List of Famous people born in Illinois, United States of America
Melissa McCarthy
Melissa Ann McCarthy is an American actress, comedian, writer, producer, and fashion designer. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Primetime Emmy Awards and nominations for two Academy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. McCarthy was named by Time as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2016, and she has been featured multiple times in annual rankings of the highest-paid actresses in the world. In 2020, The New York Times ranked her #22 in its list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century.
John Mulaney
John Edmund Mulaney is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He is best known for his work as a writer on Saturday Night Live and as a stand-up comedian with stand-up specials The Top Part, New in Town, The Comeback Kid, and Kid Gorgeous, for which he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special in 2018.
Emmett Till
Emmett Louis Till was a 14-year-old African American who was lynched in Mississippi in 1955, after being accused of offending a white woman in her family's grocery store. The brutality of his murder and the fact that his killers were acquitted drew attention to the long history of violent persecution of African Americans in the United States. Till posthumously became an icon of the civil rights movement.
Zach Gilford
Zachary Michael Gilford is an American actor, known for his role as Matt Saracen on the NBC sports drama series Friday Night Lights.
Jimmy Garoppolo
James Richard Garoppolo is an American football quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). A native of Illinois, he played college football at Eastern Illinois. As a senior in 2013, Garoppolo broke Tony Romo's school records for career passing touchdowns, career passing yards, and passing touchdowns in a season. That season, he also won the Walter Payton Award as the best offensive player in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).
Nayel Nassar
Nayel Nassar is a professional equestrian. He first began riding at age five and jumping at ten. Nasser qualified for the FEI World Cup Finals in 2013, 2014, and 2017, and the FEI World Equestrian Games in 2014. He competed at the Longines FEI World Cup Finals in Paris and regularly competes on the international Grand Prix circuit.
Dwyane Wade
Dwyane Tyrone Wade Jr. is an American former professional basketball player. Wade spent the majority of his 16-year career playing for the Miami Heat in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Wade won three NBA championships, was a 13-time NBA All-Star, an 8-time member of the All-NBA Team, and a 3-time member of the All-Defensive Team. Wade is also Miami's all-time leader in points, games, assists, steals, shots made, and shots taken.
Jenny McCarthy
Jennifer McCarthy Wahlberg is an American actress, model, television host, satellite radio broadcaster, author, and anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist. She began her career in 1993 as a nude model for Playboy magazine and was later named their Playmate of the Year. McCarthy then had a television and film acting career, starting as a co-host on the MTV game show Singled Out, then some eponymous sitcoms, as well as films such as BASEketball, Diamonds, Scream 3, and Santa Baby. She is a former co-host of the ABC talk show The View. She is currently a judge on the Fox musical competition show The Masked Singer.
John Belushi
John Adam Belushi was an American actor, comedian and singer, and one of the seven original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live (SNL). Throughout his career, Belushi had a close personal and artistic partnership with his fellow SNL star Dan Aykroyd, whom he met while they were both working at Chicago's The Second City comedy club.
Megyn Kelly
Megyn Marie Kelly is an American attorney who was a talk show host at Fox News from 2004 to 2017, and a host and correspondent with NBC News from 2017 to 2018. She currently produces a podcast, The Megyn Kelly Show, and is also active in posting to her Instagram page and YouTube channel.