FeatherStar - 10 Famous people

James Butler Bonham

James Butler Bonham (1807-1836) was one of the brave men who died defending the Alamo. Born in Red Banks Feb. 20, 1807, Bonham enrolled in South Carolina College but was expelled with the entire senior class for rebelling against school regulations and food. He studied law and opened a practice in Pendleton. Bonham was twice sent as a messenger seeking reinforcements for the garrison at the Alamo. On March 3, 1836, Bonham broke through the Mexican lines and rode under heavy fire back into the Alamo, becoming the last man to enter the doomed mission fortress. He died alongside childhood friend Col. William Travis, Davy Crockett, Sam Houston and Jim Bowie on March 6, 1836

William Barret Travis

(1809-1836) Born in South Carolina on 9 August 1809, William Barret Travis will always be remembered as the Texas commander at the Battle of the Alamo. He spent his childhood in Saluda Co., SC, which was also the home of James Butler Bonham, another Alamo defender. Travis commanded the Texas defenders during the Siege and Battle of the Alamo. His Appeal from the Alamo for reinforcements has become an American symbol of unyielding courage and heroism. Although a few reinforcements arrived before the Alamo fell, Travis and over 180 defenders gave their lives for Texas independence on 6 March 1836

Joe Frazier

Born Jan. 12, 1944, in Beaufort, S.C., Joe Frazier was the 1964 Olympic heavyweight champion and the world heavyweight champ 1970-73. Frazier fought Muhammad Ali for the heavyweight title three times. He is most remembered for the fight at Madison Square Garden in March 1971, where he defeated Ali to become the undisputed heavyweight champ. Frazier's pro record was 32-4-1, with 27 KOs

Chubby Checker

Chubby Checker was born Ernest Evans on Oct. 3, 1941, in Spring Gulley, S.C., and later moved to Philadelphia. While still attending South Philadelphia High School, Chubby made his first record called “The Class." Just before graduation, the record company asked Checker to record "The Twist," a song written and originally recorded by Hank Ballard in 1958 with limited success. Checker recorded the tune and before graduation, the song and Checker were hits. Checker continues to entertain crowds.

'Shoeless' Joe Jackson

Joseph Jefferson Jackson (1887–1951) was born in Brandon Mills, S.C. He was the holder of the third highest (.356) career batting average in major league baseball history. Jackson was banned from baseball in 1921 for his part in the 1919 Black Sox episode in which eight members of the Chicago White Sox, the American League champions, were accused of having conspired with gamblers to throw the 1919 World Series to the Cincinnati Reds. He received his "Shoeless Joe" nickname after playing a minor league game in his stocking feet [because of blisters from a new pair of spikes].

Eartha Kitt

Born on a cotton plantation in South Carolina, Eartha Kitt was given away by her mother and sent to live with an aunt in Harlem, N.Y., at the age of eight. With an enduring career that has spanned theater, cabaret, television, and the recording industry, Eartha Kitt has become nothing less than a household name. An international star who has given new meaning to the word 'versatility,' she is one of only a handful of performers to be nominated twice for both a Tony Award and a Grammy Award as well as for an Emmy.

John Birks 'Dizzy' Gillespie

Born Oct. 21, 1917, in Cheraw, S.C., John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie is considered by some as the greatest jazz trumpeter of all time. The youngest of nine children, Gillespie taught himself to play the trombone and then switched to trumpet when he was 12. He grew up in poverty and won a scholarship to Laurinburg Institute in North Carolina, but dropped out to find work as a musician. Gillespie was one of the key founders of Afro-Cuban (or Latin) jazz and was a superb "scat" singer. During a career that spanned over five decades, Gillespie performed with the giants of the jazz era - Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Cab Calloway, Billy Eckstine, Sarah Vaughn and Coleman Hawkins among them. He also contributed arrangements to such bands as Jimmy Dorsey and Woody Herman. Among his many awards, Gillespie was honored with a Grammy in 1975 for best jazz performance.

Andrew Jackson

Born Mar. 15, 1767, in the Waxhaw settlement on the border of the Carolinas, Jackson was orphaned at the age of 14. After reading law and gaining admission to the bar in North Carolina, he migrated to Nashville, Tenn. A frontier general and Indian fighter, Jackson was elected seventh president of the United States on a platform that proclaimed him the champion of democracy and of the common man. Jackson served two terms of office (1829-37) and left his mark on the era, often termed the "Age of Jackson." Jackson died in June 1845.

Andie McDowell

Andie McDowell, a model and actress from Gaffney, S.C., is most noted for her role opposite Hugh Grant in "Four Weddings and a Funeral." She has also starred in other movies such as ............... Michael; Multiplicity; Bad Girls; Short Cuts; Groundhog Day; Hudson Hawk; Green Card; Sex, Lies and Videotape; Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes

Vanna White

Television game show hostess and actress. Born Vanna Marie Rosich, on February 18, 1957, in Conway, South Carolina.
Her parents divorced when Vanna was less than a year old, and she was raised by her mother, Joan, and stepfather, Herbert White Jr., in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. After graduating from high school, White moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where she attended the Atlanta School of Fashion and worked as a model. She headed to Los Angeles in 1979 to pursue an acting career. In 1982, White got the job that would make her career. She was chosen out of 200 applicants to join new host and former weatherman, Pat Sajak, on the NBC game show, Wheel of Fortune. The show met with tremendous success over the next several years, and by 1986 a syndicated evening version attracted 30 million viewers, twice as many as the No. 2 syndicated program, M*A*S*H, and grossed $100 million a year.