Entertainers

Kimberly Clarice Aiken wearing a tiara

Kimberly Clarice Aiken

Kimberly Clarice Aiken won the title of Miss America in 1994.

Color photograph of Jaimie Alexander

Jaimie Alexander

Jaimie Alexander is an actress best known for her leading role as Jane Doe in the TV drama, Blindspot and the Lady Sif in the Thor films.

Aziz Ansari in a grey suit, bluish-white undershirt and green tie.

Aziz Ansari

Columbia native Aziz Ansari is an actor, writer, producer, director, and comedian.

Statue of Clayton "Peg Leg" Bates

Clayton "Peg Leg" Bates

Clayton "Peg Leg" Bates was an African-American entertainer from Fountain Inn, South Carolina. He was a well-known dancer who performed many times on The Ed Sullivan show.

Paul Benjamin wearing a dark suit.

Paul Benjamin

Born in Pelion, SC, Paul Benjamin was a film, television, and theater actor whose career spanned over five decades. Best known as "M.L.," Benjamin starred in "Do the Right Thing," "Across 110th Street," and "Escape from Alcatraz." 

color photograph of Beau Billingslea smiling

Beau Billingslea

Beau Billingslea is a voice actor best known for voicing Jet Black from the popular anime Cowboy Bebop.

Chadwick Boseman against a baby blue background

Chadwick Boseman

Born in Anderson, SC, Chadwick Aaron Boseman was an actor and playwright. He was known for his leading roles in Black Panther, 42, Get on Up, and Marshall.

Color photograph of J. Anthony Brown

J. Anthony Brown

Columbia native J. Anthony Brown is a comedian and he is best known for his commentary on the Tom Joyner Morning Show and The Steve Harvey Morning Show.

James Brown singing while shadowed people stand in the background

James Brown

Born in Barnwell, SC, James Joseph Brown was a singer, songwriter, dancer, record producer, and bandleader.

A smiling Chubby Checker wearing a checkered suit jacket.

Chubby Checker

Born in Spring Gulley (Andrews, SC) with the name Ernest Evans, Chubby Checker is a singer best known for “The Twist.”

Alice Childress wearing a dark outfit and a pearl necklace.

Alice Childress

Born in Charleston, SC Alice Childress was a novelist, playwright, and actress. She is known as the only African-American woman to have written, produced, and published plays for four decades.

Stephen Colbert wearing dark rimmed glasses a dark sweater and light shirt.

Stephen Colbert

Stephen Tyrone Colbert is a comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program The Colbert Report.

A smiling Monique Coleman wearing a red dress.

Monique Coleman

Adrienne Monique Coleman is an actress best known for her role in Disney's High School Musical movies. 

color photograph of Mike Colter

Mike Colter

Mike Colter is an actor best known for his role as Luke Cage in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

A bald middle-aged man

James Jude Courtney

James Jude Courtney is an actor best known for playing Michael Myers in the Halloween film franchise.

Photograph of Kristin Davis

Kristin Davis

Kristin Davis is an actress and producer. She is best known for playing Charlotte York Goldenblatt in the HBO series Sex and the City.

A smiling Viola Davis

Viola Davis

Viola Davis is an actress. She is the first African-American and currently the youngest actor to achieve the "Triple Crown of Acting." 

A smiling young man with a 5 o'clock shadow.

Manish Dayal

Manish Dayal is an actor best known for his roles in The Resident, The Hundred-Foot Journey, and Viceroy's House.

Stanley Donen holding a microphone.

Stanley Donen

American film director and choreographer. Known as "The King of Musicals". Born in Columbia, SC

Ulysses Dove

Ulysses Dove

Ulysses Dove was one of the most innovative contemporary choreographers of the past half-century.

color photograph of Jay Ellis wearing a white tee shirt

Jay Ellis

Jay Ellis is a television and film actor, philanthropist, and entrepreneur. He is best known for his recurring roles on the television shows, The Game and Insecure.

A smiling Tyler Florence wearing a grey and black suit.

Tyler Florence

Tyler Florence is a celebrity Chef and television host of several Food Network shows. 

A man in a dark shirt and patterned tie stands next to a bookcase with an Oscar award.

Arthur Freed

Arthur Freed was a lyricist and film producer. He produced and was co-lyricist for the iconic film "Singin' in the Rain."

Leeza Gibbons smiling wearing a magenta sweater over black blouse next to a make-up stand.

Leeza Gibbons

Leeza Gibbons is a talk show host of Entertainment Tonight and other Hollywood news shows.

Thomas Gibson wearing a light blue shirt and white undershirt.

Thomas Gibson

Thomas Ellis Gibson is an actor. He is known for his roles in Criminal Minds, Dharma & Greg, and Chicago Hope.

Charlamagne tha God wearing a red t-shirt with a small gold necklace.

Charlamagne tha God

Charlamagne tha God is an actor, author, and television personality. He is best known as the co-host of the nationally syndicated radio show, The Breakfast Club. 

A woman singing while a man looks at her while playing the piano.

Chippie Hill

Bertha "Chippie" Hill was a blues and vaudeville singer and dancer from Charleston, SC. She is best known for her recording with Louis Armstrong.

Color photograph of Bo Hopkins

Bo Hopkins

William Mauldin Hopkins, better known as "Bo," is an actor. He is best known for playing supporting roles in American Graffiti, Midnight Express, The Wild Bunch, and The Getaway.

Color photograph of Lauren Hutton

Lauren Hutton

Lauren Hutton is a model and actress. She is best known for her roles in American Gigolo and Once Bitten.

A smiling Hal Jackson holding a phone.

Hal Jackson

Harold Baron Jackson was a disc jockey and radio personality who broke down racial barriers, becoming the first black host on a national broadcast network in the 1950s. 

A smiling Mabel King

Mabel King

Mabel Elizabeth King was best known for her role as Mabel "Mama" Thomas on the ABC sitcom What's Happening!!

Eartha Kitt laying on an orange floor in a sparkly red dress.

Eartha Kitt

Born in North, SC, Eartha Kitt was a singer, actress, comedienne, dancer, and activist.

Andie MacDowell wearing diamond earrings.

Andie MacDowell

Rosalie Anderson MacDowell, better known as Andie MacDowell, is an actress and fashion model. 

Brooklyn Mack in mid dance dressed as a gray, white, and orange dodo bird.

Brooklyn Mack

Brooklyn Mack is a danseur from Elgin, SC.

Barton MacLane dressed as a cowboy sheriff.

Barton MacLane

Barton MacLane was an actor, playwright, and screenwriter.

Color photograph of Danny R. McBride

Danny McBride

American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer known for numerous movie roles and his television role as Kenny Powers on HBO's Eastbound and Down.

Black and white photograph of Nina McKinney

Nina Mae McKinney

Nina Mae Mckinney was one of the first Black leading actresses in Hollywood.

Color photograph of Amanda McNulty

Amanda McNulty

Amanda McNulty is a Clemson University Extension Horticulture agent and the host of South Carolina ETV's Making It Grow!

A group of young men posing together on a beach.

Swingin' Medallions

The Swingin' Medallions is a beach music group from Greenwood County, South Carolina.

A smiling Patina Miller wearing a straw hat and pastel colored tank top

Patina Miller

Born in Pageland, SC, Patina Miller is an actress and singer.

Color photograph of Bill Murray

Bill Murray

Bill Murray is an actor and comedian best known for his deadpan humor on Saturday Night Live and his role in Groundhog Day, Ghostbusters, and Caddyshack.

Nancy O'Dell with her hair in a ponytail, a black top, and silver hoop earrings.

Nancy O'Dell

Nancy O'Dell is a television host and entertainment journalist.

A smiling Mary-Louis Parker

Mary-Louise Parker

Actress and writer Mary-Louise Parker was born on Fort Jackson in South Carolina. 

Teyonah Parris speaking

Teyonah Parris

Teyohah Parris is from Hopkins, SC. She is an actress and producer.

color photograph of Will Patton wearing a ball cap

Will Patton

Will Patton is a prolific actor and audiobook narrator.

color photograph of Carl Anthony Payne wearing blue scarf

Carl Anthony Payne II

Carl Anthony Payne II is an actor best known as "Cole" in Martin and Walter "Cockroach" Bradley in The Cosby Show.

A middle-aged man holding a puppet

Joe Pinner

Radio and television personality Joe Pinner has been an icon of South Carolina televisions since 1963.

Color photograph of Brenda Pressley

Brenda Pressley

Brenda Pressley is an actress from Columbia, SC.

color photograph of Leon Rippy

Leon Rippy

Leon Rippy is an actor best known for his roles as Earl the Angel on the series Saving Grace, saloon owner Tom Nuttall on the series Deadwood, and John Billings in The Patriot.

Chris Rock wearing a black shirt

Chris Rock

Chris Rock is a well-known comedian, actor, screenwriter, television and film producer, and director.

Vertamae Grosvenor holding a woven fan.

Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor

Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor was a culinary anthropologist, griot, food writer, and broadcaster on public media.

A smiling woman.

Clara Smith

Clara Smith was a blues singer from Spartanburg, South Carolina. She was nicknamed the "Queen of the Moaners."

Angie Stone performing in a black, gold, silver, and pink dress.

Angie Stone

Angie Stone is a singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. She rose to frame in the late 1970s as a member of the hip hop trio, The Sequence.

Vanna White wearing a yellow dress.

Vanna White

Vanna White is a television personality best known as the puzzle-board turner and co-host on the game show Wheel of Fortune.

color photograph of Johnny Whitworth

Johnny Whitworth

Johnny Whitworth is a actor. He is known for his roles as A.J. in Empire Records, Blackout in Marvel's Ghost Rider: Spirt of Vengeance, and Jake Berkeley in CSI: Miami.

black and white photo  of Joanne Woodward

Joanne Woodward

Famous Actress of film, stage, and television. Best known for taking on difficult womens roles.

A smiling Samuel E. Wright

Samuel E. Wright

Samuel Edward Wright is an actor and singer. He is best known as the voice of Sebastian in Disney's The Little Mermaid

A young Black man in a gray suit, white dress shirt, and patterned tie.

Lee Thompson Young

Lee Thompson Young was an actor known for his roles in The Famous Jett Jackson, Friday Night Lights, and Akeelah and the Bee.