This is a list of people from the Louisville metropolitan area which consists of the Kentucky county of Jefferson and the Indiana counties of Clark and Floyd in the United States . Included are notable people who were either born or raised there, or have maintained residency for a significant period.
Actors and entertainment [ edit ]
Marty Bass , television news reporter and weatherman; born and raised in Louisville
Matt Battaglia , actor in and producer of more than 100 films; produced Brothers with Tobey Maguire , Jake Gyllenhaal and Natalie Portman ; co-founder of Derby Eve cancer benefit the Mint Jubilee
Ned Beatty , character actor of film, TV and stage; appeared in a wide variety of roles in movies such as The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean , Deliverance , Superman (1978), Network , 1941 and Toy Story 3
James Best , character actor, known for his role as Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane on The Dukes of Hazzard
Lois Bewley , dancer and choreographer
Foster Brooks , actor and comedian; known for his "Lovable Lush" character; long-time Las Vegas headliner; appeared on numerous TV programs from the mid-1960s to mid-1990s; cameo roles in The Villain and Cannonball Run II ; perhaps best known for his frequent appearances on the Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts, and on the Dean Martin Show
Tod Browning , film actor and director; directed several films starring silent screen legend Lon Chaney Sr. , among them The Unholy 3 (1925) and West of Zanzibar (1928); known for directing the horror classic Dracula (1931) starring Bela Lugosi , and the cult classic Freaks (1932)
John W. Bubbles , tap dancer , vaudevillian , movie actor, and television performer; performed in the duo "Buck and Bubbles", the first black artists to appear on TV; known as the father of "rhythm tap"; appeared in films A Star Is Born (1937) and Cabin in the Sky (1943); originated the role of the character "Sportin' Life" in George Gershwin 's musical Porgy and Bess ; first black entertainer to appear on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Lance Burton , stage magician
Jennifer Carpenter , actress best known as Debra Morgan on Showtime's Dexter
Harry Carter , silent film actor; appeared in numerous films including the 1921 serial The Hope Diamond Mystery
Andrew Colville screenwriter; worked on Mad Men , for which he won a Writers Guild of America (WGA) Award
William Conrad , actor and narrator in radio, film and television from the 1930s through the 1990s; provided the voice for Marshal Matt Dillon in the radio version of Gunsmoke ; later starred on television as private detective Frank Cannon in the series Cannon and prosecutor J. L. "Fatman" McCabe in the series Jake and the Fatman
Iman Crosson , actor, internet celebrity and Obama impersonator who became an example of professional promotion using the Internet
Tom Cruise , actor born in Syracuse, New York , lived in Louisville until his mid-teens; star of the films Risky Business , Top Gun , A Few Good Men , Jerry Maguire , and the Mission: Impossible film series
Vadim Dale , Australian reality television personality (Outback Jack ); officer with the Louisville Metro Police Department
Josh Dallas , actor, best known for his roles as Prince Charming /David Nolan in the ABC television series Once Upon a Time and Fandral in the Marvel Comics film adaptation Thor
Roger Davis , actor in Dark Shadows and Alias Smith and Jones ; custom home designer and builder in Los Angeles
Irene Dunne , actress, starred in 1931 Academy Award Best Picture Cimarron
Scott Fischer , film producer
Kelly Fisher , fashion model and ex-fiancée of Dodi Fayed
Mayme Gehrue , Vaudeville dancer, on Broadway and silent film, also lyricist
Billy Gilbert , film actor during the 1930s and 1940s; appeared in supporting roles in Laurel & Hardy shorts The Music Box and County Hospital ; model and voice for Sneezy in Disney's Snow White
William Girdler , director and producer of 1970s B-grade films such as Abby , Asylum of Satan and Grizzly
Petey Greene , television and radio talk show host; two-time Emmy Award-winner
Griffin Sisters , African-American Vaudeville performers and entrepreneurs
D. W. Griffith , film director and innovator; credited with originating many camera techniques still commonly used in films today; directed The Birth of a Nation , Intolerance and Way Down East ; lived several years in the Brown Hotel, until his death in 1948
Heather French Henry , Miss America 2000
John Hensley , television and film actor, regular cast member on the cable TV program Nip/Tuck
Doan Hoang , movie director, movie producer, documentary Oh Saigon (2007) and short film Hard Times (2012); graduate of Seneca High School (1990) in Louisville
Audrey Hollander , pornographic actress
James Horan , television and film actor
Henry Hull , stage and film actor, star of the 1935 film Werewolf of London
Ken Jenkins , stage and film actor; co-founder of Actors Theatre of Louisville ; Scrubs , Gone in 60 Seconds , I Am Sam
Tom Kennedy , game show host
Jennifer Lawrence , film actress, known for her Oscar-winning performance in Silver Linings Playbook and Oscar-nominated performances in Winter's Bone , American Hustle and Joy , as well as Mystique in the X-Men film series and Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games film series
Maggie Lawson , television actress known for her role as Juliet on the detective drama/comedy Psych
Tom London , bit player and stunt performer in numerous films, primarily westerns; began film career in early silent era; transitioned to TV roles in the early 1950s; listed in Guinness World Records as Hollywood's most prolific actor, with over 600 film appearances
Desi Lydic , film actress, correspondent on The Daily Show
William Mapother , film and television actor and entrepreneur; Lost , In the Bedroom
Victor Mature , actor; My Darling Clementine , Kiss of Death , Samson and Delilah , The Robe
Alexandra McVickers, film and television actor; co-starred in the TV series Vice Principals (2017) and in the film Action Point (2018)
Terry Meiners , television and radio personality
Milton Metz , television and radio personality
Alexandria Mills , Miss World 2010
Barbara Milton , theatre actress
Jack Narz , game show host, television and radio personality
Alanna Nash , author
Mary Nolan , actress
Grady Nutt , humorist and television personality (Hee Haw ); lived in Louisville from 1960 until his death in 1982; graduate of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Marty Pollio , stand-up comic and mime; has appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ; has performed his semi-autobiographical one-man show "Prisoners Of Cheese" at The Montreal Fringe Festival
Wes Ramsey , television and film actor, daytime serial Guiding Light and independent film Latter Days
Marisha Ray , voice actress and cast member of Critical Role
Rob Riggle , actor on The Daily Show , The Office , and Saturday Night Live
Martha Rofheart (née Jones), model, actress and author; born in Louisville 1917, moved to New York City in late 1930s; actress Lynn Fontanne 's protege; appeared on Broadway; published six historical novels in 1970s and 1980s
Diane Sawyer , television journalist, anchor of ABC World News ; former co-anchor of ABC's Good Morning America
Nicole Scherzinger , actress, singer and dancer; lead vocalist of the Pussycat Dolls and host of The Masked Singer
Kevin M. Sullivan , true crime author, historian
Gus Van Sant , film director, photographer, musician, and author
Jack Warden , film and television actor; began his career in the early 1950s on TV shows such as Playhouse 90 and Studio One ; later appeared in films such as Run Silent, Run Deep , Shampoo and All the President's Men
Jess Weixler , film and television actress; starred in the film Teeth as well as a plethora of other independent films; graduated in 1999 from Atherton High School ; also attended the Walden Theatre Conservatory Program and was in The River City Players acting group and in the Chamber Singers choral group.
Sarah Wright , film and television actress; costarred in the film American Made among other films and TV series; graduated from Seneca High School
Sean Young , film and television actress; had notable supporting roles in films such as Blade Runner , Stripes and Dune
Artists and designers [ edit ]
Norris Embry , expressionist painter
Fontaine Fox , nationally syndicated cartoonist; creator of The Toonerville Trolley (aka Toonerville Folks ), one of the most popular strips of the World War I era
Sam Gilliam , abstract expressionist painter
Ed Hamilton , sculptor noted for his many public monuments
Barbara Tyson Mosley (born 1950), mixed media artist[ 1]
Don Rosa , illustrator of Scrooge McDuck , Donald Duck and other Disney characters
Bob Thompson , figurative abstract expressionist painter known for his bold and colorful canvases
Paul Plaschke , cartoonist for various newspapers including The Courier-Journal ; lived in Louisville and New Albany, Indiana
Patty Prather Thum , painter and art critic
Enid Yandell , sculptor
John McDougal Atherton , businessman; former proprietor of Atherton Whiskey
Peter Lee Atherton , businessman
Morris Burke Belknap , businessman with Belknap Hardware and Manufacturing Company ; Republican nominee for governor of Kentucky
W. B. Belknap , businessman, founder of Belknap Hardware and Manufacturing Company
William Richardson Belknap , businessman, President of W. B. Belknap Company
Ulysses "Junior" Bridgeman , Louisville businessman; basketball star at the University of Louisville ; had a long NBA career, mostly with the Milwaukee Bucks ; owner of Ebony magazine
Charles T. Hinde , businessman, railroad executive, founder of the Hotel del Coronado
Wade Houston , Louisville businessman; player and assistant coach at the University of Louisville ; head men's basketball coach at the University of Tennessee
Boland T. Jones , entrepreneur and executive
Herbert Marcus , co-founder and CEO of Neiman Marcus
Carrie Marcus Neiman , co-founder and chair of Neiman Marcus
Colonel Harland Sanders , founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken ; born, raised, and lived in Henryville, Indiana until adulthood
John Schnatter , founder of Papa John's Pizza ; born and raised in Jeffersonville, Indiana until founding his pizza chain
James Breckenridge Speed , businessman and philanthropist, President of the Louisville Railway Company
R. C. Tway , local business, agriculture whose Plainview Farms evolved into the Plainview neighborhood of Jeffersontown
Evan Williams , early Kentucky settler and distiller
Terry Adams , musician, founding member of NRBQ [ 2]
Mickey Baker , blues guitarist and singer; had million-seller hit in 1956 with "Love Is Strange" with wife Sylvia
Odell Brown , jazz organist
EST Gee , rapper
Harvey Fuqua , musician, member of The Moonglows (1929–2010), songwriter, record producer, and record label executive
Eric Genuis , pianist and composer
Sid Griffin , musician and founder of the bands The Long Ryders and Coal Porters , and author of books on Bob Dylan , Gram Parsons and bluegrass music
David Grissom , guitarist for Storyville , Joe Ely , The Allman Brothers Band , John Mellencamp
Gary Guthrie, the original producer of You Don't Bring Me Flowers for Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond , and recognized as a chief pioneer of the Classic rock radio format
Lionel Hampton , bandleader and jazz musician
Jack Harlow , rapper, songwriter, co-founder of Private Garden
Jonathan Hay , jazz record producer who landed at the top of Billboard charts[ 3]
Mildred and Patty Hill , music composers of the song "Happy Birthday to You "
Telma Hopkins , singer and actress, member of the 1970s pop music trio Tony Orlando and Dawn
Jim James , born as "Jim Olliges"; musician, lead singer of My Morning Jacket
Karen Kamensek , orchestral and opera conductor known for her work with Philip Glass , including the Metropolitan Opera production of Akhnaten
James Kottak , drummer for metal band Scorpions ; Yamaha drums endorser and clinician; drummer for Kingdom Come , Warrant and Wild Horses
Tim Krekel , musician, recording artist, hit songwriter, member of Jimmy Buffett 's band
Paul Laird , Musicologist , professor at University of Kansas
Patty Loveless , country music singer-songwriter; moved to Louisville at the age of 12
Sara Martin , blues singer, prominent in the 1920s, recorded with King Oliver and Fats Waller
Josephine McGill (1877–1919), composer, music historian, and folk song collector
Brian McMahan , rock musician known for work in Squirrel Bait , Slint , Palace Brothers , The For Carnation , and King Kong
Will Oldham , songwriter and musician
Joan Osborne , singer-songwriter
David Pajo , indie musician known for work in Slint , Tortoise , and Zwan
Buddy Pepper , songwriter , pianist , and actor , best known as co-writer of Les Paul and Mary Ford song "Vaya Con Dios ," the most popular song of 1953
Wilson Pickett , R&B singer, buried at Evergreen Cemetery
Artimus Pyle , drummer for the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd
Jimmy Raney , jazz guitarist
Johnny "Hammond" Smith , jazz organ player
Static Major , record producer who gained fame posthumously for featuring in Lil Wayne's "Lollipop"
Bryson Tiller , singer-songwriter and rapper
Mary Travers , folk singer with Peter, Paul and Mary
Alicia Van Buren , composer and poet
Vory , rapper
Britt Walford , drummer for Slint
Hannah Welton , drummer for Prince 's backing band, 3rdeyegirl
Keke Wyatt , R&B singer , most prominent in the late 1990s and early 2000s
Mia Zapata , murdered singer of the Seattle punk band The Gits
Politicians, military, civil service, activists[ edit ]
Jerry Abramson , former Louisville Mayor , Lt. Governor of Kentucky and Director of Intergovernmental Affairs for the Obama Administration
Jon Ackerson , Louisville lawyer who formerly served in both houses of the Kentucky State Legislature
Robert Anderson , Union Army officer in the Civil War , known for his command of Fort Sumter at the start of the war[ 4]
S. Thruston Ballard , politician, philanthropist, and miller, who served as the 33rd Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky
Anna Simms Banks , first African-American female elected as a delegate at the 7th Congressional District Republican Convention in Kentucky
Thomas Barlow , member of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky's 1st congressional district
J. C. W. Beckham , the 35th Governor of Kentucky and a United States Senator from Kentucky
Morris B. Belknap , Republican nominee for Governor of Kentucky in 1903
William Burke Belknap , served two terms as a representative in the Kentucky General Assembly
Andy Beshear , 63rd Governor of Kentucky, 2019–present; 50th Attorney General of Kentucky (2016–2019)
Steve Beshear , 61st Governor of Kentucky, 2007–2015; 49th Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky (1983–1987); 43rd Attorney General of Kentucky (1979–1983)
Charles Booker , Director of Kentucky's Office of Faith-Based Initiatives and Community Involvement, former Kentucky House Representative (2019–2021), and the first African American to be a major party nominee for U.S. Senate in Kentucky
Marion L. Boswell , Air Force lieutenant general who was assistant vice chief of staff, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.; served as chairman and senior Air Force representative, United States Delegation to the Military Staff Committee, United Nations
Anne Braden , civil rights activist
Carl Braden , trade unionist , journalist , and civil rights activist
Louis Brandeis , Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States ; namesake of the University of Louisville School of Law
Alice Barbee Castleman , social leader, philanthropist, and suffragist
George Rogers Clark , preeminent military leader on the northwestern frontier during the American Revolutionary War
William Clark , co-leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition , grew up in Louisville and considered it his home
Richard Frymire , Kentucky State Representative (1962–1964), State Senator (1966–1968), Adjutant General (1971–1977)
Craig Greenberg (born 1973), businessman, lawyer, and politician; Mayor of Louisville
William Birch Haldeman , state adjutant general for the Kentucky Army National Guard and part owner of The Courier-Journal and The Louisville Times
Frank Kerr Hays , flying ace in WWI
Alexander Pope Humphrey , judge of chancery court
James R. Lindsay , U.S. Army brigadier general[ 5] [ 6]
William E. McAnulty, Jr. , first African American to serve on the Kentucky Supreme Court
Mitch McConnell , United States Senator , U.S. Senate Minority Leader
James J. Nash , Medal of Honor recipient for his service during the Spanish–American War
Carl Nett , Kentucky State Representative (1970–1990)
Anne Northup , U.S. Representative from Louisville, 1997–2007; member of the Consumer Products Safety Commission ; sister of Mary T. Meagher
Zach Payne , member of the Indiana House of Representatives
Clarence M. Pendleton, Jr. , Chairman of the United States Commission on Civil Rights , from 1981 until his death in 1988; born in Louisville in 1930[ 7]
Dean Schamore , member of the Kentucky House of Representatives
James Speed , lawyer, politician, and professor, the 27th United States Attorney General
John C. Squires , Medal of Honor recipient for his service during World War II
Evan B. Stotsenburg , President Pro Tempore of the Indiana Senate ; Indiana Attorney General (1915–1917)
Amelia Tucker , first African-American woman to serve in the Kentucky House of Representatives (1961–1963)
John Yarmuth , U.S. Representative from Louisville, 2007–present; founder of the alt-weekly Louisville Eccentric Observer
LaVerne Butler , pastor of 9th & O Baptist Church in Louisville, 1969–1988; president of Mid-Continent University , 1988–1997[ 8]
Edward Porter Humphrey , Presbyterian minister, gave dedicatory address for Cave Hill Cemetery
Edward William Cornelius Humphrey , lawyer, Presbyterian leader, author, trustee of Centre College and Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary
Adolph S. Moses , rabbi of Adath Israel Temple , 1881–1902
Eugene Ulrich , theologist and chief editor for interpretation of the Dead Sea Scrolls
James S. Albus , engineer and Senior NIST Fellow; developer of digital solar aspect sensor , Real-time Control System , Robocrane
John James Audubon , ornithologist , naturalist and painter; lived in Louisville for two years
James Gilbert Baker , astronomer and designer of optics systems; president of the Optical Society of America ; helped found the Louisville Astronomical Society ; born and raised in Louisville; attended the Louisville duPont Manual High School and the University of Louisville
Dixie Lee Bryant , geologist and educator, born in Louisville in 1862
Frederick Detweiler , Sociologist, born in Louisville in 1881
George Devol , inventor of the first industrial robot
Thomas Alva Edison , inventor and businessman; before fame he lived in Butchertown during 1866–1867 around age 19; a house near where he lived is now a museum in his honor
Louis B. Flexner , researcher who studied the biochemistry of memory
Simon Flexner , pioneer of scientific medicine
Dian Fossey , former nurse at Kosair Children's Hospital; ethologist interested in gorillas
Edwin Hubble , astronomer, astrophysicist; basketball coach at New Albany High School; namesake of the Hubble Space Telescope ; lived in the Highlands
Thomas MacGillivray Humphrey , economist, historian of economic thought, author, Federal Reserve Bank editor, grandson of Eleanor Silliman Belknap Humphrey
Rudy Rucker , Computer scientist and science fiction author
Gary J. Sullivan , Electrical engineer who led the development of the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC and HEVC international standards for video coding ; created the DirectX Video Acceleration (DXVA) API /DDI video decoding feature of the Microsoft Windows operating system
Jacek M. Zurada , professor of electrical engineering at the University of Louisville J. B. Speed School of Engineering , specializing artificial neural networks
2 Tuff Tony , professional wrestler; real name Anthony Borcherding
Marcelo Acosta , the first swimmer from El Salvador to qualify for the Olympic Games
Muhammad Ali , multiple heavyweight boxing champion; iconic figure of 20th-century American sports
Derek L. Anderson , former Kentucky Wildcat basketball player; played on the 1996 NCAA Championship team ; former 12-year NBA basketball player drafted by Cleveland in 1997; won an NBA Championship with Miami in 2006
Chuck Armstrong , former president of the Seattle Mariners
Ralph Beard , attended Louisville Male High School ; former Kentucky Wildcat basketball player; played on the 1948 and 1949 NCAA Championship teams; won gold medal with Team USA Basketball in the 1948 Summer Olympics
Grace Berger , WNBA player for the Indiana Fever
Rob Bironas , professional football player for Tennessee Titans of the NFL
Chase Boldt , football player for the NFL Louisville Brecks (1921–23)
Phil Bond , professional basketball player for the Houston Rockets
Brian Brohm , football player; former University of Louisville and Buffalo Bills quarterback
Jeff Brohm , football player; former University of Louisville and NFL quarterback ; current head coach at Louisville
Pete Browning , 19th-century Major League Baseball player; first to use custom bats; uncle of Tod Browning [ 9]
Clark Burckle , Member of the 2012 United States Olympic Swim Team, where he placed 6th in the final of the 200 meter breaststroke
Paul Byrd , professional baseball player for the Boston Red Sox
David Cohen (born 1984), jockey
Jim Cornette , professional wrestling manager and promoter
Bernie Crimmins , the University of Notre Dame football player; head football college football coach at Indiana University; assistant football coach at Notre Dame and Purdue University
Denny Crum , University of Louisville men's basketball head coach; member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach
Kelsi Worrell Dahlia , Olympic swimmer and 7 time gold medalist
Hugh Durham , former college basketball coach
Adam Duvall , Major League Baseball outfielder for the Atlanta Braves
Jerry Eaves , Basketball player; former University of Louisville and NBA player; head coach for North Carolina A&T
Jimmy Ellis , heavyweight boxing champion
Pervis Ellison , basketball player; born in Savannah, Georgia; "Never Nervous Pervis" was the starting center for the University of Louisville for four years, including the 1986 national championship year; second freshman to be named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Final Four; first overall pick in the 1989 NBA Draft by the Sacramento Kings
Andrew Farrell , professional soccer player
Jazzmarr Ferguson , professional basketball player who last played for Vanoli Cremona of the Lega Basket Serie A
Salem Ford , halfback for University of Louisville (1914–16) and the NFL Louisville Brecks (1922–23)
Brooke Forde , Olympic swimmer and silver medallist
Chris Gabehart , NASCAR crew chief and former stock car racing driver
Gertrude Ganote , All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player, 1944–1945
Darrell Griffith , basketball player; won 1980 NCAA basketball championship and John R. Wooden Award , 1980 NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player , 1981 NBA Rookie of the Year Award ; played 11 seasons with the Utah Jazz ; nicknamed "Dr. Dunkenstein" for aerial exploits
Scott Harrington , racing driver; Indianapolis 500 veteran and Indy Car Rookie of the Year
Marvin Hart , heavyweight boxing champion
Paul Hornung , football player with the National Football League 's Green Bay Packers and Notre Dame Fighting Irish ; member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Allan Houston , NBA player, New York Knicks ; son of Wade Houston
Matt Hughes , Canadian steeplechase runner and Olympian
Anna May Hutchison , All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player, 1944–1949
Jessica Javelet , Olympian and multi-sport athlete
Joe Jacoby , Football player for the Washington Redskins
Wesley Korir , Kenyan marathoner ; winner of the 2012 Boston Marathon ; member of the National Assembly of Kenya ; ran track at, and graduated from, the University of Louisville; before his election to the National Assembly, he kept a home in Louisville
Stefan LeFors , quarterback for University of Louisville , and in the NFL and CFL ; head football coach for the high school team of the Christian Academy of Louisville
Sarah Logan , professional wrestler
Joe E. Martin , Olympic boxing coach who trained World Heavyweight Champions Muhammad Ali and Jimmy Ellis , and several National Golden Gloves champions
Oksana Masters , paralympic medalist in rowing and cross-country skiing; graduate of Atherton High School [ 10]
A'dia Mathies , WNBA player for Los Angeles Sparks
Mary T. Meagher , Olympic gold medalist and multiple world record holder in swimming
Angel McCoughtry , Olympic gold medalist and professional WNBA basketball player
Keith Myrick , thoroughbred racehorse owner and former professional basketball player
Bobby Nichols , professional golfer, known for winning the 1964 PGA Championship , one of the Majors in men's golf
Jimmy Osting , Major League Baseball player
Bo Otto , football player for the NFL Louisville Brecks (1922–23)
Scott Padgett , former Kentucky Wildcat basketball player, played on the 1996 and 1998 NCAA Championship teams; former 7-year NBA basketball player drafted by Utah in 1998; now head men's basketball coach at Samford University
Greg Page , heavyweight boxing champion
Bubba Paris , offensive tackle for the 1982 Super Bowl -winning San Francisco 49ers ; graduate of Louisville's DeSales High School
Devante Parker , former University of Louisville Football Wide Receiver; currently plays in the NFL for the Miami Dolphins
Fred Pfeffer , Major League Baseball player[ 9]
Rick Pitino , men's basketball coach at St. John's University ; former head coach at the University of Louisville , Iona University , Providence College , Boston University , the University of Kentucky and the Boston Celtics
John Quast , NFL player for the Louisville Brecks
Steve Raible , NFL player for the Seattle Seahawks ; co-anchor of local KIRO News in Seattle
Jon Rauch , professional baseball player for the Arizona Diamondbacks
Pee Wee Reese , Hall of Fame shortstop for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers ; noted for his acceptance of Jackie Robinson when the latter broke baseball's color line
Desmond Ridder , quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons
Rajon Rondo , former Kentucky Wildcat basketball player; won an NBA Championship with the Boston Celtics in 2008, and the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020; participated in several NBA All-Star games
D'Angelo Russell , current NBA player for the Los Angeles Lakers
Phil Simms , quarterback for the NFL 's New York Giants ; television sportscaster
Donta Smith , professional basketball player for Maccabi Haifa , 2014 Israeli Basketball Premier League MVP
Will Smith , professional baseball player for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball
Rudell Stitch , welterweight boxer
Danny Sullivan , race car driver and winner of the 1985 Indianapolis 500
Grigoriy Tarasevich , olympic swimmer known for his meldonium doping scandal
Justin Thomas , golf player, major winner and former World Number One
Dan Uggla , former professional baseball infielder in Major League Baseball
Johnny Unitas , quarterback at University of Louisville ; went on to a Hall of Fame career, mainly with the Baltimore Colts
Wes Unseld , basketball player and coach in the NBA ; member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player
Jimmy Van Dyke , football player for the NFL Louisville Brecks (1921–23)
Jeff Walz , women's basketball coach at the University of Louisville
George Wanless , football player for the NFL Louisville Brecks (1922–23)
Brent Weedman , mixed martial artist
Todd Wellemeyer , Major League Baseball player, Chicago Cubs, Florida Marlins, Kansas City Royals, St. Louis Cardinals
Gus Weyhing , MLB pitcher for 11 teams
Albert Wolff , French-born American Olympic fencer
Will Wolford , Pro Bowl NFL offensive lineman, played for Pittsburgh Steelers, Buffalo Bills, and Indianapolis Colts; head football coach at his alma mater of St. Xavier High School ; radio color analyst for the Indianapolis Colts
Logan Wyatt , professional baseball first baseman in the San Francisco Giants organization
Fuzzy Zoeller , professional golfer; winner of two major championships (1979 Masters , 1984 U.S. Open ); born, raised, and lives on the Indiana side of the metropolitan area in Floyd County
Writers, publishers, journalists[ edit ]
Cynthia Arrieu-King , poet; raised in Louisville
Barry Bingham Jr. , publisher of The Courier-Journal
Barry Bingham Sr. , publisher of The Courier-Journal and The Louisville Times ; led both papers to national prominence
Emily Lucas Blackall , writer; philanthropist
Jon Bois , writer
Tracy Clayton , writer and co-host of BuzzFeed 's podcast Another Round
Joe Creason , journalist for The Courier-Journal , known for his columns on the everyday lives of Kentuckians
Reuben T. Durrett , lawyer, jurist, linguist, poet, editor, journalist, history writer, and Kentucky bibliographer; a founder of the Louisville Free Public Library
Pat Forde , sportswriter; reporter and columnist for The Courier-Journal , ESPN.com , and Yahoo! Sports [ 11]
C. W. Grafton , author, crime novelist
Sue Grafton , writer
Walter Newman Haldeman , founder and publisher, Louisville Courier-Journal ; founder of Naples, Florida ; Major League Baseball owner of Louisville Grays
Anna J. Hamilton , educator, journalist, writer, and editor; one of the editors for Kentucky on "A Woman of the Century", helped edit the National Encyclopedia of America
Agnes Leonard Hill , journalist, author, poet, newspaper founder/publisher, evangelist, social reformer
Lewis Craig Humphrey , editor of Louisville newspapers The Evening Post and The Herald-Post
Annie Laurie Wilson James , journalist
Nelly Nichol Marshall , author
Jane Mayhall , poet[ 12]
Beverle Graves Myers , author of mystery novels and short stories
Marsha Norman , playwright ; won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
ZZ Packer , writer; born in Chicago; lived in Louisville in her teens and graduated from Seneca High School in 1990
Bill Plaschke , Los Angeles sports columnist, panelist on ESPN's Around the Horn
George Dennison Prentice , newspaper editor and journalist for the Louisville Journal
Scott Ritcher , magazine publisher of K Composite Magazine, musician
Hunter S. Thompson , journalist and author, long-time contributing writer for Rolling Stone magazine
Henry Watterson , founder of The Courier-Journal ; namesake of the Henry Watterson Expressway
William Burke Belknap , philanthropist, breeder of American saddlebred horses, owner of Land O' Goshen Farms
Squire Boone , frontiersman and brother of Daniel Boone
Kathy Cary , chef and seven-time James Beard Award nominee
Jennie Casseday , philanthropist
Laura Miller Derry , attorney, first woman to defend a court-martial case brought by the United States Army
Bob Edwards , broadcaster for National Public Radio
Lillian Haydon Childress Hall , first professionally trained African American librarian in Indiana
Increase A. Lapham , surveyor, naturalist, helped found the U.S. Weather Bureau
Frank Neuhauser , winner of the first National Spelling Bee, held in 1925[ 13]
Jeffrey Wigand , 60 Minutes tobacco industry whistleblower
York , William Clark 's manservant and participant in Lewis and Clark Expedition
John Ziegler , radio talk show host
^ "Barbara Tyson-Mosley" . National Gallery of Art . Retrieved 2021-02-04 .
^ "Terry Adams" . all music. Retrieved April 2, 2013 .
^ Javier Hasse. "Eric B. & Rakim's 'Follow The Leader' Reimagined Displaced Michael Bublé From His #1 Billboard Spot—And Cannabis Played A Big Role" . Forbes.com. Retrieved 2022-12-17 .
^ Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607-1896 . Marquis Who's Who. 1967.
^ "General "Bob" Lindsay" . Olney Advocate . Olney, IL. February 13, 1919. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "Military Rites Set At Arlington for Brig. Gen. J. R. Lindsay, 74" . Courier Journal . Louisville, KY. April 27, 1940. p. Section 2, page 1 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "Notable Kentucky African Americans Database" . uky.edu. Retrieved March 19, 2013 .
^ Michael Foust, Obituary of LaVerne Butler, Baptist Press , December 21, 2010
^ a b Reichler, Joseph L., ed. (1979) [1969]. The Baseball Encyclopedia (4th ed.). New York: Macmillan Publishing. ISBN 0-02-578970-8 .
^ Brownstein, Glenn (March 9, 2014). "Louisville's Oksana Masters wins milestone silver medal in Winter Paralympics skiing" . The Courier-Journal . Retrieved March 10, 2014 . (soft paywall)
^ Forde, Pat (February 26, 2013). "Forde Minutes: Who deserves a No. 1 seed?" . Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved February 28, 2013 . The Minutes kept it local last week, but that doesn't mean there wasn't quality food to be had. When hungry in Louisville, try the peerless Jack Fry's (40), a famed local landmark that has nothing bad on the menu.
^ Fox, Margalit. "Jane Mayhall, Poet Who Gained Prominence Late in Life, Is Dead at 90" , The New York Times , March 19, 2009. Accessed March 19, 2009.
^ Brown, Emma (2011-03-21). "Frank Neuhauser, winner of first national spelling bee, dies at 97" . The Washington Post . Retrieved 2011-04-03 .