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Famous Illinoisans
Click on the person's name to find information in the Youth Services Department.
Click on the *E* to find books at a 2nd grade or lower reading level.
Click on the *A* to find to find information in the Adult Department.
| Franklin Pierce Adams | author | Chicago |
| Jane Addams *E* *A* | social worker | Cedarville |
| John Peter Altgeld *A* | governor | Chicago |
| Gillian Anderson | actress | Chicago |
| Philip Danforth Armour | businessman | Chicago |
| Patricia Arquette | actress | Chicago |
| Mary Astor | actress | Quincy |
| Ernie Banks *A* | baseball player | Chicago |
| Arnold O. Beckman | inventor | Cullom |
| Edward Beecher | college president | Jacksonville |
| Ralph Bellamy | actor | Chicago |
| John Belushi | actor | Chicago |
| Jack Benny *A* | comedian | Chicago |
| Mother Mary Ann Ball Bickerdyke | nurse | |
| Black Hawk *A* | Sauk Indian chief | |
| Harry A. Blackmun *A* | jurist | Nashville |
| Rod R. Blagojevich | governor | Chicago |
| Bonnie Blair | skater | Champaign |
| William E. Borah | public official | Fairfield |
| Bruce Boxleitner | actor | Mt. Prospect |
| Ray Bradbury *A* | author | Waukegan |
| Marlon Brando *A* | actor | Evanston |
| Gwendolyn Brooks *A* | poet | Chicago |
| William Jennings Bryan *A* | orator, politician | Salem |
| Daniel Hudson Burnham *A* | architect | Chicago |
| Edgar Rice Burroughs | author | Chicago |
| Jane Margaret Byrne *A* | mayor | Chicago |
| Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini | saint | Chicago |
| Marvin Camras | inventor | Chicago |
| Al Capone *A* | gangster | Chicago |
| Peter Cartwright | politician | |
| Gower Champion *A* | choreographer | Geneva |
| John Chancellor | TV commentator | Chicago |
| Raymond Chandler *A* | writer | Chicago |
| George Rogers Clark *A* | explorer | |
| Hillary Rodham Clinton *A* | first lady, politician | Park Ridge |
| Nat King Cole *A* | musician | Chicago |
| Jimmy Connors *A* | tennis champion | Belleville |
| James Gould Cozzens | author | Chicago |
| Cindy Crawford | model | DeKalb |
| Michael Crichton *A* | writer | Chicago |
| Richard J. Daley *A* | mayor | Chicago |
| Richard M. Daley | mayor | Chicago |
| Clarence Darrow *A* | lawyer | Chicago |
| Miles Davis | musician | Alton |
| Charles Gates Dawes | vice president, nobel winner | Chicago |
| John Deere | inventor | Grand Detour |
| Bruce Dern | actor | Chicago |
| Everett Dirksen | politician | Pekin |
| Walt Disney *A* | film animator, producer | Chicago |
| Mike Ditka *A* | football coach | Chicago |
| John Dos Passos *A* | author | Chicago |
| Stephen A. Douglas *A* | politician | Jacksonville |
| Joseph Duncan | governor | Elm Grove |
| Amelia Earhart *E* | aviator | Springfield/Chicago |
| Wyatt Earp *A* | sheriff | Monmouth |
| Roger Ebert *A* | film critic | Urbana |
| Jim Edgar | governor | Charleston |
| James T. Farrell | author | Chicago |
| George Ferris | inventor | Galesburg |
| Marshall Field *A* | businessman | Chicago |
| Betty Ford *A* | first lady | Chicago |
| Harrison Ford *A* | actor | Chicago |
| Robert Lewis "Bob" Fosse *A* | showman | Chicago |
| Dennis Franz | actor | Chicago |
| Betty Friedan *A* | feminist | Peoria |
| Jennie Garth | actress | Urbana |
| Joseph Glidden | inventor | DeKalb |
| Arthur Goldberg | judge, ambassador | Chicago |
| Benny Goodman *E* *A* | musician | Chicago |
| Edward Gorey *A* | artist/author | Chicago |
| Ulysses S. Grant *A* | president | Galena |
| Benjamin Henry Grierson | Civil War general | Jacksonville |
| John Gunther *A* | author | Chicago |
| Gene Hackman | actor | Danville |
| George E. Hale | astronomer | Chicago |
| Dorothy Hamill *E* | ice skater | Chicago |
| John M. Harlan | jurist | Chicago |
| John Hay *A* | secretary of state | |
| Hugh M. Hefner *A* | publisher | Chicago |
| Ernest Hemingway *A* | author | Oak Park |
| Charlton Heston | actor | Evanston |
| Wild Bill Hickok | scout | Troy Grove |
| William Holden | actor | O'Fallon |
| Rock Hudson | actor | Winnetka |
| Bobby Hull *E* | hockey player | Chicago |
| Bonnie Hunt | actress | Chicago |
| Burl Ives | singer | Hunt City |
| Jesse Jackson *A* | politician | Chicago |
| Mae Jemison | astronaut | Chicago |
| Jens Jensen *A* | landscape architect | Highland Park |
| Louis Joliet | explorer | |
| James Jones | author | Robinson |
| Quincy Jones *A* | composer | Chicago |
| Michael Jordan *E* *A* | basketball player | Highland Park |
| Jackie Joyner-Kersee *A* | runner | East St. Louis |
| R. Kelly | musician | Chicago |
| Walter Kerr | drama critic | Evanston |
| Walter Koenig | actor | Chicago |
| Harvey Korman | comedian | Chicago |
| Alison Krauss | musician | Urbana |
| Ray Kroc | businessman | Oak Park |
| Robert Cavelier de La Salle *A* | explorer | |
| Michael Kelly Lawler | soldier | |
| Abraham Lincoln *E* *A* | president | Springfield |
| Mary Todd Lincoln *A* | first lady | Springfield |
| John A. Logan | general | Murphysboro |
| Bernie Mac | actor | Chicago |
| Archibald MacLeish *A* | poet | Glencoe |
| James E. MacMurray | senator | |
| David Mamet *A* | playwright | Chicago |
| Homer Z. Martin | inventor | Chicago |
| Marlee Matlin *A* | actress | Morton Grove |
| Stanley Mazor | inventor | Chicago |
| John A. McClernand | general | |
| Cyrus McCormick *A* | inventor | Chicago |
| Joseph M. McCormick | senator | Chicago |
| Robert McCormick *A* | publisher | Chicago |
| Joseph Medill | publisher, mayor | Chicago |
| Ludwig Mies van der Rohe *A* | architect | Chicago |
| Robert Millikan | physicist | Morrison |
| Sherrill Milnes | baritone | Downers Grove |
| Dwight Lyman Moody | religious leader | Chicago |
| Carol Moseley-Braun | senator | Chicago |
| Bill Murray *A* | actor | Wilmette |
| John G. Neihardt | poet | Sharpsburg |
| Walter Loomis Newberry | banker | Chicago |
| Bob Newhart *A* | actor, comedian | Chicago |
| Frank Norris | author | Chicago |
| Barack Obama *E* *A* | senator | Chicago |
| Malia Obama | president's daughter | Chicago |
| Michelle Obama *E* *A* | president's wife | Chicago |
| Sasha Obama | president's daughter | Chicago |
| Donald O'Connor | actor | Chicago |
| Richard J. Oglesby | governor | |
| William S. Paley | broadcasting executive | Chicago |
| Cissie Palmer | socialite | Chicago |
| Potter Palmer | businessman | Chicago |
| Walter Payton *A* | football player | Chicago |
| Drew Pearson | columnist | Evanston |
| Allan Pinkerton *A* | detective | Chicago |
| Richard Pryor *A* | comedian, actor | Peoria |
| George Pullman *A* | businessman | Chicago |
| Ronald Reagan *A* | president, actor | Tampico |
| Jason Robards | actor | Chicago |
| Julius Rosenwald *A* | businessman | Springfield |
| George H. Ryan | governor | Kankakee |
| Pat Sajak | game show host | Chicago |
| Carl Sandburg *A* | poet | Galesburg |
| Lewis Hastings Sarett | inventor | Champaign |
| Fred Savage | actor | Chicago |
| Gale Sayers *A* | football player | Chicago |
| Phyllis Schlafly *A* | antifeminist | Alton |
| John McAllister Schofield | general | |
| Garry Shandling | comedian | Chicago |
| Sam Shepard *A* | playwright | Fort Sheridan |
| William L. Shirer *A* | historian | Chicago |
| Shel Silverstein *A* | writer | Chicago |
| Gene Siskel | film critic | Chicago |
| Grace Slick | musician | Chicago |
| John Paul Stevens | jurist | Chicago |
| Adlai Ewing Stevenson *A* | politician | Chicago |
| McLean Stevenson | actor | Bloomington |
| David Ogden Stiers | actor | Urbana |
| Preston Sturges | director | Chicago |
| Louis Sullivan *A* | architect | Chicago |
| Gloria Swanson | actress | Chicago |
| Gustavus Swift | businessman | Chicago |
| Maria Tallchief | ballerina | Highland Park |
| James R. Thompson | governor | Chicago |
| Clyde W. Tombaugh | astronomer | Streator |
| Mel Torme *A* | musician | Chicago |
| Carl Van Doren | educator | Hope |
| Dick Van Dyke *A* | actor | Danville |
| Jerry Van Dyke | actor | Danville |
| Melvin Van Peebles | playwright | Chicago |
| Charles Rudolph Walgreen | businessman | Galesburg |
| Irving Wallace | author | Chicago |
| Alfred Wallenstein | conductor | Chicago |
| Aaron Montgomery Ward | businessman | Chicago |
| Harold Washington *E* *A* | mayor | Chicago |
| Raquel Welch *A* | actress | Chicago |
| Orson Welles *A* | actor | Highland Park |
| George Wendt | actor | Chicago |
| Arland Williams | hero | Mattoon |
| Robin Williams *A* | comedian | Chicago |
| Robert L. Wilson | lawyer | |
| Oprah Winfrey *E* *A* | talk show host | Chicago |
| Robert "Bob" Woodward | investigative reporter | Geneva |
| Frank Lloyd Wright *A* | architect | Oak Park |
| William Wrigley Jr. | businessman | Chicago |
| Richard Yates | governor | |
| Brigham Young | religious leader | Quincy |
| Robert Young | actor | Chicago |
| Billy Zane | actor | Chicago |
| Warren Zevon | musician | Chicago |
| Florenz Ziegfeld *A* | theatrical producer | Chicago |
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