There have been plenty of future famous faces to pass through the halls of Greater Cincinnati’s high schools, from hall-of-fame-level athletes and New York Times bestselling writers to chart-topping musicians and Academy Award winners. And while they’ve since found fame and success in their respective fields, they were once just teenagers trying to balance homework and their passions, dreaming about one day maybe making it to the Big Time. Maybe they even went to your high school.

Read on for our picks for the most famous people to come from many of our very own Greater Cincinnati high schools.

Someone in your family “grew up with George Clooney.” Or dated him in high school. Photo: Nicolas Genin/CC BY-SA 2.0 Photo: Nicolas Genin/CC BY-SA 2.0
“Move to the (east)/[west] side 🤣 Go to Findlay Market and diss Pete Rose in a loud voice. Say LaRosa’s isn’t really pizza.” -BlueGalangal Photo: Kjunstorm, Wikimedia Commons
Lakota East High School: Emily Henry A Lakota East grad, Emily Henry has been topping the New York Times Bestsellers List since the release of her novel Beach Read in 2020. Dubbed this generation’s Nora Ephron, Henry writes contemporary romance novels that also incorporate themes of loss, growing up and finding fulfillment and feature Henry’s quick wit. She currently has published eight novels: Hello Girls, When the Sky Fell on Splendor, A Million Junes, Beach Read, People We Meet on Vacation, Book Lovers, Happy Place and the newly released Funny Story. Photo: Devyn Glista of St. Blanc Studios
Former Cincinnati Reds outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. still can swing for the fences. Photo: SD Dirk/Flickr
Sarah Jessica Parker Popular actress, producer and designer well-known for her starring role in hit HBO television series Sex and the City as Carrie Bradshaw. She was born in Nelsonville, Ohio in 1965 and attended the School for Creative and Performing Arts. Photo: Georges Biard/Wikimedia Commons
Aaron Dessner Photo: Shervin Lainez
Lebanon High School: Woody Harrelson Emmy Award-winning actor Woody Harrelson is best known for his breakout role as bartender Woody Boyd in the ‘80s sitcom Cheers, as well as popular films such as the Hunger Games and Zombieland franchises, White Men Can’t Jump, No Country for Old Men and Now You See Me. Harrelson was born in Texas, but his mother was from Lebanon, where she moved them to in 1973. He graduated from Lebanon High School in 1979 and spent that summer working at Kings Island. Photo: LBJ Library c/o: Gabriel Cristóver Pérez/Wikimedia Commons
Milford High School: Markiplier Mark Edward Fischbach, better known by his internet persona Markiplier, is a YouTuber best known for streaming “let’s plays” of indie horror games. Markiplier was born in Hawaii, but his family moved to the Cincinnati area when he was young and he graduated from Milford High School in 2007 before going to the University of Cincinnati to study biomedical engineering. He now has over 36 million subscribers on YouTube and has won several Streamy awards. Photo: Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia Commons
Otis Williams Legendary doo-wop singer Otis Williams was part of the founding members and first class of inductees into the Black Music Walk of Fame in 2021. Williams was also crucial in maintaining the legacy of King Records. Williams was born in Cincinnati in 1936 and started his career in music while attending Withrow High School in the ‘50s when he joined a singing group, featuring tenors Bob Smith and Rolland Bradley, baritone/tenor Joe Penn and bass Richard Parker on campus as a fill-in. They later became known as The Charms. When Williams and the Charms were singing at a show in 1954, they caught the attention of Syd Nathan, the owner of King Records. Nathan only wanted to sign Williams at first, but Williams insisted the others be signed as well, leading them to be signed with King Records subsidiary Rockin’ Records in Florida. Photo: Hailey Bollinger, Brittany Thornton and Megan Waddel
Elder High School: Kyle Rudolph Kyle Rudolph may be best known as the former tight end for the Minnesota Vikings and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but he first gained notice as a football star at Elder High School, even being named first-team All-American by USA Today in his senior year in 2008. Rudolph announced his retirement from the NFL in 2023, finishing his career with 165 games played, 50 touchdowns and 266 passing first downs. Photo: Joseph W. Rolfe/Wikimedia Commons
Mount Notre Dame High School: Rose Lavelle Midfielder for NJ/NY Gotham FC, Rose Lavelle played on the varsity team for all four years at Mount Notre Dame High School and was named Player of the Year her senior year by the Cincinnati Enquirer. Lavelle went on to play at the University of Wisconsin and started her professional career as the No. 1 draft pick for the Boston Breakers in 2017. She’s since played in the World Cup for the United States national team, as well as in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. She’s made 24 goals and 24 assists in her career so far. Photo: twitter.com/uswnt
Finneytown High School: Randall Einhorn The cinematographer and a director behind some of your favorite shows — including The Office, Abbott Elementary, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Survivor — Randall Einhorn was at one point a student at Finneytown High School. He graduated in 1982. Photo: Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia Commons
Walnut Hills High School: Penny Ford The daughter of former King Records producer and record executive Gene Redd Sr., singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Penny Ford’s musical roots in Cincinnati run deep. She was born here in 1964 and attended Walnut Hills High School. Ford grew up being inspired by the musicians her father worked with, like James Brown and Kool and the Gang. During her summer vacation from school in 1979, Ford went out on the Parliament-Funkadelic’s World Funk Tour with Zapp and did shows in Japan the year after. She became an in-demand vocalist and signed under Total Experience Records as Pennye Ford. Her first album, Pennye, had two songs hit the R&B charts: “Dangerous” and “Change Your Wicked Ways.” Ford was also the lead singer for the band Klymaxx, joined the SOS Band for a bit and then became the principal background singer for Chaka Khan, which ultimately led to her becoming part of the Eurodance band Snap! Photo: Penny Ford/Wikimedia Commons
Seton High School: Gail Collins Before she was an op-ed writer for the New York Times, Gail Collins was a student at Seton High School in Price Hill. After graduation, she studied journalism at Marquette University and earned a master’s degree in government from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She went on to work at newspapers in Connecticut and New York and joined the Times in 1995 as a member of the editorial board, later becoming an op-ed columnist focusing on American politics and culture. She was also the first woman at the paper to serve as the Editorial Page Editor. In addition to her editorial work, Collins has also written several non-fiction books on history and politics, including America’s Women, When Everything Changed and No Stopping Us Now. Photo: facebook.com/GailCollinsReporter
Norwood High School: Vera-Ellen Famous for her work on Broadway and Hollywood dancing and acting, Vera-Ellen was born in Norwood and was a dance student at Hessler Studio of Dancing alongside Doris Day. While she didn’t graduate, Vera-Ellen attended Norwood High School where she was a drum majorette before moving to New York City to become one of the youngest Rockettes. This led her to being cast in Broadway roles, including A Connecticut Yankee, where she was spotted by Samuel Goldwyn, who cast her in Wonder Man with Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo. Her other most popular films include White Christmas alongside another Tri-State native, Rosemary Clooney, and On the Town opposite of Gene Kelly. Photo: Photographer unknown/Wikimedia Commmons
Taft High School: Jimmy Wynn Former Major League Baseball outfielder Jimmy Wynn was born in Hamilton, Ohio, in 1942 and graduated from Taft High School. Wynn started his career being signed as an amateur free agent with the Reds in 1962, spending that season playing with the Tampa Tarpons in the Florida State League, mostly as a third baseman. He made his Major League debut in 1963 with the Houston Colt .45s (now the Astros) and later went on to play for the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Atlanta Braves, the New York Yankees and Milwaukee Brewers, playing a total of 15 seasons. During his career, Wynn had over 8,000 plate appearances and compiled a .250 batting average, including 291 home runs. In 2005, the Astros retired his number, 24. Wynn passed away in March 2020. Photo: Gary Paul Smith/Wikimedia Commons
Mason High School: Dan Patrick Sportscaster Dan Patrick Pugh — known professionally as Dan Patrick — was born in 1957 in Zanesville, Ohio, but raised in Mason, where he graduated from Mason High School in 1974. In high school, Patrick played basketball, scoring a single-game personal best 36 points and earning AP Class AA All-Ohio third-team honors. He studied broadcasting at the University of Dayton and went on to work as a sports reporter for CNN, an anchor on ESPN’s SportsCenter, the co-host of NBC Sports’ Football Night in America and the host of the sports radio show The Dan Patrick Show, which has changed broadcasting hands since Patrick started it during his ESPN days, but can still be heard online or locally on 1360 AM Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to noon. Photo: facebook.com/danpatrickshow
Princeton High School: Carmen Electra Carmen Electra, otherwise known by her real name, Tara Leigh Patrick, is an actress, singer, model and dancer who was born in Sharonville, Ohio, in 1972 and attended both the School for Creative and Performing Arts and Princeton High School. She is well-known for her role in the television series Baywatch and parody movies like the Scary Movie franchise, Epic Movie, Disaster Movie and Meet the Spartans. Photo: © Glenn Francis, PacificProDigital.com
Woodward High School: William Howard Taft The 27th president of the United States and most famous for allegedly getting stuck in a bathtub (although there’s no real evidence to support this ever happened), William Howard Taft was born in Cincinnati in 1857. He attended Woodward High School before going on to Yale and then returning to Cincinnati to practice law. Taft also served as the 10th chief justice of the U.S. He passed away in 1930 at the age of 72. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

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