List of Famous people born in South Dakota, United States of America
Brock Lesnar
Brock Edward Lesnar is a retired American professional wrestler, retired mixed martial artist, and retired professional football player. He is best known for his time in WWE, where he is a five time WWE Champion and a three time and the longest reigning WWE Universal Champion.
Josh Heupel
Joshua Kenneth Heupel is an American football coach and former player. He is the head football coach at the University of Tennessee. He was named the head coach of the Volunteers in January 2021 after former Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt was fired. He was named to the UCF job in December 2017, following the resignation of Scott Frost, who left for the head coaching job at Nebraska. Heupel played college football as quarterback for the Oklahoma Sooners. During his college playing career, he was recognized as a consensus All-American, won numerous awards, and led Oklahoma to the 2000 BCS National Championship. After two years unsuccessfully trying to make an NFL roster, Heupel became a coach. He served as co-offensive coordinator for Oklahoma until January 6, 2015, when he was fired. He was named the assistant head coach, offensive coordinator, and quarterbacks coach for the Utah State University (USU) Aggies on January 23, 2015. After one season at USU, he was hired on Barry Odom's staff at the University of Missouri, where he was the offensive coordinator before being hired for his first head coaching position at UCF. He was named the head coach of the University of Tennessee Volunteers football team on January 27, 2021.
Kristi Noem
Kristi Lynn Noem is an American politician serving as the 33rd and current governor of South Dakota since January 5, 2019. A member of the Republican Party, she was the U.S. Representative for South Dakota's at-large congressional district from 2011 to 2019 and a member of the South Dakota House of Representatives for the 6th district from 2007 to 2011. Noem was elected governor in 2018 and is South Dakota's first female governor.
Tomi Lahren
Tomi Rae Augustus Lahren is an American conservative political commentator and former television host. She hosted Tomi on TheBlaze, where she gained notice for her short video segments called "final thoughts", in which she frequently criticized liberal politics. Many of her videos went viral, with The New York Times describing her as a "rising media star". Lahren was suspended from TheBlaze in March 2017 after saying in an interview on The View that she believed women should have legal access to abortion. Shortly thereafter, she began working for Great America Alliance, an advocacy organization that supports Donald Trump, and, in August 2017, she joined Fox News as a contributor and currently hosts a talk show on Fox Nation, No Interruption (2018–).
Mary Hart
Mary Hart is an American television personality and actress. She was the long-running host (1982–2011) of the syndicated gossip and entertainment round-up television program Entertainment Tonight, the longest running entertainment magazine show of all time. She was Miss South Dakota 1970.
Ernie LaPointe
Ernie LaPointe is the great-grandson of Hunkpapa Lakota chief Sitting Bull. He is a Sun Dancer, author, and orator. LaPointe had a long journey from childhood through struggles overcoming alcohol and marijuana use related to PTSD while homeless, the embracement of his culture and the spiritual ways of his ancestors, to his quest to become the authoritative voice for his great-grandfather, as is shown in the documentary Sitting Bull's Voice.
Adam Vinatieri
Adam Matthew Vinatieri is an American football placekicker who is a free agent. He has played in the National Football League (NFL) for 24 seasons with the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts. Considered one of the greatest kickers in league history, he is the NFL's all-time leading scorer at 2,673 points. He also holds the NFL records for most field goals made (599), most postseason points (238), and most overtime field goals made (12).
Tom Daschle
Thomas Andrew Daschle is an American politician and lobbyist who served as a United States senator from South Dakota from 1987 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he became U.S. Senate Minority Leader in 1995 and later the Majority Leader in 2001.
Dale Moss
Dale Moss is a former American football wide receiver and reality television personality. He played college football for the South Dakota State Jackrabbits. After being a member of the offseason and practice squad rosters for the National Football League (NFL)'s Green Bay Packers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Chicago Bears, and Carolina Panthers, he played professionally for the Los Angeles Kiss of the Arena Football League (AFL) in 2014. He was one of the winners of the 16th season of ABC's The Bachelorette, starring Clare Crawley.
Terry Francona
Terrence Jon Francona, nicknamed "Tito", is the manager of the Cleveland Indians of Major League Baseball (MLB). Previously, he was the manager of the Boston Red Sox, whom he led to two World Series titles, ending the franchise's 86-year championship drought.