Few states have produced the sheer quantity of well-known residents as Missouri, which counts multiple Academy Award-winning actors, professional athletes and singers among its natives.
BetMissouri.com, which covers the incoming launch of Missouri sportsbooks, took a look to see what celebrities that were raised in the state were being discussed the most in the past year.
We used a weighted system between AhRefs.com Keywords Explorer and Google Trends to look at the most searched Missouri celebrities over the past 12 months. Once finding both statistics, they were averaged to determine the Top 20.
Missouri celebrity was defined as a person who resided in Missouri in their formative childhood and teenage years for over 10 years. Celebrity was broken down to include only actors/actresses, athletes, singer/songwriters, TV personalities, comedians, dancers and social media influencers.
Most Famous Missouri Celebrities Ranked in 2024
Weighted Rank | Celebrity | Hometown City | Search Volume Over Past Year |
1 | Brad Pitt, Actor | Springfield, MO | 3.1M |
2 | Chappell Roan, Musician | Willard, MO | 2.0M |
3 | Solana “SZA” Rowe, Musician | St. Louis, MO | 1.3M |
4 | Jayson Tatum, NBA Player | St. Louis, MO | 1.2M |
5 | Evan Peters, Actor | St. Louis, MO | 930K |
6 | Dick Van Dyke, Actor | West Plains, MO | 603K |
7 | Nelly, Singer-Songwriter | St. Louis, MO | 553K |
8 | Randy Orton, WWE Wrestler | St. Louis, MO | 420K |
9 | Matt Bomer, Actor | Webster Groves, MO | 408K |
10 | Jenna Fischer, Actress | St. Louis, MO | 363K |
11 | Jon Hamm, Actor | St. Louis, MO | 357K |
12 | Don Johnson, Actor | Flat Creek Township, MO | 334K |
13 | John Goodman, Actor | Affton, MO | 309K |
14 | Bradley Beal, NBA Player | St. Louis, MO | 244K |
15 | Ezekiel Elliott, NFL Player | Ladue, MO | 192K |
16 | Sexyy Red, Musician | St. Louis, MO | 187K |
17 | Don Cheadle, Actor | Kansas City, MO | 158K |
18 | Sheryl Crow, Musician | Kennett, MO | 156K |
19 | Michael Chandler, MMA Fighter | High Ridge, MO | 148K |
20 | Ellie Kemper, Actress | Kansas City, MO | 146K |
When legal sports betting launches in the state, BetMissouri will be the home to the top Missouri sportsbook promos.
Who Are The Most Famous People in Missouri?
Between University of Missouri alumnus and two-time Academy Award winning actor Brad Pitt, longtime TV and movie actor Evan Peters of St. Louis and former “Mad Men” cornerstone Jon Hamm, the Show Me State has no shortage of acting talent. But it was only Pitt who could stave off the rising star that is Chappell Roan, with the veteran actor beating out the new pop-star for the most well-known celebrity in 2024.
Pitt, 60, hails from Springfield. He initially rose to fame in "Thelma and Louise," before taking on lead roles in "Seven," "Fight Club" and as part of the deep ensemble in "Ocean's 11." Pitt has been a heartthrob since that fateful appearance in "Thelma," but it wasn't until 2020 that he collected his first acting Oscar for Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon A Time in Hollywood."
He will appear in a big budget movie around the sport of F1 in 2025.
Chappell Roan's 2024 Hard To Match
No. 2, Roan, stormed up this chart in 2024, with her singles "Good Luck, Babe," "HOT TO GO," "Pink Pony Club" and "Red Wine Supernova" (some of which were released in 2023) all dominating the Billboard 100 from the summer on. Where does Roan hail from originally? That would be Willard, MO - of which Roan is the only celeb on our current rankings. In September, Roan collected the Best New Artist Award at the MTV Music Awards, just a couple months before she was the musical guest on "Saturday Night Live" for the first time.
Can her 2025 be even bigger? Time will tell.
SZA, Jayson Tatum Would Like A Word
No. 3 on the list is Solana “SZA” Rowe, another musician who came by way of St. Louis. Rowe’s search volume was 1.3 million, largely bolstered by her popular 2023 SOS Tour - which consisted of 54 shows across North American and Europe. Her third album "Lana" is expected to drop before the end of the calendar year.
No. 4 is another Missouri native who made his mark in 2024, and one who may have a chance to get to No. 1 at some point in his NBA career. St. Louis' Jayson Tatum led the Boston Celtics to an NBA Finals title this summer over Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks, cementing Tatum's status as the current Prince of Boston. But it's St. Louis that can really claim the 6'8 small forward. When Missouri betting apps are up and running, do yourself a favor and take a glance at Tatum's MVP odds. He's only getting better in his eighth NBA season.
Evan Peters, Nelly, Jenna Fischer Crack Top 10
Rounding out the top 10 are actor Evan Peters, actor Dick Van Dyke, singer-songwriter Nelly, WWE wrestler Randy Orton, actor Matt Bomer and actress Jenna Fischer.
No. 5 Peters has been around since season 1 of FX' "American Horror Story," and in 2023 garnered great reviews in Netflix' "Dahmer" as the legendary serial killer himself.
No. 6 Van Dyke is an original television legend, and called West Plains home for much of his life. At the age of 98, he received the award for Outstanding Guest Performer in a Drama Series at the 51st Daytime Emmy Awards for his performance on Days of Our Lives. What a career!
Nelly (No. 7) in a stunner failed to capture "Dancing with the Stars" a few years ago, but the St. Louis native stayed true to his roots in 2024, performing often at the Hollywood Casino and Hotel in Maryland Heights, Missouri.
Bomer (No. 9) continues to steal the show in whichever film or TV series he appears in, most recently starring in Bradley Cooper's "Maestro" and the show "Fellow Travelers." He'll next be seen in Jonah Hill's comedy "Outcome." He hails from Webster Groves.
Meanwhile, Jenna Fischer will forever be Pam from "The Office," but she has stayed busy since the show went off the air in 2013. Fischer since then has appeared in the 2024 musical remake of "Mean Girls" and also co-hosts the podcast "Office Ladies" with Angela Kinsey in which they look back at the history of the show. She also published her first book in 2017.
All 10 have generated at least 363,000 search queries over the last year, beating out the likes of actors Jon Hamm, Don Johnson, John Goodman, NBA star Bradley Beal and musician Sheryl Crow.
Needless to say, it’s safe to count Missouri as one of the most star-studded states, with as deep a roster of noteworthy natives as any other in the country.
USA Today photo by Sara Diggins/American-Statesman.
Jon Hamm Just Misses Top 10
While Fischer was able to crack the top 10 despite "The Office" going off the air over a decade ago, the same cannot be said for St. Louis' Jon Hamm.
Hamm (No. 11) still had a search volume of 357,000 though, showing "Mad Men" fans haven't gotten over Don Draper just yet. Hamm has had fun since the AMC drama went off the air, yuking it up in "Confess, Fletch" and the latest season of FX' "Fargo," while also going toe-to-toe with Tom Cruise in "Top Gun: Maverick."
Two other actors who came just behind Hamm were No. 12 Don Johnson of "Miami Vice" fame and the legend that is John Goodman (No. 13). Johnson has had a late career resurgence with appearances in hits like "Django Unchained," "Eastbound and Down" and HBO's "Watchmen." He also appeared as the villain in the popular 2024 Netflix movie "Rebel Ridge."
Meanwhile, Goodman has stayed busy as ever on the small screen in recent years across both "The Righteous Gemstones" and "The Conners." Strangely, the actor has never been nominated for an Oscar for his film work, however. But let's hope there's still time.
No. 14 is NBA player Bradley Beal from St. Louis. Beal was a Washington Wizard for 11 seasons, and a three-time All-Star. He now plays alongside Devin Booker and Kevin Durant on the Suns, where he's still seeking his first NBA Finals appearance. Maybe 2025 is his year.
No. 15 is Ezekiel Elliot, a football legend from Ladue who has spent most of his career as a Dallas Cowboy - though Elliott did play one season for Bill Belichick in New England before returning to Jerry Jones' team.
Rounding out the top 20 is musician Sexy Red, actor Don Cheadle (Brad Pitt's co-star in the "Ocean's" films), musician Sheryl Crow, fighter Michael Chandler and other "Office" star in Elle Kemper.
Missouri Celebrities FAQ
Brad Pitt is from Springfield, Missouri. He was previously married to Angelina Jolie and won an Oscar for "Once Upon A Time in Hollywood." He is 60 years old.
Roan is from Willard, Missouri, where she uploaded songs to YouTube as a teenager. She is 26 years old.
Brad Pitt, Chappell Roan and Jayson Tatum are among the most famous celebrities from Missouri in 2024.
Author
Thomas Leary is a news editor and writer for BetMissouri.com. He previously spent six years at Sports Business Journal, where he helped identify emerging sectors across sports business, such as legalized gambling, and helped launch a digital newsletter division. Thomas lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with his wife Emmie and their dog, Pickles.
