Roots in the Ville: Here are 10 famous people born or raised in the Fayetteville area

How many celebrities do you know who were born or raised in the Fayetteville area? 

Here are 10 you should know about:

1. We know you know this one. Even though he was born on a military base in Germany, rapper J. Cole was raised in Fayetteville and graduated from Terry Sanford High School. 

2. NBA player Dennis Smith Jr., who plays for the New York Knicks, is a Fayetteville native. 

3. Academy Award-winning actress Julianne Moore, whose father was a paratrooper, was born on Fort Bragg. She didn't live there long, though.

4. Actor, dancer and singer Ben Vereen was born in Laurinburg

5 and 6. WWE wrestlers Matt and Jeff Hardy are Cameron natives. 

7. Football player Vonta Leach, a Robeson County native, played for the Green Bay Packers, the New Orleans Saints, the Houston Texans and the Baltimore Ravens. 

8. Afeni Shakur, an American political activist, Black Panther, businesswoman and the mother of Tupac Shakur, was from Lumberton. 

9. Comedian Gallagher, known for smashing watermelons on stage in his act, was born on Fort Bragg in 1946. 

10. Elizabeth McRae who played Lou-Ann Poovie in “Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.,” grew up in Fayetteville's Haymount neighborhood. 

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Staff writer Akira Kyles can be reached at akyles@gannett.com.