List of people from Indianapolis

The following is a list of notable people who have been born or lived in Indianapolis, Indiana. Organized alphabetically by field of study and then by last name.

Actors

• Abraham Benrubi (1969– ), actor, best known for ER and Parker Lewis Can't Lose
• 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
• Cullen Douglas (1967– ), actor, producer, director, best known for Grey’s Anatomy and Pure Genius
• Robert Emhardt (1914–1994), Actor
• 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
• Ken Foree (1948– ), actor
• Vivica A. Fox (1964– ) actress
• Doug Jones (1960– ), actor
• Brook Kerr (1973– ), actress
• 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
• Dohn Norwood(1974– ) actor, Hell on Wheels (TV series)
• Katy O'Brian (1989– ), 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
• Don Gummer, artist
• John Wesley Hardrick (1891–1968), artist
• Ron McQueeney, photographer
• Wilhelmina Seegmiller (1866–1913), author, illustrator, art teacher
• Sheida Soleimani (1990–), contemporary artist, born in Indianapolis.
• Jeremy Spencer, musician (1973– )

Athletes

• Joe Amico (1995– ), soccer player
• Sarah Bacon (1996– ), Olympic diver
• George Bailey (1900–1940), IndyCar Series driver
• Jalen Brown (1995– ), soccer player
• Kevin Burns (1985– ), soccer player
• 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 Clark (1972– ), soccer player
• Josh Coan (1998– ), soccer player
• Mike Conley Jr. (1987– ), NBA player
• Hooks Dauss (1889–1963), MLB player
• Euphrasia Donnelly (1905–1963), swimmer, Olympic gold medalist (1924)
• Stu Douglass (1990– ), American-Israeli basketball player for the Israeli team Maccabi Ashdod
• Jack Doyle (1990– ), National Football League (NFL) tight end
• Daeshon Francis (born 1996), basketball player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
• 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
• Alan Henderson (1972– ), NBA player
• John F. Hennessey (1900–1981), tennis player (1920s)
• Oral Hildebrand (1907–1977), MLB All-Star pitcher
• George Hill (1986– ), NBA player
• Cole Hocker (2001– ), distance runner, Olympian
• Lauren Holiday (1987– ), US Women's National Soccer player, Olympic gold medalist, 2015 Women's World Cup champion
• Lester Horton (1906–1953), dancer and choreographer
• Tommy Hunter (1986– ), Major League baseball pitcher for Philadelphia Phillies
• Kenny Irwin (1969–2000), NASCAR driver
• Jack Johnson (1987– ) NHL player
• Mathias Kiwanuka (1983– ), NFL player
• Ken Klee (1971– ), National Hockey League (NHL) player
• Chuck Klein (1904–1958), MLB player
• Kyle Krisiloff (1986– ), NASCAR driver
• Shawn Langdon (2007– ), Current NHRA Funny Car Driver 2013 Top Fuel Champion 2 Time Super Comp Champion
• Brad Leaf (1960–), American-Israeli basketball player for Hapoel Galil Elyon and Maccabi Tel Aviv of the Israel Premier League
• Courtney Lee (1985– ), NBA player
• Don Leppert (1931– ), MLB player
• Lori Lindsey (1980– ), U.S. Women's National Soccer player, Olympic gold medalist
• Maicel Malone-Wallace (1969– ), sprinter, Olympic gold medalist (1996)
• Zack Martin (1990– ), NFL player
• George McGinnis (1950– ), NBA player
• Frank McKinney (1938–1992), diver, Olympic gold medalist (1960), banking executive
• Terry McLaurin Ohio State Buckeyes and Washington Redskins wide receiver
• Eric Montross (1971– ), NBA player
• Greg Oden (1988– ), NBA player
• Jaycie Phelps (1979– ), gymnast, Olympic gold medalist (1996), Magnificent Seven (gymnastics) team member
• Austin Price (born 1995), basketball player in the Israeli Premier Basketball League
• Derrick Ransom (1976– ), National Football League (NFL) player defensive tackle
• Matt Reiswerg (born 1980), soccer player, coach, and administrator
• Zion Richardson (2001– ), basketball 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– ), President of Basketball Operations and former head coach of the Boston Celtics
• Major Taylor (1878–1932), cyclist
• 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
• Sean Woods (1970– ), college basketball coach
• T. J. Yates (1987–), former quarterback who is currently the wide receivers coach for the Atlanta Falcons

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
• Scott Flanders, businessman and former CEO of Playboy, Inc.
• 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
• Willard Ransom, lawyer, businessman, civic leader
• Henry J. Richardson Jr., lawyer and civil rights activist, member of the Indiana House of Representatives (1932–36), and a judge in Marion County, Indiana.
• Madam C.J. Walker, pioneering African-American businesswoman, first female self-made millionaire in America
• Margaret Ray Wickens (1843–1918), organizer and social reformer

Criminals

• Herb Baumeister, suspected serial killer
• Melvin Carr, murderer, rapist, and suspected serial killer
• John Dillinger, bank robber
• Jared Fogle, Subway restaurant endorser, motivational speaker, and convicted child pornographer
• Jim Jones, cult leader and mass murderer who led the Peoples Temple between 1955 and 1978

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
• Blair St. Clair (Andrew Bryson), drag performer
• Marc Summers, game show host, television personality
• Dan Wakefield, screenwriter, novelist
• Marjorie Wallace, Miss World 1973

Journalists and media

• Roy Blount Jr., journalist, author
• Scott Evans, television personality
• 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

• Timothy Maude, U.S. Army Lieutenant General, the highest ranking military officer killed in the September 11 attacks
• 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 musician and songwriter, writer of the earliest version of "Sweet Home Chicago"
• Carl Broemel, multi-instrumentalist, member of My Morning Jacket
• Darrell Clanton, singer
• Dorian, hip-hop recording artist and music producer
• Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, R&B music producer/performer
• Guitar Pete Franklin, blues musician
• Jan Garber, bandleader
• Blind Leroy Garnett, boogie-woogie and ragtime pianist and songwriter
• Thurston Harris, singer, songwriter
• Billy Henderson, singer, member of The Spinners (American group)
• 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)
• Adrianne Lenker, musician, singer songwriter of the indie band, Big Thief
• Ted Leo, musician
• Charles Scott Leonard, member of the a cappella group Rockapella
• Lily & Madeleine, folk duo
• Margot & the Nuclear So and So's, indie rock band formed in Indianapolis
• Tim McIlrath, musician
• Wes Montgomery, jazz guitarist
• Plumb, singer/songwriter
• Hal Rayle, voice artist
• Larry Ridley, jazz bassist
• June Rochelle, singer/songwriter
• David Michael Schuster, opera singer
• George Shirley, operatic tenor
• Noble Sissle, composer
• Tiara Thomas, singer-songwriter
• Albert Von Tilzer, composer, notably "Take Me Out to the Ball Game"
• Pharez Whitted, jazz trumpeter
• Keke Wyatt, R&B singer

Politicians

• James Bingham, Indiana Attorney General (1907–1911)
• Maria Cantwell, U.S. Senator from Washington
• Paul Cantwell, Indiana state representative
• André Carson, member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Indiana, second Muslim to be elected to the U.S. Congress (2008)
• Julia Carson, member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Indiana; grandmother of André Carson
• Harriette Bailey Conn, state representative and the first African American to serve as Indiana's state public defender
• Ray Crowe, basketball coach and politician
• John J. Dillon, Indiana Attorney General (1965-1969)
• Charles W. Fairbanks, 26th Vice President of the United States (1905–1909)
• William T. Francis, United States Ambassador to Liberia (1927–1929)
• Benjamin Harrison, 23rd President of the United States (1889–1893); lived and died in Indianapolis
• Thomas A. Hendricks, 21st Vice President of the United States (1863–1869)
• Eric Holcomb, Governor of Indiana
• William A. Ketcham, Indiana Attorney General (1894–1898), Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic (1920–1921).
• Jon Krahulik, Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court (1990–1993)
• Daisy Riley Lloyd, first female African American to serve in the Indiana legislature
• Richard Lugar, U.S. Senator from Indiana
• Frank E. McKinney, Democratic Party chairman
• Mike Pence, 48th Vice President of the United States (2017–2021)
• Dan Quayle, 44th Vice President of the United States (1989–1993)
• Charles Ray, Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court (1865–1871)
• Edwin K. Steers, Indiana Attorney General (1953–1965)
• Ted Stevens, former U.S. Senator from Alaska
• Mark Warner, U.S. Senator from Virginia

Writers

• Georgia Alexander (1868–1928), textbook author and educator
• Grace Alexander (1872–1951), writer, journalist, teacher
• Margaret C. Anderson, critic, editor and publisher
• John David Anderson (1975– ), children's book author of Ms. Bixby's Last Day, 2017 Indiana Authors Award Winner
• Allan Bloom, philosopher and essayist
• A'Lelia Bundles (1952– ), TV producer, journalist, and author of On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker
• Jared Carter (1939– ), poet, author of Work, for the Night Is Coming (1981), and winner of the Walt Whitman Award and the Poets' Prize.
• Matt Dellinger (1975– ), author of Interstate 69: The Unfinished History of the Last Great American Highway
• Elliot Engel, writer, lecturer, and dramatist
• Mari Evans (1923–2017), poet, author of I Am a Black Woman (1970), winner of the Black Academy of Arts and Letters poetry award
• Janet Flanner, Paris correspondent of The New Yorker
• Hildegarde Flanner, poet
• John Green, children's book award-winning author of The Fault in Our Stars; vlogger
• Alex Hall, author of Ben Drowned (2010)
• Joseph Hayes, author
• Phillip Hoose (1947– ), award-winning children's book author of Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice
• Kathryn Lasky (1944– ), children's book author of Guardians of Ga'Hoole
• Charles Major, author
• Elizabeth Miller (1878–1961), novelist
• Bill Peet (1915–2002), children's book author and illustrator of Pamela Camel,
• 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
• Ruth M. Gardiner, first nurse killed in action during World War II
• Michael Graves, architect
• Margaret Yandes Holliday, Presbyterian missionary in Tabriz from 1883 to 1919
• Peter Kassig, aid worker, taken hostage and ultimately beheaded by The Islamic State
• Justin Knapp, Wikipedia editor
• John Morton-Finney, Buffalo soldier, lawyer, educator and civil rights leader
• Irvine Page, physiologist, former president of the American Heart Association (1956–1957)
• Harriet Augusta Prunk (1840-1911), American educator and school founder
• John C. Rule, historian at Ohio State University
• Bill Shirk, escape artist, president of Hoosier Broadcasting Corp.
• Avriel Shull, architect
• William V. Wheeler, founder of Wheeler Mission Ministries of Indianapolis
• David A. Wolf, astronaut
• Evans Woollen III, architect, founder and principal of Woollen, Molzan and Partners

References