Famous People of Utah

Marriott was born at Marriott Settlement near Ogden, Utah, and was raised on his father's farm. His father gave him considerable responsibility at an early age: he was sent to San Francisco on his own with 3,000 sheep in a railcar at the age of 14.

At the age of 19 and as a devout Mormon, he undertook the traditional missionary work of the church for two years, being assigned to New England. On his way home after completing his mission, he passed through Washington D.C. during the sweltering summer months of 1921. While there: • J. Willard Marriott Books

McKay was born in Ogden, Utah, the oldest son of future LDS Church Apostle and President of the Church David O. McKay. David Lawrence McKay became the second assistant to George R. Hill, the general superintendent of the Deseret Sunday School Union in 1949. In 1952, he became Hill's first assistant, a position McKay held until 1966 when he succeeded Hill and became the eighth general superintendent of the Deseret Sunday School Union. McKay was released in 1971 and was succeeded by Russell M. Nelson.

In the late 1960s, when his father was president of the LDS Church and ill, David Lawrence McKay often read his father's sermons in general conference. He also served as a mission president in the church in the eastern United States, specifically of the Eastern States Mission, based in New York City. While in this capacity he represented the church at a hearing on a constitutional amendment to overturn Roe v. Wade, expressing the Church's support for the amendment.McKay died in Salt Lake City, Utah at the age of 92. He was married to Mildred Dean Calderwood. • David McKay Books

Murphy is regarded by many as one of the premier players during the 1980s. His best years were with the Atlanta Braves, appearing in the All-Star Game seven times, and leading the National League in home runs and RBI twice; he also led the major leagues in home runs and runs batted in over the 10-year span from 1981 to 1990. He led the National League in games, at bats, runs, hits, extra base hits, RBIs, runs created, total bases, and plate appearances in the 1980s. He also accomplished a 30-30 (30 home runs with 30 stolen bases) season in 1983, at the time only the 6th player since 1922 to do so. His 1983 MVP year is the only time in major-league history a player has compiled a .300 batting average, 30 home runs, 120 runs batted in, 130 runs scored, 90 bases on balls, and 30 stolen bases - with fewer than 10 times caught stealing. • Dale Murphy Books

Ogden was a son of Chief Justice Isaac Ogden of Quebec and his wife Sarah Hanson. After a brief time with the American Fur Company, he joined the North West Company in 1809. His first post was at Ξle-α-la-Crosse, Saskatchewan in 1810, and by 1814 was in charge of a post at Green Lake, Saskatchewan, 100 miles south.

Ogden had frequent run-ins with the rival Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) employees and engaged in physical violence on several occasions. In 1816, HBC clerks reported that Ogden killed an Indian who had traded with the Hudson's Bay Company. The Indian was "butchered in a most cruel manner," according to HBC officer James Bird. Although many in the North West Company viewed this as a necessary part of living in the Northwest. • Peter Skene Ogden Books

Born to Lynn Jay and Merle Barrus Olsen in Logan, Utah, Sep 15, 1940, Olsen is the second of nine children. He attended Utah State University, is a member of Sigma Chi fraternity, and was a three-year letterman in football as a defensive tackle. In football, as a senior, he was a consensus All-American selection (making the vast majority of All-America teams) and was the winner of the Outland Trophy. After Olsen's junior year of 1960 he was also named All-American by the Football Writers Association of America and Newspaper Enterprise Association. He was also All-Conference in both 1960 and 1961. Olsen and Utah State were in the 1960 Sun Bowl, losing to New Mexico State, 20-13. Led by Olsen, the Aggie defense held the New Mexico State Aggies to just 44 rushing yards on 32 carries. • Merlin Olsen Books

Parker was born in Beaver, Utah in Beaver County, to Maximillian Parker and Ann Campbell Gillies, English and Scottish Mormon immigrants, respectively, who came to the Utah Territory in the late 1850s. His parents had been residents of Victoria Road, Preston, Lancashire. He was the first of 13 children born to the Parkers. He grew up on his parents' ranch near Circleville, Utah, 215 miles (346 km) south of Salt Lake City, Utah. Parker left home during his early teens, and while working at a dairy farm, he fell in with Mike Cassidy, a horse thief and cattle rustler. He subsequently worked at several ranches in addition to a brief stint as a butcher in Rock Springs, Wyoming, when he acquired the nickname "Butch", to which he soon appended the surname Cassidy in honor of his old friend and mentor. • Butch Cassidy Books

Priest ran for Congress in Utah on the Republican ticket in 1934 and 1950, losing both times. However, she became nationally known by serving as United States Treasurer under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from January 28, 1953 to January 29, 1961, at which time her signature appeared on all U.S. currency. She was later elected as a Republican to the office of California State Treasurer, serving two terms from 1967 until her death in 1975.

Priest was the mother of Pat Priest, an actress best known for playing Marilyn Munster in the 1960s television show The Munsters. Pat Priest also appeared as a contestant on What's My Line?. • Ivy Baker Priest Books

Redford was born in Santa Monica, California, the son of Martha W. (nιe Hart) and Charles Robert Redford Sr. (November 19, 1914 – April 2, 1991), a milkman-turned-accountant from Pawtucket, Rhode Island.] He has a half-brother, William, from his father's re-marriage. Redford is of English and Scots-Irish ancestry.

He attended Van Nuys High School in Los Angeles, California where he was classmates with Natalie Wood and Don Drysdale, and was a teammate on the Van Nuys High School baseball team with Don Drysdale. He graduated in 1954, and received a baseball scholarship to the University of Colorado, where he was a pitcher. He lost the scholarship due to excessive fratting, possibly fueled by the death of his mother, which occurred when Redford was 18. He later studied painting at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and took classes in theatrical set design at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. • Robert Redford Books • Robert Redford Movies

Lee Richards was raised as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and in 1895 he served as an LDS missionary in England. Richards went to Paris in 1901 where he studied at the Academie Julian and the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. In 1904 he returned to Utah where he started an art studio. In 1908 Richards married Mary Jane Eldredge, whose father was a wealthy banker. They spent over a year on their honeymoon in Paris. Richards painted portraits of many presidents and leaders of the LDS Church, many of which now displayed in the Church History Museum in Salt Lake City. Richards also painted murals for the Cardston Alberta Temple.[2] He also did a mural for the Mesa Arizona Temple.[3] Richards also received a WPA commission to do the murals on the Utah Capitol Rotunda. In 1921 Richards was the only American to serve as a judge at the Salon d'Automne. From 1938-1947 Richards was an art professor at the University of Utah. • Lee Greene Richards Books

He served in the United States Army from 1952 until 1955, finishing his service as an officer with the 7th Cavalry Regiment.

Before being drafted he had been active in politics, organizing the Junior Republican League while studying at Weber State College in Ogden, Utah. He was also active in the political campaigns of Douglas R. Stringfellow and Dr. Aldous Dixon, organizing a bi-partisan youth group that helped Dr. Dixon win election to the United States Congress. He now resides near Ogden, Utah with his wife.

The Richard Richards Institute of Weber State University is named in honor of Mr. Richards. • Richard Richards Books

Stegner was born in Lake Mills, Iowa and grew up in Great Falls, Montana, Salt Lake City, Utah and southern Saskatchewan, which he wrote about in his autobiography Wolf Willow. Stegner says he "lived in twenty places in eight states and Canada". While living in Utah, he joined a Boy Scout troop at a Mormon church (although he himself was a Presbyterian) and earned the Eagle Scout award. He received a B.A. at the University of Utah in 1930. He also studied at Iowa Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa.

"In 1934, Stegner married Mary Stuart Page. For 59 years they shared a 'personal literary partnership of singular facility,' wrote Arthur Schlesinger Jr.", reports a short biography on the San Francisco Public Library Web site by James Hepworth.

A son, Page Stegner, is a nature writer and professor emeritus at University of California, Santa Cruz. Page is married to Lynn Stegner, a novelist.  Page edited the 2008 Collected Letters of Wallace Stegner.  • Wallace Stegner Books

Born in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, Smoot was the son of Mormon pioneer and former mayor of Salt Lake City, Abraham O. Smoot and Anne Kristina (Morrison) Smoot. Reed Smoot attended public schools and the University of Utah, and graduated from Brigham Young Academy (now Brigham Young University) in Provo, Utah in 1879. After graduation, he served as a Mormon missionary in England. He married Alpha M. Eldredge of Salt Lake City on September 17, 1884. They were the parents of seven children.

On April 8, 1900, Smoot was ordained as an apostle of the LDS Church and became a member of the church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. • Reed Smoot Books

Walker stared in the film The Clock opposite Judy Garland in her first straight dramatic film that proved to be a critical success. Although Walker continued to work steadily in Hollywood, he was distraught over the divorce and was soon prone to drinking, emotional outbursts and eventually, a nervous breakdown. He spent time at the Menninger Clinic in 1949 where he was treated for a psychiatric disorder.

In 1946, Walker starred in Till the Clouds Roll By, where he played the lead as the song writer Jerome Kern in a role that required him to age from a young man to a middle-aged one. He starred as composer Johannes Brahms in Song of Love (1947), which co-starred Katharine Hepburn and Paul Henreid. In 1948, Walker starred with Ava Gardner in the film One Touch of Venus, directed by William A. Seiter. The movie was a non-musical comedy adapted from a Broadway show with music by Kurt Weill. • Robert Walker Books • Robert Walker Movies

Windsor, a former Miss Utah, trained for the stage under Maria Ouspenskaya, and after several years as a telephone operator, a stage and radio actress, and a bit and extra player in films, she began playing feature and lead parts in 1947.

The 5'9" actress's first memorable role was opposite John Garfield in Force of Evil playing seductress Edna Tucker. Windsor also had large roles in film noirs including The Sniper, The Narrow Margin, City That Never Sleeps and Stanley Kubrick's heist movie The Killing playing Elisha Cook Jr.'s scheming wife. • Marie Windsor Books • Marie Windsor Movies

Woods was born in Vernal, Utah. His father, Gail Peyton Woods, was an army intelligence officer who died in 1960 following routine surgery. His mother, Martha A. (nιe Smith), operated a pre-school after her husband's death and re-married to Thomas E. Dixon. Woods grew up in Warwick, Rhode Island, where he attended Pilgrim High School. Woods, an army brat, had been accepted to attend the United States Air Force Academy. But, several weeks before he was to depart, Woods suffered an accident involving a plate glass window which injured his hand tendons severely enough to result in his acceptance being retracted • James Woods Books • James Woods Movies

Young had a variety of nicknames, among the most popular being "American Moses," (alternatively the "Modern Moses" or the "Mormon Moses") because, like the Biblical figure, Young led his followers, the Mormon pioneers, in an exodus through a desert, to what they saw as a promised land. Young was also dubbed the "Lion of the Lord" for his bold personality, and was commonly called "Brother Brigham" by Latter-day Saints. However, Young's legacy is controversial, as he is perhaps best known outside of Mormon circles as the most prominent Mormon polygamist. He is also largely credited by historians for revoking the priesthood and the right to temple ordinances from black members of the church. Additionally, concerns persist about his role in the Utah War against the United States government and in the Mountain Meadows massacre.

Young was born to a farming family in Whitingham, Vermont and worked as a traveling carpenter and blacksmith, among other trades. Young first married in 1824 to Miriam Angeline Works. Though he had converted to the Methodist faith in 1823, Young was drawn to Mormonism after reading the Book of Mormon shortly after its publication in 1830. He officially joined the new church in 1832 and traveled to Upper Canada as a missionary. After his first wife died in 1832, Young joined many Mormons in establishing a community in Kirtland, Ohio. • Brigham Young Books

She was born in Salt Lake City, Utah as Gretchen Young, of Luxembourgian descent. At confirmation, she took the name Michaela. She and her family moved to Hollywood when she was three years old. Loretta and her sisters Polly Ann Young and Elizabeth Jane Young (screen name Sally Blane) worked as child actresses, of whom Loretta was the most successful. Young's first role was at the age of 3, in the silent film The Primrose Ring. The movie's star Mae Murray so fell in love with little Gretchen that she wanted to adopt her. Although her mother declined, Gretchen was allowed to live with Murray for two years. Her half-sister Georgiana (daughter of her mother and stepfather George Belzer) eventually married actor Ricardo Montalban. During her high school years, she was educated at Ramona Convent Secondary School. • Loretta Young Books • Loretta Young Movies

Young is a notable member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and a descendant of one of the early presidents of the church, Brigham Young, for whom his alma mater Brigham Young University was named.

When the Buccaneers selected University of Miami quarterback Vinny Testaverde first overall in the 1987 NFL Draft, Young was deemed a bust and traded to the San Francisco 49ers on April 24, 1987, to serve as a backup to Joe Montana. The Buccaneers received 2nd and 4th round draft picks in the trade, which they used to draft Miami linebacker Winston Moss, and Arizona State wide receiver Bruce Hill, respectively. Young would spend the final 13 years of his career with the 49ers, a stint which would help him become one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history, and earn membership in the Pro Football Hall Of Fame in 2005. • Steve Young Books