What do adoptees make of themselves?
Try King, Presidents, artists, athletes, beauty queens, and
more!
Check out this impressive list of the famous and well-known. Each
was raised by someone other than their birth parents – either
by adoptive parents, step-parents, relatives, friends or in foster
families.
Don’t forget to keep going and see famous birth
parents and adoptive parents, too!
Adrian Dodson – Olympic super-middleweight boxer
Alexander the Great - King of Macedonia, 356-323 B.C.
Andy Berlin - entrepreneur: chairman of Berlin Cameron & Partners
Anthony Williams - politician
Aristotle - philosopher
Art Linkletter – comedian
Ashia Hansen – Olympic World Triple Jump Record Holder
Bo Diddley - musician, performer
Bobby Darin - singer
Brent Jasmer - actor
Buffy Sainte-Marie - musician, actress
Carl Theodor Dreyer - Danish film director
Charles Dickens - writer
Charlotte Anne Lopez - Miss Teen USA 1992
Christina Crawford - author
Clarissa Pinkola Estes - author
Crazy Horse - Lakota war chief
Dame Kiri TeKanawa – opera singer
Dan O'Brien – Olympic Gold Medalist-Decathlete
Dana Plato – actress in “Different Strokes”
Daunte Culpepper - football player
Dave Thomas - entrepreneur: founder of Wendy's
Debbi Harry - singer
Edgar Allen Poe - poet, writer
Edward Albee - playwright
Eleanor Roosevelt - First Lady
Eric Dickerson - athlete
Faith Daniels - news anchor
Faith Hill - country singer
Fatima Whitbread – Olympic javelin thrower
Freddie Bartholomew - actor
Gary Coleman – actor
George Herman, Jr. (Babe Ruth) – baseball player
George Scott – Olympic medalist in boxing
George Washington Carver - inventor
Greg Louganis – Olympic diver
Halle Berry – actress
Hugh O’Connor – actor in “Heat of the Night”
Ingrid Bergman – actress
James Best – actor, Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane in “Dukes
of Hazzard”
James McArthur - actor
James Michener - author
Jamie Baulch - an athlete famous for Olympic 400 meter run
Jean Jacques Rousseau - philosopher
Jesse Jackson - minister
Jesus - adopted by Joseph the carpenter (Bible)
Jett Williams - country singer and author
Jim Palmer - athlete
John J. Audubon – naturalist
John Callahan - a cartoonist
John Hancock – third president of the Continental Congress
John Lennon – musician
Jonathan Gilbert – actor, Willie Olson in “Little House
on the Prairie”
Langston Hughes - poet and writer
Larry Ellison - entrepreneur: chief executive of Oracle
Liz Phair - singer
Leo Tolstoy - writer
Les Brown - motivational speaker
Louisa May Alcott - writer
Lynnette Cole - Miss USA 2000
Malcolm X - civil rights leader
Marilyn Monroe - actress
Mark Acre - athlete
Mark Twain - writer
Matthew Laborteaux – actor, Albert Ingalls in “Little
House on the Prairie”
Melissa Gilbert - actress
Michael Reagan– syndicated radio
host and columnist
Mike Tyson – boxer, former Heavyweight Champion of the World
Moses - adopted by the princess of Egypt (Bible)
Nancy Reagan - First Lady
Nat King Cole - singer
Nelson Mandela - politician
Patrick Laborteaux – actor, Andy Garvey in Little House on the
Prairie”
Peter and Kitty Carruthers – Olympic figure skaters
President Gerald R. Ford - politician, adopted by step-father
President William Clinton - politician
Priscilla Presley - actress
Ray Liotta – actor
Renee Rosnes – jazz pianist
Reno - performance artist, comedian
Rep. Jim Lightfoot - politician
Richard Burton - actor
Sara Gilbert - actress
Sarah McLachlan - singer
Scott Hamilton – Olympic figure skater
Sen. Paull H. Shin - politician
Sen. Robert Byrd - politician
Shari Belafonte-Harper - actress
Steve Jobs - entrepreneur: co-founder of Apple computer
Surya Bonaly - figure skater
Tim Green - football player/commentator
Tom Monaghan – entrepreneur: founder of Domino’s Pizza
Tommy Davidson - comedian
Victoria Rowell - actress
Wilson Riles - educator
Top
Andy Kaufman - actor
David Crosby - singer
Kate Mulgrew - actress (Star Trek)
Joni Mitchell - singer
Rex Harrison - actor
Roseanne Barr - actress
Top
Al Roker - news anchor
Angelina Jolie - actress
Art Buchwald - comedian
Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Sr. - publisher
Barbara Walters - famous journalist
Ben Stein - actor and game show host
Bette Davis - actress
Bob Hope - entertainer
Brooke Adams - actress
Burt Reynolds - actor
Calista Flockhart - actress
Cecil B. De Mille - film director
Charles Bronson - actor
Connie Chung - news anchor
Dale Evans - singer
Dan Marino - football player
Dan Wilson - Seattle Mariners (baseball)
David Kelley - television producer
Diane Keaton - actress
Dianne Wiest - actress
Donna Mills - actress
Ed McMahon - entertainer
Erma Bombeck - comedienne
Estelle Parsons - actress
Eve Arden - actress
Father George Clements - minister
Gail Sheehy - writer
Gary Merrill - actor
George Burns - comedian
George Lucas - film director
Gloria Swanson - actress
Gracie Allen - comedian
Hank Williams, Sr. - country music legend
Harry Belafonte - singer
Hawkshaw Hawkins - WWVA Jamboree and WSM Grand Ole Opry
Hedy Lamarr - actress
Helen Hayes - actress
Henry Fonda - actor
Horace George Hamilton - administrator
Isabella Rossellini - -actress
Jamie Lee Curtis - actress
Jane Fonda - actress
Jane Wallace - TV personality
Jane Wyman - actress
Jann Wenner - publisher
Jill Ireland - actress
Jill Krementz - author
Jim Palmer - athlete
Jo Beth Williams - actress
Joan Didion - author
Joan Fontaine - actress
John DeLorean - entrepreneur
John Denver - singer
John Gregory Dunne - author
Josephine Baker - singer and dancer
Judy Woodruff - news anchor
Julie Andrews - actress
Karen Grassle - actress
Kate Capshaw - actress
Kate Jackson - actress
Kirby Puckett - athlete
Kirstie Alley - actress
Kris Kristofferson - singer
Kurt Vonnegut - author
Linda Ronstadt - singer
Loni Anderson - actress
Louis Gossett, Jr - actor.
Magic Johnson - athlete
Marcia Wallace - actress
Marie Osmond - singer
Maury Povich - news anchor
Mia Farrow - actress
Michelle Pfeiffer - actress
Natalie Williams - Utah Starz (WNBA)
Nell Carter - entertainer
Nicole Kidman - actress
Oscar de la Renta - designer
Ozzy (and Sharon) Osbourne - musician
Parker Stevenson - actor
Patti LaBelle - singer
Paul Newman - actor
Paula Poundstone - comedian
Pearl Bailey - singer
Peter Falk - actor
President Ronald Reagan - politician
Regina Belle - singer
Rep.James Leach - politician
Richard King Mellon - financier
Robert Fulghum - writer
Rosie O'Donnell - actress
Roy Rogers - entertainer
Sally Jessy Raphael - talk show host
Sammy Davis, Jr. - entertainer
Sarah Purcell - entertainer
Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell - politician
Sen. Gordon Humphrey - politician
Sen. Jesse Helms - politician
Sen. John McCain - politician
Sen. Lloyd Bentsen - politician
Sen. Paul Simon - politician
Sen. Paull H. Shin - politician
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson - Texas
Sharon Stone - actress
Sir Christopher Guest - actor
Stephen Spielberg - film director
Steven Curtis Chapman - Christian musician
Susan Ruttan - actress
Taurean Blacque - actor
Ted Danson - actor
Teri Garr - actress
Tom Cruise - actor
Valerie Harper - actress
Victoria Rowell - actress
Walt (and Lily) Disney - founder of Disneyland
William Delahunt - politician
Willie Mays - athlete
Top
Sources: National Adoption Information Clearinghouse;
Famous and Remarkable Adoptees; Adoption & Foster Care Biographies;
Big Family of Michigan (as compiled from compilations by adoption.com,
abortiontv.com, and parentsplace.com)
