List of people from Evanston, Illinois

The following list includes notable people who were born or have lived in Evanston, Illinois. For a similar list organized alphabetically by last name, see the category page People from Evanston, Illinois.

Business

• William Liston Brown, director of American Ship Building Company
• Lester Crown, son of Chicago financier Henry Crown and controls family holdings
• John Donahoe, president and CEO of eBay, born Evanston^[1]
• Bob Galvin, CEO of Motorola
• Gordon Segal, founder and CEO of Crate & Barrel

Entertainment

• Viola Barry, silent-film actress
• Carlos Bernard, actor
• Tamara Braun, actress
• Marlon Brando, actor
• Heather Burns, actress
• Ronnie Burns, actor
• Timothy Carhart, actor
• William Christopher, actor, charity spokesperson
• Joan Cusack, actress
• John Cusack, actor
• Robert Falls, Tony Award winning director
• Julie Fulton, actress
• Zach Gilford, actor
• Seth Gordon, director, producer, editor
• Alicia Goranson, actress
• Barbara Harris, actress
• Charlton Heston, actor
• Anders Holm, comedian and co-creator of Workaholics
• Jake Johnson, actor
• Amanda Jones, Miss Illinois USA 1973 & Miss USA 1973
• Tim Kazurinsky, actor and writer Saturday Night Live
• Walter Kerr, drama critic
• Lauren Lapkus, actor and comedian
• Jeffrey Lieber, writer and co-creator of the television series Lost
• Richard Long, actor
• John Lee Mahin, Oscar-nominated screenwriter.
• Michael Madsen, actor
• Elizabeth McGovern, Oscar-nominated actress
• Patrick Melton, screenwriter
• Josh Meyers, actor and comedian
• Seth Meyers, actor and comedian ^[2]
• John Moffatt, producer
• Jessie Mueller, actor
• Bill Murray, actor
• Ajay Naidu, Tony-nominated actress and singer
• D.A. Pennebaker, documentary filmmaker^[3]
• William Petersen, actor
• Steve Pink, director, screenwriter, and producer
• Jeremy Piven, actor
• Anna D. Shapiro, award-winning director
• Daniel Sunjata, actor
• Ruby Wax, comedienne
• Jenniffer Weigel, actress, writer
• Rafer Weigel, actor, television personality

Music

• Steve Albini, music producer
• Fred Anderson, saxophonist
• Benjamin Bagby, singer, performer of medieval music
• Stuart D. Bogie, musician and arranger
• David Burge, pianist
• Kenneth C. Burns, Jethro of Homer and Jethro
• Kevin Cronin of REO Speedwagon
• Patti Drew, 1960s soul singer
• Ezra Furman, of Ezra Furman and the Harpoons
• Steve Goodman, songwriter and musician^[4]
• Greg Graffin
• Nancy Gustafson, opera singer
• David Ryan Harris, musician
• Howard Levy, harmonica musician
• Junior Mance, jazz pianist and composer
• Jason Narducy, musician
• Ryan Raddon, producer known as Kaskade
• Bobby Short, singer and musician
• Natalie Sleeth, composer
• Grace Slick of Jefferson Starship
• Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy
• Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam

Politics and war

• George Wildman Ball, Undersecretary of State for Presidents Kennedy and Johnson
• Charles E. Browne, Wisconsin territorial legislator^[5]
• Marguerite S. Church, U.S. Representative 1951–1963
• Ralph E. Church, U.S. Representative 1935–1941, 1943–1950
• James M. Cole, U.S. Deputy Attorney General
• Burton C. Cook, U.S. Representative 1865–1871
• Charles Gates Dawes, Vice President of the United States, 1925–1929; Nobel Peace Prize winner, 1925
• Henry M. Dawes, U.S. Comptroller of the Currency 1923–1924
• Thomas C. Foley, U.S. Ambassador to Ireland, 2010 republican gubernatorial candidate in Connecticut
• James William Good, U.S. Secretary of War 1929
• Mary Jeanne Hallstrom, nurse and politician
• Jim Kolbe, congressman
• Lynn Morley Martin, Secretary of Labor under President George H.W. Bush
• Catherine Waugh McCulloch, lawyer, suffragist, first woman to be elected Justice of the Peace in Illinois
• H.H.C. Miller, colonel to Illinois Governor Richard Yates, Jr., three-time mayor of Evanston
• John Porter, congressman
• Donald Rumsfeld, U.S. Secretary of Defense, congressman
• Andrew Shuman, Lieutenant Governor of Illinois 1877–1881
• Joseph A. Strohl, Wisconsin state senator
• Leroy D. Thoman, U.S. Civil Service Commissioner 1883–1885
• Julius White, American Civil War brigadier general
• Lloyd Zimmerman, Minnesota jurist

Sports figures

• Elmer Bennett, ACB basketball player
• Dave Bergman, MLB player for the New York Yankees, Houston Astros, San Francisco Giants and Detroit Tigers
• Pete Burnside, MLB pitcher for the New York Giants, San Francisco Giants, Washington Senators, Detroit Tigers and Baltimore Orioles
• John Castino, MLB infielder for the Minnesota Twins
• Jack Cooley, basketball player for the University of Notre Dame
• Luke Donald, professional golfer
• Paddy Driscoll, Hall of Fame football player
• Lindsey Durlacher, wrestler
• Kevin Foster, MLB pitcher for the Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies, and Texas Rangers
• Clint Frank, 1937 Heisman Trophy winner
• Kevin Frederick, MLB pitcher for the Minnesota Twins and Toronto Blue Jays
• Timothy Goebel, Olympic figure skater
• Dov Grumet-Morris, ice hockey player
• Damon Jones, NFL tight end
• Mike Kenn, offensive tackle for the Atlanta Falcons, Pro Bowl selection
• Bob Lackey, Marquette and ABA basketball player
• Jim Lindeman, MLB player for the St. Louis Cardinals, Detroit Tigers, Philadelphia Phillies, Houston Astros and New York Mets
• Freddie Lindstrom, Hall of Fame baseball player
• Billy Martin, tennis player and coach
• Bob Mionske, Olympic and professional bicycle racer
• Emery Moorehead, tight end for Super Bowl XX champion Chicago Bears
• Steve Parker, NFL player
• Wes Parker, MLB first baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers
• Josh Paul, MLB catcher for the Chicago White Sox, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Tampa Bay Devil Rays
• Dan Peterson, basketball coach
• Mike Quade, baseball player, coach and manager of Chicago Cubs
• Dewey Robinson, MLB pitcher for the Chicago White Sox
• Mike Rogodzinski, MLB outfielder for the Philadelphia Phillies
• Erik Spoelstra, head coach, Miami Heat
• Everette Stephens, player for the Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks
• Dick Strahs, MLB pitcher for the Chicago White Sox
• Peter Ueberroth, sixth commissioner of Major League Baseball, chairman of the United States Olympic Committee
• Ed Weiland, MLB pitcher for the Chicago White Sox
• Aaron Williams, NBA basketball player
• Tommy Wingels, NHL player for the San Jose Sharks

Writers, thinkers, artists, scientists, and cultural figures

• Jane Fulton Alt, photographer
• Mildred L. Batchelder, namesake of the ALA award given to the publisher of a translated children's book
• Algis Budrys, science fiction author
• Allen G. Debus, historian of science and medicine
• Sarah Dessen, fiction author
• Laurens Hammond, inventor of the Hammond organ
• Charles R. Johnson, author, National Book Award winner
• Carl Fick, author and film director
• Karen Finley, performance artist
• Isabella Garnett, pioneering African-American female physician and founder of Community Hospital
• Charles Gibson, news anchor
• J. Allen Hynek, astronomer, professor, and ufologist
• Kysa Johnson, painter
• Clara Ingram Judson, children's book author
• Albert Henry Krehbiel, Art teacher; impressionist painter and Muralist; married to Dulah Marie Evans; Died in Evanston
• Oliver Marcy, two-time president of Northwestern University
• Samuel Merwin, author and playwright
• Allison Miller (artist), abstract painter
• Bob Mionske, attorney, author, and former Olympic and professional bicycle racer
• Eugene Montgomery, painter
• Dale T. Mortensen, Nobel Prize winner in economics
• Drew Pearson, newspaper columnist
• Edmund Phelps, Nobel Prize winner in economics
• Richard Powers, author and National Book Award winner
• Alice Riley (1867–1955), author of children's media; founder of the Drama League of America and the Evanston Arts Center; lived in Evanston
• Robert Slimbach, Typeface designer, author of Myriad, Adobe Garamond, Adobe Jenson, Utopia, Cronos...
• Adrian Smith, architect of the tallest building in the world ^[6]
• Christopher Steiner, mathematician and author (Automate This)
• Albert Tangora, holder of world speed record for typing on a manual typewriter
• Edward Thomson, writer and bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church
• John Carrier Weaver, educator
• Henry Kitchell Webster, author and playwright
• John Henry Wigmore, dean of Northwestern Law School
• Frances Willard, temperance advocate and suffragist
• Garry Wills, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer/critic
• Gahan Wilson, cartoonist for the New Yorker, Playboy

References