List of people from Indianapolis

The following is a list of notable people who have been born or lived in Indianapolis, Indiana. Organized alphabetically by field of study and then by last name.

Actors

• Abraham Benrubi (1969– ), actor, best known for ER and Parker Lewis Can't Lose
• Monte Blue (1887–1963), silent film/character actor
• Connie Booth (1944– ), actress, screenwriter
• Steve Burton (1970– ), television actor
• Joyce DeWitt (1949– ), actress, best known for Three's Company
• Cullen Douglas (1967- ), actor, producer, director, best known for Grey’s Anatomy and Pure Genius
• Mike Epps (1970– ), stand-up comedian, actor, producer, writer, rapper
• Frances Farmer (1913–1970), actress
• Rhett Fisher (1980– ), actor, best known for Power Rangers: Lightspeed Rescue
• Brendan Fraser (1968– ), film actor
• Quincy Fouse (1997– ), actor, Logan (film)[1]
• Vivica A. Fox (1964– ), actress
• Doug Jones (1960– ), actor
• Brook Kerr (1973– ), actress
• Forrest Landis (1994– ), actor
• Priscilla Lawson (1914–1958), actress
• Marjorie Main (1890–1975), actress
• Steve McQueen (1930–1980), Academy Award-nominated actor
• Julie McWhirter (1947– ), actress
• Margo Moore (1931–2000), actress
• Dohn Norwood[2](1974– ) actor, Hell on Wheels (TV series)[3]
• Dayo Okeniyi (1988– ), film actor
• Jake Short (1997– ), actor
• Steve Talley (1981– ), television/film actor
• Harry von Zell (1906–1981), television/film actor and radio announcer, best known for The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show
• Clifton Webb (1889–1966), stage/film actor
• Sasheer Zamata (1986– ), comedian, actress, former cast member on Saturday Night Live

Artists

• Vija Celmins (1938– ), visual artist
• Don Gummer, artist
• John Wesley Hardrick (1891–1968), artist
• Ron McQueeney, photographer
• Sheida Soleimani (1990–), contemporary artist, born in Indianapolis.[4]
• Jeremy Spencer, musician (1973– )

Athletes

• Donie Bush (1887–1972), Major League Baseball (MLB) player/manager
• Bryce Campbell (1994– ), plays for the United States national rugby union team
• Rodney Carney (1984– ), National Basketball Association (NBA) player
• Oscar Charleston (1896–1954), baseball player, member of Baseball Hall of Fame
• Mike Conley Jr. (1987– ), NBA player
• Hooks Dauss (1889–1963), MLB player
• Euphrasia Donnelly (1905–1963), swimmer, Olympic gold medalist (1924)
• Stu Douglass (1990– ), American-Israeli basketball player for the Israeli team Maccabi Ashdod
• Jack Doyle (1990– ), National Football League (NFL) tight end
• Jeff George (1967– ), NFL quarterback
• Eric Gordon (1988– ), NBA player
• Greg Graham (1970– ), NBA player
• Marcellus Greene (1957– ), NFL player
• Gordon Hayward (1990– ), NBA player
• Alan Henderson (1972– ), NBA player
• John F. Hennessey (1900–1981), tennis player (1920s)
• Oral Hildebrand (1907–1977), MLB All-Star pitcher
• George Hill (1986– ), NBA player
• Lauren Holiday (1987– ), US Women's National Soccer player, Olympic gold medalist, 2015 Women's World Cup champion
• Lester Horton (1906–1953), dancer and choreographer
• Tommy Hunter (1986– ), Major League baseball pitcher for Philadelphia Phillies
• Kenny Irwin (1969–2000), NASCAR driver
• Jack Johnson (1987– ) NHL player
• Mathias Kiwanuka (1983– ), NFL player
• Ken Klee (1971– ), National Hockey League (NHL) player
• Chuck Klein (1904–1958), MLB player
• Kyle Krisiloff (1986– ), NASCAR driver
• Shawn Langdon (2007– ), Current NHRA Funny Car Driver 2013 Top Fuel Champion 2 Time Super Comp Champion
• Brad Leaf (1960-), American-Israeli basketball player for Hapoel Galil Elyon and Maccabi Tel Aviv of the Israel Premier League
• Courtney Lee (1985– ), NBA player
• Don Leppert (1931– ), MLB player
• Lori Lindsey (1980– ), U.S. Women's National Soccer player, Olympic gold medalist
• Zack Martin (1990– ), NFL player
• George McGinnis (1950– ), NBA player
• Frank McKinney (1938–1992), diver, Olympic gold medalist (1960), banking executive
• Terry McLaurin Ohio State Buckeyes and Washington Redskins wide receiver. [5]
• Eric Montross (1971– ), NBA player
• Greg Oden (1988– ), NBA player
• Derrick Ransom (1976– ), National Football League (NFL) player defensive tackle
• Oscar Robertson (1938– ), basketball player, member of Basketball Hall of Fame
• Sally Schantz, figure skater, U.S. ice dancing champion (1963)
• Judy Schwomeyer (1950– ), figure skater, U.S. ice dancing champion (1968–72)
• Sandra Spuzich (1937–2015), LPGA pro golfer
• Brad Stevens (1976– ), NBA head coach
• Major Taylor (1878–1932), cyclist
• Jeff Teague (1988– ), NBA player
• Johnny Weaver (1935–2008), pro wrestler, first to use the sleeper hold "Weaver Lock"
• Randy Wittman (1959– ), NBA head coach
• Greg Wojciechowski (1951– ), wrestler
• John Wooden (1910–2010, UCLA coach, Purdue University basketball player, member of College Basketball Hall of Fame
• Sean Woods (1970– ), college basketball coach

Business and philanthropy

Colonel Eli Lilly (right) with son Josiah K. Lilly Sr. (left) and grandson Eli Lilly (center)

• Steve Bellamy, sports media entrepreneur, founder of The Ski Channel and The Tennis Channel
• Steve Ells, founder, CEO of Chipotle Mexican Grill
• Scott Flanders, businessman and former CEO of Playboy, Inc.
• John Geisse, businessman, founder of Target Stores
• Bob Glenalvin, first manager of Detroit Tigers
• Sid Grauman, founder of Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, former home of the Academy Awards
• Scott A. Jones, co-founder of ChaCha
• Eli Lilly, founder, president of pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company
• Josiah K. Lilly, Sr., president of pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company
• Ruth Lilly, philanthropist
• Kim Ng, Major League Baseball executive
• Freeman Ransom, lawyer, businessman, civic leader[6]
• Henry J. Richardson Jr., lawyer and civil rights activist, member of the Indiana House of Representatives (1932–36), and a judge in Marion County, Indiana.[7]
• Madam C.J. Walker, pioneering African-American businesswoman, first female self-made millionaire in America

Entertainment

• Rupert Boneham, reality show contestant, Survivor: Pearl Islands, Survivor: All-Stars, Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, "Survivor: Blood vs. Water; politician
• June Cochran, model, Miss Indiana USA 1960, Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Year 1963
• Ken Hixon, screenwriter
• David Letterman, television personality, former host of The Late Show (1993–2015)
• Ryan Murphy, film and television screenwriter, director, and producer, notably Nip/Tuck, 'American Horror Story and Glee
• Blair St. Clair (Andrew Bryson), drag performer
• Marc Summers, game show host, television personality
• Dan Wakefield, screenwriter, novelist
• Marjorie Wallace, Miss World 1973

Journalists and media

• Roy Blount, Jr., journalist, author
• Scott Evans, television personality
• Louis McHenry Howe, reporter for the New York Herald, political advisor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt
• Jack Olsen, journalist and author
• Jane Pauley, television personality, journalist
• Myrta Pulliam, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist

Military

• Thomas A. Morris, railroad executive, civil engineer, Union General in the Civil War
• Norris W. Overton, U.S. Air Force Brigadier General
• Raymond A. Spruance, commander of the U.S. Fifth Fleet (1944–1945)

Musicians

• Mark Battles, rapper-songwriter, founder of record label Fly America
• Scrapper Blackwell, blues musician and songwriter, writer of the earliest version of "Sweet Home Chicago"
• Darrell Clanton, singer[8]
• Dorian, hip-hop recording artist and music producer
• Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, R&B music producer/performer
• Guitar Pete Franklin, blues musician[9]
• Jan Garber, bandleader
• Blind Leroy Garnett, boogie-woogie and ragtime pianist and songwriter
• Billy Henderson, singer
• John Hiatt, musician
• Freddie Hubbard, jazz trumpeter
• J. J. Johnson, jazz trombonist
• Josh Kaufman, singer-songwriter, contestant on The Voice (U.S. Season 6)
• Adam Lambert, singer, runner-up of American Idol (Season 8)
• Ted Leo, musician
• Charles Scott Leonard, member of the a cappella group Rockapella
• Margot & the Nuclear So and So's, indie rock band formed in Indianapolis
• Tim McIlrath, musician
• Wes Montgomery, jazz guitarist
• Plumb, singer/songwriter
• Hal Rayle, voice artist
• Larry Ridley, jazz bassist
• June Rochelle, singer/songwriter
• David Michael Schuster, opera singer
• George Shirley, operatic tenor
• Noble Sissle, composer
• Tiara Thomas, singer-songwriter
• Albert Von Tilzer, composer, notably "Take Me Out to the Ball Game"
• Keke Wyatt, R&B singer

Politicians

• Maria Cantwell, U.S. Senator from Washington
• Paul Cantwell, Indiana state representative
• André Carson, member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Indiana, second Muslim to be elected to the U.S. Congress (2008)
• Julia Carson, member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Indiana; grandmother of André Carson
• Harriette Bailey Conn, state representative and the first African American to serve as Indiana's state public defender
• Ray Crowe, basketball coach and politician
• Charles W. Fairbanks, 26th Vice President of the United States (1905–09)
• William T. Francis, United States Ambassador to Liberia (1927–29)[10]
• Benjamin Harrison, 23rd President of the United States (1889–93); lived and died in Indianapolis
• Thomas A. Hendricks, 21st Vice President of the United States (1863–69)
• Eric Holcomb, Governor of Indiana
• Daisy Riley Lloyd, first female African American to serve in the Indiana legislature
• Richard Lugar, U.S. Senator from Indiana
• Frank E. McKinney, Democratic Party chairman
• Dan Quayle, 44th Vice President of the United States (1989–1993)
• Ted Stevens, former U.S. Senator from Alaska
• Mark Warner, U.S. Senator from Virginia
• Mike Pence, 48th Vice President of the United States (2017-2021)

Writers

• Margaret C. Anderson, critic, editor and publisher
• John David Anderson[11] (1975– ), children's book author of Ms. Bixby's Last Day, 2017 Indiana Authors Award Winner[12]
• Allan Bloom, philosopher and essayist
• A'Lelia Bundles (1952– ),[13] TV producer, journalist, and author of On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker
• Jared Carter (1939– ), poet, author of Work, for the Night Is Coming (1981), and winner of the Walt Whitman Award and the Poets' Prize.
• Matt Dellinger (1975– ), author of Interstate 69: The Unfinished History of the Last Great American Highway
• Mari Evans (1923–2017), poet, author of I Am a Black Woman (1970), winner of the Black Academy of Arts and Letters poetry award[14]
• Janet Flanner, Paris correspondent of The New Yorker
• Hildegarde Flanner, poet
• John Green, children's book award-winning author of The Fault in Our Stars; vlogger
• Joseph Hayes, author
• Phillip Hoose (1947– ),[15] award-winning children's book author of Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice
• Kathryn Lasky (1944– ),[16] children's book author of Guardians of Ga'Hoole
• Charles Major, author
• Bill Peet (1915–2002), children's book author and illustrator of Pamela Camel,
• Madelyn Pugh, script-writer I Love Lucy television program
• Booth Tarkington, Pulitzer Prize-winning author
• Kurt Vonnegut, author
• James Whitcomb Riley, poet

Other

• Frank J. Anderson, former Sheriff of Marion County, Indiana (2003–2011)
• Kent Brantly, physician, author, speaker, first American to be treated for the Ebola virus in 2014, TIME Person of the Year 2014
• Emmett I. Brown Jr., professional photographer, documented Indiana Avenue's jazz scene in the 1940s and 50s, editor Sepia magazine
• John P. Donohue, professor, doctor, pioneered treatments for testicular cancer
• John Dillinger, bank robber
• Jared Fogle, Subway restaurant endorser, motivational speaker, and convicted child pornographer
• Ruth M. Gardiner, first nurse killed in action during World War II
• Michael Graves, architect
• Margaret Yandes Holliday, Presbyterian missionary in Tabriz from 1883 to 1919
• Peter Kassig, aid worker, taken hostage and ultimately beheaded by The Islamic State[17]
• Justin Knapp, Wikipedia editor
• John Morton-Finney, Buffalo soldier, lawyer, educator and civil rights leader
• Irvine Page, physiologist, former president of the American Heart Association (1956–57)
• John C. Rule, historian at Ohio State University
• Bill Shirk, escape artist, president of Hoosier Broadcasting Corp.
• Avriel Shull, architect
• David A. Wolf, astronaut
• Evans Woollen III, architect, founder and principal of Woollen, Molzan and Partners[18]

References

1. "Broad Ripple H.S. grad brings Hollywood star power back to class". 13 WTHR Indianapolis. May 16, 2017. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
2. "Talking Hell on wheels Dohn Norwood returns". BlogTalkRadio. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
3. "Q&A – Dohn Norwood (Psalms)". AMC. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
4. "Sheida Soleimani bio". decordova.org. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
5. "Terry McLaurin Returns to Ohio State for 2018". BrutusReport.
6. "Notable names in local Black history". The Indianapolis Star. February 10, 2000. Archived from the original on January 4, 2012. Retrieved June 11, 2012.
7. Charles Latham Jr. (February 1993). "Henry J. Richardson Papers: Historical Sketch". Black History News and Notes. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society (51): 1.
8. Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 94. ISBN 0-89820-177-2.
9. "Guitar Pete Franklin Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved September 17, 2014.
10. "Chiefs of Mission for Liberia". U.S. Department of State. Retrieved September 11, 2013.
11. "The Winners - Indiana Authors Award". www.indianaauthorsaward.org. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
12. "Four Top Authors Named as 2017 Indiana Authors Award Winners | The Indianapolis Public Library". www.indypl.org. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
13. "A'Lelia Bundles". www.aleliabundles.com. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
14. "Mari Evans". Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation. January 2, 2018. Retrieved January 2, 2018.CS1 maint: others (link)
15. "Perfect Once Removed". Phillip Hoose, National Book Award Winner. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
16. Lasky, Kathryn. "Get to know Kathryn Lasky". Kathryn Lasky. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
17. Brian Eason, Stephanie Wang and Michael Anthony Adams (October 3, 2014). "Indianapolis native Peter Kassig named next ISIS target". Indystar.com. Retrieved December 21, 2014.
18. Mary Ellen Gadski, "Woollen, Molzan and Partners" in David J. Bodenhamer and Robert G. Barrows, eds. (1994). The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. pp. 1453–54. ISBN 0-253-31222-1.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)