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 baseball9.5× 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
  • Other
All936
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Showing 86 of 936 notable people

0019 COMPUTER SCIENTIST

Alan Kay

Born 1940

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0037 ACTOR

John Ashton (actor)

Born 1948

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0042 POLITICIAN

Mike DeWine

Born 1947

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0046 POLITICIAN

Peter Welch

Born 1947

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0054 POLITICIAN

Richard Neal

Born 1949

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0056 ACTOR

Alaina Reed Hall

1946 - 2009

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0064 ASTRONAUT

Jerome Apt

Born 1949

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0074 WRITER

Michael Palmer (novelist)

1942 - 2013

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0079 ARTIST

David Hammons

Born 1943

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0110 FOOTBALL

Nick Buoniconti

1940 - 2019

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0122 ACTOR

Steve Susskind

1942 - 2005

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0131 SPORT

John Howard (cyclist)

Born 1947

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0164 NOVELIST

Michael Z. Lewin

Born 1942

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0189 SINGER

Bill Danoff

Born 1946

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0195 NOVELIST

Pearl Cleage

Born 1948

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0212 HISTORIAN

Allan Bérubé

1946 - 2007

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0227 JOURNALIST

Myron Magnet

Born 1944

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0241 MILITAR

David T. Zabecki

Born 1947

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0252 JOURNALIST

Mike Evans (journalist)

Born 1947

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0260 HISTORIAN

Richard Bessel

Born 1948

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0262 ACTOR

Babz Chula

1946 - 2010

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0301 BUSINESS

Cheryl Boone Isaacs

Born 1949

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0302 BASKET

Fred Foster (basketball)

1946 - 1985

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0324 MUSIC

Curtis Price

Born 1945

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0352 BALLET

Rebecca Wright

1947 - 2006

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0368 BILLIONAIRE

Glen Taylor

Born 1941

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0373 FOOTBALL

Bob Trumpy

Born 1945

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0397 COACH

Greg McMackin

Born 1945

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0409 TEACHER

Dae Gak

Born 1947

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0411 PSYCHOLOGIST

Paula Caplan

Born 1947

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0421 BASEBALL

Wayne Granger

Born 1944

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0424 THEOLOGIAN

Richard Rice (theologian)

Born 1944

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0433 SINGER

Steve Cash

1946 - 2019

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0440 HISTORIAN

Stuart B. Schwartz

Born 1940

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0441 COACH

Mel Tjeerdsma

Born 1946

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0447 DIPLOMAT

Gordon Giffin

Born 1949

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0452 PLAYER

Gerry Perry (tennis)

Born 1947

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0453 JOURNALIST

Charles E. Cobb Jr.

Born 1943

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0454 BOXER

Kenny Adams

Born 1940

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0484 COMPOSER

Jeff Winkless

1941 - 2006

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0489 SPORT

Tom Mees

1949 - 2012

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0490 LAWYER

Christopher H. Schroeder

Born 1948

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0491 BASEBALL

Kevin Collins (baseball)

1946 - 2016

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0492 LAWYER

Roderick L. Ireland

Born 1944

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0504 LAWYER

Alan Sisitsky

1942 - 2017

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0511 CONDUCTOR

Dale Oehler

1941 - 2018

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0525 TEACHER

Karen Messing

Born 1943

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0563 ARMY

Jim Evans (politician)

Born 1948

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0564 BASKET

Charlie Coles

1942 - 2013

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0565 SCREENWRITER

Stephen Verona

1940 - 2019

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0598 LAWYER

Wayne Budd

Born 1941

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0605 POLITICIAN

Jim Keet

Born 1949

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0614 POLITICIAN

Gary Dahms

Born 1947

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0618 DRIVER

Larry Phillips (racing driver)

1942 - 2004

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0622 LAWYER

Thomas Reilly

Born 1942

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0634 BASEBALL

Bob Gebhard

Born 1943

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0643 THEOLOGIAN

Ángel Manuel Rodríguez

Born 1945

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0644 CHEMIST

Jerry L. Atwood

Born 1942

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0663 COACH

Tom Dowling (American football)

1940 - 2018

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0671 SWIMMER

Bill Mettler

Born 1946

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0680 COMPUTER SCIENTIST

Margaret Burnett

Born 1949

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0707 GOLF

Randy Erskine

Born 1948

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0720 COACH

Floyd Reese

Born 1948

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0750 LAWYER

Max Bacon (politician)

Born 1941

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0758 LAWYER

Jeanne E. Scott

Born 1948

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0761 POLITICIAN

Jack Ford (politician)

1947 - 2015

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0773 BASEBALL

Ozzie Osborn

Born 1946

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0775 BUSINESS

John Morris (businessman)

Born 1948

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0783 EDITOR

Matthew V. Storin

Born 1942

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0800 LAWYER

John C. Holstein

Born 1945

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0819 LAWYER

Martin J. Oberman

Born 1945

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0821 SECRET SERVICE AGENT

James F. Sloan

1947 - 2009

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0837 LAWYER

Peter A. Velis

Born 1942

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0856 POLITICIAN

Rosemary Sandlin

Born 1946

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0861 POLITICIAN

John Mahoney (Ohio politician)

1949 - 2011

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0876 LAWYER

Frank S. Messersmith

Born 1942

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0895 DIPLOMAT

James Howard Holmes

Born 1943

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0898 SKATER

Toy Dorgan

Born 1946

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0908 MILITAR

Richard G. Austin (politician)

Born 1948

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0910 PHYSICIST

Peter Moulton

Born 1946

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0911 PAINTER

Scott Kahn

Born 1946

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0914 POLITICIAN

Nick King (politician)

Born 1949

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0920 SLITTINISTA

Robin Partch

Born 1944

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0922 POLITICIAN

Steve Arnold (Bürgermeister)

Born 1949

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0924 PALAEONTOLOGIST

Walter P. Coombs

Born 1942

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0933 POLITICIAN

Wes Pruitt

Born 1947

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