List of Famous people born in Illinois, United States of America
Jack Benny
Jack Benny was an American entertainer, who evolved from a modest success playing violin on the vaudeville circuit to a highly popular comedic career in radio, television and film. He was known for his comic timing and the ability to cause laughter with a pregnant pause or a single expression, such as his signature exasperated "Well!"
Bruce Boxleitner
Bruce William Boxleitner is an American actor, and science fiction and suspense writer. He is known for his leading roles in the television series How the West Was Won, Bring 'Em Back Alive, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, and Babylon 5 . He is also known for his dual role as the characters Alan Bradley and Tron in the 1982 Walt Disney Pictures film Tron, a role which he reprised in the 2003 video game Tron 2.0, the 2006 Square-Enix/Disney crossover game Kingdom Hearts II, the 2010 film sequel, Tron: Legacy and the animated series Tron: Uprising. He co-starred in most of the Gambler films with Kenny Rogers, where his character provided comic relief.
Lil Bibby
Brandon Dickinson, better known by his stage name Lil Bibby, is an American rapper and label executive. Beginning his career in 2011, Bibby released his debut mixtape in 2013, titled Free Crack. He released the follow-up mixtape Free Crack 2 on August 29, 2014, and Free Crack 3 on November 27, 2015. Bibby announced in 2021 in a VladTV interview that he had retired from rap in 2017 after nearly going broke. Deciding in 2017 to switch over to running his own record label. He is also known for signing Juice WRLD to his label Grade A Productions.
Luis Gutiérrez
Luis Vicente Gutiérrez is an American politician. He served as the U.S. Representative for Illinois's 4th congressional district from 1993 to 2019. From 1986 until his election to Congress, he served as a member of the Chicago City Council representing the 26th ward. He is a member of the Democratic Party and was a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus during his tenure in the House. In the 113th Congress, with his 20 years of service, Gutiérrez became, along with Bobby Rush, the longest serving member of the Illinois House delegation, and so was occasionally referred to as the unofficial "dean" of the delegation.
Jodi Benson
Jodi Marie Benson is an American actress, voice actress, and singer. She is best known for providing both the speaking and the singing voice of Princess Ariel in Disney's The Little Mermaid and its sequel, prequel, and television series spinoff. Benson also voiced the character Barbie in the 1999 Golden Globe-winning movie Toy Story 2, its 2010 Academy Award-winning sequel Toy Story 3, and in the Toy Story cartoon Hawaiian Vacation. For her contributions to Disney, Benson was named a Disney Legend in 2011.
Bernard Shaw
Bernard Shaw is a retired American journalist and former lead news anchor for CNN from 1980 until his retirement in March 2001.
Arthur William Radford
Arthur William Radford was a United States Navy admiral and naval aviator. In over 40 years of military service, Radford held a variety of positions including Vice Chief of Naval Operations, commander of the United States Pacific Fleet and later the second Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
David Staller
David Staller is an American theatre director and actor. He is the founding artistic director of the Off-Broadway theatre company, Gingold Theatrical Group.
Charles Tillman
Charles Anthony Tillman, nicknamed Peanut, is a former American football cornerback, who is currently a United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent. He played college football at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the second round of the 2003 NFL Draft.
Shelley Winters
Shelley Winters was an American actress whose career spanned almost six decades. She appeared in numerous films, and won Academy Awards for The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) and A Patch of Blue (1965), and received nominations for A Place in the Sun (1951) and The Poseidon Adventure (1972). She also appeared in A Double Life (1947), The Night of the Hunter (1955), Lolita (1962), Alfie (1966), Next Stop, Greenwich Village (1976), and Pete's Dragon (1977). In addition to film, Winters appeared in television, including a tenure on the sitcom Roseanne, and wrote three autobiographical books.