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

Charles Henry Gilbert was a pioneer ichthyologist and fishery biologist of particular significance to natural history of the western United States. He collected and studied fishes from Central America north to Alaska and described many new species. Later he became an expert on Pacific salmon and was a noted conservationist of the Pacific Northwest. He is considered by many as the intellectual founder of American fisheries biology. He was one of the 22 "pioneer professors" of Stanford University.

Gayne Whitman was an American radio and film actor. He appeared in 213 films between 1904 and 1957. In some early films he was credited under his birth name. He was born in Chicago, Illinois.

John J. Mescall, A.S.C. was an American cinematographer. He photographed such silent films as Ernst Lubitsch's The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927), but he is best known for his work in the 1930s at Universal Pictures, where he often worked on the films of James Whale. Mescall was famous for his elaborate, effective camera movements, in which the camera would often track completely across or around a set, or even one performer. He would not always use these kinds of camera movements, but his most famous films all have them.

Lee Moran was an American actor, film director, and screenwriter. He transcended the silent film era of motion pictures to the talkies. Moran appeared in 462 films, directed 109 and wrote for 92 between 1912 and 1935. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, and died from a heart ailment in Woodland Hills, California. Moran was often paired with actor Eddie Lyons and the two made several comedic films together.

Samuel Berger was an American heavyweight boxer who won the first Olympic Gold Medal in heavyweight boxing in 1904, competed as a professional, and acted as a promoter and manager for heavyweight Jim Jeffries in the first two decades of the 20th century.

Charles Edward Dvorak was an American track and field athlete who specialized in the pole vault. He attended the University of Michigan where he competed for the Michigan Wolverines men's track and field team from 1900 to 1904. He participated in the 1900 Summer Olympics where he was a favorite in the pole vault. However, he missed the competition after being told by officials that the finals would not be held on a Sunday. He won a special silver medal in a consolation competition. In 1903, he set a world's record in the pole vault with a jump of 11 feet, 11 inches.(This mark doesn't appear in the progression of World or American Records). Dvorak returned to international competition and won the gold medal in the pole vault at the 1904 Summer Olympics. Dvorak later served as a high school football, basketball and track coach in Seattle, Washington, where he died in 1969 at age 91.

Robert Daley was an American film producer and former assistant director. He was Clint Eastwood's producing partner from 1971 to 1980. Daley is sometimes confused with the same-named novelist who wrote Prince of the City and Year of the Dragon, among others.

William Jacobs was an American screenwriter and producer for Warner Bros.. He wrote 13 Hollywood movies and produced 59 more, including musicals.