Bianca Del Rio: The New Orleans Queen Who Conquered Drag Race and the World
The Insult Comic in a GownRoy Haylock was born on June 27, 1975, in New Orleans and grew up in Gonzales, Louisiana, before returning to the city that would make him famous. As Bianca Del Rio, he be...
Dean Baquet: From Eddie's Restaurant to Running the New York Times
The Seventh Ward Kid Who Ran the New York TimesDean Paul Baquet was born on September 21, 1956, in New Orleans, the son of Eddie Baquet Sr., the owner of Eddie's Restaurant — a Creole soul food ins...
Dorothy Dix: The New Orleans Woman Who Invented the Advice Column
America's First Advice ColumnistElizabeth Meriwether Gilmer was born in Montgomery County, Tennessee, in 1861, but she became Dorothy Dix in New Orleans — and as Dorothy Dix, she became the most wi...
Andrew Higgins: The New Orleans Boat Builder Who Won World War II
The Man Who Won the WarAndrew Jackson Higgins was born in Columbus, Nebraska, in 1886, but he built his empire in New Orleans — and that empire built the boats that won World War II. Dwight D. Eise...
Branford Marsalis: The Marsalis Who Refused to Be Categorized
The Other Marsalis — Who Might Be the Most Interesting OneBranford Marsalis was born on August 26, 1960, in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, and grew up in New Orleans — the eldest of the six Marsalis bro...
Patricia Clarkson: Uptown New Orleans' Gift to American Cinema
New Orleans' Finest Character ActressPatricia Davies Clarkson was born on December 29, 1959, in New Orleans, the daughter of a school board administrator who would later become the city's superinte...
Frank Ocean: The New Orleans Kid Who Rewrote the Rules of R&B
The Voice That Changed R&BChristopher Edwin Breaux was born on October 28, 1987, in Long Beach, California, but he grew up in New Orleans, where his mother had roots and where the family settle...
Terence Blanchard: From Pontchartrain Park to the Metropolitan Opera
The Busiest Man in EntertainmentTerence Blanchard was born on March 13, 1962, in New Orleans and grew up in the Pontchartrain Park neighborhood — the same middle-class Black community that produced...
Juvenile: The Magnolia Kid Who Made America Back That Azz Up
Back That Azz Up Changed EverythingTerius Gray was born on March 25, 1977, in New Orleans and grew up in the Magnolia Projects in Central City — the same housing development that produced some of t...
Clyde Drexler: Clyde the Glide Was Born in New Orleans
Clyde the GlideClyde Austin Drexler was born on June 22, 1962, in New Orleans and grew up in the South Park neighborhood of Houston, where his family moved when he was young. But New Orleans claims...
Judah P. Benjamin: The New Orleans Lawyer Who Became the Brains of the Confederacy
The Brains of the ConfederacyJudah Philip Benjamin was born in the British West Indies in 1811, the son of Sephardic Jewish immigrants from London. His family moved to Charleston, South Carolina, a...
Kid Ory: The Trombonist Who Hired Louis Armstrong
The Trombonist Who Hired Louis ArmstrongEdward "Kid" Ory was born on Christmas Day, 1886, near LaPlace, Louisiana, to a Louisiana French-speaking Black Creole family. He grew up on a plantation in ...
Normani: New Orleans Raised a Pop Star Before Katrina Took Her Away
New Orleans Raised a Pop Star Before Katrina Took Her AwayNormani Kordei Hamilton was born on May 31, 1996, in Atlanta, but she grew up in New Orleans — a city kid absorbing the rhythms and confide...
John McDonogh: The Miser Who Left Millions to Educate New Orleans' Children
The Miser Who Left Millions to Educate New Orleans' ChildrenJohn McDonogh was born in 1779 in Baltimore, Maryland, and arrived in New Orleans as a young man around 1800, drawn by the commercial exp...
Leonard Fournette: The 7th Ward Kid Who Became Lombardi Lenny
The 7th Ward Kid Who Became Lombardi LennyLeonard Joseph Fournette III was born on January 18, 1995, in New Orleans, Louisiana, and grew up in the 7th Ward — a neighborhood that has produced more c...
Garrett Morris: The Gert Town Kid Who Made SNL History
The Gert Town Kid Who Made SNL HistoryGarrett Isaac Morris was born on February 1, 1937, in New Orleans, Louisiana, and grew up in the Gert Town neighborhood — a working-class Black community wedge...
Bryant Gumbel: From New Orleans to America's Living Room
From New Orleans to America's Living RoomBryant Charles Gumbel was born on September 29, 1948, in New Orleans, Louisiana. His father was a judge, his mother a city clerk. The Gumbel household was o...
Lee Dorsey: Working in the Coal Mine and Living in the Crescent City
Working in the Coal Mine and Living in the Crescent CityIrving Lee Dorsey was born on Christmas Eve, 1924, in New Orleans — a childhood friend of Fats Domino, which tells you exactly what neighborh...
Phil Anselmo: New Orleans Raised Metal's Most Dangerous Voice
New Orleans Raised Metal's Most Dangerous VoicePhilip Hansen Anselmo was born on June 30, 1968, in New Orleans, Louisiana — Italian, French, and Danish blood running through a kid who would grow up...
Judah Touro: The Man Who Gave New Orleans Everything
The Man Who Gave New Orleans EverythingJudah Touro was born on June 16, 1775, in Newport, Rhode Island. His father Isaac served as hazzan at the Touro Synagogue — the oldest synagogue in the United...
