List of Famous people born in Illinois, United States of America

Margaret Moser, or Margaret Moser Malone, was an American journalist, music enthusiast, critic and historian, groupie, and backup singer. She was best known for her work as the director of the Austin Music Awards (AMA) in the South by Southwest festival and for her career in music journalism and criticism, which lasted more than thirty years. Moser also supported young artists, helping them get started and finding appropriate venues where they could play. She has been called the "patron saint of Austin music" by the Paramount Theatre.

Paul Taylor Powell was a Democratic politician from Illinois, and Illinois Secretary of State from 1965 until his death in 1970, after which he was discovered to have been corrupt and became known for his saying "There's only one thing worse than a defeated politician, and that's a broke one."

Grant Shaud is an American actor known for his portrayal of the character of Miles Silverberg on the television sitcom Murphy Brown.

John Frank Stossel is an American television personality, author, consumer journalist, and libertarian pundit, known for his career on both ABC News and Fox Business Channel.

Brian Dietzen is an American actor who has played the supporting role of Dr. Jimmy Palmer on NCIS since 2004. In 2012, he was promoted to a series regular at the beginning of the show's tenth season.

John S. McCollister is a politician from the state of Nebraska in the Midwestern United States. In 2014, he was elected to the Nebraska Legislature, representing an Omaha district. McCollister is a member of the Republican Party who describes his political orientation as "center-right".

James Winchester Montgomery was an American bishop of the Episcopal Church in Chicago, serving from 1971 to 1987.

Max Carl Starkloff was an American physician and the Health Commissioner for St. Louis, Missouri, from 1895 to 1903 and from 1911 to 1933. He is noted for closing all public venues and prohibiting public gatherings of more than 20 people in October 1918 during the 1918 influenza pandemic. His actions are credited as being an early instance in modern medicine of social distancing.

Karla DeVito is an American actress and singer.

Josephine Garis Cochran was an American inventor who was the inventor of the first commercially successful automatic dishwasher, which she designed in the shed behind her home, she then constructed it engaging the assistance of mechanic George Butters, who became one of her first employees. Since she found washing dishes to be very boring and mundane, she is claimed to have said "If nobody else is going to invent a dish washing machine, I'll do it myself!" Once her patent issued in 28 December 1886, she founded Garis-Cochrane Manufacturing Company to manufacture her machines. Cochrane showed her new machine at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 where nine Garis-Cochran washers were installed in the restaurants and pavilions of the fair and was met with interest from restaurants and hotels, where hot water access was not an issue. She won the highest prize for "best mechanical construction, durability and adaptation to its line of work" at the Fair. Garis-Cochran Manufacturing Company, which built both hand and power operated dishwashers, grew through a focus on hotels and other commercial customers and was renamed as Cochran’s Crescent Washing Machine Company in 1897.