Which of these celebrities is from Wisconsin? Quiz

Answer: Willem Dafoe

Willem Dafoe is the Wisconsin native. He was born and raised in Appleton, and briefly attended the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He left Wisconsin in 1976 to seek his acting fortunes.

Dafoe got his first big break in "To Live and Die in LA" (1985). A year later, he would play Sgt Elias Gordon in "Platoon" (1986), which won Best Picture and earned Dafoe his first Academy Award nomination. He was also nominated for "Shadow of the Vampire" (2000), "The Florida Project" (2017) and "At Eternity's Gate" (2018).

DaFoe was one of the early members of the Marvel Universe, as the Green Goblin in the first "Spiderman" film (2002), a role he reprised in 2021. He has appeared in dozens of films over his forty year career.

Tom Berenger is from Chicago. Forest Whitaker was born in Texas, but grew up in southern California. And Charlie Sheen was born in New York, but grew up in southern California.

Answer: Danica Patrick

Danica Patrick was born in Beloit, but grew up just over the line in Illinois. She did start her racing career in Wisconsin, riding go-karts in Brodhead. Patrick left high school at age 16 to learn auto racing in England.

The gamble seems to had paid off, as she became the most successful woman in the history of racing, and the first woman to win an open wheel race (the 2008 Japan 300). She was the first woman to lead both the Indianapolis and Daytona 500 races. Patrick announced her retirement after the 2018 Indianapolis 500.

Another Wisconsin link Patrick has is that she dated Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers for several years.

Janet Guthrie was born in Iowa and grew up in Miami. Shawna Robinson is from Iowa. And Jennifer Cobb is from Kansas City.

Answer: Gena Rowlands

Gena Rowlands was born in Cambria in June 1930. She grew up in Wisconsin, Washington DC and Minneapolis. Rowland attended the University of Wisconsin between 1947 and 1950.

Rowlands is probably best known for the films she made with husband John Cassavettes between 1963 and 1984. Two of them earned her Academy Award nominations: "A Woman under the Influence" (1974) and "Gloria" (1980).

All three of their children, Nick, Alexandra and Zoe are actor-directors themselves. Nick directed his mom as the older Allie in "The Notebook" (2004).

Tippi Hedren was a native of Minneapolis. Joanne Woodward grew up in Georgia and South Carolina. And Barbara Eden was born in Arizona and grew up in San Francisco.

Answer: Tony Shahloub

Tony Shalhoub was born in Green Bay in October 1953. He grew up in Green Bay and briefly attended the UW-Green Bay. Shalhoub won three Emmy Awards (and eight nominations) for his work as the obsessive compulsive detective on "Monk" (2002-2009).

Shalhoub got his first big break on television in the sitcom "Wings" (1991-1997) as cab driver Antonio Scarpacci. Since 2017, he has been playing Abe Weissman on "The Marvelous Mrs Maisel" - which won his another Emmy.

Ted Levine was born in Ohio and grew up in Oak Park, Illinoiis,. Jason Grat-Stanford is Canadian; he grew up in Vancouver. And Traylor Howard is from Ortando.

Answer: Mark Ruffalo

Mark Ruffalo is a proud native of Kenosha. He grew up in Wisconsin but moved to Virginia in his teens. His first big break was in the 2000 film "You Can Count on Me" which earned him several awards.

Ruffalo has been nominated for thee Academy Award three times: "The Kids are All Right" (2011), "Foxcatcher" (2015) and "Spotlight" (2016), which won Best Picture.

Ruffalo is probably best known as Bruce Banner/The Hulk, which he began in "The Avengers" (2012) and continued through four more MCU films. Ruffalo became notorious for dropping spoilers about upcoming MCU films, which were some of the biggest movies in box office history.

Chris Evans is from Boston. Robert Downey Jr was born in New York, but grew up in southern California. And Samuel L Jackson was born in Washington DC and grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Answer: Bradley Whitford

Bradley Whitford was born in Madison, but grew up in Pennsylvania. He returned to Wisconsin in 1973 and graduated from Madison East High School. After graduating from Wesylean University in Connecticut, he attended Julliard.

Many of Whitford's early roles were as jerks. In both comedies like "Adventures in Babysitting" (1987) and "Revenge of the Nerds 2" (1987) or dramas like "Philadelphia" (1993) and "The Client" (1994) he often played dislikable characters.

Whitford got his big break as Josh Lyman on "The West Wing" (1999-2006). He won an Emmy for his work on "Noel" in 2001. Since "West Wing", he has been in numerous films and television shows. He returned to major jerk mode for his role in "The Handmaid's Tale" starting in 2018,

Like Josh Lyman, Whitford is a big time Democratic activist. He has often traveled back to his home state of Wisconsin to campaign for Democratic candidates.

Martin Sheen is from Dayton, Ohio. John Spencer was born in New York City and grew up in New Jersey. And Allison Janney was born in Boston, but grew up in Dayton (the same hometown as C.J. Cregg).

Answer: Heather Graham

Heather Graham was born in Milwaukee 1970. Her family moved around before settling in Los Angeles in 1979. Graham briefly attended UCLA before dropping out to pursue her acting career.

It seems to have paid off. He first big film was "Drugstore Cowboy" (1989). She then got her TV break with "Twin Peaks" (1991). Her breakout role was as Roller Girl, a porn star, in "Boogie Nights" (1998). Other notable roles include Felicity Shagwell in the "Austin Powers" series (1999) and Jade in "The Hangover" (2009; 2013).

Mark Wahlberg is a native of Boston. Burt Reynolds was born in Michigan, but spent most of his youth in Florida. And Julianne Moore was an army brat; she was born at Fort Bragg and her family moved about the world.

Answer: Allen Ludden

Allen Ludden was born in Mineral Point, in southwestern Wisconsin in 1917. He also resided in Janesville, Elkhorn, Antigo and Waupaca. Ludden moved to Texas when he was 9.

Ludden graduated from the University of Texas and served in the Army during World War II. Ludden hosted a variety of game shows during his career, but is best known for his work on "Password" between 1961 and 1975. He met Betty White on "Password" and they were married from 1963 until his death in June 1981. Ludden is actually buried in Wisconsin, at Graceland Cemetery in Mineral Point.

Bob Barker was from Darrington, Washington. Gene Rayburn was from Chicago. And Peter Marshall was born in Huntington WV and grew up in New York City.

Answer: Ellen Corby

Ellen Corby was born in Racine in 1911, but grew up in Philadelphia. She moved to Los Angeles to pursue her acting interests when she was 21.

Corby appeared in dozens of films in the 1930s and 1940s. Her first big role was in "I Remember Mama" (1948) which earned her a Best Supporting Actress nomination. She continued working in film and television throughout the 1950s and 1960s.

Corby is best remembered as Esther Walton on the CBS drama "The Waltons" (1971-81), a role which earned her three Emmy Awards. She played the matriarch of a Virginia family during the Great Depression. Corby died in Los Angeles in April 1999.

Will Geer was from Indiana. Richard Thomas grew up in New York City. And Michael Learned was born in Connecticut, and spent much of her youth in Europe.

Answer: Peter Weller

Peter Weller was born in Stevens Point in 1947. He grew up as an army brat, traveling around the world. He graduated from high school and college in Texas. Weller actually has a doctorate in Art History from UCLA (2014).

Weller is probably best known for his work in science fiction films such as the title role in "Robo Cop" (1987) and "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension" (1984). Weller has regularly acted in films and television since 1990. And beginning in 2012, he began working behind the camera as a director. His work includes "Hawaii 50", "The Last Ship", "McGyver" and "Magnum PI".

Kurtwood Smith actually is a Wisconsinite, born in New Lisbon, although his family moved to Los Angeles when he was young. Ronny Cox grew up in New Mexico. And Miguel Ferrer (son of actor Jose) grew up in Santa Monica.