Famous Iowans
These are just a few of the famous people who were either born in Iowa or spent some important time in Iowa.
Patrick Acton, featured in Ripley's Believe or Not for his matchstick marvels models
Julie Adams, actress
Bess Streeter Aldrich, author
Steve Allen, comedian and Tonight Show host
Fran Allison, actress, Kukla, Fran and Ollie
Don Ameche, actor
Fred Angell, created the first franchise restaurant: Maid Rite
Adrian Constantine (Cap) Anson, the greatest baseball player of the 19th century
Dave Armbruster, inventor of the butterfly stroke in swimming
Tom Arnold, actor and comedian
John Vincent Atanasoff, Co-inventor of the digital computer
Jack Bailey, game show host
Bil Baird, puppeteer
Willie Beamon, football player
Bix Beiderbecke, jazz musician
Jim Belilove, founder, Creative Edge
Ralph Bellamy, actor
Bryan Berg, world record-breaking card
stacker
Sarah Bernhardt, actress
Clifford Berry, co-inventor of the digital computer
Ladell Betts, football player
Black Hawk, Indian chief
Earl Blakesley Jr., screenwriter
Stacey Blitsch, roller derby star
Amelia Jenks Bloomer, women's rights activist. Bloomers were named after her.
Tommy Bolin, singer
Norman Borlaug, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and father of the Green Revolution
Matt Bowen, football player
Laura Flynn Boyle, actress
Terry Bradshaw, football player
Neville Brand, actor
Norman Breyfogle, comics illustrator
Melanie Brown, author
Bill Bryson, writer
David Butler, founder, Vintage Power Wagons
Ellis Parker Butler, author of Pigs Is Pigs, 30 other books, and 2,000 short stories
Veronica Butler, author and doctor
Michael Cain, artist and co-author of Transcendental Meditation
Donald L. Campbell, inventor
MacDonald Carey, actor
Wallace Hume Carothers, inventor
Johnny Carson, The Tonight Show host
George Washington Carver, scientist and inventor. He was the first black man to serve on the faculty of the Iowa Agriculture College.
Walter Cassel, opera singer
Carrie Chapman Catt, suffragist leader
Virginia Christine, actress (Mrs. Olson)
Dallas Clark, football player
Lephe Wells Coates, Created the word “blizzard” after reading a story about a man named Mr. Blizzard who had a bad temper.
William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody, frontier scout and wild west showman
Stephen Collins, actor, Seventh Heaven
Chester Conklin, comic actor
Oll Coomes, dime novel author
Gary Cooper, actor
Roger Craig, football player
Janet Dailey, romance novelist
Bill Daily, actor
Sue Danielson, radio personality
Jay Norwood Darling, cartoonist
Troy Davis, star running back of Iowa State. In 1996, he ran his total yards gained for two seasons to 3,970 yards, the most in consecutive seasons in Division 1-A football.
Lee DeForest, inventor
Denise Denniston, author, The TM Book
Father Paul Dobberstein, created the Grotto of the Redemption in West Bend, Iowa
John Douillard, founder, Invincible Athletics Institute
August and Frederick Duesenberg, car builders
Diane Dumas, the Gadget Goddess
Anton Dvorak, composer (spent a summer in Spillsville, Iowa)
Tim Dwight, football player
Wyatt, Virgil, and Morgan Earp, Western heroes
Mamie Doud Eisenhower, first lady, wife of president Dwight David Eisenhower
James Ellison, actor
Julie Englander, radio personality
Simon Estes, opera singer
Everly Brothers, singing group
John Fagan, scientific researcher
Sharon Farrell, actress
Terry Farrell, actress
Bob Feller, baseball pitcher
Edna Ferber, author
Henry Field, entrepreneur
Bud Fowler, the first African-American to play professional baseball. He played for the Keokuk, Iowa Western League Keokuks baseball team in 1885.
Diane Frank, poet and novelist
William Frawley, actor
John Froelich, inventor of first gasoline engine tractor
Haydon Fry, football coach
Charles Fulton, U.S. senator
Dan Gable, wrestler and wrestling coach; Olympic gold medal winner. As a coach, his wrestling teams at Iowa won 22 straight Big Ten titles and 15 NCAA team titles.
Robert Gallery, football player
George H. Gallup, pollster
Annabeth Gish, actress
Susan Glaspell, writer and playwright
Frank Gotch, World heavyweight wrestling champion
Fred Grandy, actor (Love Boat) and congressman
William Grant, in 1885, this doctor performed the first appendectomy in the world on Mary Gartside.
Charles Grassley, U.S. senator
Fred Gratzon, entrepreneur, the ultimate lazy man, author
Edna Griffin, civil rights leader
John Hagelin, physicist and Natural Law Party presidential candidate
Jon D. Hair, monumental sculptor and official sculptor of the U.S. Olympic team
James Norman Hall, novelist
Scott Halpin, in 1973, this 19-year-old played drums at a Who concert in San Francisco, California after Keith Moon became sick and Roger Daltry asked the audience, “Is there a drummer in the house?” Scott answered the call.
Ricko Hamm, drummer for The Green Giants
Van Hardin, radio personality
Tom Harkin, U.S. senator
Alphonso Harper, founder, Harper Brush Works
Jennifer Read Hawthorne, author, Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul and others
Tim Hawthorne, founder, Hawthorne Direct, one of the first TV infomercial producers
Merle Hay, war hero
Jeffrey Hedquist, founder, Hedquist Productions and radio advertising talent
Doug Henning, magician
David Anthony Higgins, actor
Ellis Hobbs, football player
Marjorie Holmes, inspirational writer
Herbert Hoover, 31st president of the United States
Lou Hoover, first lady
Howard Hughes, Sr., inventor
Mary Beth Hurt, actress
John Irving, novelist
Bruce Jenner, Olympic decathlete
Zach Johnson, golfer
Nate Kaeding, football player
Mohamad Khan, gardener and radio personality
Harry Kalas, hall of fame baseball announcer
MacKinlay Kantor, novelist and screenwriter whose work includes Civil War novels and the movie classic The Best Years of Our Lives
Earl Kaplan, founder of Books Are Fun
Alex Karras, football player and actor
Frank Keenan, actor
Corita Kent, artist
Karl King, bandmaster
Nile Kinnick, football player
W.P. Kinsella, novelist, Field of Dreams
James T. Kirk, captain of the Starship Enterprise (TV and movie character)
Carl Klaus, founding director, University of Iowa nonfiction writing program
Carol Zurer Kline, author, Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul
Larry Kline, author, Chicken Soup for the Military Soul
Ted Kooser, poet laureate
Paul Krause, football player
John Kremer, author of 1001 Ways to Market Your Books, Celebrate Today, and The Biology of Business; founder and member of the Self-Publishing Hall of Fame; maintainer of this web site; self-promoter
Ashton Kutcher, actor, That ’70s Show and movies
Ann Landers (Eppie Lederer), advice columnist
Lola Lane, actress
Priscilla Lane, actress
Harry Langdon, silent movie actor
Rustin Larsen, poet
Shannon Larson, filmmaker
Frank Lawery, gunfighter
Tony Lawlor, architect and author
Cloris Leachman, actress
Willie Leacox, drummer for the rock group America
William D. Leahy, fleet admiral
Laura Leighton, actress
Aldo Leopold, environmentalist
Meridel LeSueur, writer
John L. Lewis, labor leader
Randy Lewis, wrestler
E. F. Lindquist, educational testing; inventor of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills
Lynne Lorenzen, in 1987, this high schooler broke the all-time girls high school scoring record in basketball (6,250 points). By the time she graduated, Lynne had scored 6,736 points.
William Louden, inventor
Joanna Lund, best-selling cookbook author and member of the Self-Publishing Hall of Fame
Duffy Lyon, sculptor
Jock Mahoney, actor and stuntman (Tarzan)
Arabella Mansfield, first woman lawyer in the U.S.
Stuart Margolin, director
Lester Martin, direct mail advertising innovator
Jerry Mathers, actor, Leave It to Beaver
John Matuszek, football player
Elsa Maxwell, writer
Elmer and Frederick Maytag, manufacturers; founders of the Maytag Company
C.W. McCall, country singer, Convoy
Bobbi McCaughey, in 1997, she gave birth to seven babies in Des Moines, Iowa. It was the first time seven babies survived birth.
James Meade, author, computer books
Cornelia Meigs, writer
E.T. Meredith, magazine publisher
Jan Mickelson, radio personality
Glenn Miller, big band leader and musician of the Swing Era
Samuel F. Miller, justice, U.S. Supreme Court
Robert Millikan, physicist
Jay Mitchell, radio entrepreneur
Clark Mollenhoff, journalist
Michelle Monaghan, actress
Bevan Morris, president, Maharishi University of Management
Greg Morris, actor, Mission Impossible TV series
Kate Mulgrew, actress
Conrad Nagel, actor
Brenda Narducci, founder of Chappell Studio
Christian Nelson, patented the first ice cream bar, the Eskimo Pie, in 1919
Harriet Nelson, actress
Nick Nolte, actor
Alan Nourse, writer and physician
Robert Noyce, inventor of the microchip
Chuck Offenburger, columnist
Chris Offutt, novelist
Radar O'Reilly, TV character
David Orme-Johnson, scientific researcher
Daniel Palmer, inventor of chiropractic medicine
Harriet Parsons, movie producer
Louella Parsons, gossip columnist
Christian Petersen, sculptor
John Pierce, scientist
Ed Podalak, football player and radio commentator
Nathan M. Pusey, educator and author
Herbert Quick, author
David Rabe, playwright
Frances Rafferty, actress
Ronald Reagan, actor and U.S. president
Harry Reasoner, TV commentator
Donna Reed, Academy Award-winning actress and star of It’s a Wonderful Life
George Reeves, actor (Superman)
Jerry Reno, radio personality
Ringling Brothers, circus entrepreneurs
Lawrence "Sul" Ross, Texas governor
Brandon Routh, actor
Halston Frowick Roy (Roy Halston)— fashion designer
Lillian Russell, singer and actress
Wiley Rutledge, justice, U.S. Supreme Court
Bob Sanders, football player
Vern Schield, designer of the Bantam dragline crane
Jean Seberg, actress
Wilhelm Schneider, inventor of the merry-go-round
Robert Schuller, Hour of Power minister, founder of the Crystal Cathedral
Eric Shaffer, founder, Human Factors International
Jessie Field Shambaugh, schoolteacher who founded the 4-H clubs
Marci Shimoff, author, Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul and others
Loren Shriver, astronaut
Hugh Sidey, journalist
Slipknot, rock band
Jane Smiley, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist of A Thousand Acres
Jeffrey Smith, author,
Dick Sparrow, master horseman
Tracie Spencer, singer
Tom Sparks, vintage car collector
Mary Helen Stefaniak, author
Wallace Stegner, author
Brad Steiger, novelist
Phil Strong, novelist, State Fair
Alvin Straight, made the Great Mower Odyssey, basis for The Straight Story movie
Ruth Suckow, author
Sullivan brothers, war heroes
Billy Sunday, baseball player and evangelist
Michael Talbott, actor
Kent Taylor, actor
Geb Thomas, engineer who worked on analyzing data from the Mars Rover project
Sada Thompson, actress
Tom Thumb, circus performer
Tiny Tim, singer (Tip Toe Through the Tulips)
Clyde Tolson, FBI agent
Forrest Tucker, actor
Emlen Tunnell, football player
Mark Twain, novelist and humorist
James A. Van Allen, astrophysicist, Van Allen Belt named after him
Abigail Van Buren (Lederer), advice columnist
Mona Van Duyn, Pulitzer Prize winning author
Nellie Verne Walker, sculptor
Tom Vilsack, Iowa governor
Henry Wallace, founder of Wallaces Farmer
Henry A. Wallace, vice president under President Franklin D. Roosevelt and founder of Pioneer Hi-Bred International
Henry C. Wallace, U.S. secretary of agriculture
Marcia Wallace, actress (Bob Newhart Show)
Robert Keith Wallace, president, Maharishi International University
Seneca Wallace, football player
Robert Waller, novelist, Bridges of Madison County
War Eagle, Indian chief
Kurt Warner, football quarterback
Tionne Watkins, singer (T-Boz of TLC)
John Wayne, Oscar-winning actor, one of the best cowboy actors
Joe Weaver, founder of First Impressions
Warren Wechsler, business books author and founder of Total Selling
Joseph Wilcots, cinematographer
Gene Wilder, actor
Laura Ingalls Wilder, writer
Andy Williams, singer (Moon River)
Roger Williams, pianist
Tennessee Williams, playwright
Dave Williamson, poet, sculptor, speaker, and author
Meredith Willson , composer of the Broadway musical The Music Man
James A. Wilson, U.S. secretary of agriculture
James F. Wilson, U.S. senator
Elijah Wood, actor, the Lord of the Rings trilogy
Grant Wood, painter; painted American Gothic and many other famous paintings
Hank Worden, actor
Wilbur and Orville Wright, inventors of the airplane
Larry Zack, artist
