Famous actors from Missouri
Admiring and envying the world's biggest stars is easy to do on Instagram. From A-list movie stars and major musicians to pro ball players and comedians who landed their own sitcoms, there's no shortage of evidence of just how good the good life is. They post pictures of themselves with other big shots on rooftop bars, at exclusive clubs, at backstage parties, and at restaurants where regular people can't get a reservation.
But the vast majority of these celebrities were born and raised outside of Hollywood, finding their way to the bright lights and big money of superstardom from obscure beginnings in regular small towns or cities across the country.
Stacker compiled a list of actors that were born in Missouri from IMDb's most popular list. For each actor, we included a movie poster image from a film he is known for (all movie poster images from OMDb). Keep reading to see which favorite actors are from your home state.
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Matt Bomer
- Born: Webster Groves, Missouri (10/11/1977)
- Known for:
--- Henry Hamilton in "In Time" (2011)
--- Felix Turner in "The Normal Heart" (2014)
--- Ken in "Magic Mike XXL" (2015)
Timothy Omundson
- Born: St. Joseph, Missouri (7/29/1969)
- Known for:
--- IMF Agent in "Mission: Impossible III" (2006)
--- Psychic in "Starship Troopers" (1997)
--- Carlton Lassiter in "Psych" (2006-2014)
Dick Van Dyke
- Born: West Plains, Missouri (12/13/1925)
- Known for:
--- Bert in "Mary Poppins" (1964)
--- Mr. Dawes, Jr. in "Mary Poppins Returns" (2018)
--- Caractacus Potts in "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" (1968)
Stephen McKinley Henderson
- Born: Kansas City, Missouri (8/31/1949)
- Known for:
--- Jim Bono in "Fences" (2016)
--- Father Leviatch in "Lady Bird" (2017)
--- William Slade in "Lincoln" (2012)
Evan Peters
- Born: St. Louis, Missouri (1/20/1987)
- Known for:
--- Peter Maximoff in "X-Men: Apocalypse" (2016)
--- Peter in "X-Men: Days of Future Past" (2014)
--- Peter Maximoff in "X-Men: Dark Phoenix" (2019)
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Don Johnson
- Born: Flat Creek, Missouri (12/15/1949)
- Known for:
--- Detective James Crockett in "Miami Vice" (1984-1989)
--- Big Daddy in "Django Unchained" (2012)
--- Vic in "A Boy and His Dog" (1975)
Jon Hamm
- Born: St. Louis, Missouri (3/10/1971)
- Known for:
--- Don Draper in "Mad Men" (2007-2015)
--- FBI S.A. Adam Frawley in "The Town" (2010)
--- JB in "Million Dollar Arm" (2014)
John Goodman
- Born: St. Louis, Missouri (6/20/1952)
- Known for:
--- Howard in "10 Cloverfield Lane" (2016)
--- Charlie Meadows in "Barton Fink" (1991)
--- John Chambers in "Argo" (2012)
Chris Wood
- Born: St. Louis, Missouri (4/14/1988)
- Known for:
--- Jake in "Containment" (2016)
--- He-Man in "Masters of the Universe: Revelation" (2021)
--- Mon-El in "Supergirl" (2016-2021)
Mark Linn-Baker
- Born: St. Louis, Missouri (6/17/1954)
- Known for:
--- Benjy Stone in "My Favorite Year" (1982)
--- Sam Klieber in "Adam" (2009)
--- Larry Appleton in "Perfect Strangers" (1986-1993)
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David Rasche
- Born: St. Louis, Missouri (8/7/1944)
- Known for:
--- Donald Freeman Greene in "United 93" (2006)
--- Linton Barwick in "In the Loop" (2009)
--- CIA Officer Palmer DeBakey Smith in "Burn After Reading" (2008)
Kevin Kline
- Born: St. Louis, Missouri (10/24/1947)
- Known for:
--- Artemus Gordon in "Wild Wild West" (1999)
--- Dave Kovic in "Dave" (1993)
--- Otto in "A Fish Called Wanda" (1988)
Sterling K. Brown
- Born: St. Louis, Missouri (4/5/1976)
- Known for:
--- N'Jobu in "Black Panther" (2018)
--- Waikiki in "Hotel Artemis" (2018)
--- Randall Pearson in "This Is Us" (2016-2022)
Bobb'e J. Thompson
- Born: Kansas City, Missouri (2/28/1996)
- Known for:
--- Ronnie in "Role Models" (2008)
--- Cal Devereaux in "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" (2009)
--- Shortie #1 in "Shark Tale" (2004)
Denis O'Hare
- Born: Kansas City, Missouri (1/17/1962)
- Known for:
--- Dr. Sevard in "Dallas Buyers Club" (2013)
--- Mr. Gilbertson in "The Proposal" (2009)
--- Albert in "Garden State" (2004)
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Sean Gunn
- Born: St. Louis, Missouri (5/22/1974)
- Known for:
--- Kraglin in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" (2017)
--- Kraglin in "Guardians of the Galaxy" (2014)
--- Weasel in "The Suicide Squad" (2021)
Scott Bakula
- Born: St. Louis, Missouri (10/9/1954)
- Known for:
--- Dr. Sam Beckett in "Quantum Leap" (1989-1993)
--- Jim Olmeyer in "American Beauty" (1999)
--- Bob Black in "Behind The Candelabra" (2013)
David Koechner
- Born: Tipton, Missouri (8/24/1962)
- Known for:
--- Champ Kind in "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy" (2004)
--- Champ Kind in "Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues" (2013)
--- Larabee in "Get Smart" (2008)
Chris Cooper
- Born: Kansas City, Missouri (7/9/1951)
- Known for:
--- John Laroche in "Adaptation." (2002)
--- Charlie Aiken in "August: Osage County" (2013)
--- Colonel Fitts in "American Beauty" (1999)
Vincent Price
- Born: St. Louis, Missouri (5/27/1911)
- Died: 10/25/1993
- Known for:
--- Frederick Loren in "House on Haunted Hill" (1959)
--- Professor Ratigan in "The Great Mouse Detective" (1986)
--- Shelby Carpenter in "Laura" (1944)
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Lucas Grabeel
- Born: Springfield, Missouri (11/23/1984)
- Known for:
--- Ryan Evans in "High School Musical 3: Senior Year" (2008)
--- Ryan Evans in "High School Musical" (2006)
--- Ryan Evans in "High School Musical 2" (2007)
Robbie Daymond
- Born: Chesterfield, Missouri (3/11/1982)
- Known for:
--- Dorian Storm in "Critical Role" (2021)
--- Peter Parker in "Spider-Man" (2017-2020)
--- Goro Akechi - Crow in "Persona 5 Royal" (2019)
Charlie Weber
- Born: Jefferson City, Missouri (9/20/1978)
- Known for:
--- Frank Delfino in "How to Get Away with Murder" 2014-2020
--- Ben in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" 2000-2001
Mykelti Williamson
- Born: Saint Louis, Missouri (3/4/1957)
- Known for:
--- Bubba Blue in "Forrest Gump" (1994)
--- Gabriel in "Fences" (2016)
--- Joe Dixon in "The Purge: Election Year" (2016)
Michael Massee
- Born: Kansas City, Missouri (9/1/1952)
- Died: 10/20/2016
- Known for:
--- Funboy in "The Crow" (1994)
--- Man in the Shadows in "The Amazing Spider-Man" (2012)
--- Gustav Fiers (The Gentleman) in "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" (2014)
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Alex Neustaedter
- Born: Kansas City, Missouri (3/29/1998)
- Known for:
--- Miles Hill in "A-X-L" (2018)
--- Bram Bowman in "Colony" (2016-2018)
--- Homer Macauley in "Ithaca" (2015)
William Smith
- Born: Columbia, Missouri (3/24/1933)
- Died: 7/5/2021
- Known for:
--- Conan's Father in "Conan the Barbarian" (1982)
--- Strelnikov in "Red Dawn" (1984)
--- Patterson the Cop in "Rumble Fish" (1983)
Gary Riley
- Born: St. Louis, Missouri (11/19/1963)
- Known for:
--- Charlie Hogan in "Stand by Me" (1986)
--- Dave Frazier in "Summer School" (1987)
--- Heavy Metal Kid in "Ruthless People" (1986)
Eric Nenninger
- Born: St. Louis, Missouri (11/19/1978)
- Known for:
--- Scott in "One Day at a Time" (2017-2019)
--- Warner in "Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp" (2015)
--- Cpt. Dave 'Captain America' McGraw in "Generation Kill" (2008)
Rob Benedict
- Born: Columbia, Missouri (9/21/1970)
- Known for:
--- Chuck Shurley in "Supernatural" (2009-2020)
--- Calvin in "Waiting..." (2005)
--- Milt in "State of Play" (2009)
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Matt Schulze
- Born: St. Louis, Missouri (7/3/1972)
- Known for:
--- Vince in "The Fast and the Furious" (2001)
--- Chupa in "Blade II" (2002)
--- Crease in "Blade" (1998)
Dennis Weaver
- Born: Joplin, Missouri (6/4/1924)
- Died: 2/24/2006
- Known for:
--- Sam McCloud in "McCloud" (1970-1977)
--- Mirador Motel Night Manager in "Touch of Evil" (1958)
--- David Mann in "Duel" (1971)
Al Leong
- Born: St. Louis, Missouri (9/30/1952)
- Known for:
--- Genghis Khan in "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" (1989)
--- Uli in "Die Hard" (1988)
--- Endo in "Lethal Weapon" (1987)
Arliss Howard
- Born: Independence, Missouri (10/18/1954)
- Known for:
--- Pvt. Cowboy in "Full Metal Jacket" (1987)
--- Richard DeTamble in "The Time Traveler's Wife" (2009)
--- Peter Ludlow in "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" (1997)
Johnny Yong Bosch
- Born: Kansas City, Missouri (1/6/1976)
- Known for:
--- Jacob in "Ark Exitus" (2020)
--- Kaneda in "Akira" (1988)
--- Ichigo Kurosaki in "Bleach" (2004-2012)
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Kevin Nealon
- Born: St. Louis, Missouri (11/18/1953)
- Known for:
--- Doug Wilson in "Weeds" (2005-2012)
--- Potter in "Happy Gilmore" (1996)
--- Various in "Saturday Night Live" (1986-2001)
Jason Wiles
- Born: Kansas City, Missouri (4/25/1970)
- Known for:
--- Sunny in "Sunny Daze" (2019)
--- Maurice Boscorelli in "Third Watch" (1999-2005)
--- Skippy in "Kicking and Screaming" (1995)
Brent Sexton
- Born: St. Louis, Missouri (8/12/1967)
- Known for:
--- Honeycutt in "Radio" (2003)
--- Elias in "Flightplan" (2005)
--- Vince Agostino in "The Belko Experiment" (2016)
Dabbs Greer
- Born: Fairview, Missouri (4/2/1917)
- Died: 4/28/2007
- Known for:
--- Old Paul Edgecomb in "The Green Mile" (1999)
--- Wilbur in "Little Giants" (1994)
--- Old Man Under Truck in "Con Air" (1997)
Jim Davis
- Born: Edgerton, Missouri (8/26/1909)
- Died: 4/26/1981
- Known for:
--- Head of Lynching Party in "Big Jake" (1971)
--- Jock Ewing in "Dallas" (1978-1982)
--- Jim Purvis - Jason's Foreman in "El Dorado" (1966)
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Gabriel Basso
- Born: St Louis, Missouri (12/11/1994)
- Known for:
--- Martin in "Super 8" (2011)
--- Patrick in "The Kings of Summer" (2013)
--- J.D. Vance in "Hillbilly Elegy" (2020)
Alex Saxon
- Born: Liberty, Missouri (9/10/1987)
- Known for:
--- Ace in "Nancy Drew" (2019-2021)
--- Wyatt in "The Fosters" (2013-2018)
--- Chloe in "Ray Donovan" (2013-2015)
Amir Arison
- Born: St. Louis, Missouri (3/24/1978)
- Known for:
--- Aram Mojtabai in "The Blacklist" (2013-2021)
--- Farhad in "Billions" (2019)
--- Abelmalek in "Ramy" (2019)