List of people from Des Moines, Iowa

This is a list of the people born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with the city of Des Moines, Iowa, and its surrounding metropolitan area.

Entertainers

• Bangladesh (Shondrae Crawford), music producer
• Bruce Brubaker, pianist and Jiulliard School faculty member
• Stephen Collins, actor, 7th Heaven
• Bill Daily, actor, best known as Capt. Roger Healey on I Dream of Jeannie, and Howard Borden on The Bob Newhart Show
• Sarah Darling, country music singer-songwriter
• Joel Dickinson, music producer
• Tana Goertz, cast member on The Apprentice 3
• Juanita Hansen, silent film actress and anti-drug spokeswoman
• Peter Hedges, writer of What's Eating Gilbert Grape; director of film Pieces of April
• David Anthony Higgins, actor, Malcolm in the Middle
• Harriet Hilliard, TV actress, singer, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Ozzie Nelson and His Orchestra
• Frank Jenks, actor
• Cloris Leachman, Academy Award, Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning actress
• Jason Momoa, Baywatch Hawaii, Stargate, New Conan the Barbarian
• Vivienne Osborne, stage and film actress
• Chris Pirillo, television personality and technology figure
• Brandon Routh, actor, best known for title role in Superman Returns
• Ronald Reagan, actor and President of the United States, was a radio disc jockey in Des Moines
• Bill Stewart, jazz drummer, worked with Pat Metheny
• Stephen Stucker, actor, best known for role as air traffic controller in 1980 movie Airplane!
• India Summer, adult film actress
• Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins of TLC, Grammy-winning R&B singer
• Gregory Alan Williams, actor
• Roger Williams, pianist and recording artist

Sports

• Steve Bartkowski, NFL quarterback
• Casey Blake, Major League Baseball player
• Scott Clemmensen, NHL hockey player
• Joel Hanrahan, pitcher for Boston Red Sox
• Bobby Hansen, NBA player, played for Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines, and University of Iowa
• Bob Harlan, CEO of Green Bay Packers 1989-2007
• Jeremy Hellickson, pitcher for Tampa Bay Rays, attended Herbert Hoover High School in Des Moines
• Frank Irons, 1908 Olympic long jump gold medalist
• Shawn Johnson, gymnast, 2007 world all-around champion, 2007 national all-around champion, 2008 Olympic champion in balance beam, winner of Season 8 Dancing with the Stars
• Zach Johnson, golfer, 2007 Masters tournament champion, attended school in Des Moines
• Lolo Jones, Olympic track-and-field and bobsled athlete
• Kevin Love, NASCAR driver
• Matt Macri, third baseman for Minnesota Twins, played at Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines
• Dick Pope, Sr., the "Father of American Water Skiing" and promoter of Florida tourism, was born in Des Moines
• Shawna Robinson, NASCAR driver
• Matt Snider, NFL football player
• Kevin Tapani, Major League Baseball pitcher
• Ross Verba, NFL lineman, played for Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines
• Frank Wykoff, sprinter, gold medalist at 1928, 1932 and 1936 Olympics

Authors

• Stephen Beachy, author
• David W. Belin, author
• Rob Borsellino, author
• Bill Bryson, author
• Thomas M. Disch, author
• Christopher Largen, author
• Era Bell Thompson, African American writer and journalist
• Brian Wansink, author of Mindless Eating

Other

• Lawrence Russell Dewey, U.S. Army general
• Stephen Kline, artist, photographer
• Edna Griffin, civil rights activist
• Laurence W. Lane Jr., magazine publisher and diplomat
• The McCaughey septuplets, born in 1997 in Des Moines to parents from nearby Carlisle, and the world's first set of septuplets to all survive infancy
• Tom Price (born 1945), judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, 1997-2015; native of Des Moines, resides in Dallas^[1]
• George W. Webber (1920–2010), president of New York Theological Seminary.^[2]

Bands

• Faculty Lounge, a band made up of former and current Des Moines-area educators, coaches, and/or administrators, is based in Des Moines.
• The Nadas, the band that Playboy magazine called the "Best College Band You've Never Heard Of" is based in Des Moines.
• Jim Roth, guitarist with rock band Built to Spill, is from West Des Moines.
• Country singers Kate and Kacey Coppola were born in Des Moines, were on CMT's Can You Duet.
• Seven of the nine members of the band Slipknot were born in Des Moines. Paul Gray was born in Los Angeles and James Root was born in Las Vegas
• The metal band Stone Sour began their music career in Des Moines. Both Slipknot and Stone Sour feature vocalist Corey Taylor and guitarist James Root.
• Members of Slipknot:
  • Sid Wilson, DJ a.k.a. DJ Starscream
  • Joey Jordison, drummer
  • Chris Fehn, percussionist, backup vocals
  • Paul Gray, bassist
  • Craig Jones, keyboardist/sampler
  • James Root, guitar; and ex guitar player stone sour
  • Shawn "Clown" Crahan, percussionist
  • Mick Thomson, guitarist
  • Corey Taylor, rock/metal musician, vocalist; also with Stone Sour.

References