Who should be Oregon’s official TV or movie star? Here are 13 suggestions

Over the years, Oregon has been the home state of a variety of people who have gone on to careers in the movies and TV. The Beaver State has also seen other high-profile names either pass through our borders, or establish residences here.

In light of our recent suggestions for what might be the official movie or TV series of Oregon, a reader got in touch to offer some nominations for who Oregon’s official star could be. Of course, that’s a designation that depends on your taste, but there are a few notable names that come to mind. Some are from decades ago, while others are more recent.

HERE IS OREGON: HereisOregon.com | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook | Twitter | TikTok

As a break from the serious news of the day, here are some TV or movie stars with Oregon connections who could be candidates for the state’s official star. And please, let us know your thoughts about who we might have overlooked.

Sam Elliott: While the veteran actor with credits ranging from “The Big Lebowski” to “1883″ was born in Sacramento, he moved with his family to Portland when he was in his teens. Elliott graduated from David Douglas High School, and attended both the University of Oregon in Eugene and Clark College, in Vancouver, before settling in Los Angeles. In 2016, during the Television Critics Association press tour, Elliott told The Oregonian/OregonLive that he still owned the house where his mother lived in Portland, and that also had “a place in the Willamette Valley, down near Eugene.”

Bruce Campbell: Actor Bruce Campbell, who has won a legion of fans for his role as the demon-slaying Ash Williams in the “Evil Dead” movies and the TV series, “Ash vs, Evil Dead,” and his family acquired property in Southern Oregon in the late 1990s, as Campbell told The Oregonian/OregonLive in 2015.

Bruce Campbell, of ‘Ash vs Evil Dead,’ applauds Oregon legal marijuana

Jim Belushi: The actor began to grow marijuana plants in 2015, and has expanded the size of his property located on the Rogue River, as Belushi told The Oregonian/OregonLive in 2022. Belushi’s adventures on his Southern Oregon cannabis farm have been chronicled in the Discovery series, “Growing Belushi.”

(Stream “Growing Belushi” on Fubo, which offers a free trial; or on Discovery Plus)

Carrie Brownstein: The actor/writer/director/musician known for the “Portlandia” TV series and for being a member of Sleater-Kinney, grew up in Redmond, Washington, but has had a place in Portland for several years.

Kaitlin Olson: Portland-born Olson graduated from the University of Oregon, and has gone on to a busy career as an actor, starring in such projects as the super long-running comedy, “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” the critical favorite “Hacks,” and it’s been announced that ABC ordered a series called “High Potential,” starring Olson, though most productions are on hold due to the writers’ and actors’ strikes. (Stream “Hacks” on Max)

Katee Sackhoff: The Sunset High School graduate has won fans for her extensive body of work, including roles in “Battlestar Galactica,” “Longmire,” “The Mandalorian,” and many more projects.

Ty Burrell: Though he’s currently turning up in a TV commercial campaign, the Oregon native is better known for his Emmy-winning role as clueless husband and father Phil Dunphy on the long-running comedy, “Modern Family.” The Grants Pass-born Burrell has also often spoken about his devotion to the University of Oregon Ducks football team.

Kelly AuCoin: The actor has shown his versatility, performing onstage and in such TV series as “Billions,” “The Americans,” “The Girl From Plainville,” “WeCrashed,” and more. AuCoin spent many early years in Hillsboro, and is the son of Les AuCoin, a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Oregon. As AuCoin says on his website, “I’m from the great state of Oregon, and remain completely in love with it. I am a RABID Portland Trail Blazers fan. And I still wince when someone mentions Sam Bowie or Greg Oden.”

Jana Schmieding: Schmieding grew up in Canby, and after attending the University of Oregon, moved to New York City, where she juggled the pursuit of an acting career with teaching. Schmieding is enrolled in the Cheyenne River Lakota Sioux tribe, and after moving to Los Angeles, she has gone on to bring her authentic experience of Native culture, in all its complexity, to such series as Peacock’s “Rutherford Falls,” for which she wrote and co-starred, a member of the cast of “Reservation Dogs,” and other projects.

Oregon’s Jana Schmieding on her show, ‘Rutherford Falls,’ Native creators on TV, and more

Kim Novak: The legendary star of such movie classics as “Vertigo,” ‘Bell, Book and Candle” and “Picnic” bought a home on the Rogue River in Southern Oregon in the late 1990s. Turner Classic Movies recently announced that Novak will be among the guests sailing on the TCM Classic Cruise, which will travel from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas Nov. 6-11. As the TCM announcement says of Novak, “Despite her world-wide success, she preferred to leave Hollywood at the peak of her career to freely express herself through painting and writing. Her paintings have been exhibited at museums in San Francisco, Prague, and The Butler Museum of American Art.”

There are also luminaries no longer with us who spent time in Oregon. Among them:

Jane Powell: The term “America’s Sweetheart” has been used often, but the well-worn phrase certainly applied to the Portland-born Jane Powell, whose bubbly personality and lilting soprano voice made her a popular star of such Hollywood musicals as “Royal Wedding,” “A Date With Judy,” “Hit the Deck,” the Oregon-set “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers,” and more. Powell, who was born Suzanne Lorraine Burce, got her start in show business while growing up in Portland. According to the Oregon Encyclopedia, the young performer sang on a Portland children’s radio show called “Stars of Tomorrow”; was selected as the Oregon Victory Girl in 1941, when she was 12, and traveled the state singing at World War II events, hospitals, and more; and sang in shows broadcast by KOIN Radio. Powell died in 2021, at the age of 92.

Ginger Rogers: A star of Hollywood’s Golden Age, Rogers’ career included memorable roles as Fred Astaire’s best dance partner, an Oscar-winning turn in “Kitty Foyle,” and a comedy standout in such films as “Stage Door,” “Bachelor Mother,” “The Major and the Minor,” and more. The Medford Mail Tribune reported that Rogers first bought property in Jackson County in 1940, and that she later moved to Medford, though she also kept a home in California. Rogers died in 1995, at the age of 83.

Clark Gable: Before he became one of the biggest stars of classic Hollywood, and went on to play Rhett Butler in 1939′s “Gone With the Wind,” the Ohio-born Gable spent time in Oregon. According to the Oregon Encyclopedia, Gable “stepped from a boxcar near Bend in 1922. While in Oregon, he worked in a sawmill, in the hop fields as a picker, for the Meier & Frank department store in Portland, for The Oregonian’s classified-advertising department.” Gable also was able to pursue his interest in acting, performing with regional theater companies.

After taking a pause from acting, the Oregon Encyclopedia says that “Gable studied under Josephine Dillon at the Little Theater in Portland in 1923-1924. One of his fellow students was James Beard. Dillon saw potential in Gable, and when she moved to Hollywood, her protégé followed soon thereafter. They were married in late 1924 and divorced in 1930.”

And even after Gable earned the honorary title of “The King of Hollywood,” he still spent time in Oregon, according to the Oregon Encyclopedia, which says, “from the 1930s through the 1950s, he repeatedly returned to Oregon. He particularly liked to stay at the Weasku Inn along the Rogue River and the Wolf Creek Inn north of Grant’s Pass, fishing and relaxation destinations for Gable and his wife Carole Lombard before her death in 1942. After the war, Gable returned to his favorite places in the state, though less frequently.” Gable died in 1960, at the age of 59.

More of our coverage:

What should be the official movie of Oregon?

Oregon’s official movie? Readers nominate flicks starring Clint Eastwood, Kevin Costner, and more

What should Oregon’s official TV series be? ‘Portlandia,’ ‘Grimm,’ or something else?

Interview with actress Kim Novak, who lives in Oregon and is revisiting her cinematic past

— Kristi Turnquist

503-221-8227; kturnquist@oregonian.com; @Kristiturnquist

Our journalism needs your support. Please become a subscriber today at OregonLive.com/subscribe