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Mary Elizabeth Ellis, a writer/performer, often known for her epic recurring role as "The Waitress" on FX's long running hit series It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, originally hails from Laurel, Mississippi. She can next be seen starring opposite Ted Danson in Mike Schur's new Netflix series A Classic Spy, which will premiere late Fall. Other TV credits include Unstable (Netflix), Santa Clarita Diet (Netflix), Lodge 49 (AMC), The Grinder (Fox), and New Girl (Fox) among others.

On the feature front, Ellis was Momma Anita in Paul Thomas Anderson's film, Licorice Pizza, and can next be seen this November in Amazon studios film RedOne opposite Chris Evans. Other feature credits include the Disney+ feature Godmothered, How it Ends, which premiered at Sundance, Masterminds, as Owen Wilson's hilarious wife "Michelle," the gem of an indie The Last Time You Had Fun, which premiered at the Los Angeles International Film Festival and The Free State of Jones opposite Matthew McConaughey.

Ellis co-wrote and starred in the indie film A Quiet Little Marriage which won The Grand Jury prize at The Slamdance Film Festival as well as the Adult Swim special Mother May I Dance with Mary Jane's Fist, which was an adaptation of a live show she created with Artemis Pebdani at The Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. Her directorial debut short film, The Last to Leave, is currently playing film festivals.

One of her favorite projects to date was the stage play Trevor at Circle X theatre with Jimmi Simpson and Laurie Metcalf which returned her to her theatre roots. And, yes, also the murderous daughter-in-law Kimber in Taylor Swift's "Anti Hero" music video.

Ellis currently resides in Los Angeles.

Ray Walston started his acting career as a spear carrier with a local stock company. When the family moved to Houston, Texas, Walston's father wanted to teach him the oil business, but Walston instead joined a traveling repertory company (selling tickets as well as acting). He went on to associate with Margo Jones at the Houston Civic Theater for six years, then spent three seasons with the Cleveland Playhouse before arriving in New York in 1945. He has won a Tony Award for his performance as the Devil in Broadway's "Damn Yankees", two Emmy Awards for Picket Fences (1992), and become a household name playing the extraterrestrial "Uncle Martin" on My Favorite Martian (1963). Ray Walston died at age 86 of lupus on New Year's Day 2001 in Beverly Hills, California.

Lanky, charismatic and versatile actor with an amazing grin that put everyone at ease, James Coburn studied acting at UCLA, and then moved to New York to study under noted acting coach Stella Adler. After being noticed in several stage productions, Coburn appeared in a handful of minor westerns before being cast as the knife-throwing, quick-shooting Britt in the John Sturges mega-hit The Magnificent Seven (1960). Sturges remembered Coburn's talents when he cast his next major film project, The Great Escape (1963), where Coburn played the Australian POW Sedgwick. Regular work now came thick and fast for Coburn, including appearing in Major Dundee (1965), the first of several films he appeared in directed by Hollywood enfant terrible Sam Peckinpah.

Coburn was then cast, and gave an especially fine performance as Lt. Commander Paul Cummings in Arthur Hiller's The Americanization of Emily, where he demonstrated a flair for writer Paddy Chayefsky's subtle, ironic comedy that would define his performances for the rest of his career.

The next two years were a key period for Coburn, with his performances in the wonderful 007 spy spoof Our Man Flint (1966) and the eerie Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (1966). Coburn followed up in 1967 with a Flint sequel, In Like Flint (1967), and the much underrated political satire The President's Analyst (1967). The remainder of the 1960s was rather uneventful for Coburn. However, he became associated with martial arts legend Bruce Lee and the two trained together, traveled extensively and even visited India scouting locations for a proposed film project, but Lee's untimely death (Coburn, along with Steve McQueen, was a pallbearer at Lee's funeral) put an end to that.

The 1970s saw Coburn appearing again in several strong roles, starting off in Peckinpah's Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973), alongside Charles Bronson in the Depression-era Hard Times (1975) and as a disenchanted German soldier on the Russian front in Peckinpah's superb Cross of Iron (1977). Towards the end of the decade, however, Coburn was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, which severely hampered his health and work output for many years. After conventional treatments failed, Coburn turned to a holistic therapist, and through a restructured diet program, made a definite improvement. By the 1990s he was once again appearing regularly in both film and TV productions.

No one was probably more surprised than Coburn himself when he was both nominated for, and then won, the Best Supporting Actor Award in 1997 for playing Nick Nolte's abusive and alcoholic father in Affliction (1997). At 70 years of age, Coburn's career received another shot in the arm, and he appeared in another 14 films, including Snow Dogs (2002) and The Man from Elysian Fields (2001), before his death from a heart attack in November of 2002. Coburn's passions in life included martial arts, card-playing and enjoying Cuban cigars (which may have contributed to his fatal heart attack).

Laura Cayouette is an American actress, writer, producer, and director. Cayouette was born in Washington, D.C. and grew up in Maryland. Laura graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park with a BA in English, then graduated a year later from University of South Alabama with an M.A. in Creative Writing and English Literature. In 2014, Cayouette was made their Distinguished Alumni Award Recipient and her name was added to the university's clock tower. Before pursuing a career in acting, Cayouette worked as a nightclub DJ, model, English professor, dress shop manager and a ticket taker at Universal City Walk Hollywood. She studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York before moving to Los Angeles in 1992. There, she studied with Milton Katselas at the Beverly Hills Playhouse, then with Ivana Chubbuck at her studio.

Lance Bass is the quintessential illustration of a highly successful and driven jack-of-all-trades: singer, host, actor, producer, writer, entrepreneur, philanthropist and cosmonaut.

Beyond his fame as a member of the phenomenally successful group *NSYNC, where the group sold an impressive 60 million plus records worldwide, Bass has made himself a household name throughout the globe. With countless career highlights in music spanning the past 20 years, including multiple Grammy® nominations, two diamond RIAA awards, MTV Video Music Awards®, American Music Awards® and People's Choice Awards® to name a just a few, he has expanded his accomplishments into multiple entertainment mediums.

Bass can currently be seen as a daily contributing panelist on The Meredith Vieira Show (2014), which he joined in September of 2015. In 2007, Bass lit up Broadway, starring as "Corny Collins" in the smash hit, "Hairspray", published his revealing memoir, "Out of Sync", and danced his way to the finals on season seven of ABC's hit competition show, Dancing with the Stars (2005). In 2003, he was inducted into the Mississippi Musician's Hall of Fame, making him the youngest person to ever receive this honor. In 2012, he joined Sirius XM and launched a pop culture daily radio show, called "Dirty Pop", with Lance Bass and, during the weekends, hosts their "Pop2k Countdown", where he can still be heard today.

Building on his passion for film and documentaries, Bass has established himself as an acclaimed producer with titles like Kidnapped for Christ, where he was awarded the Audience Award for Documentary Feature during it's Slamdance premiere this past January and Mississippi I Am, which recently won Best Documentary at the Manhattan International Film Festival. This November, he is being recognized for his outstanding achievements at the Mississippi Film Festival with an encore screening of Mississippi I Am. Other producing credits include the Miramax film, On the Line (2001), where he not only served as Executive Producer, but was also the film's star and earned him the coveted Movieguide® Award for excellence in family-oriented programming. In 2005, he executive-produced Randal Kleiser's romantic comedy, Lovewrecked (2005), starring Amanda Bynes, Chris Carmack and Jamie-Lynn Sigler. He is also the recipient of the Golden Apple Award® as Male Film Discovery of 2001.

While known for his success in music, including a #1 European dance single, in 2014, called "Walking On Air" and featuring newcomer Bella Blue, Bass has made numerous memorable guest appearances in film, television and as the animated voice in several popular children's cartoons. With his sights focused on hosting, Bass is preparing for his fifth consecutive year as co-host of the American Music Awards' Coca-Cola Red Carpet, has guest-anchored the KTLA Morning News in Los Angeles, filled in for Harvey Levin on TMZ and has become a frequent correspondent with the landmark entertainment show, Entertainment Tonight.

As an entrepreneur, he founded Famous Yard Sale, which was inspired by his memories of weekend yard sales in his hometown of Laurel, Mississippi, where he reinvented the yard sale as a virtual auction marketplace for celebrities to donate their excess belongings and raise money for their favorite charities. This led him to create and executive produce the Lifetime series Celebrity Home Raiders. Currently, he has partnered up with Slavco and Daniel Tuskaloski, and TeliApp to create Sparxx, a social relationship and dating app specifically designed for the LGBT community with the goal of breaking the mold of conventional LGBT dating apps. Sparxx was designed to help men and women and their personally defined sexuality, find meaningful and long lasting relationships.

Philanthropically, Lance remains active in various charitable organizations including serving on the Young Hollywood Board of the Environmental Media Association. He is also the National Youth Spokesperson for World Space Week, consistent with his interest in space travel. A fact that many are unaware of, Bass is a certified cosmonaut after several months of training in the Russian space program where Bass received cosmonaut certification and continued on to Houston's Johnson Space Center to take part in astronaut training. Additionally, Lance is a strong advocate for animals and has been a spokesperson for animal rescues all over the country, including directly working with Lucky Puppy, a dog rescue based in Los Angeles, CA.

Bass currently resides in Los Angeles with his husband Michael Turchin, whom he married in 2014 and was featured as a wedding special on E! in early 2015.

Born in Jackson, Mississippi, Lester was brought up on his grandfather's farm, shucking corn, fishing, hunting, and picking cotton. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, majoring in Chemistry. He taught science and biology at a school in Purcell, Oklahoma, before moving to California. He divided his time between Southern California and Laurel, Mississippi. He spoke to youth groups and at religious gatherings about his faith, and shared the stage three times with Billy Graham. Lester died in 2020, aged 81. He was survived by his wife, his brother, two great-nieces, one great-great niece, and one great-great-nephew.

Krystal Summers was born in Laurel, Mississippi, USA. She is known for Ticked-Off Trannies with Knives (2010), Dead Don't Die in Dallas (2019) and Detour (2019).

Erica Rowell Green is a former Junior Miss, hailing from Clarke County Mississippi. She is known for her dazzling beauty and magnetic personality. She is known for her roles in Women of the Movement as a 'Milam Sister,' The System, starring Tyrese Gibson, and Iron Mike where she is portraying 'Trump's Lady.' Green has been linked to blockbuster titles such as Losing Hope Finding Grace, and Championship Christmas. Green is a mother of five. Erica is adored on and off set. Anyone that knows her, loves her.

Charles Murray was born on 22 June 1872 in Laurel, Indiana, USA. He was an actor and director, known for The Gorilla (1927), Percy (1925) and Vamping Venus (1928). He was married to Nellie Bae Hamilton. He died on 29 July 1941 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Leontyne Price was born on 10 February 1927 in Laurel, Mississippi, USA. She is an actress, known for Romeo + Juliet (1996), Great Performances at the Met (1977) and NBC Television Opera Theatre (1949). She was previously married to William Warfield.

He grew up in Laurel, Mississippi the son of Rex Broadway and Dorothy (Bustin) Broadway. He has two sisters and one brother. He majored in film and television at the University of Southern Mississippi and transferred to the University of North Texeas where he completed his studies.

Wil Wheaton Jr. was born in Laurel, Mississippi, USA. He is known for Mystery Men (1999), 200 Cigarettes (1999) and Doppelganger (1993).

Hal Fort Atkinson III was born on 7 May 1945 in Laurel, Mississippi, USA. He was an actor, known for The Mighty Ducks (1992), The Babysitter (1995) and Bound and Gagged: A Love Story (1993). He died on 5 January 2014 in Tarzana, California, USA.

Vickie Landrum was born on 19 September 1923 in Laurel, Jones County, Mississippi, USA. She died on 12 September 2007 in Liberty, Liberty County, Texas, USA.

Tami Tappan Damiano was born on 24 September 1969 in Laurel, Maryland, USA. She is an actress, known for Home on the Range (2004), Numb3rs (2005) and Cougar Town (2009). She has been married to Chris Damiano since September 2000.

Jazz legend Mundell Lowe learned to play guitar from the age of six, growing up in and around Laurel, Mississippi, the son of a Baptist minister. He helped his father hoe cotton on his farm but had no aspirations to work on the land. Aged ten, he acquired his first six-string guitar and became hooked on jazz. Having listening to Charlie Christian, he knew at once which style to emulate. Three years later, he absconded from home and headed for New Orleans where he frequented the Bourbon Street jazz clubs.

Although his father eventually caught up with him, Lowe ran away again -- this time to Nashville where he briefly joined the Pee Wee King band. In 1940, he graduated from school, had a stint with the orchestra of Jan Savitt and was in 1943 drafted for military service, posted at a camp near New Orleans. There, he had the good fortune to meet the resident entertainment officer, John Hammond Jr. Though assigned to Fort McPherson near Atlanta and posted to the Engineering Corps, Lowe's acquaintance with Hammond proved beneficial after his demobilization. In 1945, Hammond helped Lowe get a job with the Ray McKinley Orchestra (leader of the post-war Glenn Miller band). After that, Lowe worked in small combos, recording sessions and club dates with most of the big names of the genre, including Benny Goodman, Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday, Lester Young, Ben Webster and Red Norvo.

Between 1948 and 1965, Lowe was engaged as guitarist/arranger by the NBC Orchestra in New York and also acted as musical director on TV's Today Show. In 1965, he relocated to Los Angeles where the head of Screen Gems, Jackie Cooper, offered him work as conductor/composer of music for television. Lowe also subsequently branched out into music education. During the succeeding decades he was active as a teacher of film composition at the Grove School of Music in Studio City and at the Guitar Institute of Technology in Los Angeles. In 1983, he formed a small group called TransitWest which performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival and included among its personnel bass player Monty Budwig and flutist Sam Most. Mundell Lowe was inducted into the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame and received a Lifetime Achievement prize at the San Diego Music Awards in 2008.

Brian Larsen was born in Laurel, Maryland, and began learning the piano at age 5. Shortly thereafter, he began writing original pieces, and by age 10 had amassed a collection of original pieces that would later become his debut album, "Pi." Throughout the period between 1996 and 2001, Larsen released 5 albums, but by early 2002, he had emerged as one of the definitive independent artists of the pop/rock genre. In 2003, while working on his seventh album, he was presented with an RIAA gold record award for his work on the million-selling All-American Rejects' debut, making him one of the 100 youngest artists ever to receive the award. By 2004, Larsen had broadened his spectrum to include acting, after appearing in the 2005 film XXX2: State of the Union. Larsen plans to continue acting, already having been given offers from several productions, as well as to continue writing music. He plans to release his eighth album in 2005.

Marsha Blackburn was born on 6 June 1952 in Laurel, Mississippi, USA.

Kissy Dugan was born in Laurel, Maryland, USA. She is known for Ford v Ferrari (2019), The Badalisc and I cassamortari (2022).

Sam Myers was a blues singer / drummer / harpist / harmonica player who was born in Laurel, MS, in 1938. He played in the Jackson, MS, area in the 1950s, backing up such "Delta blues" artists as Elmore James and even releasing a few singles on his own. He formed his own band in the 1960s and played what was called the "chitlin' circuit" throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Although he became well known in that area, he was unable to break out of Mississippi, and by the 1980s his career was waning. In 1985 he met guitarist Anson Funderburgh, in 1986 Myers was asked to join his already existing band called Anson Funderburgh & The Rockets and stayed until his death. The move revived Myers' career, and he toured nationally and recorded with the band, which won a W.C. Handy award in 1988 as Best Blues Band and another for Best Blues Album, "Sins".

Sam Myers died in Dallas, TX, on July 17, 2006.

Tony Myrick was born on 20 December 1953 in Laurel, Mississippi, USA. He is an actor, known for Walk On (1998).

Jerome Miller Jr. was born on 9 March 1942 in Laurel, Mississippi, USA. Jerome is known for Looper (2012), Self/less (2015) and Green Lantern (2011). Jerome was married to Lois. Jerome died on 5 June 2024 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.

Ed Young was born on 11 August 1936 in Laurel, Mississippi, USA. He is an actor, known for Sidekicks (1992), It's Not About Me (2013) and The Colbert Report (2005).

Gerald Trump was born on 12 November 1937 in Laurel, Montana, USA. He was an actor, known for Combat! (1962), Ensign O'Toole (1962) and The Gertrude Berg Show (1961). He was married to Carole Trump. He died on 29 March 2014 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Evan Woodard was born on 2 May 1987 in laurel, Maryland, USA. He is a writer and actor, known for Ring of Ekiben.