From former U.S. presidents to film stars, these celebrities have a few Boy Scout badges among them
25 Famous People You Didn’t Know Were Boy Scouts
Updated on Jul. 23, 2025
Neil Armstrong
The first man to walk on the moon was indeed a member of the famous Boy Scouts of America. Neil Armstrong earned his Eagle Scout Award as a member of Wapakoneta, Ohio’s Troop 14, back in 1947. He took that iconic walk on the moon 22 years later, in 1969.
Fun fact: On his way to the moon, Armstrong sent this message to the organization’s National Jamboree: “Hello to all my fellow Scouts at Farragut State Park in Idaho … Apollo 11 would like to send them best wishes.”
Martin Luther King Jr.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a registered Boy Scout from age 11 to 13 with Troop 151 in Atlanta, according to Boys Life. The civil rights activist started college at the age of 15 after skipping the ninth and twelfth grades, leaving little time for a scouting career past the age of 13.
Jimmy Buffett
Before he was singing about wasting away in Margaritaville, musician Jimmy Buffett was a Boy Scout. This Grammy Award–winning musician, a jack-of-all-trades who was also a writer and entrepreneur, died in 2023, but the range of his skills and accomplishments could definitely be traced back to scouting. “I’m a pretty good field medic,” he said in an interview with Men’s Journal. “From my Boy Scout days, I can patch people up. I can do stitches, which comes in handy in remote surf breaks.”
Harrison Ford
Not only did Harrison Ford work his way up to Life Scout (the second-highest ranking in the Boy Scouts organization), but he also rescued a fellow scout back in 2001. Ford is an avid flyer, often piloting his own air transportation, and while the actor was flying his helicopter he swooped in to help a 13-year-old Boy Scout who had been lost in Yellowstone National Park overnight. What a hero!
John Wayne
An icon of the Western movie genre, it should be of no surprise that growing up John Wayne (real name Marion Morrison) was a Boy Scout. The BSA even dedicated a campsite to the star: The John Wayne Outpost Camp was established in 1979, and is located at the Boy Scouts Los Angeles Area Council’s Lake Arrowhead Scout Camps.
Michael Jordan
NBA icon Michael Jordan learned to play basketball on his family’s backyard court in Wilmington, North Carolina, but that wasn’t his only extracurricular activity. That’s right, Jordan is a member of the famous Boy Scouts club. In a 1993 People magazine article, Deloris Jordan talked about the importance of being involved in her children’s lives. “We didn’t do anything for Michael that we didn’t do for our four others,” she said. “PTA, Boy Scouts, band—our kids were our life. James (Jordan’s father) and I were so involved with our children that after they left home, we had to meet one another all over again.”
Jimmy Stewart
Classic movie star Jimmy Stewart was a Boy Scout in his hometown of Indiana, Pennsylvania. He appreciated the organization’s values so much that he maintained a connection with them even as an adult. Because of his dedication to the BSA, they established the James M. Stewart Good Citizenship Award in 2003, presenting the first one at the Indiana County Bicentennial Boy Scout Camporee.
George W. Bush
Every President of the United States becomes an honorary Boy Scout for the organization, whether they participated in scouting in their youth or not. But some presidents were the real deal. George W. Bush spent time as a Cub Scout growing up in Texas, and, like other presidents, he addressed scouts at their jamboree during his presidency. In his 2005 speech Bush said, “Every day, Scouts are showing that the greatest strength of America lies in the hearts and souls of our citizens.”
Gerald Ford
Several United States presidents enjoyed the benefits of being a Cub Scout during their childhood, but only one worked his way up to the status of Eagle Scout, and that was Gerald Ford. According to Scouting Magazine, he earned the award in 1927 when he was a member of Troop 15 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Ford later received the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award in 1970, which is an additional honorary title, and he is one of the most powerful and famous Boy Scouts in history.
Bill Gates
Bill Gates was a scout during the 1960s and 1970s in his hometown of Seattle. In 2010, he received BSA’s highest honor, the Silver Buffalo Award, for his efforts to assist youths. “The merit badges I received: Basket weaving. Wood carving. I was really good at those things. And imagine if I hadn’t learned those things?” he said upon accepting the award. “Now, I understand that they’ve updated their merit badge program. They’ve got nuclear science, American business, they’ve got computers. So, it is interesting, I might have to go back and get a few.”
Buzz Aldrin
The moon was visited by another Boy Scout-turned-astronaut. Buzz Aldrin, the second man to make a moonwalk, was a scout in his youth, achieving the rank of Tenderfoot, according to Scouter Life. Aldrin is said to have logged 289 hours and 53 minutes in space when you count his time in both the Gemini and Apollo programs.
Nolan Ryan
Baseball great Nolan Ryan was a Cub Scout in 1956, and during that time, he joined the Alvin Rangers Little League team in his home state of Texas. Suffice it to say, the latter had a great deal of influence on his future career. Ryan has said his memories of scouting left an indelible mark on his childhood.
Wynton and Branford Marsalis
Musicians Wynton and Branford Marsalis admittedly have strikingly different personalities (growing up, Wynton was allegedly the more focused of the two, becoming an Eagle Scout at age 12). However, one thing the musical brothers did have in common was their commitment to scouting. “Wynton was very disciplined,” Branford tells People magazine. “He knew when he was 12 that he wanted to be a musician. I just wanted to be an adolescent knucklehead, and I was very good at that.”
Zach Galifianakis
Funnyman Zach Galifianakis achieved the rank of Eagle Scout while growing up in North Carolina’s Appalachian foothills. While he doesn’t speak much about his time as a scout, it may have inspired his sense of humor. The actor admits he eagerly awaited the silly puns that appeared in Boys’ Life on their “Think and Grin” joke page. The magazine is, of course, an official publication of the BSA.
Jay Leno
Late night talk show host and comedian Jay Leno may owe his career choice to his time in the Boy Scouts. Leno, who lives with dyslexia, has said he didn’t feel he was a good scout because the condition made it difficult for him to complete some of the tasks, like tying knots. Fortunately, he had an excellent Scoutmaster who elected Leno to be his troop’s cheermaster, encouraging the young boy to tell jokes to keep the rest of the group’s mood up.
Steven Spielberg
The famous Boy Scouts list can count at least one Oscar winner among its alumni. Steven Spielberg was a member and, at 11 years old, actually set his film career into motion when he made a nine-minute short to earn a photography merit badge. The film, which he created using his dad’s 8mm camera, was called The Last Gunfight. Spielberg’s 2022 film, The Fablemans, a semi-autobiographical drama, centers on a character named Sammy Fableman. The story draws inspiration from his life when he was around 8 years old, living in Arizona and an active member of the local Scout troop.
John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy, before joining the White House, had reached the level of Star Scout during his childhood career in the BSA. He kept up with the Scouts well into his political career. As a scout, he was a member of Troop 2 in Bronxville, New York, and later held many positions in the organization’s Boston district, including as district vice chairman, executive board member and national council representative. Then, in 1961, as POTUS, he became the National Honorary President.
Richard Gere
He may not have made it to the high rank of Eagle Scout, but Richard Gere did spend some time as a BSA member back in the day. He maintains the organization’s philanthropic spirit in his adult life, focusing on humanitarian causes like HIV/AIDS and homelessness. He created The Gere Foundation and contributes directly to The Tibet Fund, which supports the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan community-in-exile.
Bill Clinton
Former President Bill Clinton was a Cub Scout back in his day. When he addressed the BSA’s Jamboree in 1997, he applauded the organization and its members for their dedication to volunteerism. “For almost a century, the Boy Scouts of America have helped to make volunteer service an American ideal,” said Clinton. “With every act of kindness, you’ve strengthened our nation’s commitment to community and promoted a sense of civic responsibility.”
Chris Pratt
On Twitter in 2016, while mentioning a donation to help out a current Scout in need, actor Chris Pratt mentioned that he was once a scout. The actor is well-known for his philanthropic efforts, even donating $500,000 in his father’s name to create the Dan Pratt Memorial Teen Center, which became part of the Boys & Girls Club of Snohomish County in Lake Stevens, Washington.
George Takei
After President Donald Trump’s controversial speech at a Boy Scout Jamboree in 2017, actor George Takei took to Twitter to share his scouting experience and disappointment over the appearance. “I served proudly as a Boy Scout in my youth,” he tweeted. “Trump has none of the virtues of a scout, and his speech to them was, like him, embarrassing.”
Sam Walton
According to Time, the Boy Scouts of America counts Bill Gates as their most successful member. However, Walmart founder Sam Walton is reportedly the highest-earning Eagle Scout in terms of net worth, as Gates only reached the level of Life Scout (which is the ranking below Eagle Scout). We’re going to go out on a limb and say that Gates isn’t crying any tears over this apparent slight.
L. Ron Hubbard
Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard is the only known former Boy Scout to have created a religion. While there have been rumors that Hubbard was the youngest person ever to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout at the age of 13, that belief has been largely disputed.
Mike Rowe
The Dirty Jobs star was famously an Eagle Scout. “It was a vibrant space where you really could test yourself and fail in a way that, on the one hand, made you safe enough to attempt, but on the other hand didn’t try to check every box and please every single person,” he told Fox News host Tucker Carlson in an interview.
Derek Hough
The Dancing with the Stars phenom is yet another famous Boy Scout face who continues to be very supportive of scouting in general. “As a kid, I was a Boy Scout and my dad was very into the outdoors, so we would take these big road trips every year for my birthday and go camping and see all the amazing parks,” he told the Washington Post.
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Sources:
- Men’s Journal: “Life Advice from Jimmy Buffett”
- People: “Michael Jordan”
- Scouting Magazine: “Remembering Gerald R. Ford, our only Eagle Scout president (so far)”
- Scouter Life: “Scouting Astronauts”
- The Jimmy Stewart Museum: “Scouts BSA”
- WGNO: “New Orleans musical families: the Marsalis families”
- Time: “How Eagle Scouts Have Made Their Mark on America”
- Scouting Magazine: “Did you notice the Scouts in ‘The Fabelmans’ trailer?”
- YouTube: “President Clinton at Boy Scout Jamboree (1997)”
- JFK Library: “Remarks of Senator John F. Kennedy at the Boy Scouts of America Annual Luncheon, New York City, January 16, 1958”
- Scouting Magazine: “Meet 115 Scouts who became famous”
- Forbes: “Billionaire Boy Scouts”
