List of Famous people born in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Kristin Pudenz is a German athlete specialising in the discus throw. She won a gold medal at the 2017 Summer Universiade and a bronze medal at the 2015 European U23 Championships.

Annika Drazek is a German bobsledder and former track and field athlete.

Timo Phil Horn is a German professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for 1. FC Köln.

Michael Hüther is a German economist who currently serves as director of the Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft. He has previously been the chief economist of DekaBank. Hüther also is an honorary professor at the European Business School International University Schloss Reichartshausen.

Haluk Piyes is a Turkish-German actor.

André Tegeler, known by his stage name Moguai is a German music producer and DJ from Marl. In the early 1990s, Tegeler took the alias Moguai and began organising his own club nights and parties in Ruhrgebiet and Münsterland. He became one of the first techno DJs in Germany, sharing a platform with the likes of Paul van Dyk, Westbam and Sven Väth. In more recent years, however, Moguai's sound has developed to include a combination of tech-house, progressive house, big beat and electro house. He has also worked in more mainstream areas of the music industry, producing for the likes of the Sugababes, Girls Aloud and 2Raumwohnung, which earned him double platinum and gold disc awards.

Dieter Falk is a German pianist, keyboardist, Christian composer, arranger, and record producer.

Wilfried Peffgen was a German cyclist who was active between 1959 and 1983. He won a medal at every UCI Motor-paced World Championships between 1976 and 1982, including three gold medals in 1976, 1978 and 1980. He also won eight European titles in 1971, 1973 and 1976–1981.

Elke Winkens, née Fischer is an Austrian-German actress. She grew up in Germany in the district Ratheim in Hückelhoven. Because of her father's work the family moved to the Netherlands and Belgium; for some time she also resided in Africa. At the age of six she took ballet classes and at the age of nine she started performing on stage. Afterwards she performed in many dance and theater acts. From 1978 to 1986 she was a professional gymnast and won several titles in floor exercise.

Robert Graf was a German actor who played the role of Werner, "The Ferret" in the 1963 movie The Great Escape. Graf was born in Witten, Germany in 1923. In 1942, after completing his Abitur, he was conscripted into the Wehrmacht and sent to the Eastern Front. He was wounded in 1944, and assigned to war production duties in Munich, where he began his study of theater. In 1952, Graf married the actress Selma Urfer and had three children. He was the father of the director Dominik Graf. Robert Graf died of cancer in Munich in 1966 at age 42.