile in Congress for 28 years Sonny Callahan, former U.S. Representative for the 1st District of Alabama Jerry Carl, former U.S. representative from Alabama's 1st congressional district Richard H. Clarke, former U.S. Representative for the 1st District of Alabama Mark E. Clayton, Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate from Tennessee in 2012; born in Mobile Margaret Conditt, Ohio State representative, a Republican member; born in Mobile Mike Dow, four-term mayor of Mobile Michael Figures, lawyer and politician Shomari Figures, U.S. representative from Alabama's 2nd congressional district Thomas Figures, first African American assistant district attorney and assistant United States attorney Vivian Davis Figures, Democratic member of the Alabama State Senate Alexis Herman, Democratic Party, served as the 23rd U.S. Secretary of Labor under President Bill Clinton Thomas H. Herndon, former U.S. Representative for the 1st District of Alabama Ethan Allen Hitchcock, U.S. minister to Russia under President William McKinley, U.S. Secretary of the Interior under President Theodore Roosevelt Samuel L. Jones, Democratic Party, elected as in 2005 as Mobile's first African American mayor Vivian Malone Jones, director in the EPA, integrated the University of Alabama and was its first black graduate Yvonne Kennedy, Alabama state representative, president of Bishop State Community College, and national president of Delta Sigma Theta sorority Sybil I. McLaughlin, first clerk and speaker in the Cayman Islands government Bert Nettles, Republican former member of the Alabama House of Representatives from Mobile; subsequently a lawyer in Birmingham Joseph M. Proskauer, lawyer, judge, philanthropist, and political activist William Holcombe "Bill" Pryor, Jr., Republican Party, former attorney general of Alabama; federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Jeff Sessions, Republican Party, formerly attorney general of Alabama; United States Senator Donald Eugene Siegelman, Democratic Party, only person in Alabama history elected to serve in all four top statewide offices: secretary of state, attorney general, lieutenant governor and governor Tom Turnipseed, executive director of George Wallace's 1968 presidential campaign who became a liberal activist in South Carolina, born in Mobile
Religious Clara Ester, civil rights activist and United Methodist deaconess Oscar Hugh Lipscomb, first archbishop of Mobile (Roman Catholic) and its eighth bishop Alexander Lyons, rabbi Dominic Manucy, third bishop of Mobile Adolph S. Moses, rabbi of Congregation Sha'arai Shomayim Michael Portier, first bishop of Mobile Abram Joseph Ryan, poet, Roman Catholic priest at St. Mary's parish; known as "poet-priest of the South" Thomas Joseph Toolen, sixth bishop of Mobile
Athletics Mobile is the birthplace of five members of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Only New York City and Chicago can claim to be the birthplace of more members of the hall.
Hank Aaron, member of the Baseball Hall of Fame and 2nd on the all-time home run list;Reichler, Joseph L. The Baseball Encyclopedia, New York: Macmillan Publishing, 1979. ISBN 0-02-578970-8 Hank Aaron Stadium and the Hank Aaron Loop in Mobile are named in his honor Tommie Aaron, Major League Baseball player Bill Adair, Major League Baseball and manager Terry Adams, Major League Baseball player Willie Anderson, offensive lineman for Cincinnati Bengals Frank Bolling, Major League Baseball player Scott Bolton, wide receiver, Green Bay Packers Robert Brazile, NFL player Jason Caffey, Chicago Bulls, NBA Daphne Corboz, Ligue 1 soccer midfielder for Paris FC since 2020 Maël Corboz, 2. Bundesliga soccer midfielder and captain of Arminia Bielefeld since 2024 Rachel Corboz, Ligue 1 soccer midfielder for AS Saint-Étienne since 2025 DeMarcus Cousins, NBA player for Sacramento Kings Dameyune Craig, quarterback for Auburn University and Carolina Panthers; assistant coach for Auburn Rick Crawford, racing driver Fennis Dembo, forward, played for the NBA world champion Detroit Pistons in 1989 Nick Fairley, defensive tackle for Detroit Lions Cale Gale, NASCAR driver for KHI Lindsey Harding, WNBA player and coach Paul Harris, player for Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Minnesota Vikings Alex Herman, player for Memphis Red Sox Margaret Holgerson, All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player Destin Hood, MLB player for the Miami Marlins Pat Howell, MLB player Scott Hunter, NFL player Chevis Jackson, NFL defensive back, Atlanta Falcons, alumnus of LSU Shemar James, American footballer Aron Jóhannsson, American footballer, SV Werder Bremen and United States men's national soccer team Cleon Jones, MLB outfielder, New York Mets Antonio Lang, Duke and NBA player Tamaurice "Tee" Martin, University of Tennessee, NFL and CFL quarterback; led Tennessee to undefeated season (13–0) and 1998 National Championship Keith McCants, NFL, defensive lineman, Tampa Bay Buccaneers A. J. McCarron, quarterback for Alabama Willie McCovey, member of the Baseball Hall of Fame Henry Monroe, NFL defensive back, Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles William Moody, professional wrestling manager known for his time in WWE under the name Paul Bearer Sterling Moore, NFL cornerback Amos Otis, MLB player