Notable Portlanders
Portland is the home of many creative types who have gone on to do and produce great things . Of course, there are also some Portlanders who are famous for doing some not so great things ...Here is a partial list of famous Portlanders (some, such as Gus Van Sant, have called Portland home for a long time and others, such as Todd Haynes, have only recently been included in lists of famous Portlanders).
Art Alexakis - singer/guitarist from Everclear The Dandy Warhols - glam-rock reincarnatedGus Van Sant - well-known indie filmmaker; Drugstore Cowboy , My Own Private Idaho , Goodwill Hunting , etc.Todd Haynes - director of Far From Heaven , Velvet Goldmine , Poison , etc.Ursula LeGuin - writer of many science fiction novelsBeverly Cleary - well-known author of childrens books; remember Ramona ?Chuck Palahniuk - author of Fight Club and many other well-crafted tales Tom Spanbauer - member of the Dangerous Writers and author of numerous wonderful books Diana Abu Jaber - writer of Crescent and Arabian Jazz Courtney Love - notorious bad-girl rock star and widow of Kurt CobainElliot Smith - late singer/songwriter known for his brooding styleSleater-Kinney - most excellent grrl band, originally from OlympiaTonya Harding - notorious bad-girl ice queenWalt Curtis - poet John Callahan - perversely controversial cartoonistMatt Groening - creator of The Simpsons Will Vinton - made Claymation a household nameJames Beard - notable epicurean Katherine Dunn - author of Geek Love Peter Jacobsen - famous golfer Mark Rothko - well-known late painterSally Struthers - actress and proponent of saving third-world childrenMinor White - famous photographerAriel Gore - writer and hip mama
