Famous People Born in Illinois a to z

R. Kelly is a popular American R&B singer-songwriter and record producer best known for his gospel-tinged vocals and highly sexualized lyrics.

Ethel Kennedy is best known as the widow of Robert F. Kennedy, the former U.S. Attorney General and New York Senator who was assassinated in 1968.

Ray Kroc was an American entrepreneur best known for expanding McDonald’s from a local chain to the world’s most profitable restaurant franchise operation.

American jazz pianist and composer John Lewis was a member of the Modern Jazz Quartet, one of the longest-lived and best-received groups in jazz history.

Robert Todd Lincoln was an American lawyer and secretary of war best known as the first-born son of President Abraham Lincoln.

Richard Loeb, of Leopold and Loeb, is best known for murdering 14-year old Bobby Franks with Nathan Leopold in an attempt to carry out the 'perfect crime'.

Jane Lynch is a Golden Globe and Emmy-Award winning film and television actress. She is best known for her role as Coach Sue Sylvester on the TV series Glee.

Terrence Malick is a critically acclaimed American film director who films include: Badlands, Days of Heaven and The Tree of Life.

John Malkovich is an award-winning actor who's known for his roles in films like Places in the Heart, Dangerous Liaisons and Being John Malkovich.

David Mamet is a playwright and screenwriter known for such heady works as American Buffalo and Glengarry Glen Ross.

Michael Mann in an Emmy Award-winning film director, producer and screenwriter best known for producing the 1980s crime series, Miami Vice.

Marilu Henner is best known for her acting careerin film and TV, particularly the series Taxi.

Academy Award winner Marlee Matlin, who pursued a professional acting career despite being legally deaf, is an inspirational role model to many.

Curtis Mayfield was a singer-songwiter known for his racially conscious soul and funk who had a number one album with his score for the film Superfly.

Jenny McCarthy was named Playboy's 1994 Playmate of the Year and hosted MTV's Singled Out from 1995 to 1997. She began hosting Love in the Wild in June 2012.

Actress Melissa McCarthy starred as Sookie in the show Gilmore Girls. In 2011, she received an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress in the film Bridesmaids.

Elizabeth McGovern is an Academy Award-nominated actress known for playing Cora Crawley on the BBC series Downton Abbey.

Lyle Menendez was convicted, along with his brother Erik, of killing his parents. They each unsuccessfully claimed self-defense, and were sentenced to life in prison in 1996.

Though primarily remembered for her lavish tastes, heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post was a shrewd businesswoman and a dedicated philanthropist.

Basketball player George Mikan won five NBA championships with Minneapolis. He was one of the tallest players and increased modern height expectations.

Alley Mills is a television actress who starred in the hit series The Wonder Years, as well as Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.

Married to Judy Garland and father to Liza Minnelli, film director Vincente Minnelli infused a new sophistication and vitality into movie musicals of the 1940s and '50s.

Actor Clayton Moore appeared in approximately 70 feature films and played the Lone Ranger on a ABC network television version of the radio program.

Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad is a professor, author and media commentator who is executive director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

Comedian and actor Bill Murray is best known for his roles on Saturday Night Live and in the classic comedies Caddy Shack and Stripes. More recently, he was cast as FDR in the film Hyde Park on Hudson.

"Baby Face" Nelson was a gangster, bank robber and triggerman who work for Al Capone and John Dillinger.

Eliot Ness was a law enforcement official in Chicago, best known for his efforts to enforce Prohibition as head of "The Untouchables."

Actress Nichelle Nichols is best known for her groundbreaking portrayal of Lieutenant Uhura on the original Star Trek television series.

A.C. Nielsen was an American market-research engineer and business executive, best known for creating Nielsen ratings, a national rating of television viewing.

Bob Novak was a conservative TV talk show personality, most famously appearing on CNN's often-explosive Crossfire.

Film actress Kim Novak was a leading box-office attraction of the 1950s, perhaps the last of the ‘sex goddesses’ produced by the Hollywood star system.

Actor Chris O'Donnell co-starred with Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman, played Robin in two Batman flicks and now stars on the television series NCIS: Los Angeles.

Michelle Obama is a lawyer, Chicago city administrator and community outreach worker, as well as the wife of U.S. President Barack Obama and the 44th first lady.

William S. Paley was a businessman who started what would become the CBS television network.

Deval Patrick is governor of Massachusetts and the former U.S. assistant attorney general of civil rights.

Fritz Pollard was the first African American to play in the Rose Bowl, the first African-American NFL coach and one of the NFL's first black players.

John Prine is an American singer-songwriter who has issued a prodigious number of albums. His work has been covered by Bonnie Raitt, Johnny Cash and George Strait.

Richard Pryor was a groundbreaking African-American comedian and one of the top entertainers of the 1970s and '80s.

Aidan Quinn is a film and television actor of Irish heritage who has found his niche playing sensitive, intelligent male characters, often in supporting roles.

Lou Rawls was a singer and songwriter known for his baritone voice and the small acting roles he took on the side.

James Earl Ray is best known for assassinating civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., in 1968.

President Ronald Reagan helped redefine the purpose of government and pressured the Soviet Union to end the Cold War. He solidified the conservative agenda for decades after his presidency.

Model and actress Denise Richards is best known for her role in 1998's Wild Things, and for her tumultuous marriage and divorce with actor Charlie Sheen.

Jason Robards Jr. was an intense stage and film actor, and a frequent interpreter of Eugene O'Neill's work. He starred in the 1960 television production The Iceman Cometh, and later starred in films like Philadelphia and Magnolia.

American actor Robert Reed played the quintessential family man Mike Brady in the enduring sitcom The Brady Bunch.

Patricia Roberts Harris was the first African-American woman to hold a cabinet position, serve as U.S. ambassador and head a law school.

Nightclub owner Jack Ruby murdered Lee Harvey Oswald before Oswald could stand trial for the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Donald Rumsfeld is a political figure known for being the secretary of defense under both President Gerald Ford and President George W. Bush.

Mike Shanahan is a highly effective NFL football coach who led John Elway and the Broncos to two consecutive Superbowl wins.

Sidney Sheldon was a best-selling novelist who won Oscar, Tony and Emmy awards for his work on the stage and screen.

Sam Shepard is a prolific, Oscar-nominated actor and playwright who’s won the Pulitzer Prize.

Comedian and actress Sherri Shepherd has co-hosted the popular daytime talk show The View since 2007.

Maria Shriver married Arnold Schwarzenegger and is the first lady of California. She is part of the Kennedy family and was an NBC journalist for many years.

Shel Silverstein was a poet and musician known for children’s books such as The Giving Tree and Where the Sidewalk Ends.

Film critic Gene Siskel reviewed movies with co-host Roger Ebert on the nationally syndicated program Siskel & Ebert & the Movies.

Singer-songwriter Grace Slick was one of the lead singers for the band Jefferson Airplane. She wrote the songs "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love".

Patti Smith is a highly influential figure in the New York City punk rock scene, starting with her 1975 album Horses. Her biggest hit is the single "Because the Night."

U.S. baseball player, executive, and sporting-goods manufacturer A.E. Spalding co-founded one of the premier American sporting-goods companies.

In 1966, Richard Speck committed one of the most horrifying mass murders in American history when he brutalized and killed eight student nurses living on Chicago's South Side.

Tony Spilotro is best known as a mob representative in Las Vegas from the 1970s to the '80s. He was brutally beaten and murdered by mob members in 1986.

Preston Sturges is regarded as the first Hollywood figure to successfully move from screenwriting to directing his own scripts.

Actor and professional wrestler Mr. T, known for his mohawk and gold chains, starred in 1980s TV programs like The A-Team and Mister T.

Isiah Thomas is generally regarded as one of the best point guards in the history of basketball. He played for the Detroit Pistons.

The murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till on August 28, 1955 galvanized the emerging civil rights movement.

Mel Torme was a singer, jazz vocalist, and composer active from the 1940s-1990s. He also wrote biographies of Judy Garland and Buddy Rich.

Jeff Tweedy is a singer and songwriter who belongs to the influential alternative rock band Wilco.