FAMOUS PARKITES
From the Re-Echo, Winter 2004

St. Louis Park has had many people who have gone on to become rich and famous – or at least famous. Did you know that the prime minister of Greece, Andreas Papandreou, lived at 41st and Brunswick in the 1950s? On the national level, Guy Bannister, an FBI agent and figure in the JFK assassination lived at 31st and Edgewood, also in the ‘50s. And the man who played Wyatt Earp on TV, Hugh O’Brien, visited his folks while they lived in the Park for about six years in the 1940s. Amelita Galli-Curci, an internationally renowned opera singer, was a frequent guest of her brother-in-law, who lived in Oak Hill. Sports broadcaster Halsey Hall, the man who invented the phrase “Holy Cow!” lived at 32nd and Alabama for 55 years.

Of the baby boom generation, we have some nationally-known folks as well, starting with Ethan and Joel Coen, who lived at 14th and Flag. They did not graduate from Park High opting for a college in Massachusetts that accepted students as young as 16. Al Franken lived on W. 25th Street and Thomas Friedman on W. 23rd Street. Prince drummer Bobby Z (nee Robert Rivkin), his brothers David and Steven grew up at 37th and Glenhurst. Then there are two sportscasters Mark Rosen (Stanlen Road) and Jeff Passolt (W. 26th Street). For more information and pictures of these boyhood homes, come see us at the Historical Society. If you know of any other famous Parkites, please contact us.

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This information comes from a variety of sources: newspapers, books, yearbooks, phone directories, interviews, etc. Given the varied sources, we cannot guarantee that all of this information is correct, and welcome any additions and corrections. Please contact us with your contributions and comments.