Famous English Majors
Alan Alda
M*A*S*H, The Longest Ride, The Four Seasons, The West Wing, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Murder at 1600, The Glass House, The Seduction of Joe Tynan, The Moonshine War, The Big C
Edward Burnes
Saving Private Ryan, The Brothers McMullen, She's the One, Alex Cross, The Holiday
Brett Butler
Grace Under Fire, The Comedian, Bruno, Anger Management, Friday's Child
Chevy Chase
National Lampoon's Vacation, Caddyshack, Fletch, Three Amigos, Spies Like Us, Saturday Night Live, The Chevy Chase Show, Man of the House
John Cho
Harold & Kumar movies Selfie, Don't Make Me Go, Star Trek, Wish Dragon, Ghosted, They Listen, Big Fat Liar, American Pie 2, The Afterparty
Joan Cusack
The Addams Family, Sixteen Candles, Runaway Bride, Raising Helen, Toys, Toy Story, My Sister's Keeper
Matt Damon
Good Will Hunting, Jason Bourne, The Martian, Saving Private Ryan, We Bought a Zoo, The Legend of Bagger Vance, The Rainmaker, The Talented Mr. Ripley
Vin Disel
The Fast and the Furious, Riddick, Saving Private Ryan, The Pacifier, Pitch Black, A Man Apart, The Guardians of the Galaxy, Hitman
David Duchovny
The X-Files, Twin Peaks, Aquarius, Return to Me, Beethoven, The Joneses, Kalifornia, Red Shoe Diaries, The Lone Gunman, The Bubble, Zoolander, The Estate, Phantom, Things We Lost in the Fire
Lena Dunham
Girls, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, American Horror Story, This is 40, Don't Think Twice, Judy Blume Forever, The Fountain, Tokyo Project, Honeydew
Harrison Ford
Indiana Jones movies, Star Wars, The Age of Adaline, Air Force One, The Call of the Wild, Six Days, Seven Nights, Witness, 42, Sabrina, Regarding Henry, The Frisco Kid, Extraordinary Measures
Jodie Foster
The Silence of the Lambs, Contact, Panic Room, Anna and the King, Little Man Tate, The Color of Money, Sommersby, Maverick, Nim's Island, Flightplan, Bugsy Malone
James Franco
Spider-Man, The Interview, Why Him?, Pineapple Express, Oz the Great and Powerful, Eat, Pray, Love, True Story, Neighbors, City by the Sea, Wild Horses, Freaks and Geeks
Heather Graham
Boogie Nights, The Hangover, Scream, Bowfinger, Austin Powers movies, Say It Isn't So, Cake, Two Girls and a Guy, Baby on Board, Scrubs, Growing Pains, Scrubs, Portlandia
Jon Hamm
Mad Men, Top Gun: Maverick, Tag, Keeping Up with the Joneses, Beirut, The Morning Show, 30 Rock, Million Dollar Arm, Fargo, Minions, We Were Soldiers, Providence, Kissing Jessica Stein
Famke Janssen
Taken movies, X-Men, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, The Poison Rose, I Spy, Don't Say a Word, Endless, Turn the River, Nip/Tuck, The Blacklist, Ally McBeal, Melrose Place (Classic)
Tommy Lee Jones
Men in Black movies, The Fugitive, U.S. Marshals, Double Jeopardy, Man of The House, Space Cowboys, The Missing, Hope Springs, JFK, Rules of Engagement, Volcano, No Country for Old Men
Paul Newman
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Color of Money, Road to Perdition, The Mackintosh Man, The Prize, Lady L, Harry & Son, The Left Handed Gun, Cars, Cool Hand Luck, The Hustler
Gwyneth Paltrow
Iron Man, Shallow Hal, Seven, Great Expectations, Hook, Emma, The Talented Mr. Ripley, The Avengers, Dogma, The Heartbreak Kid, Running WIth Scissors, The Pallbearer, Infamous
David Hyde Pierce
Frasier, Julie, Osmosis Jones, Sleepless in Seattle, A Bug's Life, Little Man Tate, The Fisher King, Crossing Delancey, The Simpsons, The Terminator, Bright Lights, Big City, The Outer Limits, Stingray Sam
Christopher Reeve
Superman movies, The Remains of the Day, Village of the Damned, Rear Window, Black Fox: The Price of Peace, Speechless, The Bostonians, Anna Karenina, Gray Lady Down, Nightmare in the Daylight
Susan Sarandon
Thelma & Louise, Tammy, The Witches of Eastwick, Bull Durham, Enchanted, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Anywhere But Here, Lorenzo's Oil, Arbitrage, Dead Man Walking, The Big Wedding
Fred Savage
The Wonder Years, Little Monsters, The Princess Bride, Modern Family, Daddy Day Camp, The Boy WHo Could Fly, Welcome to Mooseport, The Last Run, Runaway Ralph, The Rules of Attraction
Julia Stiles
10 Things I Hate About You, Jason Bourne, Save the Last Dance, The Prince & Me, Mona Lisa Smile, Silver Linings Playbook, Down to You, A Guy Thing, Wicked, The Devil's Own, Halftime
Emma Thompson
Nanny McPhee, Matilda the Musical, Sense and Sensibility, The Remains of the Day, Love Actually, Beauty and the Beast, Late NIght, Howards End, Much Ado About Nothing, Pride & Prejudice, King Lear
James Van Der Beek
Dawson's Creek, Varsity Blues, One Tree Hill, Texas Rangers, Scary Movie, What Would Diplo Do?, Ugly Betty, Stolen, Labor Day, Medium, Carters Get Rich, Bad Hair, Downsizing
Sigourney Weaver
Alien movies, Avatar movies, Galaxy Quest, Ghostbusters movies, Finding Dory, Working Girl, WALL-E, Dave, Snow White: A Tale of Terror, The Cabin int he Woods, Tadpole, Crazy on the Outside
Emma Watson
Harry Potter series, Little WOmen, The Circle, This is the End, Regression, The Tale of Despereaux, Ballet Shoes, The Red Pill, God's Creatures, Colonia, The Bling Ring
Reece Witherspoon
Legally Blonde movies, Big Little Lies, Wild, Sweet Home Alabama, Sing, Water for Elephants, Four Christmases, Gone Girl, Return to Lonesome Dove, Rendition, Where the Crawdads Sing
Renée Zellweger
The Bridget Jones's Diary movies, Jerry Maguire, Cold Mountain, Bee Movie, Down with Love, White Oleander, Nurse Betty, ONe True Thing, 8 Seconds, Monsters vs. Aliens, The Whole WIde World
Dr. Sally Ride (1951 - 2012)
Dr. Ride joined NASA in 1978 and became the first American woman and the third woman to fly in space. She was also the youngest American astronaut to have flown in space, having done so at the age of 32. Dr. Ride earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature along with a Bachelor of Science degree in physics from Stanford University.
Marty Shottenheimer (1943 - 2021)
Coached the Kansas City Chiefs, Cleveland Browns, San Diego Chargers and Washington Redskins
Joe Paterno (1926 - 2012)
Coached Penn State for 46 years, winning 409 games, member of the College Football Hall of Fame
Cathy Guisewite
Created the comic strip Cathy, which enjoyed a 34-year run. Cathy focused on a career woman facing the issues and challenges of eating, work, relationships, and having a mother ("the four basic guilt groups"). Ms. Guisewite earned a Bachelor degree in English from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.
James Cameron
Aliens, They Abyss, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, True Lies, Titanic, Avatar
Martin Scorsese
Who's That Knocking at My Door, Mean Streets, Taxi Drive, Goodfellas, The Departed, Hugo
Kimberly Peirce
Boys Don't Cry, Stop-Loss, Carrie
Steven Spielberg
Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Indiana Jones, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, The Color Purple, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, Jaws, Hook, Catch Me if You Can, War of the Worlds
Carol Browner
Former Environmental Protection Act Director
Mario Cuomo
Former Governor of New York
Henry Paulson
Former President &CEO of GoldmanSachs and United States Secretary of the Treasury 2006 - 2009
Donald Regan
Former United States Chief of Staff 1985 - 1985 and Secretary of the Treasury 1981 - 1985
Clarence Thomas
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
Pete Wilson
Former Governor of California
Russell Baker (1925 - 2019)
Growing Up, former New York Times columnist, PBS Masterpiece Theatre host 1992 - 2004
Dave Barry
Miami Herald humor columnist, humor and parody books and children's novels
Richard Rodriguez
Hunger of Memory: The Education of Rodriguez
Diane Sawyer
ABC World News Tonight, Good Morning America, 20/20, 60 Minutes
Helen Thomas (1920 - 2013)
White House Press Corps for ten presidents beginning with Kennedy and ending with Obama, United Press, United Press International for 57 years, Hearst Newspapers, First female member of the Gridiron Club
Bob Woodward
The Washington Post, original news reporting on the Watergate scandal
Michael Eisner
Disney CEO
A. Bartlett Giamatti
President, Yale University and Commissioner of Baseball
Kathryn Fuller
World Wildlife Fund Director
Michael Lynne
Chairman of New Line Cinema
Herb Scannell
President, Nickolodeon, MTV Networks
Don Henley
Founding member of the Eagles, Witchy Woman, Desperado, Best of My Love, One of These Nights, Hotel California, Life in the Fast Lane, The Last Resort, The Long Run, Get Over It, The Boys of Summer, All She Wants to Do Is Dance
Chris Isaak
Wicked Game, Blue Hotel, Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing, Somebody's Crying
Mark Knopfler
Dire Straits, Brothers in Arms, scores for Local Hero, The Princess Bride, Wag the Dog and Alamira
Kris Kristofferson
Me and Bobby McGee, For the Good Times, Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down, Help Me Make It Through the Night, member of The Highwaymen
John Legend
All of Me, Green Light, You & I, Minefields, Beauty and the Beast, P.D.A., Who Do We Think We Are, Preach, Start a Fire, High Road
Randy Owen
One on One, Braid My Hair, Like I Never Broke Her Heart, Holding Everything, member of Alabama
Paul Simon
Member of Simon & Garfunkel, The Sound of Silence, Mrs. Robinson, America, The Boxer, Bridge over Troubled Water
Sting
Member of The Police, Every Breath You Take, If You Love Somebody Set Them Free, Fortress Around Your Hearth, participant of Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?"
Harold Varmus
Co-recipient of the 1989 Novel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of the cellular origin of retroviroal oncogenes
Joy Behar
The View, The Joy Behar Show, Joy Behar: Say Anything!, Late NIght Joy
Linda Bloodworth-Thomason
Designing WOmen, Evening Shade, M*A*S*H, Rhoda, One Day at a Time, Filthy Rich
Johnny Carson
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson 1962 - 1992
Ken Jennings
Record-setting Jeopardy winner, co-host of Jeopardy
Conan O’Brien
Late NIght with Conan O'Brien, The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, Saturday Night Live, The Simpsons, Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend
Joan Rivers (1933 - 2014)
The Tonight Show, The Late Show with Joan Rivers, The Joan Rivers Show, Fashion Police, Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best
Brandon Tartikoff (1949 - 1997)
Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, Law & Order, ALF, Family Ties, The Cosby Show, Cheers, Sienfeld, The Golden Girls, Wings, Miami Vice, Knight Rider, The A-Team, Saved by the Bell, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, St. Elsewhere, Night Court
Grant Tinker
Chairman & CEO of NBC 1981 - 1986, co-found of MTM Enterprises, I Spy, Dr. Kildare, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Star Trek, Get Smart
Barbara Walters (1929 - 2022)
Today, ABC Evening News, 20/20, The View
Laura Bush
Established the annual National Book Festival, advanced women's causes through The Heart Truth and the Susan G. Komen for the Cure organizations, author of Spoken from the Heart, Read All About It!, Goodreads, We Are Afghan Women: Voices of Hope, Our Great Big Backyard
Douglas Adams (1952 - 2001)
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, The Meaning of Liff, The Deeper Meaning of Liff, Last Chance to See
Houston A. Baker Jr.
The Journey Back: Issues in Black Literature and Criticism, The Trouble with Post-Blackness, Betrayal: How Black Intellectuals Have Abandoned the Ideals of the Civil Rights Era
T. Coraghessan Boyle (T.C.)
World's End, Water Music, Riven Rock, The Inner Circle, The Women, When the Killings Done
Gwendolyn Brooks (1917 - 2000)
First African American to receive the Pulitzer Prize
Received Pulitzer Prize for Poetry on May 1, 1950 for Annie Allen
Winnie, Maud Martha, The Bean Eaters, Aloneness, Black Love, In Montgomery, and Other Poems
Tom Clancy (1947 - 2013)
The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, Executive Orders
Sharon M. Draper
Hazelwood , Sassy, Jericho and Ziggy and the Black Dinosaurs series, Cooper Sun, Double Dutch, Out of My Mind, Romiette and Julio, Drum Beats, Fire from the Rock, Blended
Allen Ginsberg (1926 - 1997)
Howl and Other Poems, Kaddish and Other Poems, Iron Horse
Joseph Heller (1923 - 1999)
Catch-22, Something Happened, Picture This, Closing Time
Carolivia Herron
Nappy Hair, Thereafter Johnnie, Always an Olivia, Asenath and the Origin of Nappy Hair, Little Georgia and the Apples, Peacesong DC
Gloria Jean Watkins (pen name - bell hooks) (1952 - 2021)
Ain't I a Woman?, Sisters of the Yam, Bone Black: Memories of Girlhood, Salvation: Black People and Love, Happy to be Nappy, Homemade Love, We Real Cool: Black Men and Masculinity
David Henry Hwang
FOB, Golden Child, Yellow Face, M. Butterfly, Soft Power, The Great Helmsman, Face Value
Stephen King
The Green Mile, Cujo, Pet Sematary, The Shining, Carrie, The Stand, It, The Dark Tower Series, Thinner, Bag of Bones, Dreamcatcher
Jhumpa Lahiri
The Namesake, The Lowland, Whereabouts, A Temporary Matter, The Third and Final Continent
Bobbie Ann Mason
In Country, Feather Crowns, An Atomic Romance, The Girl in the Blue Beret, Dear Ann
Arthur Miller
All My Sons, Death of a Salesman, The Crucible, A View from the Bridge
Toni Morrison (1931 - 2019)
The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon, Beloved, Tar Baby, Sula, Love, God Help the Child
Joyce Carol Oates
WIth Shuddering Fall, Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?, Blonde, Freaky Green Eyes, Black Water, Big Mouth & Ugly Girl
Suzan-Lori Parks
Girl 6, The Eyes Were Watching God, The Great Debaters, Topdog/Underdog, Getting Mother's Body, Native Son, The Sinner's Place, Porgy and Bess, Father Comes Home from the Wars
Alice Randall
The Wind Done Gone, Pushkin and the Queen of Spades, Rebel Yell, Ada's Rule: A Sexy Skinny Novel, The Diary of B.B. Bright, Possible Princess, Black Bottom Saints
Philip Roth (1933 - 2018)
Zuckerman Novels, Roth Novels and Memoirs, Kepesh Novels, Nemeses Novels
Dr. Seuss (a.k.a. Theodor Geisel)
And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street, Horton Hatches an Egg, The Cat in the Hat, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, Green Eggs and Hamm
Cheryl Strayed
Torch, Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pactific Crest Trail, Tiny Beautiful Things, Brave Enough
Amy Tan
The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God's Wife, The Hundred Secret Senses, Saving Fish from Drowning, The Valley of Amazement, The Moon Lady
John Updike (1932 - 2009)
The Carpentered Hen, The Same Door, Rabbit Novels, Bech Books, The Witches of Eastwick, The Widows of Eastwick, The Scarlet Letter Trilogy, Golf Dreams
Eudora Welty (1909 - 2001)
The Optimist's Daughter, The Robber Bridegroom, Delta Wedding, The Ponder Heart, The Shoe Bird