Wisconsin Famous People

Famous Americans: History and Biographies

Links to histories and biographies of the famous people of Wisconsin. Many famous people of Wisconsin have made significant contributions to the history of our nation and the state of Wisconsin. These famous Americans, famous entertainers, famous players, famous scientist, famous singers, famous statesmen, famous women, heroes, great explorers, and others Wisconsin famous Americans have all made Wisconsin their home. This list includes Wisconsin historical figures, celebrities and those individuals of Wisconsin who have influenced the lives of others.

Famous People from Wisconsin

Don Ameche (1908 - 1993) Actor who won an Academy Award for his performance in Cocoon; born in Kenosha.
Richard I. Bong (1920 - 1945)America's leading air ace during World War II; born in Superior.
Seymour Cray (1925 - 1996) Developed the super-computer; born in Chippewa Falls.
August Derleth (1909 - 1971) Author; born in Sauk City.
Carrie Chapman Catt (January 9, 1859 - March 9, 1947) was an American women's suffrage leader who campaigned for the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which gave U.S. women the right to vote in 1920. Born Carrie Clinton Lane in Ripon, Wisconsin, Catt spent her childhood in Charles City, Iowa and graduated from Iowa State Agricultural College (now Iowa State University) in Ames, Iowa, graduating in three years. Catt served as president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association and was the founder of the League of Women Voters and the International Alliance of Women. She "led an army of voteless women in 1919 to pressure Congress to pass the constitutional amendment giving them the right to vote and convinced state legislatures to ratify it in 1920" and "was one of the best-known women in the United States in the first half of the twentieth century and was on all lists of famous American women"
Eric Heiden (1958 - ) is a five-time gold medal winning speed skater of the 1980 Winter Olympics; born in Madison, Wisconsin. He was the first person in Olympic history to win five gold medals in individual events in the same Games. After the Olympics, Heiden turned to cycling and competed in the 1986 Tour de France.
Harry Houdini (1874 - 1926) Famous magician and escape artist; from Appleton.
Pee Wee King (1914 - 2000) Singer and an important figure in country music; born in Milwaukee.
Liberace (1919 - 1987) Wladziu Valentino Liberace Famous musician; born in West Allis, Wisconsin. Wladziu Valentino Liberace was born into a musical family. His father was a member of the Milwaukee Philharmonic Orchestra. Young Wladziu received a scholarship to the Wisconsin College of Music, and by age 14, he was a soloist with the Chicago Symphony. In 1950, he appeared in his first movie, and by then was using his last name alone as a stage name. Eventually, he starred in his own television show, and then went on to stage shows in Las Vegas and at Radio City Music Hall.
Douglas MacArthur (1880 - 1964) Well-known WWII and Korean war general; lived in Milwaukee.
Golda Meir (1898 - 1978) Israel's first woman prime minister; raised in Milwaukee.
Tom Snyder (1936 - ) Radio talk-show host; born in Milwaukee.
Gene Wilder (1935 - ) Actor made famous in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory; born in Milwaukee.
Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867 - 1957) Author of the Little House books; born in Pepin, Wisconsin. Wilder wrote about her own life growing up in the 1870s and 1880s on the Midwestern frontier. The books, which include "Little House on the Prairie," "Little House in the Big Woods," and "On the Banks of Plum Creek" have become beloved to younger readers, and were later developed into a successful television series.
Tom Wopat (1951 - ) Played Luke Duke in the hit television series, "Dukes Of Hazard"; born on a small dairy farm in Lodi.
Frank Lloyd Wright (1867 - 1959) America's most famous architect; born in Richland Center.

More Famous People of Wisconsin

Find more more Wisconsin famous people below. You may not even realize many of these famous people were born in Wisconsin or notable associated with Wisconsin, including actors, actresses, explorers, historical figures, inventors, musicians, novelists, professional athletes, important politicians, singers, sport stars and more.

Roy Chapman Andrews naturalist and explorer, Beloit
John Bardeen inventor, Madison
Ellen Corby actress, Racine
William Defoe actort, Appleton
Tyne Daly actress, Madison
Jeanne Dixon seer, Medford
Chris Farley actor, Madison
Zona Gale author, Portage
Woody Herman band leader, Milwaukee
Loretta Sell Hildegarde singer, Adell
Thomas Hulce actor, Whitewater
George F. Kennan diplomat, Milwaukee
Robert La Follette politician, Primrose
Allen Ludden tv host, Mineral Point
Alfred Lunt actor, Milwaukee
Frederic March actor, Racine
Jackie Mason comedian, Sheboygan
Charles and John Ringling circus entrepreneurs, Baraboo
Pat O'Brien actor, Milwaukee
Georgia O'Keeffe painter, Sun Prairie
Les Paul musician, Waukesha
Amy Pietz actress, Oak Creek
Charlotte Rae actress, Milwaukee
William H. Rehnquist jurist, Milwaukee
Gena Rowlands actress, Cambria
Spencer Tracy actor, Milwaukee
Bob Uecker baseball player, Milwaukee
Thorstein Veblen economist, Cato Township
Orson Welles actor and producer, Kenosha
Thornton Wilder author, Madison
Charles Winninger actor, Athen
Frank Lloyd Wright America's most famous architect; born in Richland Center, Wisconsin. Wright designed everything from banks and resorts, office buildings and churches, a filling station and a synagogue, a beer garden and an art museum. Some of his most famous structures include the Guggenheim Museum in New York City, Fallingwater, a private home in western Pennsylvania and the SC Johnson and Son Wax Company Administration Center in Racine, Wisconsin.

US Famous People

Learn history through the biographies of the famous people from your state.