List of people from Evansville, Indiana

This is a list of people from Evansville, Indiana. This list includes people who were born in Evansville or lived in or around the city for a period of time.

Government, law and activism

• Bess Abell, American presidential aide and White House Social Secretary
• Anne S. Andrew, American environmental attorney and United States Ambassador to Costa Rica
• Albion Fellows Bacon, reformer and writer
• Conrad Baker, 15th governor of Indiana (1867–1873) and 15th lieutenant governor (1861–1867)
• Allen Buchanan (Medal of Honor), was an officer in the United States Navy and a Medal of Honor recipient for his role in the United States occupation of Veracruz.
• George Washington Buckner, physician, U.S. minister to Liberia
• Larry Bucshon, U.S. Representative (2011–present)
• John B. Conaway, retired United States Air Force officer who served as Chief of the National Guard Bureau from 1990 to 1993
• Suzanne Crouch, former lieutenant governor of Indiana and former Indiana State Auditor
• Roger O. DeBruler, Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court (1968–1996)
• Charles Denby Jr., U.S. diplomat in China and later in Vienna, Austria
• Charles Harvey Denby, U.S. Union officer in the Civil War; diplomat
• Edwin C. Denby, Secretary of the Navy (1921–1924) and notable figure in the Teapot Dome scandal
• Winfield K. Denton, U.S. Representative (1949–1953, 1955–1966)
• Brad Ellsworth, U.S. Representative (2007–2011), 2010 Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate
• John H. Foster, U.S. Representative (1905–1909)
• John W. Foster, U.S. Secretary of State (1892–1893)
• James S. Harlan, lawyer and commerce specialist
• John Hostettler, U.S. Representative (1995–2007)
• Henry S. Johnston, 7th governor of Oklahoma
• Joseph Lane, general, first governor of Oregon Territory, one of Oregon's first two U.S. senators, and 1860 candidate for vice president on the Democratic Party ticket
• Robert D. Orr, 45th governor of Indiana (1981–1989)
• Gary R. Pfingston, 10th Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force (1990–1994)
• Randall Shepard, Chief Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court
• Sallie Wyatt Stewart, former president of the National Association of Colored Women
• Barbara Underwood, Attorney General of New York

Sports and sports-related

• Marty Amsler, NFL defensive end ^[1]
• Chic Anderson, sportscaster
• Aaron Barrett, MLB pitcher
• Alan Benes, MLB pitcher
• Andy Benes, MLB pitcher, member of US Olympic team, #1 draft pick
• Sean Bennett, NFL player, New York Giants
• Mats Bjurman, soccer player ^[2]
• McKinley Brewer, Negro League baseball player
• Bob Buck (sportscaster), American sportscaster and sports director for WIKY AM/FM radio
• Drew Butera, MLB catcher
• Scott Cannon, soccer player ^[3]
• Ray Cariens, racing driver
• Jamey Carroll, MLB infielder
• Rudy Charles, WWE & former Total Nonstop Action Wrestling referee
• Calbert Cheaney, Harrison High School, Indiana and NBA player
• DeLisa Chinn-Tyler, softball outfielder
• Deke Cooper, North High School, University of Notre Dame, NFL player
• Jerry Dale, MLB umpire
• Phelps Darby, coach of Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team
• Luke Drone, NFL and AF2 player
• Todd Duffee, UFC fighter, actor
• Jerad Eickhoff, MLB pitcher for Philadelphia Phillies
• Bob Ford, North High School, Purdue basketball player, sportscaster
• Bob Griese, Rex Mundi High School, Purdue and NFL quarterback, All-Pro, Hall of Famer, Super Bowl champion, sportscaster
• Harley Grossman, MLB pitcher
• Bob Hamilton, professional golfer, winner of 1944 PGA Championship
• Kevin Hardy, Harrison High School, University of Illinois, NFL linebacker
• Lilly King, swimmer, gold medalist at 2016 Summer Olympics ^[4]
• Michael Klueh, swimmer, world champion
• Luke Kruytbosch, sportscaster
• Kyle Kuric, Memorial High School, University of Louisville basketball player, professional basketball player in Spain
• Khristian Lander, Reitz High School, Indiana University and Western Kentucky University
• Don Mattingly, MLB player for New York Yankees, former manager of Los Angeles Dodgers and Miami Marlins
• Walter McCarty, NBA player, assistant coach for Indiana Pacers and Boston Celtics, former head coach for University of Evansville
• Arad McCutchan, basketball coach
• Dorothy Montgomery, All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player; cytologist at Welborn Clinic
• Jerry Nemer (1912–1980), basketball player and attorney
• Ray Newman, MLB player for Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers
• Jeff Overton, professional golfer
• Tubby Rohsenberger, NFL player
• Scott Rolen, MLB Hall of Fame third baseman
• Vince Russo, former WWE and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling writer; podcaster for Podcast One
• Dave Schellhase, basketball player, Purdue University
• Dru Smith, Reitz High School, NBA Player
• Paul Splittorff, MLB pitcher, Kansas City Royals
• Larry Stallings, NFL linebacker, St Louis Cardinals
• Scott Studwell, NFL player, Minnesota Vikings

Performing and visual arts

Actors, actresses and directors

• Anne Barton (actress), an American stage, film and television actress
• Tom Armstrong, cartoonist creator of Marvin
• Billie Bennett, silent-film actress
• Budd Boetticher, film director
• Avery Brooks, actor, known for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Spenser: For Hire
• Joe Cook, actor, entertainer, and comedian
• Louise Dresser, Academy Award-nominated actress
• David Emge, actor, known for Dawn of the Dead
• Ron Glass, actor, known for Barney Miller and Firefly
• Phil Goss, actor and TV personality in Poland, voice-over professional for MTV and VH1 in Europe
• Rami Malek, actor, known for Bohemian Rhapsody , attended University of Evansville
• Michael Michele, actress, best known for ER
• Marilyn Miller, singer and dancer of 1920s and 1930s
• Dylan Minnette, actor, known for his roles in 13 Reasons Why , Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day and Goosebumps
• Roger Mobley, child actor of 1960s, later a Christian pastor in Texas
• Venus Raj, actress, model, beauty queen crowned Miss Indiana Teen USA 2006, Miss Indiana USA 2009, Binibining Pilipinas Universe 2010, and 4th runner-up at the Miss Universe 2010
• Jama Williamson, actress, known for playing Principal Mullins in the Nickelodeon series School of Rock and Wendy Haverford in Parks and Recreation

Music

• Kyle Burns, musician, member of Forever the Sickest Kids
• Sid Catlett, musician, jazz drummer
• John Cowan, singer, bassist John Cowan Band and New Grass Revival
• Jody Davis, guitarist for Newsboys
• Neal Doughty, keyboard player, REO Speedwagon's only remaining founding member
• Jace Everett, country music singer
• Richard Faith, American composer,concert pianist, professor of piano, and a published composer of piano pedagogy literature, orchestral and chamber works, opera and most prolifically, song
• Josh Gard, electronic music producer, DJ
• Ernie Haase, Southern gospel tenor vocalist for the Cathedral Quartet and Ernie Haase & Signature Sound
• Joe Hinton, R&B singer; biggest hit "Funny", 1964
• Philip Martin Lawrence II, songwriter, record producer, entrepreneur, and voice actor; best known for his work with The Smeezingtons and teaming with Bruno Mars
• Mock Orange, indie-rock band
• Noncompliant, DJ and record producer
• Dax Riggs, musician
• Fred Rose, musician, Hall of Fame songwriter and music publishing executive
• Ryan Seaton, gospel solo artist formerly of Ernie Haase & Signature Sound (2003–2009)
• Timmy Thomas, singer-songwriter, musician, record producer
• Andy Timmons, guitarist, musical director, and solo artist
• Geno Washington, soul singer

Media and artists

• Martha Susan Baker, American painter, muralist and teacher
• Bruce Blackburn, American graphic designer, who was a designer of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) logotype
• Gary Hugh Brown, American artist, painter, draftsman, and professor emeritus of art at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
• Mark Cooper (artist), American multimedia artist
• Halston, graduated from Benjamin Bosse High School in 1950, an American fashion designer
• David Horsey, cartoonist for Los Angeles Times
• Edward McKnight Kauffer, artist and graphic designer, grew up in Evansville ^[5]
• Barbara Kinney, photojournalist and White House photographer during Clinton administration
• Karl Kae Knecht, cartoonist for Evansville Courier
• William Snyder, four-time Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer
• Casey Stegall, national correspondent for Fox News Channel
• Aaron Tanner, graphic designer and author ^[6]
• Ansel E. Wallace, photographer and film correspondent for the International News Service in World War I
• Marcia Yockey, Impressionist painter, an American meteorologist
• Louise Zaring, Impressionist painter, noted particularly for her vivid use of color.

Authors, producers, playwrights, writers, and poets

• Marilyn Durham, author of The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing
• Bettiola Heloise Fortson, poet and author
• Annie Fellows Johnston, author of The Little Colonel series
• Edward J. Meeman, journalist and environmental crusader, born in Evansville in 1889 ^[7]
• Molly Newman, playwright and television producer
• Paul Osborn, playwright, screenwriter of East of Eden
• Steven Sater, Broadway lyricist, playwright and poet
• Winifred Sackville Stoner Jr., prolific child author and poet
• Matt Williams, producer of The Cosby Show , Home Improvement , and Roseanne

Academics

• Margaret K. Butler, mathematician
• James C. Coomer, American political scientist and Emeritus Professor of Political Science at Mercer University, and its former Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
• Elbert Frank Cox, mathematician
• Linda Donley-Reid, born in Evansville, Indiana, graduated from Evansville Central High School in 1963, an American museum curator, archaeologist and clinical psychologist
• Stephen A. Fulling, an American mathematician and mathematical physicist, specializing in the mathematics of quantum theory, general relativity, and the spectral and asymptotic theory of differential operators.
• Thomas K. Gaisser, a particle physicist, cosmic ray researcher, and a pioneer of astroparticle physics
• Raymond Geuss, philosopher and university professor
• Clark Kimberling, mathematician
• Paul Musgrave, professor and expert in American foreign policy matters
• Henry Babcock Veatch, philosopher and writer
• Talitha Washington, mathematician
• John D. Wiley, educator
• Lester M. Wolfson, founding chancellor of Indiana University South Bend

Business

• E. S. Babcock, industrialist, tycoon, businessman, and entrepreneur; founder of the Hotel del Coronado
• Chuck Bundrant, American billionaire businessman and the co-founder, chairman, and majority owner of Trident Seafoods.
• Charles T. Hinde, businessman, riverboat captain, and original investor of the Hotel del Coronado
• Mary Fendrich Hulman, wife of industrialist Tony Hulman and matriarch of the Hulman-George family
• Edward Mead Johnson, businessman, co-founder of Johnson & Johnson, and founder of Mead Johnson & Co.
• Aaron Patzer, entrepreneur and founder of Mint.com, a personal financial management service
• Francis Joseph Reitz, banker, civic leader, and philanthropist
• John Augustus Reitz, lumber magnate, civic leader, and philanthropist
• Ray Ryan, gambler, oilman, promoter, developer
• Ruth Siems, Stove Top Stuffing creator
• Harry J. Sonneborn, first president and CEO of McDonald's (played by actor B.J. Novak in the film The Founder )
• Cari Tuna, philanthropist

Religion

• Anthony Deydier, was a French priest, missionary and teacher sent to Evansville, Indiana in 1837
• Diane Drufenbrock, attended Reitz Memorial High School, and was an American religious sister as a member of the Catholic School Sisters of St. Francis
• Mary Simpson, one of the first women ordained a priest by the American Episcopal Church
• John Roach Straton, minister
• Paul E. Waldschmidt, Roman Catholic bishop
• Mike Warnke, Christian comedian, discredited "expert" on Satanism

Other Notables

• Pearl Berg, was an American supercentenarian

References

1. "Marty Amsler NFL & AFL Football Statistics". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on August 20, 2010. Retrieved September 22, 2010.
2. "15 minutes with…. Mats Bjurman". Saint Louligans. Retrieved January 29, 2025.
3. "Scott Cannon". Major League Soccer . Retrieved March 7, 2025.
4. "Lilly King - Bio". SwimSwam . Retrieved July 23, 2021.
5. "Edward McKnight Kauffer". Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. September 10, 2021. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
6. ARedenbaugh (November 9, 2017). "Music Notes". Evansville Living Magazine. Retrieved February 6, 2024.
7. "Edward John Meeman". Tennessee Encyclopedia. January 1, 2010. Retrieved May 24, 2015.