When I started looking for famous, talented folks who were actually born in New Orleans I was astounded at the number I found. “Must be something in the water,” I mumbled to myself. From there I went to those who bought property and really settled into the Big Easy.

FIRST: Let’s start with those who were born in New Orleans

#1 Wynton Marsalis: He is the American virtuoso trumpeter, composer, teacher and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City where he presents classical and jazz music to young audiences on a regular basis. He has also won nine Grammy Awards. His “Blood on the Fields” was the first jazz composition to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music (an astounding feat in my mind).

#2 Eli Manning: He’s the spectacular American football quarterback for the New York Giants of the National American Football League (NFL). On a personal note, I once saw Manning in a tickertape parade on Wall Street – he looked like he was having the time of his life – waving and smiling at everyone. He played college football from 2000 to 2003 – then was drafted to the San Diego Chargers. This Super Bowl-winning champ played for the New York Giants from 2004 to 2019 when he retired.  

#3 Patricia Clarkson: This American actress (who I personally think is terrific) has starred in a number of roles in a wide variety of films. Her accolades include an Academy Award nomination, two Golden Globe Award nominations and four Screen Actors Guild nominations – plus several others. She studied drama at Yale and has worked nonstop for the past 35 years in TV and films.

#4 Bryant Gumbel: This TV journalist and sportscaster is best known for his 15 years as co-host of NBC’s Today show. Since 1995, he has hosted HBO’s acclaimed investigative series “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.” It has been rated as “flat out TV’s best sports program” by the Los Angeles Times. Gumbel has also won four Emmy Awards.

#5 Ellen DeGeneres: This multi-talented TV host, writer and producer, was born in Metairie (it’s only seven miles from New Orleans so I’m including it). She starred in the popular sitcom, “Ellen” from 1994 to 1998 and hosted her syndicated TV talk show since 2003. She has an estimated net worth of $330 million and flips houses that she brings up to scratch.

SECOND: Now, let’s move on to those who have bought property

#6 Sandra Bullock: This Oscar winner paid a little over $2 million in 2009 for a Gothic Victorian mansion on Fourth and Coliseum Streets in New Orleans’ famed Garden District. The five-bedroom home has over 6,615 sq. ft. which offers plenty of room for her and her two children: a girl and a boy who is named Louis – after New Orleans native and jazzman, Louis Armstrong.

#7 John Goodman: He has starred in many movies and TV shows, but when he’s not working, this St. Louis, Missouri native is in New Orleans. He shares his home with his wife who was raised in the Crescent City. Rumor has it that the actor can be spotted walking his dog near his Garden District mansion.

#8 Emeril Lagasse: Celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse is a native of Fall River in the New England state of Massachusetts, but now he’s all New Orleans. He was executive chef of Commander’s Palace (one of my favorites) and then, in 1990, he opened his first restaurant in NOLA. He now owns several Creole-inspired eateries as well as a house with a “chef’s fantasy kitchen.”

#9 Nicolas Cage: The actor has reportedly bought a pyramid-shaped tomb in the City’s St. Louis Cemetery for his final resting place, less than a mile from Rathbone Mansions. No comment.

#10 Drew Brees: And finally, we’re rounding out this list at #10 with Super Bowl-winning quarterback, Drew Brees, who signed with the New Orleans Saints in 2006. He was born in Dallas, Texas, but he and his wife decided to make The Big Easy their home so they bought a four-bedroom mansion shortly after he signed his contract with the Saints. Then they welcomed three sons between 2009 and 2012.

I have enough research for a book, but let’s end this with two writers who made New Orleans their home. (1) Mark Twain who famously said, “New Orleans food is as delicious as the less criminal forms of sin.” And (2) Tennessee Williams who described his first Vieux Carre apartment as, “a poetic evocation of all the cheap rooming houses of the world.”

Shaun Nelson-Henrick