Famous Illnoisians
These are just a few of the famous people who were either born in Illinois or spent some important time in Illinois.
Saul Alinsky, civic organizer and criminologist
Moises Alou, baseball player
Steve Bartman, stupid baseball fan
Saul Bellow, novelist
Cedric Benson, football player
Halle Berry, actress
Ray Bradbury, science fiction author
Lance Briggs, football player
Alex Brown, football player
Mike Brown, football player
Mark Buehrle, baseball player
Dick Butkas, football player
Harry Caray, baseball announcer
Kyle Chandler, actor
Brad Childress, football coach
Harry “Flash” Clarke, football player
Jose Contreras, baseball player
Richard Daley, Chicago mayor and Democratic leader
Richard Daley Jr., Chicago mayor
Henry Darger, novelist
John Deere, farm implement manufacturer
Richard Dent, football player
Everett Dirksen, U.S. senator
Mike Ditka, football coach
Stephen Douglas, U.S. senator and presidential candidate
Richard Driehaus, financier
Dave Duerson, football player
Dale Susan Edmonds, author
Enrico Fermi, physicist
Jason Fried, founder of 37Signals.com
Betty Goldstein Friedan, author of The Feminist Mystique and founder of the National Organization for Women
Freddy Garcia, baseball player
Jon Garland, baseball player
Ulysses S. Grant, U.S. president
Daniel Grissom, author
Rex Grossman, football player
Ozzie Guillen, baseball manager
Gene Hackman, actor
George Halas, football coach
Dan Hampton, football player
William Rainey Harper, founder of the University of Chicago
Tommie Harris, football player
Paul Harvey, radio broadcaster
Dennis Hastert, U.S. speaker of the house
Hugh Hefner, playboy and publisher
Jennifer Hudson, singer and actress
Henry Hyde, U.S. representative
Shoeless Joe Jackson, baseball player
John H. Johnson, publisher
Tank Johnson, football player
Thomas Jones, football player
Nelson Knitting, folk artist, sock
monkeys
Paul Konerko, baseball player
Arthur Laffer, economist, developer of
the Laffer Curve
Ann Landers, advice columnist
Derrek Lee, baseball player
Barbara Lehman, children's book author and illustrator
Abraham Lincoln, U.S. president
Greg Maddox, baseball player
Paul Marcinkus, archbishop
Jay Mariotti, sports columnist
William “Bat” Masterson, lawman and
columnist
Jim McMahon, football player
Donovan McNabb, football player
Muhsin Muhammad, football player
Barack Obama, U.S. senator
Chris O'Donnell, actor
Adewale Ogunleye, football player
Kyle Orton, football player
Sara Paretsky, mystery novelist
Walter Payton, football player
William “the Refrigerator” Perry, football player
A.J. Pierzynski, baeball player
Jeremy Piven, actor
Mark Prior, baseball player
Aramis Ramirez, baseball player
Ronald Reagan, U.S. president
Salli Richardson, actress
Ron Rivera, football player and coach
Marcus Robinson, football player
Dan Rostenkowski, U.S. congressman
Johnny Sain, baseball player
Gale Sayers, football player
Mike Singletary, football player
Lovie Smith, football coach
Sammy Sosa, football player
Sufjan Stevens, composer
Adlai Stevenson, Illinois governor and presidential candidate
Leo Szilard, physicist
John Tait, football player
David Terrell, football player
Frank Thomas, baseball player
Charles Tillman, football player
Clyde Tombaugh, astronomer and discover of Pluto
Brian Urlacher, football player
Vince Vaughn, actor
Dwyane Wade, football player
Todd Walker, baseball player
Harold Washington, Chicago mayor
James Watson, discover of DNA
Willye White, track-and-field star
Chris Widger, baseball player
Otis Wilson, football player
Oprah Winfrey, TV talk show host, actress, producer, book author, billionaire
Shelley Winters, actress
Kerry Wood, baseball player
