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5 Famous Baltimore Natives


Most Baltimoreans can easily identify folks like Michael Phelps and Jada Pinkett Smith as celebrities who are from Charm City, but some of those with B-more connections are less obvious – like the five on this list! Here are five famous people you might not have known are from Baltimore!
  1. Julie Bowen
Julie Bowen is an actress best known for starring as Claire Dunphy in the sitcom Modern Family. Bowen was born in Baltimore and was raised in suburban Ruxton-Riderwood, Maryland. Bowen first attended Calvert School, then Garrison Forest School and Roland Park Country School before moving to Rhode Island.

  1. Anna Faris
Anna Faris rose to prominence for her work in comedic roles, particularly the lead part of Cindy Campbell in the Scary Movie film series.  Faris was born in Baltimore, where her sociology professor father had accepted a professorship at Towson University. She and her family moved to Washington state when she was six.

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Anna Faris (@annafaris) • Instagram photos and videos

  1. Penn Badgley
Fans of early 2000s teen television will undoubtedly recognize Penn Badgley as Dan Humphrey, but did you know he hails from Baltimore? Though the actor spent most of his childhood between Richmond, Virginia and Seattle, Washington, he is a B-more native.
  1. David Hasselhoff
David Hasselhoff is most well-known for his roles on Knight Rider and Baywatch – two hit tv shows which helped him secure his Guinness World Record as the most watched man on tv. Hasselhoff’s great-great-grandmother emigrated with her family to Baltimore from Germany in 1865, and Hasselhoff was born here in 1952!

  1. Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa was a musician whose career as one of the most innovative and stylistically diverse musicians of his generation spanned more than 30 years. Zappa was born in Baltimore, and though his family moved often, they returned to Maryland after a sometime in Florida. While living in Maryland, Zappa's father worked at the Edgewood Arsenal chemical warfare facility of the Aberdeen Proving Ground.

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Frank Zappa (@zappa) • Instagram photos and videos


So…did you know these five stars had Baltimore roots? Let us know in the comments!