Quickly accessible, concise information about each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia!
Illinois
People
Every state of the Union has given birth to people who have left a lasting impression on our history and culture. The following native Illinoisians have played distinctive roles.
Born in Illinois
| Famous Illinoisians | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Born / Died | Place | ||||
| Jane Addams
Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Founder: Hull House |
Born: | September 6, 1860 | Cedarville | |||
| Died: | May 21, 1935 | Chicago | ||||
| Gillian Leigh Anderson
Actress |
Born: | August 9, 1968 | Chicago | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| Mary Astor (Lucile Vasconcellos Langhanke) Actress |
Born: | May 3, 1906 | Quincy | |||
| Died: | September 25, 1987 | Woodland Hills Los Angeles, Calif. |
||||
| Arnold Orville Beckman
Chemist |
Born: | April 10, 1900 | Cullum | |||
| Died: | May 18, 2004 | La Jolla, Calif. | ||||
| Jack Benny
(Benjamin Kubelsky) Comedian, vaudeville performer, actor |
Born: | February 14, 1894 | Chicago | |||
| Died: | December 26, 1974 | Beverly Hills, Calif. | ||||
| Black Hawk or Black Sparrow Hawk
Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak ("be a large black hawk") Sauk Native American |
Born: | 1767 | Near present-day Rock Island | |||
| Died: | October 3, 1838 | Southeast Iowa | ||||
| Harry Andrew Blackmun
Supreme Court Justice |
Born: | November 12, 1908 | Nashville | |||
| Died: | March 4, 1999 | Arlington, Va. | ||||
| William Edgar Borah
Attorney, U.S. Senator |
Born: | June 29, 1865 | Near Fairfield | |||
| Died: | January 14, 1940 | Wasington, D.C. | ||||
| Ray Douglas Bradbury
Author |
Born: | August 22, 1920 | Waukegan | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| William Jennings Bryan
Lawyer, statesman, politician |
Born: | March 19, 1860 | Salem | |||
| Died: | July 26, 1925 | Dayton, Tenn. | ||||
| Edgar Rice Burroughs
Author |
Born: | September 1, 1875 | Chicago | |||
| Died: | March 19, 1950 | Encino, Calif. | ||||
| Marvin Camras
Inventor |
Born: | January 1, 1916 | Chicago | |||
| Died: | June 23, 1995 | Evanston | ||||
| Gower Carlyle Champion
Theatre director, choreographer, and dancer |
Born: | June 22, 1919 | Geneva | |||
| Died: | August 25, 1980 | New York, N.Y. | ||||
| John William Chancellor
Journalist |
Born: | July 14, 1927 | Chicago | |||
| Died: | July 12, 1996 | Princeton, N.J. | ||||
| Raymond Thornton Chandler
Author |
Born: | July 23, 1888 | Chicago | |||
| Died: | March 26, 1959 | La Jolla, Calif. | ||||
| Hillary Rodham Clinton
Lawyer, Politician |
Born: | October 6, 1947 | Chicago | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| James Scott "Jimmy" Connors
Tennis player |
Born: | September 2, 1952 | East St. Louis | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| James Gould Cozzens
Author |
Born: | August 19, 1903 | Chicago | |||
| Died: | August 9, 1978 | Stuart, Fla. | ||||
| Cynthia Ann "Cindy" Crawford
Model, personality |
Born: | February 20, 1966 | DeKalb | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| Richard Joseph Daley
Politician, Chicago Mayer |
Born: | May 15, 1902 | Chicago | |||
| Died: | December 20, 1976 | Chicago | ||||
| Miles Dewey Davis III
Jazz musician |
Born: | May 26, 1926 | East St. Louis | |||
| Died: | September 28, 1991 | Santa Monica, Calif. | ||||
| Walt Elias Disney
Film producer, screenwriter, animator, entrepreneur |
Born: | December 5, 1901 | Chicago | |||
| Died: | December 15, 1966 | Los Angeles, Calif. | ||||
| Charles Edgar Duryea
Automobile manufacturer |
Born: | December 15, 1861 | Canton | |||
| Died: | September 28, 1938 | Philadelphia, Penn. | ||||
| John Rodrigo Dos Passos
Author, artist |
Born: | January 14, 1896 | Chicago | |||
| Died: | September 28, 1970 | Baltimore, Md. | ||||
| Buddy Ebsen
(Christian Ruldolph Ebson, Jr.) Actor, dancer |
Born: | April 2, 1908 | Belleville | |||
| Died: | July 6, 2003 | Torrance, Calif. | ||||
| James Thomas Farrell
Author |
Born: | February 27, 1904 | Chicago | |||
| Died: | August 22, 1979 | New York, N.Y. | ||||
| Harrison Ford
Actor |
Born: | July 13, 1942 | Chicago | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| Betty Friedan
(Bettye Naomi Goldstein Friedan) Feminist, activist, writer |
Born: | February 4, 1921 | Peoria | |||
| Died: | February 4, 2006 | Washington, D.C. | ||||
| Jennie Garth
(Jennifer Eve Garth) Actress |
Born: | April 3, 1972 | Urbana | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| George Leslie Gobel
Comedian |
Born: | May 20, 1919 | Chicago | |||
| Died: | February 24, 1991 | Encino, Calif. | ||||
| Benjamin David "Benny" Goodman
Jazz musician, clarinetist, bandleader |
Born: | May 30, 1909 | Chicago | |||
| Died: | June 13, 1986 | New York, N.Y. | ||||
| John J. Gunther
Journalist, author |
Born: | August 30, 1901 | Chicago | |||
| Died: | May 29, 1970 | New York, N.Y. | ||||
| George Stanley Halas Sr.
Football player, coach, team owner |
Born: | February 2, 1895 | Chicago | |||
| Died: | October 31, 1983 | Chcago | ||||
| George Ellery Hale
Astonomer |
Born: | June 29, 1868 | Chicago | |||
| Died: | February 21, 1938 | Pasadena, Calif. | ||||
| Dorothy Stuart Hamill
Olympic figure skater |
Born: | July 26, 1956 | Chicago | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| John Marshall Harlan II
Supreme Court Justice |
Born: | May 20, 1899 | Chicago | |||
| Died: | December 29, 1971 | Washington, D.C. | ||||
| Ernest Miller Hemingway
Writer, journalist |
Born: | July 21, 1899 | Oak Park | |||
| Died: | July 2, 1961 | Ketchum, Ida. | ||||
| Charlton Heston
(John Charles Carter) Actor |
Born: | October 4, 1923 | Evanston | |||
| Died: | April 5, 2008 | Beverly Hills, Calif. | ||||
| James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok
Lawman, gunfighter, gambler |
Born: | May 27, 1837 | Troy Grove | |||
| Died: | August 2, 1876 | Deadwood, S.D. | ||||
| William Holden
(William Franklin Beedle Jr.) Actor |
Born: | April 17, 1918 | O'Fallon | |||
| Died: | c. November 12, 1981 | Santa Monica, Calif. | ||||
| Rock Hudson
(Roy Harold Scherer, Jr.) Actor |
Born: | November 17, 1925 | Winnetka | |||
| Died: | October 2, 1985 | Beverly Hills, Calif. | ||||
| Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives
Actor, singer, author |
Born: | June 14, 1909 | Near Hunt City | |||
| Died: | April 14, 1995 | Anacortes, Wash. | ||||
| James Jones
Author |
Born: | November 6, 1921 | Robinson | |||
| Died: | May 9, 1977 | Southampton, N.Y. | ||||
| Quincy Delightt Jones Jr.
Music impresario, producer, conductor, arranger, trumpeter |
Born: | March 14, 1933 | Chicago | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| Walter Francis Kerr
Writer, theater critic, lyricist, director |
Born: | July 8, 1913 | Evanston | |||
| Died: | October 9, 1996 | Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. | ||||
| Archibald MacLeish
Poet, playwright, Librarian of Congress |
Born: | May 7, 1892 | Glencoe | |||
| Died: | April 20, 1982 | Boston, Mass. | ||||
| David Alan Mamet
Author, playwright, screenwriter, director |
Born: | November 30, 1947 | Chicago | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| Homer Z. Martin
Inventor, chemical engineer |
Born: | November 20, 1910 | Chicago | |||
| Died: | September 1, 1993 | Sun City, Ariz. | ||||
| Stanley Mazor
Inventor, computer programmer |
Born: | October 22, 1941 | Chicago | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| Robert A. Millikan
Nobel Prize-winning physicist |
Born: | March 22, 1868 | Morrison | |||
| Died: | December 19, 1953 | San Marino, Calif. | ||||
| Sherrill Eustace Milnes
Baritone |
Born: | January 10, 1935 | Downer's Grove | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| Harriet Monroe
Poet, editor, scholar, literary critic |
Born: | December 12, 1860 | Chicago | |||
| Died: | September 26, 1936 | Arequipa, Peru | ||||
| Joseph Anthony "Joe" Montegna, Jr.
Actor |
Born: | November 13, 1947 | Chicago | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| William James "Bill" Murray
Actor, comedian |
Born: | September 21, 1950 | Wilmette | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| John Gneisenau Neihardt
Poet, philosopher, writer |
Born: | January 8, 1881 | Near Sharpsburg | |||
| Died: | November 4, 1973 | Columbia, Mo. | ||||
| George Robert "Bob" Newhart
Actor, comedian |
Born: | September 5, 1929 | Oak Park | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| Benjamin Franklin "Frank" Norris
Novelist, writer |
Born: | March 5, 1870 | Chicago | |||
| Died: | October 25, 1902 | San Francisco, Calif. | ||||
| William S. Paley
CBS Chief Executive |
Born: | September 28, 1901 | Chicago | |||
| Died: | October 26, 1990 | New York, N.Y. | ||||
| Drew Pearson
Columnist, journalist |
Born: | December 13, 1879 | Evanston | |||
| Died: | September 1, 1969 | Washington, D.C. | ||||
| Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor III
Comedian, actor |
Born: | December 1, 1940 | Peoria | |||
| Died: | December 10, 2005 | Encino, Calif. | ||||
| Ronald Wilson Reagan
Actor, President of the United States |
Born: | February 6, 1911 | Tampico | |||
| Died: | June 5, 2004 | Bel-Air, Calif. | ||||
| Pat Sajak
(Patrick Leonard Sajdak) Game show host, television personality |
Born: | October 26, 1946 | Chicago | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| Carl August Sandburg
Poet, historian, novelist, balladeer, folklorist |
Born: | January 6, 1878 | Galesburg | |||
| Died: | July 22, 1967 | Flat Rock, N.C. | ||||
| Lewis Hastings Sarett
Organic chemist |
Born: | December 22, 1917 | Champaign | |||
| Died: | November 28, 1999 | Viola, Ida. | ||||
| Sam Shepard
Samuel Shepard Rogers VII Playwright, writer, actor |
Born: | November 5, 1943 | Fort Sheridan | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| William Lawrence Shirer
Journalist, historian |
Born: | February 23, 1904 | Chicago | |||
| Died: | December 28, 1993 | Boston, Mass. | ||||
| Edgar "McLean" Stevenson, Jr.
Actor |
Born: | November 14, 1927 | Normal | |||
| Died: | February 15, 1996 | Los Angeles, Calif. | ||||
| William Clement Stone
Businessman, philanthropist, self-help book author |
Born: | May 4, 1902 | Chicago | |||
| Died: | September 3, 2002 | Evanston | ||||
| Preston Sturges
(Edmund Preston Biden) Screenwriter, director |
Born: | August 29, 1898 | Chicago | |||
| Died: | August 6, 1959 | New York, N.Y. | ||||
| Gloria Swanson
(Gloria May Josephine Svensson) Actress |
Born: | March 27, 1899 | Chicago | |||
| Died: | April 4, 1983 | New York, N.Y. | ||||
| Franklin Burr Tillstrom
Puppeteer, creator of "Kukla, Fran and Ollie" |
Born: | October 13, 1917 | Chicago | |||
| Died: | December 6, 1985 | Palm Springs, Calif. | ||||
| Clyde William Tombaugh
Astonomer |
Born: | February 4, 1906 | Streator | |||
| Died: | January 17, 1997 | Las Cruces, N.M. | ||||
| Melvin Howard Tormé
Singer, songwriter, drummer |
Born: | September 13, 1925 | Chicago | |||
| Died: | June 5, 1999 | Los Angeles, Calif. | ||||
| Melvin Van Peebles
Actor, director, screenwriter, playwright, composer |
Born: | August 21, 1932 | Chicago | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| Charles Rudolph Walgreen
Businessman, pharmacist, founded Walgreen's drugstores |
Born: | October 9, 1873 | Near Galesburg | |||
| Died: | December 11, 1939 | Chicago | ||||
| Irving Wallace
Author, screenwriter |
Born: | March 19, 1916 | Chicago | |||
| Died: | June 29, 1990 | Los Angeles, Calif. | ||||
| Alfred Wallenstein
Cellist, conductor |
Born: | October 7, 1898 | Chicago | |||
| Died: | February 8, 1983 | New York, N.Y. | ||||
| Raquel Welch
(Jo Raquel Tejada) Actress |
Born: | September 5, 1940 | Chicago | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| Robert "Bob" Woodward
Editor, investigative reporter |
Born: | March 26, 1943 | Geneva | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| Florenz "Flo" Ziegfeld Jr.
Broadway impresario |
Born: | March 21, 1867 | Chicago | |||
| Died: | July 22, 1932 | Hollywood, Calif. | ||||
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