List of people from Amarillo, Texas

This is a list of Amarilloans, notable current and former citizens of Amarillo, Texas.

Arts and entertainment

Actress Carolyn Jones, best known for the The Addams Family

• Jennifer Archer, author
• Art Bell, radio host and author
• Lacey Brown, folk singer and American Idol finalist
• Gail Caldwell, Pulitzer Prize-winning book critic
• Derek Cecil, actor ( Push, Nevada )
• Cyd Charisse, dancer and actress ( The Band Wagon , Brigadoon )
• Arden Cho, actress
• Ann Doran, actress ( Rebel Without a Cause )
• Joe Ely, country and folk singer
• Ron Ely, actor ( Tarzan )
• Todd English, celebrity chef
• Kevin Fowler, country music singer
• Blair Garner, country music radio host
• Jimmy Gilmer, rock singer ("Sugar Shack")
• Jimmie Dale Gilmore, country music singer
• Clyde Kenneth Harris, soldier and interior decorator
• Kimberly Willis Holt, author
• Mitchell Hurwitz, TV writer
• Sterling Hyltin, ballet dancer
• Carolyn Jones, actress ( The Addams Family )
• Roger Miller, country music singer
• Grady Nutt, comedian ( Hee Haw )
• Hayden Pedigo, musician
• John Rich, guitar player
• Eck Robertson, musician
• Ben Sargent, Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist
• George Saunders, writer, winner of Macarthur Fellowship Genius Grant
• JD Souther, country rock singer
• Terry LaVerne Stafford, songwriter
• Francie Swift, actress
• Jodi Thomas, author
• Paula Trickey, actress ( Pacific Blue )
• Aaron Watson, country music singer
• Trent Willmon, country music singer
• Jack Wrather, television director
• M. K. Wren, mystery and science fiction writer

Business

Businessman T. Boone Pickens

• T. Boone Pickens, Jr., oilman and philanthropist

Law and government

• James R. Beverley, governor of Puerto Rico
• Teel Bivins, United States ambassador to Sweden
• Beau Boulter, United States congressman
• James Nathan Browning, Texas lieutenant governor
• Odell M. Conoley, USMC; deputy director for Operations, Plans, Policies and Operations Division, Staff of the Commander in Chief, United States European Command
• Jake Ellzey, United States congressman
• Howard D. Graves, superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, later Chancellor of Texas A & M system of universities
• Ronny Jackson, United States congressman and former Physician to the President and nominee for U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs ^[1]
• John Marvin Jones, United States congressman and chief judge of the Court of Claims
• Walter Thomas Price, IV, Amarillo attorney and Republican nominee for the District 87 seat in the Texas House of Representatives
• Mary Lou Robinson, United States federal judge
• Kel Seliger, mayor and Texas state senator
• Jasmine Taylor, businesswoman

Sports

Professional wrestler Terry Funk

• Rex Baxter, professional golfer and NCAA champion
• Trevor Brazile, PRCA All Around Cowboy
• Brad Bryant, professional golfer
• Paul Buentello, mixed martial artist
• Steve Butler, racecar driver
• Ron Clinkscale, professional Canadian football player
• Michael Cobbins (born 1992), basketball player for Maccabi Haifa of the Israeli Basketball Premier League
• Tucker Davidson, professional baseball player
• Bobby Duncum Jr., professional wrestler
• Dory Funk, professional wrestler
• Dory Funk, Jr., professional wrestler
• Terry Funk, professional wrestler
• Heath Herring, mixed martial artist
• Mike Hettinga, aka Mike Knox, professional wrestler
• Ziggy Hood, professional football player
• Heston Kjerstad, professional baseball player
• Wildcat Monte (born Monte Deadwiley; 1905–1961), professional boxer
• Alex O'Brien, professional tennis player
• Barry Orton, professional wrestler
• Ryan Palmer, professional golfer
• Cody Pfister, mixed martial artist
• Bum Phillips, professional football coach
• Chris Romero, professional wrestler
• Mark Romero, professional wrestler
• Ricky Romero, professional wrestler
• Steven Romero, professional wrestler
• Hurles Scales, professional football player
• Mike Scroggins, professional bowler
• Brandon Slay, gold-medal Olympic wrestler
• Amarillo Slim, professional poker player
• Evan Tanner, professional mixed martial artist
• William Thomas, professional football player
• Devonte Upson (born 1993), basketball player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
• Ken Vinyard, professional football player
• Erik Watts, professional wrestler
• Gene Wiley, professional basketball player

Others

Amarillo High School graduate Rick Husband, astronaut and the Space Shuttle commander of STS-107 (Columbia) who was killed when the craft disintegrated after reentry into the Earth's atmosphere

• Charles Albright, serial killer
• George Hendricks Beverley, U.S. Air Force general
• Grady Booch, software engineer
• Thomas E. Creek, U.S. Marine Corps Medal of Honor recipient
• Brittany Holberg, convicted murderer who was sentenced to death row
• Rick Husband, astronaut
• Paul Lockhart, astronaut
• Leroy Matthiesen, local Catholic bishop
• Shanna Peeples, U.S. National Teacher of the Year, 2015
• Thomas M. Watlington, US Army major general, lived in Amarillo during retirement ^[2]

References

1. "Ronny Jackson, U.S. Rep.: Email and phone. Salary, biographical details and latest news". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved October 5, 2025.
2. Family of Thomas M. Watlington (July–August 1997). "Obituary, Thomas M. Watlington". Assembly. West Point, New York: Association of Graduates, United States Military Academy. p. 166 – via Google Books.