Okay, the title is a bit tongue in cheek but if you know anything about celebrities you know that a lot of them came from the Hoosier state and apparently their path to fame started with one common goal -- to get the HELL out of Indiana! Now, I lived in southern California for two glorious sun soaked years and I can understand the desire to be surrounded by palm trees and beautiful tanned gorgeous surfer boys with firm chests and bronze bulging arm muscles, their long flowing dirty-blond hair waving in the breeze and their strong, muscular thighs flexing as they balance on their surfboards and their -- wait a second, where was I going with this? Okay, anyway, I understand the siren song of the West Coast. But when it was time for us to move back to Indiana once Kirby's Marine Corp commitment was up, I was ready for some Midwestern normalcy.
But apparently a lot of celebrities don't feel this way. And it's funny; some of my favorite celebs are Indiana natives. There's my favorite comedian, Jim Gaffigan, who was born and raised up in the Fort Wayne area. (And a quick shout out to my favorite Fort Wayne peeps, the soldiers of the 338th QM Co., of which my honey was commander!) David Letterman of course began his career in Indianapolis, his hometown, and I used to shop at the Atlas Market where he was bag boy every time I was in Indy crashing at my friend Rico Swarthy's place. Our local legend John Mellencamp, hailing from Seymour, used to play the Crump Theatre in Columbus, my hometown. David Lee Roth, former Van Halen front man and one of the best showmen in rock, came from Bloomington, where his father was an IU English professor. Then there's Axl Rose, who before he went insane and started using spray tan and cornrows was my favorite long and lean lead singer in my late teens and grew up in Lafayette along with G-n-R bassist Izzy Stradlin. (Mmm, those leather pants on those skinny hips. Come to mama!) And in the same category of insane musicians, the late Michael Jackson grew up on the mean streets of Gary before Papa Joe realized that his kids could sing and got them the hell outta there!
But it's not just funny men and musicians. Oh no. There is a veritable plethora of celebs who are Hoosiers. Jane Pauley is an Indiana native who is a feminist icon for her success in the male dominated world of television journalists. Legendary dark, brooding and mysterious actor, the late James Dean, grew up in Fairmount, Indiana, a small town about 60 miles north of Indianapolis. He was laid to rest there as well upon his death. Jimmy Hoffa, famed leader of the Teamster's, whose mysterious disappearance is still highly speculated on today, grew up in Brazil, Indiana. He would probably still be alive if he'd never left corn country. And Ernie Pyle, legendary WWII journalist, killed in action doing what he loved best, was a Hoosier as well, hailing from tiny Dana, Indiana.
Indiana also has the distinct honor of having birthed such luminaries as Kurt Vonnegut (if you have to ask then you haven't read Slaughterhouse Five, one of my favorite books, and if that's true then I won't be speaking to you again anyway!) Twyla Tharp, choreographer and dancer, Knute Rockne, football coach extraordinaire (and also of "Win one for the Gipper" fame) as well as Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart (Columbus native), Ryan Newman and David Stremme of NASCAR fame. Steve McQueen, late amazing actor, stuntman, wild child and all around sexy beast back in his day, was born in Indianapolis suburb Beech Grove, though he was abandoned to his grandparents in Slater, Missouri at age three and grew up there.
We also have Bedford's own Rocket Man Gus Grissom, 23rd POTUS Benjamin Harrison, Jim Davis, creator and cartoonist of Garfield. Bill Blass, amazing designer and Cher's stylist for a time, is a Hoosier. Larry Bird is a hoosier who DID come back home again and just resigned as president of the Pacers organization. Sex researcher Alfred Kinsey was born here as well, and women everywhere should thank him for his findings on the G-Spot.
So you see, for some reason Hoosiers are attracted to the spotlight, and many have been considered the top of their respective fields. I guess it's true, there is more than corn in Indiana. There is apparently something in the water that produces fame as well. Who knows, maybe someday someone will be writing about one of my kids being a famous Hoosier!
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