A Few Mormon Celebrities: From Glen Beck to the Osmonds. Guaranteed to be at least Culturally Mormon

Comedian Adam Sandler did three versions of the Hanukkah song that listed Jewish celebrities. Mormon children will not feel left out at Christmas because they celebrate the holiday, but sometimes it is useful to let children know about famous Mormons who are not general authorites.  Sadly, the list of Mormon celebrities is somewhat depressing compared to other religions, but that does not mean they do not exist.

The religion of an individual is not indicative of the talent they will have in a particular field, but many of the Mormon celebrities could use a little work, although some, like Orson Scott Card are among the best in their field field.

Steve Benson

The author expects to get a nasty e-mail from the Pulitzer prize winningpolitical cartoonist for including his name on this list as he is an Ex-Mormon atheist, but as the grandson of former church president, Ezra Taft Benson, Steve Benson cannot be more culturall Mormon.

Glen Beck

Conservative radio talk show host and CNN commentator Glen Beck holds a temple recommend and viewers, if they are of a disrespectful frame of mind, can play the television game where they guess whether or not he is wearing his temple garments.

(Author's Note: When this article was written, Glen Beck did work for CNN.  Beck now hosts a talk radio show and is employed by Fox News.)

Orson Scott Card

Nebula and Hugo award winning author, Orson Scott Card wrote the popular Ender's Game series of books. Most of his novels deal with Mormon theological issues that are disguised in some way, and even Ender's Game could be interpreted through the lens of Mormon doctrine, although the Mormon heological underpinnings of Ender's Game are subtle.

Gladys Knight

It may seem strange that Gladys Knight, a black woman, is a Mormon, but it should be obvious that she converted to the faith. Th Mormon church has made great efforts in overcoming its racist past, although it has not entirely shaken off this perception.   A visible African-American celebrity joining the membership does much to counter act this.Fans of Gladys Knight can sometimes catch her on the BYU channel, expounding on some bit of Mormon theology or how she has become addicted to visiting the temple.

Ricky Schroeder

Few people today remember this child star or the show he appeared in Silver Spoon. His work since leaving the small screen has focused on Mormon-themed independent films.  Schroeder appeared most recently in the independent film Saints and Soldiers.

The Osmonds

With their television presence and musical career, the Osmonds probably should have been included at the top of a listof Mormon celebrities, but everyone knows about the Osmonds and they would not likely be needed on such a list.Now that the list of Mormon celebrities have been recounted, which is no means complete, perhaps it is time to set the names to music as Adam Sandler did, but then, what reason would anyone have to do that?

Note: Warren Jeffs, although Mormon, is not and has never been a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.   The church has expended great effort trying to distance itself from the FLDS.