1968), film and television actor (Greenville) Ruth Ford (1911–2009), stage and film actress (Brookhaven) Morgan Freeman (born 1937), Academy Award-winning actor (Charleston) M. C. Gainey (born 1948), film and television actor (Jackson) Cynthia Geary (born 1965), actress (Jackson) Gavin Gordon (1901–1983), film, television, and radio actor (Chicora) Allie Grant (born 1994), actress (Tupelo) Gary Grubbs (born 1949) (Amory) Lynn Hamilton (born 1930), actress (Yazoo City) Beth Henley (born 1952), playwright and actress (Jackson) Jim Henson (1936–1990), creator of The Muppets (Greenville) Anthony Herrera (1944–2011) (Wiggins) Wilbur Higby (1867–1934), silent film actor (Meridian) Shauntay Hinton (born 1979), actress (Starkville) Eddie Hodges (born 1947), child actor (Hattiesburg) Olivia Holt (born 1997), actress (Nesbit) Thelma Houston (born 1943), actress (Leland) James Earl Jones (born 1931), actor (Arkabutla) Robert Earl Jones (1910–2006), actor (Senatobia) Germany Kent (born 1975), actress (Greenville) Simbi Khali (born 1971) (Jackson) Diane Ladd (born 1935), actress (Meridian) Daniel Curtis Lee (born 1991) (Clinton) Tom Lester (1938–2020) (Jackson) Martha Mattox (1879–1933), silent film actor (Natchez) Shane McRae (born 1977) (Starkville) Gerald McRaney (born 1947), actor (Collins) Gil Peterson (born 1936), actor (Winona) Parker Posey (born 1968), actress (Laurel) Evelyn Preer (1896–1932) (Vicksburg) Thalmus Rasulala (1939–1991), actor (Arkabutla) Beah Richards (1920–2000), stage, screen and television actress (Vicksburg) Eric Roberts (born 1956), actor (Biloxi) Toni Seawright (born 1964), actress (Pascagoula) Larry Semon (1889–1928), silent film actor, director, producer (West Point) Jamie Lynn Spears (born 1991), actress, singer (McComb) Taylor Spreitler (born 1993), actress, model (Hattiesburg) Stella Stevens (born 1938), actress (Yazoo City) Tonea Stewart (born 1947) (Greenwood) Trinitee Stokes, actress (born 2006) (Jackson) Channing Tatum, actor (born 1980) (Pascagoula) Byron Thames (born 1969), actor (Jackson) Joe M. Turner (born 1969), actor, magician, professional speaker (Brandon) James Michael Tyler (born 1962) (Winona) Brenda Venus (born 1957), actress (Biloxi) Ray Walston (1914–2001), actor (Laurel) Sela Ward (born 1956), actress (Meridian) James Wheaton (1924–2002) (Meridian) Kit Williamson (born 1985), actor (Jackson) Hattie Winston (born 1945), actress (Greenville) Artists Jere Allen (born 1944), painter (Oxford) James McConnell Anderson (1907–1998), potter and painter (Ocean Springs) Peter Anderson (1901–1984), potter (Ocean Springs) Walter Inglis Anderson (1903–1965), painter (Ocean Springs) Earl W. Bascom (1906–1995), painter, sculptor, "King of the Cowboy Artists" (Columbia) Howard Bingham (1939–2016), photographer (Jackson) Marshall Bouldin III (1923–2012), portrait painter (Clarksdale) Andrew Bucci (1922–2014), painter (Vicksburg) Byron Burford (1920–2011), painter (Greenville) William Dunlap (born 1944), painter (Webster County) Sam Gilliam (born 1933), color field painter (Tupelo) Theora