Famous People from Illinois

• Addams, Jane (Cedarville)

  1931 Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of Hull-House

• Alinsky, Saul (Chicago)

  The father of community organizing

• Allen, Joan (Rochelle)

  Pat Nixon in Oliver Stone's Nixon

• Anderson, Gillian (Chicago)

  Alien-hunting Dana Scully on The X-Files

• Arquette, Patricia (Chicago)

  The Oscar-winning mom from the film Boyhood

• Ashcroft, John (Chicago)

  U.S. Attorney General 2001-05

• Auel, Jean M. (Chicago)

  The author of The Clan of the Cave Bear

• Belushi, John (Chicago)

  Bluto in Animal House

• Black, Karen (Park Ridge)

  Jack Nicholson's girlfriend in Five Easy Pieces

• Blackstone, Harry Sr. (Chicago)

  Stage magician with elaborate props, 1910-60

• Blagojevich, Rod (Chicago)

  The governor of Illinois who was kicked out in 2009

• Bosley, Tom (Chicago)

  Mr. C, the dad on TV's Happy Days

• Bradbury, Ray (Waukegan)

  Author of Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Chronicles

• Brott, Armin (Chicago)

  The author of the parenting book The Expectant Father

• Bryan, William Jennings

  The populist politician who defended the Bible in the Scopes trial

• Burris, Roland W. (Centralia)

  The Illinois senator appointed by impeached Governor Rod Blagojevich

• Busey, Brook (Lemont)

  The former blogger and stripper who wrote the movie Juno

• Chandler, Raymond (Chicago)

  The creator of detective Philip Marlowe

• Clark, Wesley K. (Chicago)

  Former NATO commander and presidential hopeful

• Clinton, Hillary Rodham (Chicago)

  The former First Lady who became the Democratic nominee for president in 2016

• Clowes, Daniel (Chicago)

  He did Ghost World and Art School Confidential

• Coleman, Gary (Zion)

  Short star of TV's Diff'rent Strokes

• Common (Chicago)

  The rapper who co-wrote the theme from Selma

• Conrad, Robert (Chicago)

  The star of TV's The Wild Wild West

• Cornelius, Don (Chicago)

  The creator and host of the musical TV show Soul Train

• Craig, Yvonne (Taylorville)

  Batgirl on the 1960s TV series Batman

• Crawford, Cindy (De Kalb)

  The supermodel's supermodel

• Crichton, Michael (Chicago)

  The author of Jurassic Park

• Cusack, John (Evanston)

  The star of High Fidelity and Hot Tub Time Machine

• Davis, Miles (Alton)

  Composer/performer of Kind of Blue

• Dern, Bruce (Chicago)

  The Oscar-nominated star of the 2013 film Nebraska

• Dick, Philip K. (Chicago)

  The mind-bending sci-fi author of "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"

• Disney, Walt (Chicago)

  The creator of Mickey Mouse and Disneyland

• Duncan, Arne (Chicago)

  U.S. Secretary of Education, 2009-2015

• Earp, Wyatt (Monmouth)

  Doc Holliday's friend at the O.K. Corral

• Ebert, Roger (Urbana)

  The "two thumbs up" movie critic and TV personality

• Ellsberg, Daniel (Chicago)

  The whistleblower who released the Pentagon Papers in 1971

• Emanuel, Rahm (Chicago)

  Mayor of Chicago, 2011-present

• Fischer, Bobby (Chicago)

  The American chess champ who beat Boris Spassky in 1972

• Flatley, Michael (Chicago)

  The fleet-footed creator of Lord of the Dance

• Flockhart, Calista (Freeport)

  The star of the 1990s TV show Ally McBeal

• Ford, Betty (Chicago)

  The former First Lady who founded the Betty Ford Center

• Ford, Harrison (Chicago)

  The actor who plays Indiana Jones

• Fosse, Bob (Chicago)

  The director and choreographer of the Broadway show Chicago

• Franz, Dennis (Maywood)

  Detective Sipowicz on TV's NYPD Blue

• Franzen, Jonathan (Western Springs)

  Author of The Corrections

• Friedan, Betty (Peoria)

  The author of 'The Feminine Mystique'

• Friedkin, William (Chicago)

  The director of The French Connection and The Exorcist

• Gacy, John Wayne (Chicago)

  The "Killer Clown" who buried his victims in his house

• Garland, Merrick (Chicago)

  The judge unsuccessfully nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2016

• Goalsevelt, Teddy (Chicago)

  The unofficial mascot of US fans at the 2014 World Cup

• Goodman, Benny (Chicago)

  Clarinetist nicknamed "The King of Swing"

• Gorey, Edward (Chicago)

  The macabre illustrator who did the opening for the PBS show Mystery!

• Griffin, Kathy (Oak Park)

  The celebrity-bashing star of My Life on the D-List

• Hampton, Fred (Maywood)

  The young Black Panther murdered by Chicago police in 1969

• Hannah, Daryl (Chicago)

  The mermaid in Splash

• Hansberry, Lorraine (Chicago)

  The author of A Raisin in the Sun

• Hastert, Dennis (Aurora)

  The former Speaker of the House who was indicted for 'hush money' banking crimes in 2015

• Heatherton, Erin (Skokie)

  Lanky blonde model for Victoria's Secret

• Hefner, Hugh (Chicago)

  Founder of the Playboy empire

• Hemingway, Ernest (Oak Park)

  The famously manly author of For Whom the Bell Tolls

• Hersh, Seymour (Chicago)

  The journalist who broke the story of the My Lai Massacre

• Heston, Charlton (Evanston)

  Moses in the 1956 film The Ten Commandments

• Hickok, "Wild Bill" (Troy Grove)

  The frontiersman shot from behind in Deadwood

• Hokinson, Helen (Mendota)

  Cartoonist of urban matrons for The New Yorker

• Holden, William (O'Fallon)

  The Oscar-winning star of Stalag 17

• Howard, Terrence (Chicago)

  Star of the film Hustle & Flow

• Hudson, Jennifer (Chicago)

  The American Idol contestant who won an Oscar for Dreamgirls

• Hudson, Rock (Winnetka)

  The star of the film Giant

• Hunt, Bonnie (Chicago)

  The mom in those Beethoven dog movies

• Jenkins, Richard

  The guy from 'Six Feet Under' and 'The Shape of Water'

• Jones, Quincy (Chicago)

  The jazz/pop maestro who produced Michael Jackson's album Thriller

• Kaczynski, Ted (Evergreen Park)

  The so-called Unabomber

• Kelly, R. (Chicago)

  The singer of "I Believe" who went to prison for sex trafficking

• Kennedy, Ethel (Chicago)

  The wife of Senator Robert F. Kennedy

• Kilgallen, Dorothy (Chicago)

  The New York journalist who died "mysteriously" while investigating JFK’s death

• Koenig, Walter (Chicago)

  Mr. Chekov on TV's Star Trek

• Krauss, Alison (Decatur)

  Bluegrass fiddler and singer of "When You Say Nothing At All"

• Kroc, Ray (Oak Park)

  The entrepreneur behind the fast food chain McDonald's

• Krzyzewski, Mike (Chicago)

  The longtime men's basketball coach at Duke University

• LaHood, Ray (Peoria)

  U.S. Secretary of Transportation, 2009-13

• Lansing, Sherry (Chicago)

  The first woman to head a Hollywood movie studio

• Ludacris (Champaign)

  Rapper who did "Southern Hospitality"

• Lynch, Jane (Dolton)

  Cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester on the TV show Glee

• Madsen, Virginia (Chicago)

  Maya in the 2004 film Sideways

• Malick, Terrence (Ottawa)

  The Oscar-nominated director of The Thin Red Line

• Malkovich, John (Christopher)

  Titular star of Being John Malkovich

• Mamet, David (Chicago)

  The playwright who wrote Glengarry Glen Ross

• Marling, Brit (Chicago)

  Star of the TV series 'The OA'

• Mayfield, Curtis (Chicago)

  The funky and soulful composer for the film Superfly

• McCarthy, Jenny (Chicago)

  The host of MTV's Singled Out and (briefly) ABC's The View

• McCarthy, Melissa (Plainfield)

  The big, raucous bridesmaid in the movie Bridesmaids

• McDormand, Frances (Chicago)

  The star of the movie Fargo

• McGruder, Aaron (Chicago)

  Creator of the comic The Boondocks

• Metcalf, Laurie

  Aunt Jackie on 'Roseanne' and the mom in 'Lady Bird'

• Moseley-Braun, Carol (Chicago)

  The first African-American woman elected to the U.S. Senate

• Murphy, Ryan (Swimmer) (Palos Heights)

  The backstroke champion at the Rio Olympics

• Murray, Bill (Wilmette)

  Comic star of Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day

• Ness, Eliot (Chicago)

  The G-Man who nabbed Al Capone

• Newhart, Bob (Oak Park)

  Deadpan star of the sitcom Newhart

• Nichols, Nichelle (Robbins)

  Lt. Uhura in the original Star Trek TV series

• Novak, Kim (Chicago)

  The blonde in Vertigo

• Novak, Robert (Joliet)

  Political columnist and former co-host of TV's Crossfire

• Obama, Malia (Chicago)

  The older daughter of President Barack Obama

• Obama, Michelle (Chicago)

  First Lady of the United States, 2009-2017

• Obama, Sasha (Chicago)

  The younger daughter of President Barack Obama

• Odenkirk, Bob (Naperville)

  The star of Better Call Saul

• Offerman, Nick (Joliet)

  Ron Swanson on the series Parks and Recreation

• Pennebaker, D.A. (Evanston)

  The documentarian who made Dylan's 'Don't Look Back'

• Petersen, William (Evanston)

  Star of the TV crime drama C.S.I.

• Prine, John (Maywood)

  The singer/songwriter who did "Angel From Montgomery"

• Pryor, Richard (Peoria)

  The comedian who recorded Live on the Sunset Strip

• Ramis, Harold (Chicago)

  The director of Groundhog Day

• Rayburn, Gene (Christopher)

  Host of TV's Match Game

• Ray, James Earl (Alton)

  The man who killed Martin Luther King, Jr.

• Reagan, Ronald (Tampico)

  40th President of the United States, 1981-89

• Reilly, John C. (Chicago)

  The star of Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

• Richards, Denise (Downer's Grove)

  Star of the 'reality' show It's Complicated

• Ruby, Jack (Chicago)

  Assassin of Lee Harvey Oswald

• Rumsfeld, Donald (Chicago)

  U.S. Secretary of Defense, 2001-2006

• Sajak, Pat (Chicago)

  Host of TV's Wheel of Fortune

• Sandburg, Carl (Galesburg)

  Author of the poem Chicago

• Scott-Heron, Gil (Chicago)

  The writer and performer of 1970's "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised"

• Shandling, Garry (Chicago)

  The creator and star of The Larry Sanders Show

• Sheldon, Sidney (Chicago)

  The author of The Other Side of Midnight

• Shepard, Sam (Fort Sheridan)

  The actor/playwright who wrote 'Fool for Love' and 'True West'

• Shriver, Maria (Chicago)

  NBC News correspondent and wife of Arnold Schwarzenegger

• Silverstein, Shel (Chicago)

  Author of Where the Sidewalk Ends

• Smith, Patti (Chicago)

  The poet-rocker who wrote the memoir 'Just Kids'

• Squibb, June (Vandalia)

  The foul-mouthed mom in Nebraska

• Sterling, Donald (Chicago)

  The NBA owner who was banned from the league for racist remarks

• Stevens, John Paul (Chicago)

  Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, 1975-2010

• Stevenson, McLean (Normal)

  Lt. Col. Henry Blake on TV's M*A*S*H

• Swanson, Gloria (Chicago)

  Early screen legend who's in Sunset Blvd.

• Tanning, Dorothea (Galesburg)

  The surrealist artist who did Birthday and was married to Max Ernst

• Till, Emmett (Chicago)

  The Black teenager murdered in Mississippi in 1955

• Vance, Danitra (Chicago)

  The first female African-American regular on Saturday Night Live

• Van Dyke, Jerry (Danville)

  The co-star of the TV series Coach

• Wade, Dwyane (Chicago)

  Miami Heat guard called "Flash" and "D-Wade"

• Wadlow, Robert (Alton)

  The world's tallest man

• Waithe, Lena (Chicago)

  Writer/producer of the film 'Queenie & Slim' and Denise from 'Master of None'

• Watson, James (Chicago)

  Co-discoverer of the structure of DNA

• Welch, Raquel (Chicago)

  The sex symbol in the 1966 caveman film One Million Years B.C.

• White, Betty (Oak Park)

  Rose Nyland on The Golden Girls

• Williams, Robin (Chicago)

  The manic comic who won a dramatic Oscar for Good Will Hunting

• Woodward, Bob (Geneva)

  Bernstein's Washington Post partner in Watergate

• Zevon, Warren (Chicago)

  The darkly funny musician who sang "Werewolves of London"

• Zmed, Adrian (Chicago)

  Officer Vince Romano on TV's T.J. Hooker

See also: Index of all US States