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
• Gary Kremen, is the engineer and entrepreneur who invented online dating, founded the personals site Match.com, was the first registrant of Sex.com, founder of Clean Power Finance as well as the current chair of the Santa Clara Valley Water District.
• T. J. Moran, businessman, restaurateur, and philanthropist in Baton Rouge, Louisiana^[2]
• Gordon Segal, founder and CEO of Crate & Barrel

Entertainment

• Viola Barry, silent-film actress
• Carlos Bernard, actor
• Marlon Brando, actor
• Tamara Braun, actress
• 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
• Alicia Goranson, actress
• Seth Gordon, director, producer, editor
• 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
• Michael Madsen, actor
• John Lee Mahin, Oscar-nominated screenwriter
• Elizabeth McGovern, Oscar-nominated actress
• Patrick Melton, screenwriter
• Josh Meyers, actor and comedian
• Seth Meyers, actor and comedian
• 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
• Shira Piven, director
• Anna D. Shapiro, award-winning director
• Hope Summers, actress, founder of Evanston`s Showcase Theater
• 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
• Josh Kantor, organist
• 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

• W. Russell Arrington, Illinois state legislator and lawyer
• George Wildman Ball, Undersecretary of State for Presidents Kennedy and Johnson
• John Lourie Beveridge, 16th governor of Illinois
• 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
• Robert Jeangerard, Olympic basketball gold medalist
• 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
• Carl Fick, author and film director
• Karen Finley, performance artist
• Alexander Frey, conductor, pianist, organist, harpsichordist and composer
• Isabella Garnett, pioneering African-American female physician and founder of Community Hospital
• Charles Gibson, news anchor
• Laurens Hammond, inventor of the Hammond organ
• J. Allen Hynek, astronomer, professor, and ufologist
• Charles R. Johnson, author, National Book Award winner
• 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, abstract painter
• Bob Mionske, attorney, author, 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
• George Thiem, 1950 Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter
• 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