Famous People of Kansas

With extremely salty language on par with what you might hear in a 50 Cent song, Alley has penned a self-deprecating Hollywood tell-all in the disguise of "note-to-self"-style diary entries. With many apologies to Bridget Jones, we learn that Alley is a former cocaine addict who once participated in the snorting of a six-foot-long trail of powder at a party. (She's says she's currently a Scientologist and credits L. Ron Hubbard with curing her of her narcotic addiction, as well as her issues with food.) We also learn--for better or worse--that she has the hots for John Travolta, Kid Rock, and Ben Affleck, and that she blames her weight gain for a super-extended period of unplanned celibacy.• Kirstie Alley Books • Kirstie Alley Movies

In 1921 Arbuckle threw a party during Labor Day weekend. Bit player Virginia Rappe became ill at the party and died days later. Soon Arbuckle was accused of raping and accidentally killing Rappe, enduring three widely publicized manslaughter trials. His films were banned, his career was ruined, and he was publicly ostracized. Though he was acquitted by a jury and received a written apology, the trial's scandal has mostly overshadowed his legacy as a pioneering comedian. Though the ban on his films was eventually lifted, Arbuckle only worked sparingly through the 1920s. In 1932 he began a successful comeback, which he briefly enjoyed before his death in 1933. • Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle Books • Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle Movies

Born in Pulaski, Tennessee, Beech started flying at age 14, when he built a glider of his own design. Then, after flying for the U.S. Army during World War I, he joined the Swallow Airplane Company as a test pilot. He later became General Manager of the company. In 1924, Beech joined Clyde Cessna in co-founding Travel Air Manufacturing Company, which was to become the world's largest producer of both monoplane and biplane commercial aircraft. When Travel Air merged with the Curtiss-Wright Airplane Company, Beech became vice-president of the new corporation.

In 1932 he and his wife, Olive Ann Beech, co-founded Beech Aircraft Company. Their early Beechcraft planes won the Bendix Trophy. During World War II, he produced more than 7,400 military aircraft. The twin Beech AT-7/C-45 trained more than 90 percent of the U.S. Army Air Forces navigator/bombardiers and 50 percent of its multi-engine pilots. Beech died from a heart attack on November 29, 1950. He and his wife are buried at Old Mission mausoleum in Wichita, Kansas. • Walter Beech Books

Clyde's interest in aviation began in 1910 after witnessing an aerial exhibition in his home state of Kansas. It was this exhibition that led him in future years to pursue his career in aviationAfter realizing his interest in aviation,In the years following World War I the enconomy's interest in private flying increased, an increase which eventually lead Cessna in 1925, along with Walter Beech and Lloyd Stearman, to found the Travel Air Manufacturing Company located in Wichita, Kansas. On 7 September 1927, the Cessna Aircraft Corporation officially became incorporated • Clyde Cessna Books

Curry was born on a farm in Dunavant, Kansas, November 14, 1897. He was the eldest of five children to parents Smith and Margaret Curry. Despite growing up on a Midwestern farm, both of Curry's parents were college educated and had even visited Europe for their honeymoon. Curry's early life consisted of caring for the animals on the farm, attending the near by high school and excelling in athletics. His childhood home was filled with many reproductions of Peter Paul Rubens and Gustav Doré, and these artist’s styles played a significant role in crafting John Curry’s own style. John Steuart Curry Books

And if the idea of a warm, fuzzy side of Dole surprises you, wait 'til you flip through the pages of his college/military years. Bob Dole was (gasp) a babe. Believe it or not, Dole was quite the stud in his early years.

In a 1941 excerpt from the Pony Express, the student newspaper at Russell High School, the paper reports, "Bob Dole was rated the ideal boy of Russell High School by the Girl Reserve Club when they voted by ballot as a part of the boy and girl relations program." • Bob Dole Books

He was a five-star general in the United States Army and the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. During the Second World War, he served as Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe, with responsibility for planning and supervising the successful invasion of France and Germany in 1944?45. In 1951, he became the first supreme commander of NATO.As President, he oversaw the cease-fire of the Korean War, maintained pressure on the Soviet Union during the Cold War, made nuclear weapons a higher defense priority, launched the Space Race, enlarged the Social Security program, and began the Interstate Highway System. He was the last World War I veteran to serve as U.S. president, and the last president born in the 19th century. Eisenhower ranks highly among former U.S. presidents in terms of approval rating. He was also the first term-limited president in accordance with the 22nd amendment. •

Born in Abilene, Kansas, Eisenhower graduated from Kansas State University in 1923 with a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial journalism. Eisenhower served as Director of Information for the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 1928 to 1941. In 1942, he was director of the War Relocation Authority, the U.S. civilian agency responsible for the relocation and internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, and from 1942 to 1943, associate director of the Office of War Information.

In 1943, Eisenhower became President of Kansas State University (his alma mater), a position he held until 1950. During this time, he also served as the first Chairman of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO. In this role, Eisenhower sought to also establish UNESCO commissions for each state. He personally organized the first such commission, in Kansas.

Eisenhower was often referred to as "Doctor." However, he did not hold an earned doctoral degree; instead, he had received an honorary doctorate of humane letters (D.H.L.) from the University of Nebraska in 1949 . After leaving Kansas State University in 1950, Eisenhower served as President at two other universities: Milton S. Eisenhower Books

She's not in Kansas anymore! Melissa Etheridge, the gutsy Midwest girl who grew up to be the heartland's gift to rock & roll (and a major gay spokeswoman) tells all in her memoir, The Truth Is.... With a little help from Laura Morton, the bestselling collaborator of Marilu Henner and Joan Lunden, Etheridge sets the record straight about her life on and off the stage, her coming-out drama, and the stories behind her songs • Melissa Etheridge Website • Melissa Etheridge Discography • Melissa Etheridge Books

Hatch was born in Kirwin, Kansas on November 27, 1889, and attended public schools in Kansas and Oklahoma. In 1912 he graduated from Cumberland School of Law at Cumberland University and in that year he was also admitted to the bar, whereupon he began practice in Eldorado, Oklahoma. In 1916 he moved to Clovis, New Mexico, where he continued his practice; from 1917 to 1918 he served as the state's assistant attorney general. He was the state collector of internal revenue from 1919 to 1921. From 1923 to 1929 Hatch served as the district judge of the ninth judicial district of New Mexico; from 1930 to 1933 he was a member of the state board of bar examiners.

In 1933, he was appointed to fill out the U.S. Senate term of Sam G. Bratton, who had resigned to accept a judicial post; he was elected in his own right in 1934, and reelected in 1936 and 1942. Carl A. Hatch Books

Hickok came to the West as a stagecoach driver, then became a lawman in the frontier territories of Kansas and Nebraska. He fought in the Union Army during the American Civil War, and gained publicity after the war as a scout, marksman, and professional gambler. Between his law-enforcement duties and gambling, which easily overlapped, Hickok was involved in several notable shootouts, and was ultimately killed while playing poker in a Dakota Territory saloon. • James Butler Hickok Books

He was unable to build on his success for several years, until a featured role in Apocalypse Now (1979) brought him attention. He subsequently appeared in Rumble Fish (1983) and The Osterman Weekend (1983), and received critical recognition for his work in Blue Velvet and Hoosiers, with the latter film garnering him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He directed Colors (1988), portrayed King Koopa in the film version of Super Mario Bros. (1993) and the villain in Speed (1994). Hopper's more recent work includes a leading role in the television series Crash. • Dennis Hopper Books • Dennis Hopper Movies

Born in Independence, Kansas, Inge attended Independence Community College and graduated from the University of Kansas in 1935 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Speech and Drama. Offered a scholarship to work on a Master of Arts degree, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to attend the George Peabody College for Teachers, but later dropped out.

Back in Kansas, he worked as a laborer on the state highway and a Wichita news announcer. In 1937-38 he taught English and drama at Cherokee County Community High School in Columbus, Kansas. Completing his Master's at Peabody in 1938, he taught at Stephens College, in Columbia, Missouri, from 1938 to 1943. • William Inge Books