List of Cajuns

This is a list of notable Cajuns, often from the Acadiana or Greater New Orleans regions of French Louisiana, though not limited in geographic origin.

To be included in this list, the person must have a Wikipedia article showing they are Cajuns or must have references showing they are Cajuns and are notable.

List

Arts, culture, and entertainment

• The Balfa Brothers were an American cajun music ensemble. Its members were five brothers; Dewey on fiddle, Will on fiddle, Rodney on guitar, harmonica, and vocals, Burkeman on triangle and spoons, and Harry on Cajun accordion.
• Vin Bruce Born Ervin "Vin" Bruce (April 25, 1932 - June 8, 2018) Singer and Songwriter. Born in Cut Off, Louisiana. Was one of the first Cajun musicians to appear on the Louisiana Hayride and Grand Ole Opry. Was known as "the King of Cajun Singers" Also, known for 1961 Jole Blon and 1979 Cajun Country songs.
• Barry Jean Ancelet, writer, folkorist, linguist[1]
• Lee Benoit, accordion player and singer
• Al Berard, Cajun fiddler, guitarist, singer and songwriter
• Carl A. Brasseaux, historian, writer
• Firmin Breaux, founder of Breaux Bridge, Louisiana
• Joseph Broussard, led Cajuns from Acadia into Louisiana
• James Lee Burke, writer
• Mary Katherine Campbell, two-time Miss America pageant winner, 1922 and 1923[2]
• Trishelle Cannatella (1979-), American actress and model of Cajun ancestry
• Lacey Chabert, actress (father of mostly Cajun descent)
• Amie Comeaux, country music singer
• Ellen DeGeneres, comedian, actress, talk-show host of The Ellen DeGeneres Show (Her father had some Cajun ancestry)
• Val Dufour (1927-2000), soap opera actor
• Edwin Duhon, musician and co-founder of the Hackberry Ramblers
• Jesse Duplantis (1949-), Evangelical Charismatic Christian minister
• Cléoma Falcon, (1906-1941) Cajun guitarist and vocalist, known for being the wife of Joe Falcon as well as being one of the first people to record Cajun music
• Joe Falcon (1900-1965), American accordionist known for being one of the first people to record Cajun music
• John Folse (1946-), Cajun chef, owner of several Louisiana restaurants
• Mary Alice Fontenot, children's author
• Mary Gauthier, folk singer/songwriter
• Bob Hamm, writer, humorist
• Hunter Hayes, accordion player and singer, both parents of part Cajun descent
• Leigh Hennessy, film actress and stunt performer
• Isadar, real name Fabian Thibodeaux; musician, recording artist
• Beau Jocque, singer and accordionist
• Doug Kershaw, singer, songwriter, fiddler
• Sammy Kershaw, country music singer; candidate for Louisiana Lt. Governor
• Angela Kinsey, actress most known for The Office
• Beyoncé Knowles, singer, songwriter, actress, descendant of Joseph Broussard on maternal side
• Shia LaBeouf, actor, father is of Cajun descent
• Ali Landry, model and actress, 1996 Miss USA[3]
• Lisa Landry, stand-up comedian
• Troy Landry, TV personality on Swamp People. https://www.earnthenecklace.com/troy-landry-wiki/
• Lash LaRue, actor
• Annie LeBlanc, internet personality
• Jared Leto, actor, musician, songwriter, director, artist, maternal grandparents Metrejon were both of Cajun descent
• Shannon Leto, actor, musician, maternal grandparents Metrejon were both of Cajun descent
• Camille Martin, poet
• Huey P. Meaux, songwriter, music producer, nicknamed "The Crazy Cajun"
• Elemore Morgan, Jr., painter
• Paul Prudhomme, chef of Cajun cuisine[4]
• Matthew Randazzo V (1984-), American true crime writer and historian known for his work on the American Mafia; born in New Orleans
• Tyran Richard (1982-), Cajun model
• Zachary Richard, musician, environmentalist, French language preservationist and founder of Action Cadienne
• George Rodrigue, painter[5]
• Amanda Shaw, singer, fiddler and actress
• Ian Somerhalder, actor, father is of half Cajun descent
• Floyd Sonnier[6]
• Stephanie Swift (1972-), pornographic actress
• Wayne Toups, musician
• Shane West (1978-), American actor from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, best known for starring in A Walk To Remember, mother is of Cajun descent
• Justin Wilson, chef,[7] comedian
• Jo-El Sonnier, musician[8][9]

Law and politics

• Kathleen Blanco, former Louisiana Governor[10]
• John Breaux, former Louisiana U.S. Senator[11]
• James Carville, political strategist
• Paul N. Cyr, Lieutenant Governor in the Huey Pierce Long, Jr. administration
• Reggie Dupre, Terrebonne Parish public official
• Edwin Edwards, former governor of Louisiana[12]
• F. Edward Hebert, former Congressman, Chairman of Armed Services Committee
• Charlie Melancon, U.S. congressman[13]
• Billy Tauzin, politician[14]

Military

• Robert H. Barrow, General; 27th Commandant of the Marine Corps, first Commandant of the Marine Corps to serve as a full member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
• Claire Lee Chennault, Texas-born aviator who commanded the American Volunteer Group of the Chinese Air Force nicknamed the "Flying Tigers" during World War II, then served in the US Army Air Force, ultimately promoted to the rank of Major General, commanding the Fourteenth Air Force. After the war, Chennault founded the Civil Air Transport firm which would later be owned by the US Central Intelligence Agency and known as Air America
• Jefferson J. DeBlanc (1921-2007), World War II Marine Corps fighter pilot and ace; shot down nine Japanese aircraft during two tours of duty in the Pacific at Guadalcanal and Okinawa; Medal of Honor recipient; retired as a Colonel after serving as commander, Marine Air Reserve Group 18
• Robert B. Landry, Major General; Air Force aide to President Harry Truman, February 1948 to February 1953; chief of combat operations of the 8th Fighter Command; commanding officer of the 56th Fighter Group; director of fighters, Eighth Air Force; executive officer, 93rd Combat Wing (Heavy); and commanding officer, 493rd Bomb Group, Heavy; deputy commander of the Second Air Force, Strategic Air Command, at Barksdale Air Force Base until Feb. 1, 1955 when he assumed command of the Fourth Air Force at Hamilton Air Force Base, Calif.[15][16]
• John A. Lejeune, Lt. General; 13th and most celebrated Commandant of the Marine Corps. In the Marine Corps' annual celebration of its establishment on November 10, 1775, Commandant Lejeune's personal farewell message to the Marine Corps has been read every year since 1921
• Alfred Mouton, Brigadier General, Confederate States Army during the American Civil War
• Oliver Naquin, Admiral, U.S. Navy (ret.), commander of the submarine USS Squalus during the Battle of Midway, and was present at the Japanese surrender which ended World War II
• Pierre Gustave Toutant-Beauregard, Brigadier General, Confederate States Army during the American Civil War
• Francis T. Nicholls, Brigadier General, Confederate States Army, fought at First Battle of Bull Run, the Shenandoah Valley Campaign and the Battle of Chancellorsville during the American Civil War. Served as the Governor of Louisiana from 1876 to 1880 and then from 1888 to 1892.

Sports

• Caleb Blanchard, bodybuilding champion and fitness model
• Calvin Borel, hall of fame jockey
• Reid Brignac, self-proclaimed "Cajun God of Baseball", shortstop for the Tampa Bay Rays, born in St. Amant, Louisiana[17]
• Bubby Brister, former NFL quarterback for the Steelers, Eagles, Broncos
• Roy Corcoran, baseball pitcher for the Houston Astros
• Lance Cormier, baseball pitcher
• Eddie Delahoussaye, hall of fame jockey[18]
• Jake Delhomme, former NFL quarterback
• Kent Desormeaux, hall of fame jockey
• Armand Duplantis, pole vaulter, born in Lafayette, Louisiana, is of Cajun descent by his father Greg
• Mike Fontenot, Philadelphia Phillies baseball player
• Eric Guerin, hall of fame jockey[19]
• Ron Guidry, former baseball player[5]
• Bobby Hebert, former NFL quarterback[20]
• Leigh Hennessy, world champion gymnast
• Tom Landry, coach, Dallas Cowboys
• Stefan LeFors, football quarterback[21]
• John LeRoux, professional wrestler
• Gil Meche, baseball pitcher for the Kansas City Royals
• Ed Orgeron, LSU Tigers head football coach
• Xavier Paul, Cincinnati Reds outfielder
• Bob Pettit, hall of fame basketball forward
• Andy Pettitte, starting pitcher for the New York Yankees
• Dustin Poirier, mixed martial artist[22]
• Ryan Theriot, infielder for the San Francisco Giants, born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana[23]

Fictional characters

• Amos Moses, from Jerry Reed's song "Amos Moses"
• Leatherhead, considered a Cajun for the 1987 version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
• Remy LeBeau, aka Gambit, long-standing member of the X-Men, is a New Orleans native who is proud of his Cajun heritage.
• In the film The Magnificent Seven (1960), lead character Chris Adams, played by Yul Brynner, is a Cajun.
• Bobby Boucher, main character played by Adam Sandler in the film The Waterboy
• Guillaume "Bill" Dauterive, from the cartoon King of the Hill. They travel to Louisiana in the episode titled "A Beer Can Named Desire", where Bill demonstrates his proficiency in Cajun/Creole French. As Bill had never learned French before, it's implied that he just instinctively knew it. While his only living cousin, Gilbert, who even more sounds and acts like stereotypically Cajun.
• Jay "Chef" Hicks, U.S. Navy Swiftboat engineman who brings Captain Benjamin Willard to Colonel Walter E. Kurtz in Apocalypse Now
• Polycarp, host of the children's TV show Polycarp and Pals broadcast locally by KATC television channel 3, Lafayette, Louisiana
• Bayou Billy, video game and comic book character in The Adventures of Bayou Billy for the Nintendo Entertainment System by Konami
• Dave Robicheaux, the central character of James Lee Burke's award-winning crime novels set in New Iberia and New Orleans
• In the 1960s TV series Combat!, about a U.S. Army infantry squad in World War II France, regular squad member PFC Paul LeMay was Cajun and known as "Caje"; he often served as an interpreter when interacting with the French locals. "Caje" was played by Pierre Jalbert, who was actually French-Canadian.
• In the film Universal Soldier, the lead character, Luc Devreaux, played by Jean-Claude Van Damme, is a Cajun from the town of Meraux.
• In the film Hard Target, the lead character Chance Boudreaux, played by Jean-Claude Van Damme, is a Cajun from Bayou Lafourche in Southern Louisiana.
• In the GI Joe franchise, Gung-Ho (real name Etienne R. LaFitte) is a Cajun from the fictional Fer-de-Lance, Louisiana
• In the webcomic Lackadaisy by Tracy J. Butler, two anthropomorphic cats, Nico and Serafine Savoy, are Cajuns.
• In David Lynch's film Wild at Heart, sisters Perdita and Juana Durango are Cajun.
• Rene Lenier, in the HBO series True Blood
• Louisiana Story (1948, B&W) director: Robert Flaherty
• Southern Comfort (1981, color) directed by Walter Hill, depicts Cajuns deep in the Louisiana swamps defending their homes from a perceived assault from a small unit of the Louisiana Army National Guard.
• Virgil, boat pilot in the video game Left 4 Dead 2, likely a Cajun
• Ray, the firefly in Disney's The Princess and the Frog (2009)
• Abby Sciuto, forensic scientist in the CBS prime-time adventure/crime series NCIS
• Aloysius Pendergast, special agent with the United States FBI, and a central character in the novels of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
• Nick Gautier, character in Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter series and main protagonist in the Chronicles of Nick spinoff series
• Leon Micheaux, Cajun jockey on the HBO drama Luck
• Raoul "Gator" Fontenot, in Christine Feehan's GhostWalkers series, protagonist in the book Night Game
• Remy Mackswain, character in the movie The Big Easy played by Dennis Quaid
• Misty Day, Cajun witch played by Lily Rabe in the FX miniseries American Horror Story: Coven
• Eduard Delacroix, a death row inmate in Stephen King's novel The Green Mile and the film based on the novel
• Ladonna Compson, a third grader introduced in Season 16 of Arthur, likely a Cajun
• Goodnight "Goody" Robicheaux, one from main characters from The Magnificent Seven (2016 film), is Cajun Ex-Confederate sharpshooter suffering of PTSD.
• Claude Robichaud, a secondary character in the novel A Confederacy of Dunces who takes interest in Ignatius J. Reilly's mother and who hates communists.

See also

• List of Acadians
• List of French Americans
• List of Louisiana Creoles
• List of people related to Cajun music

References

1. "Barry Jean Ancelet is a native Louisiana French-speaking Cajun, born in Church Point and raised in Lafayette."
2. "New Beauty Queen Ideal". New York Times. 1922-09-10. "The Ideal Beauty Queen."
3. Landy - "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved July 1, 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) "A Cajun and Breaux Bridge native, Ali Landry was crowned Miss USA in February 1996 at age twenty-two." . m/alil/
4. FrenchQuarter.com: Celebrity French Quarter Chefs
5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-02-16. Retrieved 2013-07-01.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) "Just like George, he's a nice, country, Cajun guy, who left Louisiana to follow his dream and continued that dream by returning to his roots."
6. "A young French-speaking Cajun boy..."
7. "Being half Louisiana French himself..."
8. "Jo-El Sonnier", Wikipedia, 2020-09-01, retrieved 2021-01-01
9. "Jo-El Sonnier | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 2021-01-01.
10. "she was nicknamed the "Cajun Grandma" and won the election to become the top elected official in the state." ""So many people in Louisiana actually speak French every day and feel French, and I think they're a little disappointed about the situation", says Lt. Gov. Kathleen Blanco, a French Acadian whose maiden name was Babineaux. "We're looking at a 200-year historical time when France was our greatest ally.""
11. "John Breaux, a close friend and fellow Cajun."
12. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2006-06-18. Retrieved 2006-06-16.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) "Louisiana's notorious Cajun politician, Edwin Edwards, who was elected governor four times. He currently resides in the Federal Correctional Institution in Oakdale, Louisiana."
13. News for New Orleans, Louisiana | Lafourche/Terrebonne News | News for New Orleans, Louisiana | wwltv.com Archived 2005-11-20 at the Wayback Machine
15. https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Biographies/Display/Article/106440/major-general-robert-b-landry/
16. https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/library/oral-histories/landryr
17. The Official Site of The Tampa Bay Rays: Team: Player Information
18. "The California-based Delahoussaye, a Cajun from New Iberia, La., is one of the best riders in Kentucky Derby history."
19. "Eric Guerin, the twenty-eight-year-old Cajun jockey who rode all of Vanderbilt's top horses under a contract arrangement."
20. "The Cajun Cannon" "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2006-02-02. Retrieved 2006-06-16.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
21. Washington Times - Barrow, Morton among likely cuts
22. Finley, Duane, ed. (3 July 2016). "Dustin Poirier: Take the Power Back". FloCombat. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
23. The Official Site of The Chicago Cubs: Team: Player Information