10 Famous People And Celebrities Who Decided to Live in Austin, Texas

10 Famous People And Celebrities Who Decided to Live in Austin, Texas

Texas is an attractive place to live for famous people due to its business-friendly environment, lack of state income tax, and variety of opportunities for projects and investments. Artists, singers, and filmmakers that value artistic expression are particularly drawn to Austin’s thriving entertainment scene. The laidback culture of Texas provides a respite from the intense attention that other major entertainment hubs draw, and the welcome, down-to-earth nature of Texans fosters a sense of comfort and seclusion.

Celebrities may live well without spending outrageous fees because the cost of living here is lower than in areas like Los Angeles and New York. The state’s diverse landscapes and outdoor recreation opportunities add to its allure, while strong community support and recognition for local talent ensure a comfortable life.

1. Matthew McConaughey

Matthew McConaughey .jpg All-Pro Reels from District of Columbia, USA, via Wikimedia Commons

Matthew David McConaughey is an American actor who was born on November 4, 1969. In the coming-of-age comedy Dazed and Confused (1993), he had his breakthrough role as a supporting actor. After a string of supporting appearances, his breakthrough as a leading man came in the 1996 judicial thriller A Time to Kill. His career expanded with lead roles in Contact (1997), Amistad (1997), and U-571 (2000).

McConaughey relocated to Longview, Texas, in 1980 and graduated from Longview High School. He travelled to Australia in 1988, expecting to attend a high school in Sydney. Instead, he spent a year in Warnervale, New South Wales, where he attended Gorokan High School (as a Rotary Youth Exchange student) and worked as an attorney’s assistant and an ANZ bank teller. He went to the University of Texas at Austin (UT-Austin) and was a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity. He began in the fall of 1989 and received his Bachelor of Science in Radio-Television-Film in the spring of 1993.

In 2006, McConaughey got to know Camila Alves. He proposed to Alves on December 25, 2011, and the couple wed on June 9, 2012, in Austin, Texas, where they now reside. They have three kids together.

2. Sandra Bullock

Sandra Bullock (9192365016) (cropped).jpg Eva Rinaldi, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Sandra Annette Bullock, an American actress and producer, was born on July 26, 1964. She was the highest-paid actress in the world in 2010 and 2014, and she has won numerous accolades and been nominated for numerous prizes, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. She was recognized as one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential persons in the world in 2010.

Sandra Bullock is reported to have a house in Austin, Texas, where she has lived for many years. Specifics regarding her present house or address, however, are not publicly released for privacy and security concerns. Celebrities frequently want to keep their personal addresses hidden in order to protect their safety and privacy.

3. Willie Nelson

Willie Nelson .jpg Larry Philpot from Indianapolis, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Willie Hugh Nelson is a singer, songwriter, musician, political activist, and actor from the United States. He was a key role in outlaw country, a type of country music that emerged in the late 1960s as a backlash to the Nashville sound’s conservative limitations. Nelson became one of country music’s best renowned musicians with the critical and financial success of his album Shotgun Willie (1973), as well as the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger (1975) and Stardust (1978).

Nelson has appeared in over 30 films, co-written many books, and advocated for the use of biofuels and the legalization of marijuana. Willie Nelson presently resides in Spicewood, Texas, in his 13,691 square foot mansion.

4. Elijah Wood

Elijah Wood .jpg Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, via Wikimedia Commons

Elijah Jordan Wood, an American actor and producer, was born on January 28, 1981. His most notable performances were Frodo Baggins in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) and The Lord of the Rings film trilogy (2001–2003).

Below his waist on his right side, Wood has a tattoo of the Elvish Sindarin word “nine” in Tolkien’s created Tengwar script. It makes reference to him as a member of the Fellowship of the Ring. On the list of the “10 Best Hollywood Autograph Signers” published by Autograph Collector Magazine in May 2006, Wood came in at number seven.

In an act of kindness, Wood traveled to Curepto, Chile, on April 23, 2010, one of the towns severely damaged by the 8.8-magnitude earthquake that occurred on February 27, 2010. Along with Chile’s First Lady, Cecilia Morel, he personally visited several of the victims.

A boy was born in 2019 and a daughter was born in 2022 as a result of Wood’s relationship with Danish film producer Mette-Marie Kongsved. The household is based in Austin, Texas.

5. Andy Roddick

Andy Roddick 2010.jpg John Herlong, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

American tennis player Andrew Stephen Roddick, born on August 30, 1982, formerly ranked first in the world. He won the 2003 US Open, making him a major champion. Roddick lost to rival Roger Federer in each of his other four major final appearances (Wimbledon in 2004, 2005, 2009, and the US Open in 2006). Roddick won five Masters championships during the nine years he spent in the top 10 at year’s end (2002–2010). He also played a significant role in the 2007 U.S. Davis Cup team’s successful campaign to victory.

After the 2012 US Open, Roddick ended his career as a professional tennis player to concentrate on his work with the Andy Roddick Foundation. Roddick participated in World Team Tennis in 2015 after retiring and playing for the Austin Aces. Additionally, he won the QQQ Champions Series in 2015 and 2017. Roddick received a 2017 International Tennis Hall of Fame induction. He is wed to actress and swimsuit model Brooklyn Decker.

Roddick dated singer-actress Mandy Moore from 2003 to 2004. On April 17, 2009, the pair exchanged vows in Austin, Texas. The couple announced their first child’s impending arrival on May 2, 2015. On September 30, 2015, Brooklyn gave birth to their first child. Roddick and Decker revealed they were expecting their second child in July 2017. On November 27, 2017, Brooklyn gave birth to their daughter.

6. Richard Linklater

Richard Linklater.jpg K.E.B., CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Richard Stuart Linklater, an American film director, producer, and screenwriter, was born on July 30, 1960. He is well recognized for making movies that mostly focus on suburban society and the impacts of time.

He has produced a number of comedies, such as Slacker (1990) and Dazed and Confused (1993); the romance films Before Sunrise (1995), Before Sunset (2004), and Before Midnight (2013); the comedy School of Rock (2003); the adult animated movies Waking Life (2001), A Scanner Darkly (2006), and Apollo 10 12: A Space Age Childhood (2022); the coming-of-age drama Boyhood (2014); and the comedy Everybody Wants Some!! (2016).

Linklater resides in Austin, Texas, and won’t spend much time living or working in Hollywood.
Since the 1990s, Linklater has collaborated with Christina Harrison. They welcomed a daughter in 1994 and twin girls in 2004. The oldest, Lorelei Linklater, co-starred as the title character’s sister in Boyhood.

7. Robert Rodriguez

Robert Rodriguez1.jpg Z.Elmar427, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Robert Anthony Rodriguez, an American director, composer, and visual effects supervisor, was born on June 20, 1968. Many of the movies he makes are shot, edited, produced, and include music by him in Texas and his native Mexico. The 1992 action movie El Mariachi, which Rodriguez directed, was a financial triumph after earning $2.6 million ($5.5 million in 2023 dollars) on a $7,000 ($14,937 in 2023 dollars) budget. Desperado and Once Upon a Time in Mexico, two sequels to the movie that together make up the Mexico Trilogy, were born.

After 16 years of marriage, Rodriguez and his wife Elizabeth Avellán, with whom he had five children, announced their separation in April 2006. He helped Alexa Vega (Carmen Cortez in the Spy Kids series) walk down the aisle at her marriage to producer Sean Covel in October 2010.
In Austin, Texas, at the SXSW festival in March 2014, Rodriguez displayed his collection of original paintings by Frank Frazetta.

8. Lance Armstrong

Lance Armstrong, Tour de France 2009 n2.jpg Josh Hallett, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Lance Edward Armstrong, an American former professional road racer, was born on September 18, 1971. He rose to popularity throughout the world by winning the Tour de France a record seven times straight from 1999 to 2005, but he lost his championships when it was discovered that he had used performance-enhancing substances throughout his career. Armstrong has a ranch in the Texas Hill Country as well as residences in Austin, Texas, and Aspen, Colorado.

9. Owen Wilson

Owen Wilson, Hall Pass 2011 (10).jpg Eva Rinaldi, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

American actor Owen Cunningham Wilson was born on November 18, 1968. He shared writing and acting credits for the movies Bottle Rocket (1996), Rushmore (1998), and The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) with director Wes Anderson. The latter film garnered him nominations for the Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Screenplay. Along with The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), The Darjeeling Limited (2007), Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), and The French Dispatch (2021), he also starred in these other films by Anderson.

10. Michael Dell

Michael Dell. jpg Oracle PR from Redwood Shores, Calif., USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Michael Saul Dell is a multibillionaire businessman and philanthropist from the United States who was born on February 23, 1965. He is the company’s founder, chairman, and CEO. Dell Technologies is one of the biggest global providers of technological infrastructure.

With a net worth of $51.6 billion as of April 2023, he is now the 24th richest person in the world, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. On October 28, 1989, Dell wed Susan Lieberman in Austin, Texas; the couple now resides there with their four kids.

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