1. Martin Sheen
You may have heard actor Martin Sheen speak out on topics like gun violence, war, genocide, capital punishment, anti-abortion, worker’s rights, racism, homelessness and the environment, but it’s not as well known that his activist role has led to several charges of non-violent civil disobedience.
In 2009, he admitted he has been arrested more than 66 times, including his first on Good Friday in 1986 when he protested Ronald Reagan’s Star Wars initiative in Times Square.
2. Kirk Herbstreit
The former Ohio State University quarterback and current ESPN college football analyst lived in Ohio until 2011. The reason for his move? Harassment by vocal Buckeye fans who were not pleased with his attempts to provide balanced coverage of his alma mater.
Fans accused him of unfairly criticizing the Buckeyes, and it got so bad he moved his family to Nashville. His twin sons, Jake and Ty, play football at Nashville’s Montgomery Bell Academy.
3. Allison Janney
The actress who recently played the role of Tonya Harding’s mother in “I, Tonya,” once was a serious figure skater herself. She had dreams of one day skating in the Olympics until a freak accident ended her career at age 17.
At a party hosted by her parents, she accidentally ran through a sliding glass door and lost three quarters of her blood while cutting a tendon and losing an artery.
4. Holley Mangold
The 2012 Olympic weightlifter and sister of former Jets center Nick Mangold played offensive line for the football team at Alter High School and was the first female non-kicker to play in an Ohio Division III high school football game.
A documentary about her life premiered on MTV’s “True Life” on June 30, 2011, and her Instagram video spoofing J.J. Watt’s box jumps went viral after it was posted on June 1, 2015.
5. Nancy Cartwright
Best known as the voice of Bart Simpson in “The Simpsons,” Cartwright actually intended to audition for Lisa Simpson’s part, but upon reading the script, she found the character’s brother to be more interesting. She was permitted to audition for Bart instead and was offered the role on the spot.
Cartwright had developed her talent at an early age. She won a school-wide speech competition in fourth grade, placed first in the “Humorous Interpretation” category at the National District Tournament twice while a student at Fairmont West High School and placed fifth in the National Speech Tournament’s exposition category with her speech “The Art of Animation” sophomore year as a student at Ohio University in the late 1970s.
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