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

Zena Ray "Zeke" Upshaw was an American professional basketball player. He began his college basketball career with the Illinois State Redbirds. After playing sparingly for three seasons, he transferred to join the Hofstra Pride, where he led the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) in scoring and was named second-team all-conference. Upshaw played professionally in Slovenia and Luxembourg before returning to the United States and joining the Grand Rapids Drive of the NBA Development League. In the Drive's regular season finale in 2017–18, he collapsed on the court in the game's final minute and died two days later.

Doug Ghim is an American professional golfer who grew up in Arlington Heights, Illinois and graduated from Buffalo Grove High School. In May 2018, Ghim became the top-ranked golfer in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.

Amy Wright is an American actress and former model. She has appeared in such films as The Deer Hunter, Breaking Away, The Accidental Tourist, Hard Promises, Crossing Delancey and Miss Firecracker.

Elizabeth R. Schwartz was an American athlete and winner of the first Olympic 100 m for women.

Donovan Jamal McNabb is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the Philadelphia Eagles. Before his NFL career, he played football and basketball for Syracuse University. The Eagles selected him with the second overall pick in the 1999 NFL draft, and McNabb went on to play 11 seasons with the team, followed by a year each with the Washington Redskins and Minnesota Vikings.

Pablo Andrés Kast Sommerhoff is a Chilean architect and politician.

Robert Elmer Balaban is an American actor, author, producer, comedian and director. He was one of the producers nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture for Gosford Park (2001), in which he also appeared. Balaban's other film roles include the drama Midnight Cowboy (1969); the science fiction films Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Altered States (1980), and 2010 (1984); the Christopher Guest comedies Waiting for Guffman (1996), Best in Show (2000), A Mighty Wind (2003), and For Your Consideration (2006); the dark fantasy film Lady in the Water (2006); and the Wes Anderson films Moonrise Kingdom (2012), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), and Isle of Dogs (2018).

Verdine White is an American musician, best known as a founding member and bassist for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Band, Earth, Wind & Fire. White was placed at No. 27 on Bass Player's list of The 100 Greatest Bass Players of All Time.

Elizabeth L. Gardner was an American pilot during World War II who served as a member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). She was one of the first American female military pilots and the subject of a well-known photograph, sitting in the pilot's seat of a Martin B-26 Marauder.

Sean Clinch Stephenson was an American therapist, self-help author and motivational speaker. Because he was born with osteogenesis imperfecta, Stephenson stood three feet tall, had fragile bones, and used a wheelchair.