Gene Kelly was born in 1912 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the third of five children.

His father was a salesman and his mother introduced her children to the arts. They all took dance lessons and for a while the family ran …

Roy Acuff was born in 1903 in Maynardville, Tennessee.

He was a talented athlete and received 13 varsity letters in sports in high school. While playing baseball for a farm team he suffered a severe sun stroke that necessitated a …

Elvis Presley, known as the “King of Rock and Roll”  was born in Tupelo, Mississippi in 1935.

His early musical influences were gospel, pop, and country. His parents moved to Memphis in 1948 where he was exposed to jazz and …

Chet Atkins was born in 1924 near Luttrell in Eastern Tennessee.

His father taught music and farmed. His parents divorced when he was ten and he moved to Georgia with his father. Interestingly, the man known as Mr. Guitar started …

Perry Como was born in 1912 in Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania, the seventh of thirteen children.

He worked as a singing barber in his hometown until he began touring with a band at the age of 21. His big break came in …

Ty Cobb was born in 1886 in Narrows, Georgia.  Some sources say Royston in Franklin County is his hometown.

He was the eldest of three children and his father was a teacher, principal, newpaper publisher, and state senator. He was …

William L. Boyd, better known as his character Hopalong Cassidy, “The Knight of the Golden West”, was born in 1895 in Cambridge, Ohio.

He was from a family of five boys and left home at an early age. He worked …

Lucille Ball is also known as the “Queen of Comedy”. She was born in 1911 in Jamestown, New York and recounts in her biography stories about her childhood in what was then a rural setting. She became a model and …