LITTLE RHODY
MEET
LITTLE RHODY
A BRIEF HISTORY
OF LITTLE RHODY
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Famous Faces
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Just a few celebrities you might not have known were born and / or grew up in Rhode Island .
1843 In response to restrictive suffrage laws , the Dorr Rebellion results in the state ’ s first individual constitution .
1952 Mr . Potato Head is born at Hasbro ( the toy company , not the hospital !) in Pawtucket and becomes the first toy advertised on American television .
1953 John F . Kennedy , the thirty-fifth president of the United States , marries Jackie Lee Bouvier at St . Mary ’ s Church in Newport .
1975 – 2016 Vincent “ Buddy ” Cianci is elected Providence mayor in 1975 but is forced to resign in 1984 due to a felony assault conviction . He then runs a popular radio talk show from 1984 to 1991 , serves as Providence mayor again from 1991 to 2002 ( the city ’ s “ Renaissance era ”) and gets indicted again in 2001 — this time on charges of racketeering , conspiracy , extortion , mail fraud and witness tampering . After five years in federal prison , Buddy returns to the airwaves in 2007 and unsuccessfully runs for mayor a third time in 2014 . We never got to see what would have come next in his career , as he died at age seventy-four in 2016 .
2014 Gina Raimondo becomes Rhode Island ’ s first female governor .
Debra Messing KNOWN FOR : Playing Grace in NBC ’ s “ Will and Grace .” FROM : East Greenwich
Viola Davis KNOWN FOR : Playing Annalise Keating in ABC ’ s “ How to Get Away with Murder ,” Aibileen Clark in The Help , Rose Maxson in Fences and Ma Rainey in Ma Rainey ’ s Black Bottom . GREW UP IN : Central Falls
Peter and Bobby Farrelly ( the Farrelly Brothers ) KNOWN FOR : Writing and directing Dumb and Dumber , There ’ s Something About Mary and Me , Myself and Irene . FROM : Cumberland
Rocco Baldelli KNOWN FOR : Playing outfield in Major League Baseball and managing the Minnesota Twins . FROM : Woonsocket
Jared Haibon KNOWN FOR : Appearing on “ The Bachelorette ” and “ Bachelor in Paradise .” GREW UP IN : Warwick
Olivia Culpo KNOWN FOR : Being crowned Miss Rhode Island , Miss USA and Miss Universe in 2012 . FROM : Cranston
Charlie Day KNOWN FOR : Playing Charlie Kelly in “ It ’ s Always Sunny in Philadelphia .” GREW UP IN : Middletown
Mat Franco KNOWN FOR : Being the first magician to win NBC ’ s “ America ’ s Got Talent .” FROM : Johnston
Richard Hatch KNOWN FOR : Winning the first season of CBS ’ s “ Survivor .” FROM : Newport County
THE UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND John King KNOWN FOR : CNN ’ s chief national correspondent .
Christiane Amanpour KNOWN FOR : CNN ’ s chief international correspondent .
JOHNSON AND WALES UNIVERSITY Emeril Lagasse KNOWN FOR : Celebrity chef and restaurateur .
Paul D . DelVecchio Jr . aka DJ Pauly D KNOWN FOR : Being a cast member in MTV ’ s reality series “ Jersey Shore .” FROM : Providence
Meredith Vieira KNOWN FOR : Being a broadcast journalist and television personality on shows like “ Today ,” “ The View ” and “ Who Wants to Be a Millionaire ?” FROM : Providence / East Providence
Billy Gilman KNOWN FOR : Becoming the youngest artist on Billboard ’ s Country chart at age eleven . FROM : Westerly / Hope Valley
H . P . Lovecraft KNOWN FOR : Writing horror fiction like The Call of Cthulhu . FROM : Providence
CELEBRITY DEGREES They may not have grown up here , but they sure hit the books at these local universities .
BROWN UNIVERSITY Emma Watson KNOWN FOR : Playing Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter series and Little Women .
John Krasinski KNOWN FOR : Playing Jim Halpert in “ The Office ” and starring in A Quiet Place .
Caroline Kepnes KNOWN FOR : Author of bookturned-hit TV show “ You ” and books Hidden Bodies and Providence .
THE RHODE ISLAND SCHOOL OF DESIGN James Franco KNOWN FOR : Playing Harry Osborn “ The Goblin ” in the Spider-Man series alongside Tobey Maguire .
Seth MacFarlane KNOWN FOR : Voicing characters and creating Fox ’ s “ Family Guy ” set in the fictional city of Quahog , Rhode Island .
GRAPHIC : GETTY IMAGES .
10 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY ’ S NEWCOMERS ’ GUIDE l 2024