Entertainers, politicians, and an astronaut
Entertainers
Rosemont’s “famous son” is television personality – and original Ronald McDonald – Willard Scott, who grew up at 125 Commonwealth Avenue in the 1940s and was president of the George Washington High School class of 1951.
Actor Charles “Chip” Esten (of “Nashville” and “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”) lived on North View Terrace from age 8, and attended Maury Elementary School. In a 2013 interview with the Alexandria Gazette-Packet, he recalled winning a third-grade song-rewriting contest by changing the words of “It’s a Small World (after All)” to “It’s a great school after all.”
In the late 1980s, Dermot Mulroney was a new face in Hollywood, compared by a Washington Post article to Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks. Although Mulroney never made the “A-List” he appeared in films such as “Young Guns” and recently appeared in the NBC series “Crisis.” He also grew up in Rosemont – and was pictured in a 1974 Washington Star article about the neighborhood well before he was famous (in the backyard of 207 North View Terrace).
Comedian Casey Wilson – who appeared on Saturday Night Live and subsequently in various TV shows and movies – grew up in Rosemont.
Astronaut
Astronaut Guy Gardner (who piloted Space Shuttle missions in 1988 and 1990) primarily grew up at 409 Rucker Place, and attended both Maury Elementary School and George Washington High School.
Members of Congress
One of Rosemont’s notable – but little-remembered – residents was John F. Hunter, who represented the 9th District of Ohio in Congress between 1937 and 1943. After leaving Congress, he practiced law and starting in 1952 lived at 14 West Oak Street. In 1953, he was appointed as one of Alexandria’s two representatives on the Virginia National Capital Park Authority. Hunter passed away in 1957.
A past resident of Rosemont (at 204 West Walnut Street) was Congressman Howard W. Smith, who represented Virginia’s 8th district in the House of Representatives between 1931 and 1967, and chaired the rules committee between 1955 and 1967. His legacy is mixed – although an early advocate of women’s rights, his views on racial issues might politely be described as unenlightened, and his opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 led to his defeat in the 1966 Democratic primary. He continued to live in Rosemont until his death in 1976.