If you reference celebrities with ties to Toledo, everyone knows Jamie Farr, the star of TV series MASH. Dig a little deeper and people will say Katie Holmes, the star of ‘90s teen TV series Dawson’s Creek and films such as Thank You For Smoking and Batman Begins. After that, it gets a little hazy. Usually someone will try to cover by mentioning that figure skater and Olympic medalist Scott Hamilton is from Bowling Green or that once upon a time, The Shawshank Redemption was filmed not too far away.
Toledo is a town rich with talent. Unfortunately, too many of our stars head out to Los Angeles to shine brightest.
Here are a few celebrities that you may not know hail from the Glass City.
Adriann Palicki
This beautiful scene-stealer has played in big movies like John Wick, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Red Dawn (2012) and the upcoming S.W.A.T.: Under Siege, but she is best known for her role of Tyra Collette on the hit TV series Friday Night Lights. Before all that though, she was born here in Toledo in 1983 and graduated from Whitmer High School. In addition to playing basketball and running track, she also starred in her first play there, as a sophomore.
Rich Sommer
Another brief stint as a Toledoan, Rich Sommer left the Glass City when he was eight, but eventually moved to New York and found work on Mad Men. Playing Harry Crane for the show’s entire run, Sommer was often the show’s comedic center as one of the copywriter lackeys who eventually goes on to lead the ad firm’s new television division. Sommer has also acted in Girlfriend’s Day, The Devil Wears Prada, Ugly Betty, The Office, Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp and done voice work for the hit video game L.A. Noire.
Philip Baker Hall
The most accomplished Toledo celeb perhaps, Philip Baker Hall didn’t even start acting until he was 30. Since then, he’s gone on to be in several films for Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Hard Eight). His list of credits on IMDB spans 175 roles dating back to the art film Zabriskie Point in 1970, but he’s starred in The Sum of All Fears, Bruce Almighty, The Rock, Zodiac and Hall is one of the most recognizable character actors still working today. Born in 1931, he attended the University of Toledo before heading out to Hollywood.
Alyson Stoner
Probably most famous for her appearance in Missy Elliott’s music video for “Work It,” Stoner’s voice work is also notable. She was Isabella Garcia-Shapiro on the wildly popular cartoon Phineas and Ferb, Opal in The Legend of Korra and Florina in Voltron (2017). But she’s done plenty in front of the camera too, starring in Steve Martin’s Cheaper By the Dozen remake (2003) as well as Camille in the dance film series Step Up. Her mother was an executive secretary at Owens-Illinois and Stoner, born in 1993, attended Maumee Valley Country Day School.
