List of people from Duluth, Minnesota
(Redirected from List of famous 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
- Alicia Kozlowski (born 1988), member of the Minnesota House of Representatives
- Arlene Ione Lehto, Minnesota state legislator and businesswoman
- Charles Lundy Lewis, Minnesota Supreme Court justice
- Edwin L. MacLean (1890–1968), Minnesota state legislator
- 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
