Famous People From Kansas City

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• Bud Abell – linebacker in the American Football League; born in Kansas City
• Oleta Adams – singer
• Amy Alcott (born 1956) – Hall of Fame professional golfer; born in Kansas City
• M.A. Alford – multimedia artist
• Henry Wilson Allen – Western author and screenwriter
• Robert Altman – film director
• Raleigh DeGeer Amyx – collector of Olympic and Presidential memorabilia
• Stewart Ashby, Jr. – rapper
• Edward Asner – actor, born in Kansas City
• Don Cheadle
• Emanuel Cleaver
• Burt Bacharach – pianist and composer
• Parrish Baker – cartoonist
• Joy Bang – actress born in Kansas City
• Kay Barnes – mayor of Kansas City 1999–2007
• Thomas D. Barr (1931–2008) – prominent lawyer at Cravath, Swaine & Moore
• H. Roe Bartle – mayor of Kansas City and namesake of Kansas City Chiefs
• Count Basie – jazz musician and bandleader
• Noah Beery – actor
• Wallace Beery – Oscar-winning actor
• Thomas Hart Benton – artist
• Richard L. Berkley – politician, former mayor
• Ken Berry – baseball player
• Danni Boatwright – Survivor: Guatemala winner; Miss Kansas
• Johnny Yong Bosch – actor, martial artist, voice actor, and musician
• Connee Boswell – singer
• Rosemarie Brancato – soprano
• Diane Brewster – actress
• Bob Brookmeyer – jazz musician, composer, and bandleader
• Walter Brown – blues musician
• Sylvia Browne – psychic and medium
• Clinton Sumner Burns – Greater Kansas City Business Hall of Fame laureate and civil engineer
• Joan Crawford
• Chris Cooper
• Walter Cronkite
• Walt Disney
• Melvin Calhoun – rapper
• Danny Carey – drummer for rock band Tool
• John D. Carmack – game programmer
• Joe Carter – baseball player with Cleveland Indians and Toronto Blue Jays, lives in the city
• Don Cheadle – actor, Hotel Rwanda, Ocean's Eleven, Crash
• Anthony Civella – mobster
• Emanuel Cleaver – politician, U.S. Representative for Fifth District in Missouri
• Gene Clark – singer-songwriter with The Byrds
• Jonathan Coachman – ESPN sportscaster, wrestling commentator, college basketball player
• Jennifer Jo Cobb – NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver
• Robert Coldsnow – Kansas legislator and lawyer
• Vinson Cole – operatic tenor
• Jalen Collins - NFL cornerback
• Evan S. Connell – author
• Chris Cooper – Oscar-winning actor
• John Coughlin – figure skater, 2011 U.S. pairs champion
• Joan Crawford – Oscar-winning actor
• Walter Cronkite – CBS television journalist, news anchor
• Amelia Earhart
• Marcus Denmon – NBA player
• Bob Dernier – MLB outfielder
• Joyce DiDonato – opera singer
• Walt Disney – film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, and animator
• Sophia Dominguez-Heithoff – model and Miss Teen USA 2017
• James T. Draper, Jr. – president of Southern Baptist Convention 1982–1984; pastor of Red Bridge Baptist Church in Kansas City 1965–1970
• David Dreier – former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California and longest serving chairman of the House Rules Committee
• Carol Duboc – singer, composer, arranger, and actress
• Amelia Earhart – iconic aviator born in Atchison, KS
• James E. Edmondson – Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice
• Eminem (Marshall Mathers) – rapper and actor
• Melissa Etheridge – singer
• Harris Faulkner – newscaster
• Hala Finley – actress
• Samantha Fish – musician
• Scott Foley – actor
• Lisa Forbes – Miss Kansas and Miss Earth USA 2007
• William P. Foster – band director
• Thomas Frank – writer, editor
• Josh Freeman – NFL quarterback
• Matt Freije – NBA player
• Friz Freleng – film producer, director, animator, and cartoonist
• Heidi Gardner – comedian and Saturday Night Live cast member
• Gene Gauntier – actress, scenarist, producer, and pioneer of motion pictures
• Lorenzo Gilyard – serial killer
• Caroline Glaser – The Voice contestant
• Maurice Greene – sprinter, gold-medalist Olympian in track and field
• Masten Gregory – racing driver
• Eddie Griffin – comedian and actor
• Karolyn Grimes – actress, lived in town for many years
• Dawson Gurley – YouTube personality, actor, camera operator, film editor, businessman
• Ernest Hemingway
• Bob Holden
• Jane Dee Hull
• Donald J. Hall, Sr. – businessman
• Joyce Hall – businessman, founder of Hallmark Cards
• Leon Harden – football player for Green Bay Packers
• Jean Harlow – actress
• Jessica Harp – country music singer-songwriter, former member of The Wreckers with Michelle Branch[16]
• Thomas Hayward – leading tenor of Metropolitan Opera
• Robert A. Heinlein – science fiction author; his stories are frequently set in or reference Kansas City
• Ernest Hemingway – iconic novelist and short story author
• Shauntay Henderson – FBI Ten Most Wanted fugitive, convicted criminal
• Paul Henning – writer, producer of The Beverly Hillbillies TV series
• Opal Hill – golfer and LPGA co-founder
• Jerry Hines – Emmy Award-winning photographer, voted cutest baby of Kansas City 1975
• Ralph F. Hirschmann (1922–2009) – biochemist who led synthesis of first enzyme
• Mabel Hite – vaudeville and musical comedy performer, father worked at Owl Drug Store
• Clara Cleghorn Hoffman (1831–1908) – temperance activist
• Bob Holden – 53rd Governor of Missouri
• Dorothy B. Hughes – novelist
• Jane Dee Hull – 20th Governor of Arizona
• Sean Ingram – musician and entrepreneur
• Lisa Irwin – infant missing since 2011
• Ub Iwerks – animator and cartoonist
• Tim Kaine
• Jason Kander
• Philip Klutznick
• Pete Johnson – blues and jazz pianist
• Elaine Joyce – actress
• Tim Kaine – former Governor and current U.S. Senator from Virginia; 2016 Democratic nominee for Vice president under Hillary Clinton
• Krizz Kaliko (born Samuel Watson, Jr.) – rapper
• Jason Kander – former Missouri Secretary of State
• John Kander – composer
• Ewing Kauffman – pharmaceutical magnate, philanthropist, and Major League Baseball owner
• Gerren Keith – television director Good Times, Diff'rent Strokes, 227
• Ellie Kemper – actress, The Office, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
• Vern Kennedy – baseball pitcher
• Bill Kenney – politician, ex-Chiefs player
• Edward Kerr – actor, Above Suspicion, Confessions of a Sexist Pig, The Astronaut's Wife
• Craig Kilborn – actor, sportscaster, talk show host
• Philip Klutznick – U.S. Secretary of Commerce to President Jimmy Carter
• Evalyn Knapp – actress
• Claire McCaskill
• Dennis Moore
• Sarah Lancaster – actress
• Frank Sherman Land – Freemason and founder of Order of DeMolay, international organization for young men
• Barbara Lawrence – actress
• William Least Heat-Moon – author
• Muna Lee – three-time track and field Olympic finalist
• Jeff Leiding – football player
• Lesa Lewis – IFBB professional bodybuilder
• Ryan Lilja – NFL player for Indianapolis Colts and Kansas City Chiefs, Shawnee Mission Northwest High School graduate
• Tyronn Lue – NBA player and current head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Raytown Senior High School
• Betty Lynn – actress best known for playing Thelma Lou on The Andy Griffith Show
• Richard B. Myers
• Bill Maas – NFL player
• Arthur Mag – lawyer, legal counsel to Harry S. Truman
• Sean Malto – professional skateboarder
• Amanda Marsh – first winner of The Bachelor
• Denny Matthews – sportscaster, author
• John Mayberry, Jr. – baseball outfielder with Philadelphia Phillies
• Claire McCaskill – politician and senator
• Edie McClurg – actress
• Courtney McCool – athlete and Olympian
• Glenn McGee – bioethicist and philosopher
• Phil McGraw – psychologist and talk show host, lived in the area as a teen
• Katherine McNamara – actress, Shadowhunters
• Jay McShann – blues musician
• Merrell Twins – YouTubers, actresses and musicians
• Pat Metheny – jazz guitarist
• Frederick H. Michaelis – U.S. Navy Admiral
• Sue Miller – breast cancer activist
• Janelle Monáe – singer
• Wendy Moniz – actress
• Julia Montgomery – actress in Revenge of the Nerds and One Life to Live
• Dennis Moore – Congressman, politician
• Logan Morrison – baseball player
• Paul Morrison – politician
• Tommy Morrison – heavyweight boxer
• Bennie Moten – pianist, bandleader
• Mancow Muller – radio personality
• Bob Munden – exhibition shooter and gunsmith
• Ashleigh Murray – actress
• Richard B. Myers – U.S. Air Force General and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
• Danielle Nicole – blues and soul musician
• Jesse Clyde Nichols – developer of commercial and residential real estate
• William F. Nolan – author
• Buck O'Neil – baseball player, scout, and coach; first African-American coach in the MLB; helped establish the Negro League Hall of Fame
• Satchel Paige – baseball pitcher
• Charlie Parker – jazz saxophonist and composer
• Gordon Parks – screenwriter, director, actor, photographer
• Mark Patton – actor
• Jamie Paulin-Ramirez – American Muslim convert arrested in Jihad Jane plot to kill a Danish artist
• Rodney Peete – NFL quarterback, Fox Sports TV host
• Tom Pendergast – political boss
• Tom Pernice, Jr. – professional golfer
• Darrell Porter – professional baseball player, author
• Joe Posnanski – sports writer, author
• William Powell – actor
• Rob Riggle
• Ginger Rogers
• Paul Rudd
• Joe Randa – baseball player
• Cathy Reynolds – professional golfer
• Rob Riggle – actor and comedian
• Bullet Rogan – baseball player
• Ginger Rogers – dancer, Academy Award-winning actress, Broadway performer
• Michael Rosbash – geneticist at Brandeis University, Nobel Laureate
• Paul Rudd – actor, Ant-Man, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
• Karl L. Rundberg (1899–1969) – Los Angeles City Council member
• Brandon Rush – NBA player
• Kareem Rush – NBA player
• Pierre Russell – basketball player
• Jason Sudeikis
• Ray Sadecki – Major League Baseball pitcher
• Lori Saunders – actress, Petticoat Junction
• Rachel Saunders – 2005 Miss Kansas USA
• Melana Scantlin – Miss Missouri USA and Average Joe star, co-host of World Series of Blackjack
• Wes Scantlin – lead singer and rhythm guitarist of rock band Puddle of Mudd, cousin of Melana Scantlin
• Nick Schnebelen – blues rock musician
• Landry Shamet – basketball player with the NBA's Brooklyn Nets
• Ted Shawn – modern dance pioneer
• Columbus Short – choreographer, actor, singer
• Josh Shapiro – Pennsylvania state attorney general
• Sam Simmons – former NFL and Arena Football League player
• Seth Sinovic – defender for hometown team Sporting Kansas City
• Aldon Smith – NFL outside linebacker
• Crystal Smith – model
• Jack Sock – professional tennis player
• Alberto Sordi – Italian actor (honorary citizen)
• Kate Spade – fashion designer
• Alexis Spight – gospel musician
• Darren Sproles – NFL running back
• Casey Stengel – baseball player and Hall of Fame manager
• Michael Stevens – educator and Internet celebrity
• George Strohmeyer – football player
• Darrell Stuckey – NFL player with the San Diego Chargers
• Jason Sudeikis – actor, Saturday Night Live
• Justin Swift – football player with NFL's Detroit Lions
• Myra Taylor – blues singer, solo career and member of the Wild Women of Kansas
• Tech N9ne (Aaron D. Yates) – rapper
• Bobb'e J. Thompson – child actor
• Virgil Thomson – Pulitzer Prize-winning composer
• Calvin Trillin – food writer, journalist, humorist
• Marion A. Trozzolo – businessman, River Quay
• Lisa Tucker – writer
• Big Joe Turner – blues singer
• Henry Clay Van Noy – owner of Van Noy Railway News and Hotel Company (today known as HMSHost)
• Grace VanderWaal – singer-songwriter, ukuleleist, and season 11 winner of NBC's America's Got Talent
• Janie Wagstaff – 1992 Olympic swimmer
• Dee Wallace – actress, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
• Earl Watson – basketball player
• Orla Watson – inventor
• Tom Watson – professional golfer, twice Masters champion, five-time British Open winner, World Golf Hall of Fame
• Mary Watson Weaver – composer
• Ben Webster – jazz saxophonist
• Jason Whitlock – sports journalist
• Charles Wheeler – Kansas City Mayor
• Frank White – professional baseball player
• Dianne Wiest – two-time Oscar-winning actress
• Chuck Wild – recording artist, songwriter and composer
• Jason Wiles – actor, played Maurice 'Bosco' Boscorelli in TV series Third Watch
• Rollin Williams – first African American professor at the University of Connecticut
• Barry Winchell – Private First Class, murdered by a fellow soldier for his sexual orientation
• Larry Winn – former U.S. Congressman
• Smoky Joe Wood – a.k.a. The Kansas Cyclone; professional baseball player for Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians
• Doug Worgul – journalist and author of the novel Thin Blue Smoke
• Chely Wright – country music singer
• Katie Wright – actress; married to Hank Azaria

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