The following is a list of notable people who have been born or lived in Indianapolis, Indiana. Organized alphabetically by field of study and last name.
This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (August 2008)
Actors
- Monte Blue (1887–1963), silent film/character actor
- Connie Booth (1944– ), actress, screenwriter
- Steve Burton (1970– ), television actor
- Joyce DeWitt (1949– ), actress, best known for Three's Company
- Mike Epps (1970– ), stand-up comedian, actor, producer, writer, rapper
- Frances Farmer (1913–1970), actress
- Rhett Fisher (1980– ), actor, best known for Power Rangers: Lightspeed Rescue
- Brendan Fraser (1968– ), film actor
- Vivica A. Fox (1964– ), actress
- Doug Jones (1960– ), actor
- Brook Kerr (1973– ), actress
- Forrest Landis (1994– ), actor
- Priscilla Lawson (1914–1958), actress
- Marjorie Main (1890–1975), actress
- Steve McQueen (1930–1980), Academy Award-nominated actor
- Julie McWhirter (1947– ), actress
- Margo Moore (1931–2000), actress
- Dayo Okeniyi (1988– ), film actor
- Jake Short (1997– ), actor
- Steve Talley (1981– ), television/film actor
- Harry von Zell (1906–1981), television/film actor and radio announcer, best known for The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show
- Clifton Webb (1889–1966), stage/film actor
- Sasheer Zamata (1986– ), comedian, actress, former cast member on Saturday Night Live
Artists
- Vija Celmins (1938– ), visual artist
- John Wesley Hardrick (1891–1968), artist
- Ron McQueeney, photographer
Athletes
- Donie Bush (1887–1972), Major League Baseball (MLB) player/manager
- Bryce Campbell (1994– ), plays for the United States national rugby union team
- Rodney Carney (1984– ), National Basketball Association (NBA) player
- Oscar Charleston (1896–1954), baseball player, member of Baseball Hall of Fame
- Mike Conley Jr. (1987– ), NBA player
- Hooks Dauss (1889–1963), MLB player
- Euphrasia Donnelly (1905–1963), swimmer, Olympic gold medalist (1924)
- Stu Douglass (1990– ), basketball player for the Israeli team Ironi Nahariya
- Jack Doyle (1990– ), National Football League (NFL) tight end
- Jeff George (1967– ), NFL quarterback
- Eric Gordon (1988– ), NBA player
- Greg Graham (1970– ), NBA player
- Marcellus Greene (1957– ), NFL player
- Gordon Hayward (1990– ), NBA player
- Oral Hildebrand (1907–1977), MLB All-Star pitcher
- George Hill (1986– ), NBA player
- Alan Henderson (1972 –), NBA player
- John F. Hennessey (1900–1981), tennis player (1920s)
- Lauren Holiday (1987– ), US Women's National Soccer player, Olympic gold medalist, 2015 Women's World Cup champion
- Kenny Irwin (1969–2000), NASCAR driver
- Mathias Kiwanuka (1983– ), NFL player
- Ken Klee (1971– ), National Hockey League (NHL) player
- Chuck Klein (1904–1958), MLB player
- Kyle Krisiloff (1986– ), NASCAR driver
- Courtney Lee (1985– ), NBA player
- Don Leppert (1931– ), MLB player
- Lori Lindsey (1980– ), U.S. Women's National Soccer player, Olympic gold medalist
- Zack Martin (1990– ), NFL player
- George McGinnis (1950– ), NBA player
- Frank McKinney (1938–1992), diver, Olympic gold medalist (1960), banking executive
- Eric Montross (1971– ), NBA player
- Greg Oden (1988– ), NBA player
- Oscar Robertson (1938– ), basketball player, member of Basketball Hall of Fame
- Sally Schantz, figure skater, U.S. ice dancing champion (1963)
- Judy Schwomeyer (1950– ), figure skater, U.S. ice dancing champion (1968–72)
- Sandra Spuzich (1937–2015), LPGA pro golfer
- Brad Stevens (1976– ), NBA head coach
- Marshall Taylor (1878–1932), cyclist, commonly known as "Major Taylor"
- Jeff Teague (1988– ), NBA player
- Johnny Weaver (1935–2008), pro wrestler, first to use the sleeper hold "Weaver Lock"
- Randy Wittman (1959– ), NBA head coach
- Greg Wojciechowski (1951– ), wrestler
- John Wooden (1910–2010, UCLA coach, Purdue University basketball player, member of College Basketball Hall of Fame
- Sean Woods (1970– ), college basketball coach
Business and philanthropy
- Steve Bellamy, sports media entrepreneur, founder of The Ski Channel and The Tennis Channel
- Steve Ells, founder, CEO of Chipotle Mexican Grill
- John Geisse, businessman, founder of Target Stores
- Bob Glenalvin, first manager of Detroit Tigers
- Sid Grauman, founder of Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, former home of the Academy Awards
- Scott A. Jones, co-founder of ChaCha
- Eli Lilly, founder, president of pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company
- Josiah K. Lilly, Sr., president of pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company
- Ruth Lilly, philanthropist
- Kim Ng, Major League Baseball executive
- Freeman Ransom, lawyer, businessman, civic leader[1]
- Madam C.J. Walker, pioneering African-American businesswoman, first female self-made millionaire in America
Entertainment
- Rupert Boneham, reality show contestant, Survivor: Pearl Islands, Survivor: All-Stars, Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, "Survivor: Blood vs. Water; politician
- June Cochran, model, Miss Indiana USA 1960, Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Year 1963
- Ken Hixon, screenwriter
- David Letterman, television personality, former host of The Late Show (1993–2015)
- Ryan Murphy, film and television screenwriter, director, and producer, notably Nip/Tuck, 'American Horror Story and Glee
- Marc Summers, game show host, television personality
- Dan Wakefield, screenwriter, novelist
- Marjorie Wallace, Miss World 1973
Journalists and media
- Roy Blount, Jr., journalist, author
- Louis McHenry Howe, reporter for the New York Herald, political advisor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Jack Olsen, journalist and author
- Jane Pauley, television personality, journalist
- Myrta Pulliam, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
Military
- Thomas A. Morris, railroad executive, civil engineer, Union General in the Civil War
- Norris W. Overton, U.S. Air Force Brigadier General
- Raymond A. Spruance, commander of the U.S. Fifth Fleet (1944–1945)
Musicians
- Mark Battles, rapper-songwriter, founder of record label Fly America
- Scrapper Blackwell, blues legend, writer of the earliest version of "Sweet Home Chicago"
- Darrell Clanton, singer[2]
- Dorian (rapper), hip-hop recording artist and music producer
- Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, R&B music producer/performer
- Jan Garber, bandleader
- Blind Leroy Garnett, boogie-woogie and ragtime pianist and songwriter
- Billy Henderson, singer
- John Hiatt, musician
- Freddie Hubbard, jazz trumpeter
- J. J. Johnson, jazz trombonist
- Josh Kaufman, singer-songwriter, contestant on The Voice (U.S. Season 6)
- Adam Lambert, singer, runner-up of American Idol (Season 8)
- Ted Leo, musician
- Charles Scott Leonard, member of the a cappella group Rockapella
- Margot & the Nuclear So and So's, indie rock band formed in Indianapolis
- Tim McIlrath, musician
- Wes Montgomery, jazz guitarist
- Hal Rayle, voice artist
- Larry Ridley, jazz bassist
- George Shirley, operatic tenor
- Noble Sissle, composer
- Tiara Thomas, singer-songwriter
- Albert Von Tilzer, composer, notably "Take Me Out to the Ball Game"
- Keke Wyatt, R&B singer
Politicians
- Maria Cantwell, U.S. Senator from Washington
- André Carson, member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Indiana, second Muslim to be elected to the U.S. Congress (2008)
- Charles W. Fairbanks, 26th Vice President of the United States (1905–09)
- William T. Francis, United States Ambassador to Liberia (1927–29)[3]
- Benjamin Harrison, 23rd President of the United States (1889–93); lived and died in Indianapolis
- Thomas A. Hendricks, 21st Vice President of the United States (1863–69)
- Richard Lugar, U.S. Senator from Indiana
- Frank E. McKinney, Democratic Party chairman
- Dan Quayle, 44th Vice President of the United States (1989–1993)
- Ted Stevens, former U.S. Senator from Alaska
- Mark Warner, U.S. Senator from Virginia
Writers
- Margaret C. Anderson, critic, editor and publisher
- Allan Bloom, philosopher and essayist
- Jared Carter, poet
- Janet Flanner, Paris correspondent of The New Yorker
- Hildegarde Flanner, poet
- John Green, award-winning author of The Fault in Our Stars; vlogger
- Joseph Hayes, author
- Charles Major, author
- Madelyn Pugh, script-writer I Love Lucy television program
- Booth Tarkington, Pulitzer Prize-winning author
- Kurt Vonnegut, author
- James Whitcomb Riley, poet
Other
- Frank J. Anderson, former Sheriff of Marion County, Indiana (2003–2011)
- Kent Brantly, physician, author, speaker, first American to be treated for the Ebola virus in 2014, TIME Person of the Year 2014
- Emmett I. Brown Jr., professional photographer, documented Indiana Avenue's jazz scene in the 1940s and 50s, editor Sepia magazine
- John P. Donohue, professor, doctor, pioneered treatments for testicular cancer
- John Dillinger, bank robber
- Jared Fogle, Subway restaurant endorser, motivational speaker, and convicted child pornographer
- Ruth M. Gardiner, first nurse killed in action during World War II
- Michael Graves, architect
- Peter Kassig, aid worker, taken hostage and ultimately beheaded by The Islamic State[4]
- Justin Knapp, Wikipedia editor
- Irvine Page, physiologist, former president of the American Heart Association (1956–57)
- Bill Shirk, escape artist, president of Hoosier Broadcasting Corp.
- Avriel Shull, architect
- Ryan White, poster child for AIDS
- David A. Wolf, astronaut
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to People from Indianapolis, Indiana.
- ^ "Notable names in local Black history". The Indianapolis Star. February 10, 2000. Archived from the original on January 4, 2012. Retrieved June 11, 2012.
((cite web)): Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 94. ISBN 0-89820-177-2.
- ^ "Chiefs of Mission for Liberia". U.S. Department of State. Retrieved September 11, 2013.
- ^ Brian Eason, Stephanie Wang and Michael Anthony Adams (October 3, 2014). "Indianapolis native Peter Kassig named next ISIS target". Indystar.com. Retrieved December 21, 2014.
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