40.3596° N, 82.2875° W

SPRINGFIELD

Most Famous People Born in Springfield, United States

Notable people
936
Peak decade
1950s
Median birth year
1933
Most distinctive
Baseball 9.5×

There are several Springfields in this dataset and they blur together statistically, which is the point - the 9.5× Baseball over-index is small-town America's pre-television obsession crystallized, the era when every Midwestern Springfield fielded a semi-pro team and a few of those kids made the Cardinals or Reds. The 2.6× Lawyer ratio is the Lincoln-era Springfield, IL signal still echoing through the data.

Through the Decades

One face per decade — the most globally famous figure born in Springfield during each.

Notable Births by Decade

Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1950s with 90 notable births.

What Springfield Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Politician is Springfield's biggest profession — 13% of all notables (124).

Springfield over-indexes on baseball — 9.5× the global rate.

Springfield under-produces football — only 0.7× the global rate.

  1. Politician124
  2. Baseball101
  3. Football72
  4. Actor59
  5. Lawyer43
  6. Basket38
  7. Music26
  8. Writer23
  1. Baseball1019.5×
  2. Basket383.2×
  3. Lawyer432.6×
  4. Novelist92.4×
  5. Screenwriter92.2×
  6. Music261.9×
  7. Officer101.6×
  1. Football720.7×

Profession Mix Over Time

Each band shows a profession family's share of Springfield's notable births by decade. Hover the chart for the breakdown at any decade.

16501700175018001850190019502000
  • Sports
  • Politics & Law
  • Film & TV
  • Music
  • Writing
  • Science
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Showing 38 of 936 notable people

0047 SOCIALITE

Marjorie Merriweather Post

1887 - 1973

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0118 FILM

William Garwood

1884 - 1950

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0144 ACTOR

James Vincent

1882 - 1957

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0152 SCREENWRITER

George Hively

1889 - 1950

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0157 JOURNALIST

Louis P. Lochner

1887 - 1975

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0204 ACTOR

Bobby Watson (actor)

1888 - 1965

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0215 FILM

Kenean Buel

1880 - 1948

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0271 HISTORIAN

Bray Hammond

1886 - 1968

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0274 BOTANIST

George M. Darrow

1889 - 1983

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0275 SCREENWRITER

E. Lloyd Sheldon

1886 - 1957

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0294 ACTOR

Julia Sanderson

1887 - 1975

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0307 ACTOR

Paul McCullough

1883 - 1936

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0308 ACTOR

Grace Valentine

1884 - 1964

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0327 LAWYER

William J. Granfield

1889 - 1959

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0339 BASEBALL

Cotton Minahan

1882 - 1958

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0354 PAINTER

Katharine Rhoades

1885 - 1965

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0361 POLITICIAN

Reuben T. Wood

1884 - 1955

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0435 PRODUCER

Homer Curran

1885 - 1952

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0530 PRIEST

William Hafey

1888 - 1954

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0531 SPORT

H. G. Salsinger

1887 - 1958

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0542 SPORT

Jay Nash McCrea

1887 - 1959

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0546 FILM

Tommy Atkins (director)

1887 - 1968

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0572 SINGER

Lambert Murphy

1885 - 1954

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0593 BASEBALL

George Jackson (baseball)

1882 - 1972

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0609 LAWYER

James Garfield Stewart

1880 - 1959

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0627 BASEBALL

Pat Donahue

1884 - 1966

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0641 ACTOR

Ruth Handforth

1882 - 1965

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0669 FOOTBALL

T. T. McConnell

1888 - 1970

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0762 BASEBALL

Joe Dunn (baseball)

1885 - 1944

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0767 OFFICER

Arthur H. Wilson

1881 - 1953

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0776 MISSING

Marguerite Young Alexander

1889 - 1954

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0778 VETERAN

Homer B. Roberts

1888 - 1952

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0785 BASEBALL

Pete Wilson (baseball)

1885 - 1957

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0796 ARCHITECT

Arthur R. Nichols

1881 - 1970

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0877 PIANIST

Bob Ricketts

1885 - 1936

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0894 NAVY

John Hugh Catherwood

1888 - 1930

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0912 JUDGE

Oda Faulconer

1884 - 1943

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0926 POLITICIAN

Dwight R. Winter

1887 - 1943

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