Famous Iowans – List

 LEADERSHIP 

• Carrie Chapman Catt – Suffragist leader whose efforts resulted in women’s right to vote. Learn more here, here and here.
• John L. Lewis – leader of organized labor. Born in Lucas. Learn more here, here and here.
• Henry A. Wallace – vice president, secretary of agriculture, secretary of commerce and presidential candidate. founded Pioneer Hi-Bred International. Born on farm near Orient, Adair County. Learn more here and here.
• Herbert Hoover – 31st president of the United States. Learn more here and here.
• Mamie Doud Eisenhower – Wife of General and President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Learn more here and here.
• William D. Leahy – fleet admiral and chief of staff to Presidents Roosevelt and Truman. Born in Hampton. Learn more here and here.

ENTERTAINMENT

• Andy Williams – singer. Born in Wall Lake. Learn more.
• Ashton Kutcher – Film and television actor, whose early career included That ’70s Show. Learn more here, here and here.
• Bill Daily – Actor. Played Roger Healy on  “I Dream of Jeannie”. Born in Des Moines. Learn more. Bix Beiderbecke – jazz musician born in Davenport. Learn more.
• Cloris Leachman – actress. Born in Des Moines. Learn more here and here.
• David Anthony Higgins – Actor. Played Craig Feldspar in “Malcolm in the Middle” among other credits. Born in Des Moines. Learn more.
• Donna Reed – Academy Award-winning actress and star of It’s a Wonderful Life. Born in Denison. Learn more here, here and here.
• Elijah Wood – Actor and star of the Lord of the Rings trilogy
• Elsa Maxwell – American gossip columnist, actress, writer, songwriter and professional hostess. Born in  Keokuk. Learn more here, here and here.
• Glenn Miller – Big Band leader and popular musician of the Swing Era. Born in Clarinda. Learn more here and here.
• Harriet Nelson – actress and singer. Starred in Ozzie & Harriet TV show. Born in Des Moines. Learn more here and here.
• John Wayne – Oscar-winning actor remembered for cowboy and combat hero roles. Born in Winterset. Learn more here and here.
• Johnny Carson – TV entertainer. Host of the Tonight Show. Born in Corning. Learn more here , here and here.
• Lillian Russell – actress and soprano. Born in Clinton. Learn more here and here.
• Simon Estes – Bass-baritone, world-renowned opera singer. Born in Centerville. Learn more here and here.
• William Frawley – actor, I Love Lucy and others. Born in Burlington. Learn more here and here.
• William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody - Celebrated frontier scout and Wild West showman. Born in LeClaire. Learn more here, here and here.

 SPORTS

• Bob Feller – Baseball Hall of Fame member; pitcher for the Cleveland Indians. Learn more.
• Dan Gable – Olympic champion wrestler and coach. Learn more.
• Kurt Warner – NFL quarterback, two-time NFL MVP, and Super Bowl Champion. Played for St. Louis Rams, New York Giants and Arizona Cardinals. Born in Burlington. Learn more and here.
• Duane Josephson – Played for Chicago White Sox. Born in New Hampton. Learn more.  (Suggested by Kelli Billerbeck)

ARTISTS, WRITERS & COMPOSERS

• Abigail Van Buren – columnist. Born in Sioux City. Learn more.
• Ann Landers – columnist. Born in Sioux City. Learn more here and here.
• Bess Streeter Aldrich – author. Learn more.
• David Rabe – playwright and screenwriter. Born in Dubuque. Learn more here and here.
• Grant Wood – Leader of the Regionalist art movement and painter of American Gothic. Born in Anamosa. Learn more.
• Jane Smiley – Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and author of A Thousand Acres. Learn more.
•  Jerry Mathers – Actor. Played Beaver Cleaver in “Leave it to Beaver.”  Born in Sioux City. Learn more.
• Mac Kinlay Kantor – Author and screenwriter whose work includes Civil War novels and the movie classic The Best Years of Our Lives.
• Meredith Willson – Composer of the Broadway musical The Music Man. Born in Mason City. Learn more.
• Susan Glaspell – novelist and Pulitzer-Prize-winning playwrite. Born in Davenport. Learn more.
• Wallace Stegner – historian and writer of American western stories. Born in Lake Mills. Learn more. 

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

• Donald L. Campbell – Born in Clinton, inventor and pioneer of new method for processing fuel. Learn more.
• James A. Van Allen – astrophysicist. Born in Mount Pleasant. Learn more here and here. 
• John Vincent Atanasoff And Clifford Berry – Co-inventors of the digital computer.
• Lee DeForest – inventor and pioneer in development of radio communication. Born in Council Bluffs. Learn more here and here.
• Norman Borlaug - Plant pathologist, geneticist, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and father of the Green Revolution. Born in Cresco. Learn more here and here.
• Wallace Hume Carothers – inventor. Credited with the invention of nylon. Born in Burlington. Check here, here and here for more info.

IOWANS OF INFLUENCE

• Billy Sunday – evangelist. Born in Ames. Learn more here and here.
• Gardner Cowles Jr. – newspaper editor and publisher of Des Moines Register and others. Born in Algona. Learn more.
• George H. Gallup – influencial in public opinion surveying. Born in Jefferson. Learn more here and here.
• Glenn L. Martin – aviation pioneer. Born in Macksburg. Learn more here and here.
• Harry Reasoner – journalist and TV commentator. Born in Dakota City. Learn more.
• Nathan M. Pusey – prominent educator. Born in Council Bluffs. Learn more.

Your Turn: We know we’ve missed someone. Let us know by emailing content@iowa.com.