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.
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.
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.
- Sports
- Politics & Law
- Film & TV
- Music
- Writing
- Science
- Other
- Filtered to 1910s Clear ×
June Foray
1917 - 2017
Donald Davidson (philosopher)
1917 - 2003
Creighton Abrams
1914 - 1974
Eleanor Powell
1912 - 1982
Larry O'Brien
1917 - 1990
L. Fletcher Prouty
1917 - 2001
Paul Weston
1912 - 1996
Charles Thompson (jazz)
1918 - 2016
Buddy Baker (composer)
1918 - 2002
Fred Kilgour
1914 - 2006
Barrett Deems
1914 - 1998
Norman Leyden
1917 - 2014
Bertram Forer
1914 - 2000
Paul Dunlap
1919 - 2010
Edward Boland
1911 - 2001
Al Barlick
1915 - 1995
Robert James Moon
1911 - 1989
Louise Stanley
1915 - 1982
Earle Warren
1914 - 1994
Yodelin' Slim Clark
1917 - 2000
Shipwreck Kelly (American football)
1910 - 1986
Fred F. Finklehoffe
1910 - 1977
Fritz Pollard Jr.
1915 - 2003
George Roseborough Collins
1917 - 1993
Herman Keiser
1914 - 2003
Carleen Hutchins
1911 - 2009
Oliver Brown (American activist)
1918 - 1961
John L. Head
1915 - 1980
Eddie Carnett
1916 - 2016
Call Cobbs Jr.
1911 - 1971
Jeffrey Paul Hillelson
1919 - 2003
Genevieve Naylor
1915 - 1989
George Low Jr.
1912 - 1995
Jim McDonald (American football)
1915 - 1997
Arnold Sagalyn
1918 - 2017
Harold H. Chase
1912 - 1976
Richard Mohr
1919 - 2002
Harry Simms (labor leader)
1911 - 1932
Daniel B. Wesson II
1916 - 1978
C. Chapin Cutler
1914 - 2002
Dwinell Grant
1912 - 1991
Herb Scheffler
1917 - 2001
Frederick H. Wagman
1912 - 1994
Theodore Foley
1913 - 1974
Fuzz White
1916 - 2003
Charles Gardner Shaw
1917 - 1998
Bob Barnwell
1916 - 1985
Al Arndt
1911 - 1969
Robert Harold Davidson
1919 - 1982
Malcolm Metcalf
1910 - 1993
Bennett Katz
1918 - 2007
Steve Peek
1914 - 1991
Margaret Hastings
1910 - 1979
George Kerasotes
1911 - 2001
Jay Turner
1914 - 1960
Coye Dunn
1916 - 2000
Anna Langford
1917 - 2008
Milt Piepul
1918 - 1994
Les Rock
1912 - 1991
Woody Pitzer
1910 - 2001
Leonard Dodson
1912 - 1997
Joseph Harte
1914 - 1999
Mickey Kobrosky
1915 - 2003