The people listed below were all born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Kenosha, Wisconsin .
William Bast , screenwriter
Chester Biscardi , composer, director of musical arts at Yale University
Lucien Cailliet , composer, conductor, film orchestrator (The Ten Commandments )
Jeff Cesario , comedian, TV writer
Donald Clarke , author of books on musical subjects
Korey Cooper , backup vocalist, keyboardist, rhythm guitarist for Skillet
Anna Fermin , musician
Tom Goss , musician
Lionel Hampton , vibraphonist and bandleader
Florence Parry Heide , author
Milt Herth , organist
Margaret Landon , author of Anna and the King of Siam (The King and I )
Jen Ledger , drummer/singer for Skillet
Dave Matrise , singer, guitarist for Jungle Rot [ 1]
Lloyd John Ogilvie , Presbyterian minister and writer; served as Chaplain of the United States Senate
Milton K. Ozaki , author and detective novelist
Gus Polinski musician - Clarinet player and leader of the Kenosha Kickers
George Pollard , portrait painter
Thom Racina , author and screenwriter (General Hospital )
Spike Robinson , jazz saxophonist
Jim Rygiel , triple Academy Award winner (Lord of the Rings ) [ 2]
Mary Sauer , principal pianist for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra since 1959; on the piano faculty of DePaul University for 33 years, where she was coordinator of the keyboard program[ 3]
Will Schaefer , composer
Edwin Stringham , composer, educator
Kathie Sullivan , vocalist (The Lawrence Welk Show )
Irving Wallace , author (The Chapman Report )
Actors/actresses, directors[ edit ]
Don Ameche , actor, Academy Award -winner (Cocoon , Trading Places )
Jim Ameche , actor (Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy )
Thom Bierdz , actor (The Young and the Restless )
Francesco Bilotto , television personality (Good Morning America , The View , Today )
Edward F. Cline , film director (The Bank Dick , You Can't Cheat an Honest Man )
Bert I. Gordon , film director (The Food of the Gods )
Al Molinaro , actor (Happy Days , The Odd Couple )
Mark Ruffalo , actor (The Avengers , Avengers: Infinity War , Now You See Me , Shutter Island , Zodiac )
Tony Russel , film and stage actor (Hearts Are Wild )
Rebecca Scott , model and actress, Miss August 1999 for Playboy
Charles Siebert , actor (Trapper John, M.D. ), director (Xena: Warrior Princess )
Paul Sorensen , actor (Dance With Me, Henry )
John Stephenson , voice actor (The Flintstones )
Concetta Tomei , actress (China Beach )
Daniel J. Travanti , actor (Hill Street Blues )
Orson Welles , producer, actor, writer, director (Citizen Kane , The Magnificent Ambersons , Touch of Evil , F for Fake )
Joseph F. Andrea , Wisconsin legislator
John Martin Antaramian , Wisconsin legislator, former mayor of Kenosha
Peter W. Barca , U.S. Representative and Wisconsin legislator
Chauncey Davis , Michigan legislator
C. Ernest Dewey , Wisconsin legislator
Eugene Dorff , Wisconsin legislator and former Kenosha mayor
Charles Durkee , U.S. Senator
Asahel Farr , 6th, 10th, 17th, and 21st mayor of Kenosha, Wisconsin legislator
Malcolm D. Farr , Wisconsin legislator
Margaret Farrow , 42nd Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin, University of Wisconsin Board of Regents
Michael Frank , 1st mayor of Kenosha, Wisconsin legislator
Myron L. Gordon , Wisconsin Supreme Court
Levi Grant , Wisconsin legislator
Orson S. Head , Wisconsin legislator and lawyer
Daniel Hugunin Jr. , U.S. Representative from New York
Bob Kiss , mayor of Burlington, Vermont
Joseph Lourigan , Wisconsin legislator
Frederick S. Lovell , 11th Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly , Union Army general
Silas Matteson , Wisconsin legislator
John J. Maurer , Wisconsin legislator
John G. McMynn , 7th Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction
George Molinaro , Wisconsin legislator
Earl D. Morton , Wisconsin legislator and jurist
George Howard Paul , 5th mayor of Kenosha, Wisconsin legislator, journalist
Milton Pettit , 11th Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin, 8th, 11th, 13th, and 16th mayor of Kenosha
Charles H. Pfennig , Wisconsin legislator
Mark Pocan , U.S. Representative
Lewis W. Powell , Wisconsin legislator and lawyer
Reince Priebus , former chairman of the Republican National Committee , former White House Chief of Staff
Michael Pucci , Australian politician
Joseph V. Quarles , U.S. Senator, U.S. District Judge , and former Kenosha mayor
Clifford E. Randall , U.S. Representative
Robert Schmidt , Wisconsin legislator
Mathias J. Scholey , former Kenosha mayor
Conrad Shearer , Wisconsin legislator
Charles C. Sholes , former Kenosha mayor
Rouse Simmons , Wisconsin legislator and businessman
Zalmon G. Simmons , Wisconsin legislator, former Kenosha mayor, and businessman
William H. Stevenson , U.S. Representative
Milo Allison , MLB player
Alan Ameche , Wisconsin Badgers and NFL football player, 1954 Heisman Trophy winner
Donna Becker , All-American Girls Professional Baseball League ballplayer
Ray Berres , MLB player, longtime Chicago White Sox pitching coach
Tom Bienemann , NFL player
John Bocwinski , soccer player and 1972 Olympian [ 4]
Fred Borak , NFL player
Dick Bosman , MLB pitcher and pitching coach
Tom Braatz , NFL player and general manager
David Cabán , soccer player[ 5]
Jeff Cohen , All-American basketball player at The College of William & Mary in 1960–61
Frankie Conley , boxer
Ed Corey , MLB player
Fritz Cronin , NFL player[ 6]
Press Cruthers , MLB player
Kate Del Fava , NWSL player
Ben Dyer , MLB player
Gene Englund , NBL, NBA basketball player, captain of University of Wisconsin's 1941 national championship team
Barbara Galdonik , AAGPBL ballplayer
Melvin Gordon , NFL player
Harvey Green , MLB player
Jack Hammond , MLB player
Bob Hartman , MLB player
Joyce Hill , All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player
Ken Huxhold , NFL player
Chuck Jaskwhich , head coach of the Ole Miss Rebels men's basketball team
Tristan Jass , American professional basketball player and youtuber for the Vancouver Bandits
Chet Kozel , professional football player
Gavin Lux , infielder for Cincinnati Reds
Walter Maurer , Olympic wrestling medalist
Marie Menheer , All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player
Darlene Mickelsen , All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player
Ollie O'Mara , MLB player
Megan Oster , figure skater
Charlie Pechous , MLB player
Phil Pettey , NFL player
Tom Regner , Notre Dame All-American offensive guard and 1966 Houston Oilers NFL Champion Team
Elmer Rhenstrom , NFL player[ 7]
Ben Rothwell , professional mixed martial artist
Paul Russo , auto racer
Augie Schmidt , baseball player and coach
Ray Spalding , NBA player
Ralph Thomas , NFL player
Nick Van Exel , NBA player and currently an assistant coach for the Atlanta Hawks
James "Hippo" Vaughn , Chicago Cubs pitcher
Trae Waynes , NFL player
Edward E. Ayer (1841–1927), railway supplies magnate; manuscript collector; benefactor to Newberry Library and Field Museum of Natural History
Mary D. Bradford , educator, first female superintendent of a major school system in Wisconsin
Bill Brown (1855–1941), Oregon rancher
Jerry Golden , ABC reporter who was first with the John F. Kennedy assassination news
Linda Ham , manager of the Johnson Space Center
Michael P. Hammond , chairman, National Endowment for the Arts
Jim Jensen , CBS news anchor and reporter
Raymond Edward Johnson , radio actor, host of Inner Sanctum
Samuel C. Johnson, Sr. , founder, Johnson Wax
Edward S. "Ned" Jordan , automaker (Jordan Motor Car Company), columnist ("Ned Jordan Speaks," AutoWeek ) and ad writer ("Somewhere west of Laramie")
Laura Kaeppeler , Miss Wisconsin 2011 and Miss America 2012
Theodore H. Laban , highly decorated U.S. Army Air Forces soldier
Lola J. May , mathematics educator
Robert Bruce McCoy , United States National Guard officer
Charles Francis McGivern, highly decorated U.S. Navy officer
Joseph E. Meyer , herbologist and founder of the Indiana Botanic Gardens
Charles W. Nash , automaker, Nash Motors , Nash-Kelvinator
Edward T. Newell , president of the American Numismatic Society 1916–1941
Norm Nielsen , magician and businessman
James R. O'Neill , American Civil War correspondent and sketch artist[ 8]
Michael Phillips , theater critic, Pulitzer Prize jurist
Peter Pirsch , builder of fire equipment
Luther B. Scherer , also known as Tutor Scherer, (1879–1957), American investor in casinos in Las Vegas, Nevada and poet laureate of Nevada .[ 9]
Kendra Scott , jeweler[ 10]
Christopher Latham Sholes , publisher, inventor of the QWERTY keyboard
Zalmon Gilbert Simmons II , businessman
Charles Symmonds , U.S. Army general
George Nelson Tremper , educator
Paul Weyrich , co-founder of The Heritage Foundation and Free Congress Foundation and member of National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission
Joseph Zimmermann , inventor of the answering machine
^ Dave Matrise interview
^ IMDB biography
^ "Chicago Symphony Orchestra - CSO Musicians Roster - Performer Bio" . www.cso.org . Archived from the original on March 13, 2006.
^ "John BOCWINSKI" . Olympic Games . Retrieved January 29, 2025 .
^ "David Caban" . Wisconsin Badgers . Retrieved February 20, 2025 .
^ Pro Football Reference
^ Pro Football Reference
^ "O'Neill and the Band: The Baxter Springs Massacre Part One" . Civil War Wisconsin . Wisconsin Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission. March 30, 2011. Retrieved February 26, 2017 .
^ Hogan, Jan (November 4, 2012). "Scherer Street named for colorful character with mob ties" . Las Vegas Review-Journal . Retrieved March 5, 2016 .
^ Pope, Colin (February 21, 2010). "Kendra Scott, Founder and CEO, Kendra Scott Design" . Austin Business Journal . Retrieved July 14, 2015 .