Miami Heat GM, Andy Elisburg, Graduated from Churchill High School
On the heels of taking a 2-0 series lead over the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals, we wanted to highlight the man who helped put the team together.
Celebrities
|
Our featured photograph is a yearbook photo of the Takoma Park Middle School basketball team (then known as the Takoma Blue Devils). #13 is Chris T. Sullivan. Chris T. Sullivan, one of the founders of @outback Steakhouse, is a Takoma Park Middle School and Blair High School alumnus. Sullivan attended the schools in the early/mid 60s before heading to the University of Kentucky to study business and economics.
After graduating in 1972, he became a restaurant manager at Steak & Ale before opening the first Outback with his partners in 1988. He and the other co-founders saw the chain expand to over 900 restaurants worldwide and grow to include Carrabba’s, Bonefish, and several other hospitality-related businesses. He has previously been CEO and president of OSI Restaurant Partners (the restaurant group he founded) and is currently a board member at Bloomin’ Brands.
|
Celebrities with MoCo Ties: Laura Hillenbrand
Author Laura Hillenbrand graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School
|
Kanye West is a very successful rapper, producer, and fashion designer. He has sold over 20 million albums and has played a role in the success of many other musicians and brands.
Did you know that he spent a lot of his childhood in Takoma Park? Kanye would frequently visit his father, who lived in Takoma Park, and sometimes stayed in the area for weeks at a time.
|
“Take Me Home, Country Roads” was inspired by Clopper Road in Gaithersburg and Germantown. Though some believe the name of the song was going to be “Take Me Home, Clopper Road,” that has been confirmed to be untrue. Bill Danoff was inspired to write “Take Me Home, Country Roads” as he drove on Clopper Road in Gaithersburg (then a country road) on his way to a family reunion with his then-girlfriend Taffy Nivert, who also helped with the song (the duo was known as Fat City).
He and John Denver sang the song together the next night and recorded it the following Monday. Danoff has confirmed that Clopper Rd. was the inspiration in various interviews. Our featured photo is a shot of Clopper Road in 1945, courtesy of Steve Michaels. It looks a little different than the road that is part of Exit 10 on I-270 today.
Jon Bernthal is from Cabin John!
The actor is popular for his many roles in television series and movies such as The Walking Dead, The Punisher, The Wolf of Wall Street, The Accountant, Ford v Ferrari, and much more.
|
David Brewster is better known by his stage name, Dave East. He’s a rapper, songwriter, and actor.
From his inclusion in XXL’s 2016 Freshman Class to his mixtapes making it as high as #9 on Billboard, East has made a name for himself in the rap game.
Maria Shriver is an award-winning journalist, author, founder of the nonprofit organization The Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement, and currently a special correspondent for NBC News.
She is the daughter of Sargent Shriver (a politician who has an elementary school in Silver Spring named after him) and Eunice Shriver (the founder of the Special Olympics), the niece of former President John F. Kennedy, and the former First Lady of California (she is the ex-wife of actor and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger).
|
Sylvester Stallone spent some of his childhood growing up in a home on Seminary Rd. He attended Woodlin Elementary School, Montgomery Hills Junior High, and was enrolled at Blair High School. Some have disputed that Stallone ever attended Blair High School while others believe he even graduated from the school. I was able to confirm that he was briefly a enrolled at Blair, but did not graduate from the school.
Whether you know how him as Rocky Balboa, John Rambo, Barney Ross from The Expendables movies, or from any of his other roles in blockbuster movies, Stallone is one of the biggest celebrities in the world.
Michael Ealy, then known as Michael Brown, graduated from Springbrook High School and grew up in Silver Spring (later attending the University of Maryland).
The former Blue Devil had his breakout role in Barbershop, and later starred in 2 Fast 2 Furious, About Last Night, Think Like a Man 1 and 2, The Perfect Guy, and much more.
|
Sarah Cooper, best known for her lip-syncing videos of President Trump on TikTok, has landed a Netflix special.
Cooper moved to Rockville at age 3 and graduated from Magruder High School; she then attended the University of Maryland, College Park. Cooper was born in Jamaica.