Famous KansansMeet a few famous Kansans through history. Dr. Forrest C. "Phog" Allen, 1885 - 1974, Lawrence, University of Kansas men's varsity basketball coach Kirstie Alley, 1951, Wichita, television and film actress Edward Asner, 1929, Kansas City, television actor Blackbear Bosin, 1921 - 1980, Wichita, an artist of Kiowa-Comanche ancestry Gwendolyn Brooks, 1917 - 2000, Topeka, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet John Brown, 1800 - 1859, Osawatomie, abolitionist. Arthur Capper, 1865 - 1951, Garnett and Topeka, publisher, governor, and U.S. Senator George Washington Carver, circa 1864 - 1943, Ness County, agricultural scientist, mortgaged his Kanas homestead to go to college Clyde Cessna, 1879 - 1954, Rago and Wichita, airplane manufacturer
Walter P. Chrysler, 1875 - 1940, Wamego and Ellis, established the Chrysler Corporation William Clark, Lewis & Clark Expedition, 1804 - 1806 William "Buffalo Bill" Cody, 1846 - 1917, Leavenworth, Pony Express rider, buffalo hunter, and "Wild West show" entreprenuer/promoter Glenn Cunningham, 1909 - 1988, Elkhart, held the world record in the mile run in the 1930s Charles Curtis, 1860 - 1939, Topeka, served in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, and as Vice President of the United States Aaron Douglas, Topeka, prominent artist-illustrator recognized for celebrating African-American achievement. Douglas is also located in the Notable Kansans of African Descent.
Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1890 - 1969, Abilene, five-star U.S. Army General, Supreme Allied Commander of European theater, and President of the United States Wyatt Earp, 1848 - 1929, Wichita and Dodge City, marshal Joe Engle, 1932, Chapman, Space Shuttle commander STS-2 Ron Evans, 1933 - 1990, Topeka, commander of the pilot ship on Apollo 17 Georgia Neese Clark Gray, 1900 - 1995, Richland, the first woman to serve as U.S. Treasurer. Coleman Hawkins, 1904 - 1969, Topeka, jazz saxophonist, played with Dizzy Gillespie, Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington, and Count Basie Steve Hawley, 1952, Ottawa and Salina, mission specialist on the maiden flight of the Space Shuttle Discovery James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok, 1837 - 1876, Ellis County, Abilene, gunfighter, sheriff, marshal Cyrus K. Holliday, 1826 - 1900, Topeka, railroad builder, entrepreneur, developer (James) Langston Hughes, 1902 - 1967, Topeka and Lawrence, poet and author. William Inge, 1913 - 1973, Independence, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright
Don Johnson, 1949, Wichita and Galena, television and film actor Gordon Jump, 1932, Manhattan, television actor Emmett Kelly, 1898 - 1979, Sedan, circus clown Jack St. Clair Kilby, 1923, Great Bend, 2000 Nobel Prize in physics for the invention of the integrated circuit and co-inventor of the pocket calculator. William "Bill" Kurtis, 1940, Independence and Topeka, television news anchor Alfred M. Landon, 1887 - 1987, Topeka, governor and 1936 Republican presidential candidate Elizabeth "Grandma" Layton, 1909 - 1993, Wellsville, artist Delano Lewis, Topeka and Arkansas City, U.S. Department of Justice attorney, director of the Peace Corps in Nigeria and Uganda, first African American president of National Public Radio Kerry Livgren, Topeka, original member of the rock group, Kansas Albin K. Longren, 1882 - 1950, Topeka and Leonardville, aviator and engineer, photo of Longren shop Margaret Hill McCarter, 1860 - 1938, Topeka, teacher, editor, and novelist Hattie McDaniel, 1895 - 1952, Wichita, film actress, Academy Award winner Kay McFarland, 1935, Topeka, first woman in Kansas to serve as a district judge and as state supreme court justice William "Bat" Masterson, 1853 - 1921, Ford County, sheriff James Naismith, 1861 - 1939, Lawrence, inventor of the game of basketball and a coach at the University of Kansas Carry A. Nation, 1846 - 1911, Medicine Lodge, temperance advocate Clarina I. H. Nichols, 1810 - 1885, Lawrence, Lane, and Quindaro, women's rights supporter, educator, and newspaper journalist Charlie "Yardbird" Parker, 1920 - 1955, Kansas City, jazz saxophonist Gordon Parks, 1912, Fort Scott, photographer, writer, and motion picture director Samuel Ramey, 1942, Colby, opera singer James Reynolds, Oskaloosa, Topeka, attended Washburn University, actor on ABC Television's "Days of Our Lives," nominated for Daytime Emmy Award John Riggins, 1949, Centralia, University of Kansas graduate, All-American and all-Big-Eight, played with the New York Jets and the Washington Redskins Damon Runyon, 1884 - 1946, Manhattan, short story writer and journalist Adolph "The Baron" Rupp, 1901 - 1977, Halstead, basketball coach, played basketball at Kansas University under coach Forrest "Phog" Allen, served four decades as coach at the University of Kentucky, Kentucky Wildcats were named national champions three years after his arrival, retired in 1972. Jim Ryun, 1947, Wichita, World's Outstanding Athlete in 1966-1967, three-time Olympian, set a world track record for the mile in 1966, U.S. Congress Susanna Madora Salter, 1860 - 1961, Argonia, first woman mayor in the nation. Sven Birger Sandzen, 1871 - 1954, Lindsborg, artist and professor Gale Sayers, 1943, Wichita, University of Kansas football star known as "The Kansas Comet", played with the Chicago Bears Marilyn Schreffler, 1945 - 1988, Topeka, voice of Olive Oyl in the Popeye cartoon series Charles M. Sheldon, 1857 - 1946, Topeka, minister and best-selling author Dean Smith, Emporia, played basketball at the University of Kansas, head basketball coach at the University of North Carolina Marilyn Smith, Topeka, numerous career victories on the LPGA circuit, founder and charter member of the women's golf organization Dee Wallace Stone, Kansas City, television and film actress Milburn Stone, 1904 - 1980, Burrton, television actor Rex Stout, 1886 - 1975, Topeka, mystery writer Jackie Stiles, Claflin, basketball player Earl Sutherland, 1915 - 1974, Burlingame, winner of the Nobel Prize for physiology and medicine in 1971 Veryl Switzer, Nicodemus and Manhattan, professional football player, college professor Lucy Hobbs Taylor, 1833 - 1910, Lawrence, the first fully-trained woman dentist in the world Bradbury Thompson, 1911, Topeka, designer and art director Clyde Tombaugh, 1906 - 1997, Burdette, astronomer, discovered the planet Pluto in 1930 Mike Torrez, 1946, Topeka, major league baseball player Vivian Vance, 1912 - 1979, Cherryvale, television actress Rudolph Wendelin, 1910, Rawlins County, created Smokey the Bear design William Allen White, 1868 - 1944, Emporia, editor and publisher, Pulitzer Prize winner, author of noted editorials "What's the Matter With Kansas?" and "Mary White." Jess Willard, 1881 - 1968, Emmett, world heavyweight boxing champion Lynette Woodard, 1959, Wichita, basketball standout at University of Kansas, captain of U.S. women's basketball team that won gold medal, first woman on the Harlem Globetrotters |
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Wilt
"The Stilt" Chamberlain
Amelia
Earhart
Eva
Jessye
