List of people from Duluth, Minnesota

The following list includes notable people, past and present, who were born or have lived in Duluth, Minnesota, the second-largest city (and largest U.S. city) on the shores of Lake Superior.

Business and industry[edit]

• W. T. Bailey (1842-1914), 19th and 20th-century lumber tycoon who kept his headquarters in Duluth
• Bob Chinn (1923-2022), owner of Bob Chinn's Crab House, highest grossing restaurant in America in 2012
• Thomas F. Cole (1862-1939), mining executive; president of Oliver Iron Mining Company after its merge with U.S. Steel
• Chester Adgate Congdon (1853-1916), attorney and investor
• Andy Goldfine, founder of Aerostich; creator of the Roadcrafter motorcycle protective suit
• Klapmeier brothers, founders of Cirrus; pioneered the use of composites, glass cockpits and ballistic parachutes for production aircraft; inducted into National Aviation Hall of Fame (2014)
• Merritt brothers, also known as the Seven Iron Brothers of Duluth, discovered iron ore in 1890 on the Mesabi Iron Range
• David Oreck (1923-2023), entrepreneur and lecturer
• Jeno Paulucci (1918-2011), entrepreneur, philanthropist and food industry magnate; founder of Chun King, Jeno's Inc., and Bellisio Foods; creator of the pizza roll

Entertainment[edit]

• Dale Arnold, sportscaster for WEEI-FM and NESN
• Dorothy Arnold, actress; first wife of baseball player Joe DiMaggio
• Maria Bamford, comedian and television actress; American Comedy Award for Best Club Comic (2014)
• Odin Biron, actor
• Mitch Clem, cartoonist
• Marguerite De La Motte, silent movie actress
• Carol Dempster, silent movie actress
• Otis Dozovic, professional wrestler for World Wrestling Entertainment
• Daniel Durant, stage and film actor
• Jane Frazee, actress
• Peggy Knudsen, actress
• Don LaFontaine (1940-2008), prolific voice-over actor of film and video-game trailers, television advertisements, and network promotions
• Jessica Lange, photographer and Academy, Emmy, Tony, SAG and Golden Globe Award-winning actress; tied as the sixth most Oscar-nominated actress in history; born in Cloquet and resided in Duluth
• Verne Lundquist, CBS sportscaster
• Chris Monroe, cartoonist and children's book illustrator
• Edna Munsey, stage and silent film actress
• Lorenzo Music, voice actor, raised in Duluth
• Gena Lee Nolin, actress
• Charles Nolte (1923-2010), actor and director, born in Duluth
• Dennis Shryack, screenwriter

Music[edit]

• Bill Berry, drummer for the band R.E.M.
• Haley Bonar, folk music singer and songwriter
• David Dondero, indie-folk musician
• Bob Dylan, iconic Grammy and Academy Award-winning folk singer and songwriter; spearheaded the American folk music revival during mid-1960s; inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1988); Nobel Prize in Literature (2016), born in Duluth
• Sadik Hakim, jazz pianist, played on Charlie Parker's famous "Ko-Ko" session
• Dan Murphy, Soul Asylum band member and founder
• Charlie Parr, folk musician
• Rivulets, slowcore band, founder Nathan Amundson originates from Duluth
• Alice Sjoselius (1888-1982), concert singer, voice teacher
• Phil Solem, musician
• Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker (Parker, 1967-2022), spouses and founding members of the indie rock and slowcore band Low
• Trampled by Turtles, bluegrass band, hails from Duluth and refers to the city in several songs

Politics and law[edit]

• Salisbury Adams (1925-2004), Minnesota state legislator and lawyer
• John Antila (1902-1969), Minnesota state legislator and businessman
• Melvin Baldwin, U.S. Representative
• William W. Billson, Minnesota state senator and lawyer
• Gordon H. Butler, Minnesota state senator
• Chester Adgate Congdon (1853-1916), lawyer and capitalist
• Albert J. Connors, Wisconsin state senator
• Harold J. Dahl (1930-1989), Minnesota state legislator and judge
• Richard E. Ferrario (1931-1985), Minnesota state senator and educator
• Alfred E. France, Minnesota state representative and businessman
• Ben E. Gustafson, Minnesota state legislator and businessman
• Earl B. Gustafson, Minnesota state legislator, judge, and lawyer
• James Gustafson, Minnesota State Senator and businessman
• Richard H. Hanson (1931-2023), Minnesota state legislator
• Gerald Heaney (1918-2010), United States Circuit Judge
• Arlene Ione Lehto, Minnesota state legislator and businesswoman
• Charles Lundy Lewis, Minnesota Supreme Court justice
• Robert Mahoney, Michigan state legislator
• Sidney Redding Mason, Minnesota state legislator and businessman
• Henry Louis Morin, Minnesota state senator, farmer, and laborunion activist
• Page Morris (1853-1924), United States Representative (1897-1903) and United States District Judge (1903-1924)
• Thomas Francis O'Malley (1889-1954), Minnesota state legislator and railroad conductor
• Richard F. Palmer, Minnesota state legislator and newspaper editor
• Samuel F. Snively, Mayor of Duluth from 1921 to 1937; pushed for the creation of numerous parks and boulevards throughout the city; longest running Mayor in Duluth's history
• Pete Stauber, U.S. Representative (2019-present)
• Ozora P. Stearns, lawyer and U.S. senator from Minnesota (1871)
• Pat Sullivan, Majority Leader of the Washington House of Representatives
• Dwight A. Swanstrom, Minnesota state legislator and businessman
• Gordon Voss, Minnesota state legislator
• Gerald Willet, Minnesota state legislator and businessman

Sports[edit]

• Mason Aguirre, professional snowboarder, competed in 2006 Winter Olympics
• Jim Ahern, professional golfer, played on PGA Tour and Champions Tour
• Greg Anderson, drag racer, Pro Stock NHRA champion
• Herbert Clow, National Football League, 1920s
• Jack Connolly, hockey player, Hobey Baker Award winner (2012), captain of 2011 Minnesota-Duluth men's NCAA championship team
• Gary DeGrio, professional ice hockey forward
• Dan Devine, captain of UMD football team, later coached the Missouri Tigers, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and Green Bay Packers
• Ethan Finlay, soccer player
• Derek Forbort, hockey player for the Boston Bruins
• Dates Fryberger, hockey player in 1964 Winter Olympics
• Kara Goucher, distance runner, world championships silver medalist, 2008 and 2012 Olympian
• C. J. Ham, running back for Minnesota Vikings
• Phil Hoene, hockey player, native Duluthian, played for UMD and Los Angeles Kings
• Bill Irwin, professional wrestler, known in WWE as "The Goon"
• Lenny Lane, professional wrestler
• Drew LeBlanc, hockey player, Hobey Baker Award winner (2013)
• Jim McNally, Olympic sport shooter
• Russ Method, football player
• Bill O'Toole, football player
• Neal Pionk, hockey player for the Winnipeg Jets
• Chris Plys, curler, 2010 Winter Olympic team
• Joe Polo, curler, 2006 Winter Olympic team
• Rick Rickert, basketball player, University of Minnesota and New Zealand Breakers
• Barbara Rotvig, AAGPBL player
• John Shuster, Olympic curling medalist
• Whitey Skoog, basketball player, University of Minnesota and Minneapolis Lakers
• Gordy Soltau, NFL player for San Francisco 49ers
• Jamie Trachsel, head softball coach at Ole Miss; former head coach at Minnesota, Iowa State and North Dakota State
• Katie Vesterstein, skier
• Darren Ward, Olympic swimmer
• Butch Williams, NHL player
• Tom Williams (1940-1992), NHL player, 1960 Winter Olympics gold medalist

Writers and journalists[edit]

• Margaret Culkin Banning, best-selling author of 36 novels; early women's rights advocate
• Carol Bly, author
• Irving Copi, philosopher, logician and textbook author
• Marty Essen, ten-time award-winning author, photographer, professional speaker
• Roger Grimsby, journalist, television news anchor and actor
• David Hagberg, author of international thrillers
• Steve Hagen, Zen author and priest
• Dean Hoff, Scottish historian, folklorist, writer, and director
• Louis Jenkins, author and poet
• Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951), author and Nobel laureate, wrote the novel Cass Timberlane while a resident of Duluth
• John L. Morrison, newspaper publisher
• Lauran Paine (1916-2001), author
• Rick Shefchik, author, historian and journalist

Others[edit]

• Scott D. Anderson (1965-1999), author and pilot; successfully flew all in-flight test-deployments of the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System; inducted into Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame (2010)
• Mike Colalillo (1925-2011), Medal of Honor recipient (US Army, World War II)
• Henry A. Courtney Jr. (1916-1945), posthumous Medal of Honor recipient (US Marine Corps, World War II)
• John H. Darling, engineer and astronomer
• Robert R. Gilruth (1913-2000), first director of NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center; served during programs Mercury, Gemini and Apollo; inducted into National Aviation Hall of Fame (1994), raised in Duluth
• Robert Isabell (1952-2009), event planner
• Kay Kurt, painter
• Nika Nesgoda, conceptual artist and photographer
• William P. Levine, U.S. Army major general and Holocaust speaker
• Janet McCarter Woolley (1906-1996), tuberculosis researcher
• Ellen Pence, scholar and social activist, created Duluth Model of intervention in domestic violence
• Frederick Emil Resche (1866-1946), U.S. Army brigadier general
• Erik Sommer, artist
• Sarah Burger Stearns, first president of the Minnesota Woman Suffrage Association
• Gloria Tew (1923-2022), abstract sculptor
• Oliver G. Traphagen (1854-1932), architect
• Albert Woolson (1850-1956), last Union civil war soldier to die

See also[edit]

• History of Minnesota
• List of people from Minnesota