Famous People From Wyoming

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Updated September 15, 2018 40.0K views314 items

List of famous people from Wyoming, including photos when available. The people below are listed by their popularity, so the most recognizable names are at the top of the list. Some of the people below are celebrities born in Wyoming, while others are simply notable locals. If you're from Wyoming you might already know that these prominent figures are also from your hometown, but some of the names below may really surprise you. This list includes people who were born and raised in Wyoming, as well as those who were born there but moved away at a young age.

Geoffrey Lower and Ken Esquibel are included on this list.

If you want to answer the questions, "Which famous people are from Wyoming?" or "Which celebrities were born in Wyoming?" then this list is a great resource for you.
Ranked by
  • Matthew Fox
    • Birthplace: Abington, Pennsylvania, USA
    Matthew Chandler Fox (born July 14, 1966) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Charlie Salinger on Party of Five (1994–2000) and Jack Shephard on the supernatural drama series Lost (2004–2010), the latter of which earned him Golden Globe Award and Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Fox has also performed in ten feature films, including We Are Marshall (2006), Vantage Point (2008), Alex Cross (2012), Emperor (2012) and Bone Tomahawk (2015).
  • Curt Gowdy

    Curt Gowdy

    Dec. at 86 (1919-2006)
    • Birthplace: USA, Wyoming, Green River
    Curtis Edward Gowdy (July 31, 1919 – February 20, 2006) was an American sportscaster, well known as the longtime "voice" of the Boston Red Sox and for his coverage of many nationally televised sporting events, primarily for NBC Sports and ABC Sports in the 1960s and 1970s. His accomplishments include coining the nickname "The Granddaddy of Them All" for the Rose Bowl Game, taking the moniker from the Cheyenne Frontier Days in his native Wyoming.
  • Matthew Shepard

    Matthew Shepard

    Dec. at 21 (1976-1998)
    • Birthplace: Casper, Grant Village, Wyoming
    Matthew Wayne Shepard (December 1, 1976 – October 12, 1998) was a gay American student at the University of Wyoming who was beaten, tortured, and left to die near Laramie on the night of October 6, 1998. He was taken by rescuers to Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado, where he died six days later from severe head injuries. Suspects Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson were arrested shortly after the attack and charged with first-degree murder following Shepard's death. Significant media coverage was given to the killing and to what role Shepard's sexual orientation played as a motive in the commission of the crime. The prosecutor argued that McKinney's murder of Shepard was premeditated and driven by greed. McKinney's defense counsel countered that he had intended only to rob Shepard but had killed him in a rage when Shepard made a sexual advance toward him. McKinney's girlfriend told police that he had been motivated by anti-gay sentiment but later recanted her statement, saying that she had lied because she thought it would help him. Both McKinney and Henderson were convicted of the murder, and each received two consecutive life sentences. Shepard's murder brought national and international attention to hate crime legislation at the state and federal levels. In October 2009, the United States Congress passed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act (commonly the "Matthew Shepard Act" or "Shepard/Byrd Act" for short), and on October 28, 2009, President Barack Obama signed the legislation into law. Following her son's murder, Judy Shepard became a prominent LGBT rights activist and established the Matthew Shepard Foundation. Shepard's death inspired films, novels, plays, songs, and other works.
  • James G. Watt
    • Birthplace: Lusk, Wyoming, USA
    James Gaius Watt (born January 31, 1938) served as U.S. Secretary of the Interior from 1981 to 1983. Often described as "anti-environmentalist", he was one of Ronald Reagan's most controversial cabinet appointments. Watt's pro-development views played an instrumental role in ending the Sagebrush Rebellion.
  • Lynne Cheney
    • Birthplace: Casper, Wyoming, USA
    Lynne Ann Cheney (; née Vincent; born August 14, 1941) is an American author, scholar, and former talk-show host. She is the wife of the 46th vice president of the United States, Dick Cheney, and served as the second lady of the United States from 2001 to 2009.
  • John Perry Barlow
    • Birthplace: USA, Wyoming
    John Perry Barlow (October 3, 1947 – February 7, 2018) was an American poet and essayist, a cattle rancher, and a cyberlibertarian political activist who had been associated with both the Democratic and Republican parties. He was also a lyricist for the Grateful Dead and a founding member of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Freedom of the Press Foundation. He was Fellow Emeritus at Harvard University's Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, where he had maintained an affiliation since 1998.