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 1940s Clear ×
Alan Kay
Born 1940
John Ashton (actor)
Born 1948
Mike DeWine
Born 1947
Peter Welch
Born 1947
Richard Neal
Born 1949
Alaina Reed Hall
1946 - 2009
Jerome Apt
Born 1949
Michael Palmer (novelist)
1942 - 2013
David Hammons
Born 1943
Nick Buoniconti
1940 - 2019
Steve Susskind
1942 - 2005
John Howard (cyclist)
Born 1947
Michael Z. Lewin
Born 1942
Bill Danoff
Born 1946
Pearl Cleage
Born 1948
Allan Bérubé
1946 - 2007
Myron Magnet
Born 1944
David T. Zabecki
Born 1947
Mike Evans (journalist)
Born 1947
Richard Bessel
Born 1948
Babz Chula
1946 - 2010
Cheryl Boone Isaacs
Born 1949
Fred Foster (basketball)
1946 - 1985
Curtis Price
Born 1945
Rebecca Wright
1947 - 2006
Glen Taylor
Born 1941
Bob Trumpy
Born 1945
Greg McMackin
Born 1945
Dae Gak
Born 1947
Paula Caplan
Born 1947
Wayne Granger
Born 1944
Richard Rice (theologian)
Born 1944
Steve Cash
1946 - 2019
Stuart B. Schwartz
Born 1940
Mel Tjeerdsma
Born 1946
Gordon Giffin
Born 1949
Gerry Perry (tennis)
Born 1947
Charles E. Cobb Jr.
Born 1943
Kenny Adams
Born 1940
Jeff Winkless
1941 - 2006
Tom Mees
1949 - 2012
Christopher H. Schroeder
Born 1948
Kevin Collins (baseball)
1946 - 2016
Roderick L. Ireland
Born 1944
Alan Sisitsky
1942 - 2017
Dale Oehler
1941 - 2018
Karen Messing
Born 1943
Jim Evans (politician)
Born 1948
Charlie Coles
1942 - 2013
Stephen Verona
1940 - 2019
Wayne Budd
Born 1941
Jim Keet
Born 1949
Gary Dahms
Born 1947
Larry Phillips (racing driver)
1942 - 2004
Thomas Reilly
Born 1942
Bob Gebhard
Born 1943
Ángel Manuel Rodríguez
Born 1945
Jerry L. Atwood
Born 1942
Tom Dowling (American football)
1940 - 2018
Bill Mettler
Born 1946
Margaret Burnett
Born 1949
Randy Erskine
Born 1948
Floyd Reese
Born 1948
Max Bacon (politician)
Born 1941
Jeanne E. Scott
Born 1948
Jack Ford (politician)
1947 - 2015
Ozzie Osborn
Born 1946
John Morris (businessman)
Born 1948
Matthew V. Storin
Born 1942
John C. Holstein
Born 1945
Martin J. Oberman
Born 1945
James F. Sloan
1947 - 2009
Peter A. Velis
Born 1942
Rosemary Sandlin
Born 1946
John Mahoney (Ohio politician)
1949 - 2011
Frank S. Messersmith
Born 1942
James Howard Holmes
Born 1943
Toy Dorgan
Born 1946
Richard G. Austin (politician)
Born 1948
Peter Moulton
Born 1946
Scott Kahn
Born 1946
Nick King (politician)
Born 1949
Robin Partch
Born 1944
Steve Arnold (Bürgermeister)
Born 1949
Walter P. Coombs
Born 1942
Wes Pruitt
Born 1947