List of people from Bloomington, Illinois
Encyclopedia
The following list includes notable people who were born or have lived in Bloomington, Illinois
.
Bloomington, Illinois
Bloomington is a city in McLean County, Illinois, United States and the county seat. It is adjacent to Normal, Illinois, and is the more populous of the two principal municipalities of the Bloomington-Normal metropolitan area...
.
Authors and academics
- Kate CharlesKate CharlesKate Charles is an Anglo-American crime writer.Kate Charles was born Carol Fosher in Cincinnati. Her family moved to Bloomington, Illinois when she was 10. She graduated from Bloomington High School and went on to Illinois State University where she graduated with a degree in library science in...
, Anglo-American mystery writer. - Elbert HubbardElbert HubbardElbert Green Hubbard was an American writer, publisher, artist, and philosopher. Raised in Hudson, Illinois, he met early success as a traveling salesman with the Larkin soap company. Today Hubbard is mostly known as the founder of the Roycroft artisan community in East Aurora, New York, an...
, essayist. - Frederic W. Goudy, typographer.
- John Wesley PowellJohn Wesley PowellJohn Wesley Powell was a U.S. soldier, geologist, explorer of the American West, and director of major scientific and cultural institutions...
, naturalist. - Wilson TuckerWilson TuckerArthur Wilson "Bob" Tucker was an American mystery, action adventure, and science fiction writer, who wrote professionally as Wilson Tucker....
, author. - Curtis WhiteCurtis WhiteCurtis White is an American essayist and author. He serves as professor of English at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois, and as President of the Board of Directors of the Center for Book Culture. Most of his career has been spent writing experimental fiction, but he has turned recently...
, author, novelist, essayist, theorist.
Business and engineering
- George J. MecherleGeorge J. MecherleGeorge Jacob "G.J." Mecherle was the founder of State Farm Insurance, headquartered in Bloomington, Illinois. Mecherle, a farmer who became an insurance agent also, founded State Farm after becoming dissatisfied with the insurance rates charged to farmers, as those rates included the risks of...
, Founder of State Farm Insurance. - Marc MillerMarc W. MillerMarc Miller is an award-winning wargame and role-playing game designer and author.-Career Beginnings:Marc Miller, along with Rich Banner and Frank Chadwick circa 1972, was a member of the Illinois State University Games Club. Banner engineered a grant which funded the printing of blank hex sheets...
, award-winning game designer.
Media and arts
- Ryan BlissRyan BlissRyan Bliss is the creator of Digital Blasphemy, a website known for its computer desktop wallpapers.-Life:Ryan Bliss spent a good portion of his early teenage years either reading fiction or writing fiction while he dreamed of being a writer when he grew up. He chose to attend the University of...
, digital artist, founder of Digital BlasphemyDigital BlasphemyDigital Blasphemy is a commercial website for computer wallpapers designed and created by independent artist Ryan Bliss, an English and Computer Science graduate from the University of Iowa...
. - Tim BradstreetTim BradstreetTimothy "Tim" Bradstreet , is an artist and illustrator, best known for his work on comic books , book covers, movie posters, roleplaying games and trading cards.-Career:...
, Eisner Award Nominated artist and illustrator. - David S. BroderDavid S. BroderDavid Salzer Broder was an American journalist, writing for The Washington Post for over forty years. He also was an author, television news show pundit, and university lecturer....
, journalist. - John CampbellJohn Campbell (jazz pianist)John Campbell is a jazz pianist born July 7, 1955 in Bloomington, Illinois. He studied piano privately as a youth, then attended University High School and, briefly, Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois before moving to Chicago in the mid 70s, then to New York in the...
, jazz pianist. - Joel HigginsJoel HigginsJoel Franklin Higgins is an American actors and singer with a stage career spanning over 30 years.- Life and Career :...
, actor, best known for his role as Edward W. Stratton, III in the TV series Silver SpoonsSilver SpoonsSilver Spoons is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from September 25, 1982 to May 11, 1986 and in first-run syndication from September 15, 1986 to March 4, 1987...
. - Frederic RemingtonFrederic RemingtonFrederic Sackrider Remington was an American painter, illustrator, sculptor, and writer who specialized in depictions of the Old American West, specifically concentrating on the last quarter of the 19th century American West and images of cowboys, American Indians, and the U. S...
, artist and sculptor of the Old West. - Paul RhymerPaul RhymerPaul Mills Rhymer was a United States scriptwriter and humorist best known as the creator of radio's long-run Vic and Sade series. With a listening audience of 7,000,000, Vic and Sade was voted the number one daytime radio series in 1942, and Rhymer is regarded by many as one of the great humorists...
, scriptwriter and humorist best known as the creator of radio's long-run Vic and SadeVic and SadeVic and Sade was an American radio program created and written by Paul Rhymer. It was regularly broadcast on radio from 1932 to 1944, then intermittently until 1946, and was briefly adapted to television in 1949 and again in 1957....
series. - Dawn UpshawDawn UpshawDawn Upshaw is an American soprano described as "one of the most consequential performers of our time" by the Los Angeles Times. The recipient of several Grammy Awards and Edison Prize-winning discs, Upshaw is at home both in opera and art song, and in repertoire from Baroque to contemporary...
, singer.
- Elmo Scott WatsonElmo Scott WatsonElmo Scott Watson was an American journalist and college professor, whose longest educational stint was at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois...
, journalist who specialized in the American West
Politics
- David Davis, appointed to US Supreme CourtSupreme Court of the United StatesThe Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
by Abraham LincolnAbraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
. - Joseph W. FiferJoseph W. FiferJoseph Wilson Fifer was the 19th Governor of Illinois, serving from 1889 to 1893. He also served as a member of the Illinois Senate, 1881–83.“Private Joe” Fifer was born at Staunton, Virginia on October 28, 1840...
, 19th Governor of IllinoisGovernor of IllinoisThe Governor of Illinois is the chief executive of the State of Illinois and the various agencies and departments over which the officer has jurisdiction, as prescribed in the state constitution. It is a directly elected position, votes being cast by popular suffrage of residents of the state....
. - Ward Hill LamonWard Hill LamonWard Hill Lamon was a personal friend and self-appointed bodyguard of the American President Abraham Lincoln. Lamon was famously absent the night Lincoln was assassinated, having been sent by Lincoln to Richmond, Virginia....
, personal friend and bodyguard of Abraham Lincoln. - John Brown LennonJohn Brown LennonJohn Brown Lennon was an American labor union leader and general-secretary of the Journeyman Tailors Union of America . In 1890, he was elected treasurer of the American Federation of Labor and served in that capacity until he was defeated by Teamsters president Daniel J. Tobin in 1917...
, labor union leader and American Federation of Labor treasurer. - George Lincoln RockwellGeorge Lincoln RockwellGeorge Lincoln Rockwell was the founder of the American Nazi Party. Rockwell was a major figure in the neo-Nazi movement in the United States, and his beliefs and writings have continued to be influential among white nationalists and neo-Nazis.-Early life:Rockwell was born in Bloomington,...
, American Nazi Leader. - Adlai E. Stevenson I, Vice President of the United StatesVice President of the United StatesThe Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
under Grover ClevelandGrover ClevelandStephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
. - Adlai E. Stevenson II, 31st Governor of IllinoisGovernor of IllinoisThe Governor of Illinois is the chief executive of the State of Illinois and the various agencies and departments over which the officer has jurisdiction, as prescribed in the state constitution. It is a directly elected position, votes being cast by popular suffrage of residents of the state....
, presidential candidate and U.S. Ambassador to the United NationsUnited States Ambassador to the United NationsThe United States Ambassador to the United Nations is the leader of the U.S. delegation, the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. The position is more formally known as the "Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, with the rank and status of Ambassador...
.
Sports
- Jim CrewsJim CrewsJim Crews is the former head men's basketball coach at the United States Military Academy. He previously held the same position at the University of Evansville....
, NCAA basketball player and coach. - Bump ElliottBump ElliottChalmers W. "Bump" Elliott is a former American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He played halfback at Purdue University and the University of Michigan...
, award winning college football player, head coach at the University of MichiganMichigan Wolverines footballThe Michigan Wolverines football program represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins and the highest winning percentage in college football history...
(1959–1968), and athletic director at Iowa UniversityIowa HawkeyesThe Iowa Hawkeyes are the athletics teams that represent the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. The Hawkeyes have varsity teams in 24 sports, 11 for men and 13 for women. The teams participate in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and are members of the...
(1970–1991). - Pete ElliottPete Elliott-External links:...
, quarterback of the undefeated MichiganMichigan Wolverines footballThe Michigan Wolverines football program represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins and the highest winning percentage in college football history...
football teams (1947 and 1948), head football coach at NebraskaNebraska Cornhuskers footballThe Nebraska Cornhuskers represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in college football. The program has established itself as a traditional powerhouse, and has the fourth-most all-time victories of any NCAA Division I-A team. Nebraska is one of only six football programs in NCAA Division I-A...
, IllinoisIllinois Fighting Illini footballThe Illinois Fighting Illini are a major college football program, representing the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. They compete in NCAA Division I-A and the Big Ten Conference.-Current staff:-All-time win/loss/tie record:*563-513-51...
, Cal, and MiamiMiami Hurricanes footballThe Miami Hurricanes football program competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference of the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision for the University of Miami. The program began in 1926 and has won five AP national championships...
. - Michael HoomanawanuiMichael Hoomanawanui-St. Louis Rams:He was drafted by the Rams in the fifth round of the 2010 NFL Draft. On June 26, 2010 he signed a four-year, $2.4 million contract including a $215,000 signing bonus. He made the opening day roster.-External links:**...
, NFL Football Player, St. Louis Rams - Ogonna NnamaniOgonna NnamaniOgonna Nneka Nnamani is an American indoor volleyball player, currently playing professionally for VK Prostějov in Prostějov, Czech Republic....
, USA volleyball team memberUnited States women's national volleyball teamThe United States women's national volleyball team represents the United States of America in international volleyball competitions and friendly games, and is governed by USA Volleyball.-Current Squad:...
, 2004 and 2008 indoor volleyball Olympian, 2008 Olympic silver medalist, graduate of U-HighUniversity High School (Normal)University High School , located in Normal, Illinois, is one of two "laboratory schools" of the College of Education at Illinois State University designed for research and teacher-training; the other is Thomas Metcalf School, an elementary school...
. - Charles "Old Hoss" Radbourn, Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher.
- Brandon HughesBrandon HughesBrandon D. Hughes is an American football cornerback for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League. He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the fifth round of the 2009 NFL Draft...
, NFL Football Player, Philadelphia Eagles