11 CHARLES KURALT
The famous print and TV journalist was born in Wilmington in 1934 and spent the
first 11 years of his life in the Port City before the family moved to Charlotte. He was
the first anchor of CBS News Sunday Morning, but is most famous for traveling the backroads
of America in a camper to meet the people for his On the Road segments. Kuralt is buried in
Old Chapel Hill Cemetery.
12 DINO DE LAURENTIIS
An Italian-American film producer who is credited with creating “Wilmywood.” He
lived in Wrightsville Beach after opening a film and television studio, De Laurentiis
Entertainment Group, in Wilmington in the 1980s. He produced over 500 films including
Serpico, Death Wish, Conan the Barbarian, Hannibal, Red Dragon, Assassins, The Dead Zone,
Silver Bullet, and participated in Halloween II and III.
13 ROMAN GABRIEL
Born in Wilmington and played football for New Hanover High. Gabriel is noted
for being the first NFL quarterback of Filipino-American descent after becoming
the No. 2 pick in the 1962 draft. He played 11 seasons for the Los Angeles Rams and five
seasons for the Philadelphia Eagles. At NC State, he passed for 20 touchdowns and ran for 15.
14 DENNIS HOPPER
An actor whose film career started in the 1950s and included roles in Giant and
Rebel Without a Cause. He lived in Wilmington for several years after filming Blue
Velvet at Screen Gems Studios. He directed and starred in the film Easy Rider with Peter Fonda
in 1969. Other credits: Hoosiers and Speed.
15 ORLANDO JONES
A comedian, writer and actor, Jones moved to Wilmington after filming the televi-sion
series Sleepy Hollow. He is known for the comedy series MadTV and his quirky
7 Up commercials. He had his own late-night talk show, the Orlando Jones Show, for a season,
wrote for the TV shows A Different World and Roc, and co-produced The Sinbad Show.
16 ROY WILLIAMS
The UNC basketball coach has a home at Wrightsville Beach. He is one of the most
successful coaches ever, taking the Kansas Jayhawks to the Final Four three times
and winning three NCAA championships with the Tar Heels. He has won numerous coach of
the year awards and is inducted in the Basketball Hall of Fame.
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WBM october 2020