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

Frank Wilbur "Spig" Wead was a U.S. Navy aviator who helped promote United States Naval aviation from its inception through World War II. Commander Wead was a recognized authority on early aviation. Following a crippling spinal injury in 1926, Wead was placed on the retired list. In the 1930s, he became a screenwriter, becoming involved in more than 30 movies. He also published several books, short stories and magazine articles. During World War II, he returned to active duty. He initially worked in a planning role, but later undertook sea duty in the Pacific, where he saw action against the Japanese in 1943–44 before being placed on the retired list in mid-1945.

Felice Nicole Herrig is an American kickboxer, Muay Thai fighter, and mixed martial artist who competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in the strawweight division. As of October 26, 2020, she is #14 in the UFC women's strawweight rankings.

William Goldman was an American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. He first came to prominence in the 1950s as a novelist before turning to screenwriting. He won Academy Awards for his screenplays Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and All the President's Men (1976). His other known works include his thriller novel Marathon Man and his cult classic comedy/fantasy novel The Princess Bride, both of which he also adapted for the film versions.

Katie Rich is an American comedian, writer and actress best known for her work on Saturday Night Live.

Michael Hegstrand was an American professional wrestler. He was best known as Road Warrior Hawk, one half of the tag team known as The Road Warriors, with Road Warrior Animal. Outside of The Road Warriors, Hawk was a sporadic challenger for world heavyweight championships on pay-per-view from the late 1980s to the mid 1990s. He headlined the inaugural 1993 edition of ECW's premier annual event, November to Remember.

Jason Michael Kipnis is an American professional baseball second baseman who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians and Chicago Cubs. He attended Glenbrook North High School in the suburbs of Chicago where he earned three letters playing baseball for the Glenbrook North Spartans. He attended the University of Kentucky, but transferred to Arizona State University after two years. In college, Kipnis was an All-American and the 2009 Pacific-10 Conference Player of the Year for the Sun Devils.

Matthew Thomas Skiba is an American musician, singer and songwriter, known for his role as the co-lead vocalist and guitarist of the band Blink-182 and founding lead vocalist and guitarist for Alkaline Trio.

James Howard Thome is an American former professional baseball corner infielder and designated hitter, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 22 seasons (1991–2012). He played for six different teams, most notably the Cleveland Indians, during the 1990s and early 2000s. A prolific power hitter, Thome hit 612 home runs during his career—the eighth-most all time—along with 2,328 hits, 1,699 runs batted in (RBI), and a .276 batting average. He was a member of five All-Star teams and won a Silver Slugger Award in 1996.

Janina Zione Gavankar is an American actress and musician. Gavankar is trained as a pianist, vocalist, and orchestral percussionist. She majored in Theatre Performance at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Florenz Edward Ziegfeld Jr. was an American Broadway impresario, notable for his series of theatrical revues, the Ziegfeld Follies (1907–1931), inspired by the Folies Bergère of Paris. He also produced the musical Show Boat. He was known as the "glorifier of the American girl". Ziegfeld is a member of the American Theater Hall of Fame.