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

Sheldon Allan Silverstein was an American writer, poet, cartoonist, songwriter and playwright. He is known for his cartoons, songs, and children's books. He styled himself as Uncle Shelby in some works. His books have been translated into more than 30 languages and have sold more than 20 million copies. He was the recipient of two Grammy Awards as well as Golden Globe Award and Academy Award nominations.

Rebecca L. Skloot is an American science writer who specializes in science and medicine. Her first book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (2010), was one of the best-selling new books of 2010, staying on The New York Times Bestseller list for over 6 years and eventually reaching #1. It was adapted into a movie by George C. Wolfe, which premiered on HBO on April 22, 2017 and starred Rose Byrne as Skloot, and Oprah Winfrey as Lacks's daughter Deborah.

Deanna Lund was an American film and television actress best known for her role in the Irwin Allen television series Land of the Giants, in which she played the character of Valerie Ames Scott.

Raymond Daniel Manzarek Jr. was an American musician, singer, producer, film director, and author. He was best known as a member of the Doors from 1965 to 1973, which he co-founded with singer and lyricist Jim Morrison.

Andrew Layton Schlafly is an American lawyer and Christian conservative activist, and the founder and owner of the wiki encyclopedia project Conservapedia. He is the son of the conservative activist and lawyer Phyllis Schlafly.

Rickey Nelson Henley Henderson is an American retired professional baseball left fielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for nine teams from 1979 to 2003, including four separate tenures with his original team, the Oakland Athletics. Nicknamed the "Man of Steal", he is widely regarded as baseball's greatest leadoff hitter and baserunner. He holds the major league records for career stolen bases, runs, unintentional walks and leadoff home runs. At the time of his last major league game in 2003, the ten-time American League (AL) All-Star ranked among the sport's top 100 all-time home run hitters and was its all-time leader in walks. In 2009, he was inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame on his first ballot appearance.

John Aldridge "Jack" Collom was an American poet, essayist, and creative writing pedagogue. Included among the twenty-five books he published during his lifetime were Red Car Goes By: Selected Poems 1955–2000; Poetry Everywhere: Teaching Poetry Writing in School and in the Community; and Second Nature, which won the 2013 Colorado Book Award for Poetry. In the fields of education and creative writing, he was involved in eco-literature, ecopoetics, and writing instruction for children.

Francis Dayle "Chick" Hearn was an American sportscaster. Known primarily as the play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association, Hearn was remembered for his rapid fire, staccato broadcasting style, associated with colorful phrases such as slam dunk, air ball, and no harm, no foul that have become common basketball vernacular, and for broadcasting 3,338 consecutive Lakers games starting on November 21, 1965. Of note is that most of Hearn's games in the television era were simulcast on both radio and television, even after most teams chose to use different announcers for the different media.

Syleena Johnson is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, actress and talk show co-host.

John Roger Williams is an American businessman and politician who has been the U.S. representative for Texas's 25th congressional district since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, he served under Governor Rick Perry as Secretary of State of Texas from 2004 to 2007.