Sometimes a famous face, or even a name, is enough for a city to come to mind. The Beatles and Liverpool, for example, are indissoluble.
With celebrity connections in mind, here are 10 somewhat offbeat city envoys in North America.
The actor who loves to go shirtless may be the most visible resident of Austin, Texas. The college town was first home to McConaughey when he was a student at the University of Texas and vocal supporter of the Longhorns football team. Now the Hollywood hotshot has a ranch within the city limits, where he was famously put under arrest for marijuana possession in 1999.
Athens, Georgia – not Greece – is by all accounts, offbeat. The town of 175,000 people has a counterculture spirit that gave rise a few decades ago to a legendary alternative rock scene. Despite – or perhaps because of – the conservative bent of the state of Georgia, bands like The B-52’s, Indigo Girls and Widespread Panic came to prominence, first from the stage of the 40 Watt Club. R.E.M. however, really put Athens, Georgia on the map. The group has sold tens of millions of records around the world since Murmur in 1983. Members Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Bill Berry still maintain homes in the city.
The foremost billionaire in the world as of February 2008, Warren Buffet is inseparable from his native city and indeed, the state of Nebraska. The Hall of Fame investor with a fortune in excess of $60 billion USD, still has lunch at the same modest diner in Omaha when in town. “The Oracle of Omaha” is perhaps more famous for his frugality than his immense wealth in fact. In 2006 he made his city proud with the donation of 10 million Berkshire Hathaway shares to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, worth about $30.7 billion USD at the time.
The eccentric entrepreneur who with Bill Gates, began a little company in 1975 that did rather well, has been good to his native city. His Microsoft billions have made him a major force in the business and real estate sectors, with stakes in DreamWorks and the South Lake Union biotechnology area of Seattle. The most visible symptoms that Allen owns the city however, are in the sports and recreation departments. He owns the Seattle Seahawks of the NFL, the new MLS franchise about to kick off in 2009, as well as the Portland Trailblazers of the NBA. The Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum Hall of Fame, both brainchild projects of Allen, are the most popular tourist attractions in Seattle.
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Though a native of Quebec City, where he spent the bulk of his formative years, the founder and CEO of Cirque de Soleil has a strong association with Montreal. The impressive Cirque headquarters is here and many spectacles set to tour around the world debut in the Old Port of the city. To boot, Lalibert? has a majestic palatial home in a small community on the South Shore of Montreal island. For years, the mansion was the host of the most exclusive VIP F1 party in the world, held the Sunday night of the popular race. In years past the party was either held at the Cirque headquarters or secret locations around the city. With his recent interests in Las Vegas – Cirque de Soleil shows in Sin City include Love, Myst?re, O, K? and Zumanity – and other parts of the world, Lalibert? has less time for Montreal. Nonetheless, with family still in Quebec, his connections to the city remain strong.
With so many icon ambassadors, from Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro, to Spike Lee and Jay-Z, New York is a tough city to consider. But when you think about it, one person stands head and shoulders above the rest. His rare appearance at the Oscars in 2002 to deliver a heartfelt soliloquy in the wake of the 9/11 disaster did more to lift the collective spirits of Manhattan residents than any Presidential or political address. His body of work – from Manhattan and Hannah and Her Sisters, to Radio Days and Bullets Over Broadway – is a virtual love poem to the city. On the rare occasion he makes a film not set in Manhattan, as in recent years, it makes international headlines. Indeed, Woody Allen is New York.
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Photo credits: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Even if some may say R.E.M. is getting long in the tooth, it is still great fun to keep an eye out for the guys in the Athens clubs or at events. They’ve been known to play a tune or two, and even if you don’t spot them, there are dozens of other bands to listen to just about every night of the week. The live music scene is still really good in Athens. Great bands, and the cover charges are minimal.
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