Famous Hoosiers
These are just a few of the famous people who were either born in Indiana or spent some important time in Indiana.
Johnny Appleseed, planter
Birch Evans Bayh III, Indiana governor and U.S. senator
Ball Brothers, industrialists
Larry Bird, basketball player and coach
William Bonney (aka Henry McCarty, Henry Antrim, and Billy the Kid), outlaw
Ken Bowersox, astronaut
Hoagy Carmichael, jazz musician
Julia Carson, U.S. representative
Dallas Clark, football player
Jay Cutler, football player
Mitch Daniels, Indiana governor
Jim Davis, cartoonist, Garfield the Cat
James Dean, actor
John Dillinger, bank robber
Tony Dungy, football player and coach
Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, singer and songwriter
Kevin Eikenberry, author
Dwight Feeney, football player
William Forsyth, novelist
Vivica Fox, actress
Tarik Glenn, football player
Bob Glidden, race car driver
Virgil “Gus” Grissom, astronaut
Benjamin Harrison, U.S. president
Marvin Harrison, football player
James Hoffa, labor leader
Elaine Irwin-Mellencamp, model
Janet Jackson, rock singer
Michael Jackson, rock singer
The Jackson Five, rock group
Edgerrin James, football player
Richard Kingsley, artist
Greg Kinnearr, actor
Henry Lane, founder of Indiana Republican Party
David Letterman, TV talk show host
David Lilienthal, driving force behind Tennessee Valley Authority
Eli Lilly, colonel and founder of pharmaceutical company
Abraham Lincoln, U.S. president
Richard Lugar, U.S. senator
Peyton Manning, football player
Robert Mathis, football player
Don Mattingly, baseball player
Steve McQueen, actor
John Mellencamp, rock singer, songwriter, and painter
Nancy Noel, artist
Jane Pauley, TV newscaster
Maurene O'Hara Pesta, artist
Cole Porter, songwriter
Gene Stratton Porter, novelist
Ernie Pyle, photojournalist
J. Danforth Quayle, U.S. senator and vice president
Brady Quinn, football player
James Whitcomb Riley, poet
Oscar Robertson, basketball player
Knute Rockne, football coach
Jerry Ross, astronaut
Corey Simon, football player
Frank Sinatra, singer. Sinatra made his debut as a singer at the Lyric Theater in Indianapolis with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra (February 2, 1940).
Red Skeleton, comedian
T. C. Steele, artist
Tony Stewart, race car driver
Brandon Stokley, football player
Clement Studebaker, automobile manufacturer
Henry Studebaker, automobile manufacturer
Billy Sunday, baseball player and evangelist
Charles “Chuck” Taylor, athlete and sports broadcaster
Mike Vanderjagt, football player
Willis Van Devanter, U.S. supreme court justice
Kurt Vonnegut Jr., novelist
Charles Walker, astronaut
Lew Wallace, novelist, Ben Hur
Reggie Wayne, football player
Marie Webster, quilter. Wrote the first book on quilting.
Wendell Willkie, U.S. presidential candidate
Oprah Winfrey, TV talk show host, actress, producer, book author, billionaire
David Wolf, astronaut
Wilbur Wright, inventor
