List of people from Kansas City, Missouri

H

• Donald J. Hall, Sr. – businessman
• Joyce Hall – businessman, founder of Hallmark Cards
• Jennie Hanna – missionary worker and co-founder of the Woman's Auxiliary of the Presbyterian Church, U.S.
• Leon Harden – football player for Green Bay Packers
• Jean Harlow – actress
• Jessica Harp – country music singer-songwriter, former member of The Wreckers with Michelle Branch
• Rhonda Harper – surfer and surf coach
• Thomas Hayward – leading tenor of Metropolitan Opera
• Caleb Hearon – comedian, writer, actor, and director
• Robert A. Heinlein – science fiction author; his stories are frequently set in or reference Kansas City
• Ernest Hemingway – iconic novelist and short story author
• Shauntay Henderson – FBI Ten Most Wanted fugitive, convicted criminal
• Paul Henning – writer, producer of The Beverly Hillbillies TV series
• Opal Hill – golfer and LPGA co-founder
• Jerry Hines – Emmy Award-winning photographer, voted cutest baby of Kansas City 1975
• Ralph F. Hirschmann (1922–2009) – biochemist who led synthesis of first enzyme
• Mabel Hite – vaudeville and musical comedy performer, father worked at Owl Drug Store
• Clara Cleghorn Hoffman (1831–1908) – temperance activist
• Bob Holden – 53rd governor of Missouri
• Dorothy B. Hughes – novelist
• Jane Dee Hull – 20th governor of Arizona

I

• Sean Ingram – musician and entrepreneur
• Ub Iwerks – animator and cartoonist

J

• Bo Jackson – football and baseball player
• Pete Johnson – blues and jazz pianist
• Elaine Joyce – actress

K

• Tim Kaine – former governor and current U.S. senator from Virginia; 2016 Democratic nominee for vice president under Hillary Clinton
• Krizz Kaliko (born Samuel Watson Jr.) – rapper
• Jason Kander – former Missouri Secretary of State
• John Kander – composer
• Sybil Kaplan — journalist and author
• Ewing Kauffman – pharmaceutical magnate, philanthropist, and Major League Baseball owner
• Ellie Kemper – actress, The Office, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
• Vern Kennedy – baseball pitcher
• Bill Kenney – politician, ex-Chiefs player
• Edward Kerr – actor, Above Suspicion, Confessions of a Sexist Pig, The Astronaut's Wife
• Craig Kilborn – actor, sportscaster, talk show host
• John Klein – soccer player for MLS club St. Louis City
• Philip Klutznick – U.S. Secretary of Commerce to President Jimmy Carter
• Evalyn Knapp – actress

L

• Sarah Lancaster – actress
• Frank Sherman Land – Freemason and founder of Order of DeMolay, international organization for young men
• Barbara Lawrence – actress
• William Least Heat-Moon – author
• Muna Lee – three-time track and field Olympic finalist
• Jeff Leiding – football player
• Lesa Lewis – IFBB professional bodybuilder
• Ryan Lilja – NFL player for Indianapolis Colts and Kansas City Chiefs, Shawnee Mission Northwest High School graduate
• Tyronn Lue – NBA player and current head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Raytown Senior High School
• Betty Lynn – actress best known for playing Thelma Lou on The Andy Griffith Show

M

• Bill Maas – NFL player
• Arthur Mag – lawyer, legal counsel to Harry S. Truman
• Sean Malto – professional skateboarder
• Amanda Marsh – first winner of The Bachelor
• Oliver T. Marsh – cinematographer
• Denny Matthews – sportscaster, author
• John Mayberry Jr. – baseball outfielder with Philadelphia Phillies
• Claire McCaskill – politician and senator
• Edie McClurg – actress
• Courtney McCool – athlete and Olympian
• Charles McCormick – singer and bass player, member of the Kansas City R&B band Bloodstone
• Glenn McGee – bioethicist and philosopher
• Katherine McNamara – actress, Shadowhunters
• Jay McShann – blues musician
• Pat Metheny – jazz guitarist
• Frederick H. Michaelis – U.S. Navy admiral
• Sue Miller – breast cancer activist
• Janelle Monáe – singer
• Wendy Moniz – actress
• Julia Montgomery – actress in Revenge of the Nerds and One Life to Live
• Dennis Moore – congressman, politician
• Logan Morrison – baseball player
• Paul Morrison – politician
• Tommy Morrison – heavyweight boxer
• Bennie Moten – pianist, bandleader
• Mancow Muller – radio personality
• Richard B. Myers – U.S. Air Force general and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

N

• Rob Neyer – sportswriter
• Danielle Nicole – blues and soul musician
• Jesse Clyde Nichols – developer of commercial and residential real estate
• William F. Nolan – author

O

• Buck O'Neil – baseball player, scout, and coach; first African-American coach in the MLB; helped establish the Negro League Hall of Fame

P

• Satchel Paige – baseball pitcher
• Charlie Parker – jazz saxophonist and composer
• Gordon Parks – screenwriter, director, actor, photographer
• Mark Patton – actor
• Jamie Paulin-Ramirez – American Muslim convert arrested in Jihad Jane plot to kill a Danish artist
• Rodney Peete – NFL quarterback, Fox Sports TV host
• Tom Pendergast – political boss
• Tom Pernice Jr. – professional golfer
• Darrell Porter – professional baseball player, author
• Joe Posnanski – sports writer, author
• William Powell – actor
• The Pruitt Twins – identical twin brothers, Millus David Pruett [sic] and Myles Pennington Pruett, blues musicians
• Matthew Pryor – lead singer of The Get Up Kids

R

• Joe Randa – baseball player
• Rudy Reyes – actor and former U.S. Marine sergeant
• Bullet Rogan – baseball player
• Ginger Rogers – dancer, Academy Award-winning actress, Broadway performer
• Michael Rosbash – geneticist at Brandeis University, Nobel laureate
• Karl L. Rundberg (1899–1969) – Los Angeles City Council member
• Brandon Rush – NBA player
• Kareem Rush – NBA player
• Pierre Russell – basketball player

S

• Ray Sadecki – Major League Baseball pitcher
• Lori Saunders – actress, Petticoat Junction
• Rachel Saunders – 2005 Miss Kansas USA
• Melana Scantlin – Miss Missouri USA and Average Joe star, co-host of World Series of Blackjack
• Wes Scantlin – lead singer and rhythm guitarist of rock band Puddle of Mudd, cousin of Melana Scantlin
• Nick Schnebelen – blues rock musician
• Josh Shapiro – former attorney general and current governor of Pennsylvania
• Ted Shawn – modern dance pioneer
• Columbus Short – choreographer, actor, singer
• Sam Simmons – former NFL and Arena Football League player
• Crystal Smith – model
• Jack Sock – professional tennis player
• Alberto Sordi – Italian actor (honorary citizen)
• Kate Spade – fashion designer
• Nancy Speir – children's book illustrator
• Alexis Spight – gospel musician
• Casey Stengel – baseball player and Hall of Fame manager
• Michael Stevens – YouTuber, educator, public speaker, creator and host of Mind Field
• Eric Stonestreet – actor
• George Strohmeyer – football player
• Justin Swift – football player with NFL's Detroit Lions

T

• DePrice Taylor – executive director of community relations for the Kansas City Current and member of the Kansas City Parks Board
• Myra Taylor – blues singer, solo career and member of the Wild Women of Kansas
• Tech N9ne – rapper
• Bobb'e J. Thompson – child actor
• Virgil Thomson – Pulitzer Prize-winning composer
• Calvin Trillin – food writer, journalist, humorist
• Marion A. Trozzolo – businessman, River Quay
• Harry S. Truman – 33rd president of the United States (from Independence, Missouri)
• Lisa Tucker – writer
• Big Joe Turner – blues singer

V

• Henry Clay Van Noy – owner of Van Noy Railway News and Hotel Company (today known as HMSHost)
• Grace VanderWaal – singer-songwriter, ukuleleist, and season 11 winner of NBC's America's Got Talent
• Dorothy Vaughan – mathematician and human computer at NASA

W

• Mabel Wagnalls – pianist, writer, philanthropist
• Janie Wagstaff – 1992 Olympic swimmer
• Dee Wallace – actress, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
• Ish Wainright (born 1994) – American-Ugandan basketball player for Hapoel Tel Aviv of the Israeli Basketball Premier League
• Earl Watson – basketball player
• Orla Watson – inventor
• Tom Watson – professional golfer, twice Masters champion, five-time British Open winner, World Golf Hall of Fame
• Ben Webster – jazz saxophonist
• Charles Wheeler – Kansas City Mayor
• Frank White – professional baseball player
• Jason Whitlock – sports journalist
• Dianne Wiest – two-time Oscar-winning actress
• Suzanne Wikle – politician
• Chuck Wild – recording artist, songwriter and composer
• Jason Wiles – actor, played Maurice 'Bosco' Boscorelli in TV series Third Watch
• Barry Winchell – private first class, murdered by a fellow soldier for his sexual orientation
• Smoky Joe Wood – a.k.a. the Kansas Cyclone; professional baseball player for Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians
• Doug Worgul – journalist and author of the novel Thin Blue Smoke
• Chely Wright – country music singer
• Katie Wright – actress; married to Hank Azaria

Y

• Josephine Silone Yates – professor and writer, first Black woman to hold a full professorship or head a science department in the U.S.

See also

• List of people from Missouri
• List of people from Kansas City, Kansas

References