Notable People from Illinois

James Tobin

American economist (1918–2002)

Paul Flory

American chemist (1910-1985)

Bernie Mac

American actor (1957–2008)

Bob Fosse

American choreographer, dancer, and director (1927–1987)

George Wendt

American actor (1948–2025)

Eugene Cernan

NASA astronaut, Naval aviator, aeronautical engineer, electrical engineer, fighter pilot, eleventh human to walk on the Moon (Apollo 10 and Apollo 17)

Edward Adelbert Doisy

American biochemist (1893-1986)

Elbert Green Hubbard

American writer, publisher, artist, and philosopher

Edmund Phelps

American economist

John Belushi

American actor (1949–1982)

Lynn Margulis

American evolutionary biologist (1938–2011)

Robert Wadlow

American who was the tallest recorded person in history (1918–1940)

Karl Malden

American actor (1912–2009)

Robert W. Holley

American biochemist (1922–1993)

Jason Robards

American actor (1922–2000)

Sam Shepard

American playwright and actor (1943–2017)

Karen Black

American actress, screenwriter, singer, and songwriter (1939-2013)

Vincent du Vigneaud

American biochemist (1901–1978)

Stanford Moore

American biochemist (1913-1982)

Dorothy Malone

American actress (1924-2018)

Ray Manzarek

American keyboardist (1939–2013)

Richard Pryor

American comedian and actor (1940–2005)

Vincente Minnelli

American stage and film director (1903-1986)

Ray Kroc

American businessman

Jack Ruby

American nightclub operator who killed American presidential assassin Lee Harvey Oswald

Harry Markowitz

American economist (1927–2023)

William Jennings Bryan

American politician (1860–1925)

Hilary Putnam

American philosopher

Mercedes McCambridge

American actress (1916-2004)

Frank Drake

American astronomer and astrophysicist (1930–2022)

Juice Wrld

American rapper and singer (1998–2019)

Carl Barks

American cartoonist (1901-2000)

Harold Ramis

American actor, comedian, and filmmaker (1944–2014)

William Friedkin

American director and producer (1935–2023)

Martin Cooper

American engineer, father of mobile phone

June Squibb

American actress

Walter Burley Griffin

American architect and landscape architect (1876-1937)

Burl Ives

American musician (1909–1995)

Leonard Bloomfield

American linguist (1887–1949)

Donald O'Connor

American dancer, singer, and actor (1925-2003)

Jack Benny

American comedic entertainer (1894–1974)

Nichelle Nichols

American actress (1932–2022)

Wyatt Earp

American lawman (1848–1929)

Robert Bloch

American fiction writer (1917–1994)

Norman Taurog

American film director (1899–1981)

Don Siegel

American film director (1912–1991)

John G. Avildsen

American film director

Dan Simmons

American novelist (1948–2026)

Robert Ryan

American actor (1909-1973)

Fritz Leiber

American writer of fantasy, horror, and science fiction (1910–1992)