20 of Our Favorite Celebrities from Illinois

Illinois is one of the best US states in terms of high-level education, schooling, and living standards, where you will find countless talents across the state. Illinois has produced numerous celebrities and famous people who have achieved a lot in their careers in politics, acting, finance, and other fields like sports. The biggest advantage of Illinois is it is the host of Chicago, the third-largest city in the USA. This enables Illinois residents to work in Chicago and, at the same time, enjoy the beauty of living in Illinois. When it comes to celebrities, Illinois has contributed a lot. The following are some of the celebrities in Illinois:

20. Pat Sajak (Television Personality)

Pat Sajak is a Polish American television personality known for being the current host of Wheel of Fortune since 1981 and America’s Funniest Home Videos from 1989 to 1997. According to Wikipedia, he has 19 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host nominations to his name, winning thrice. The guy is pretty much like the prince of game shows; he is royalty in this field.

19. Dick Butkus (American football player)

He was an American football linebacker who played in the National Football League for Chicago Bears for nine years between 1965 and 1973. He was inducted into the Pro-Football Hall of Fame in 1979. Butkus is considered one of the greatest and most intimidating linebackers in NFL history. He has a long list of career highlights and awards, including the NFL Rookie of the Year, 8 Pro-Bowl selections, 6 First-Team All-Pro designations, and 2 Second-team All-Pro selections.

18. Doug Collins (Basketball coach)

Doug Collins is a retired American professional basketball player and former head coach of the Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons, Washington Wizards, and Philadelphia 76ers. He has been an analyst for ESPN since 1990. According to Wikipedia, he won two gold medals as the United States men’s national basketball team in the Pan American Games in 1967 and 1971. During his eleven-year career in the NBA, he also played for three professional teams, including the Philadelphia 76ers, Chicago Bulls, Texas Chaparrals, and The Floridians.

17. Robin Tunney (Actress)

Robin Tunney is an American actress known for her roles in films such as The Craft, End of Days, Supernova, and Empire Records. She has been featured in TV shows such as Prison Break. She starred on the WB Television Network’s drama series The Mentalist from 2010 until 2016. Her career has spanned over two decades with movie titles like The Baby Dance; You Can Count on Me, Simon Burch, Life or Something Like It, and Empire Records. She is the celebrity you want to know if you are a fan of super-villain monologue movies.

16. George Ryan (Politician)

Unless you were born just recently, you must have heard the name of George Ryan, a former Governor of Illinois. He was a member of the Republican Party and served as the 39th Governor of Illinois from 1999 until 2003. During his tenure as Governor, he gained a lot of popularity for his campaign to reduce the prison population of Illinois. In 2000, he commuted all death sentences of 160 inmates on Illinois’s death row after declaring that the death penalty was unjust and racially biased. His actions were controversial but have been viewed far more favorably since then.

15. Salli Richardson-Whitfield (Actress)

Salli Elise Richardson is an American actress and producer. She came into mainstream attention for her role in the Steve Miner-directed horror film, House at the End of the Street (2012). Her other notable works include A Man Called Hawk (1989), I’m Gonna Git You Sucka (1988), Eureka (2006–2012), and A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985). Her family background is from Illinois, but she has been in the entertainment industry for quite a long time now. She came into mainstream attention in the Steve Miner-directed horror film House at the End of the Street.

14. Marcellas Reynolds (Actress)

Marcellas Reynolds is an American actress, producer, and activist; she has been a film producer of Things Behind The Sun. She appeared on Big Brother in Season 7 and Season 10. She was born in Illinois spent her childhood in Chicago before moving to Los Angeles with her family at age 13. She has been in the industry for quite some time now and has managed to catch people’s attention at least once.

13. Ronald Reagan (Former President of the United States)

Ronald Wilson Reagan was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th President of the United States from 1981 to 1989. Before the presidency, he was a Hollywood actor and union leader before serving as Governor of California from 1967 to 1975. Wikipedia says that Reagan was raised in a low-income family in small towns of northern Illinois. He was a popular president at the time, and you cannot ignore him when it comes to famous people from Illinois.

12. John C. Reilly (Actor)

If you are a fan of Will Ferrell movies, you have come across John C. Reilly at some point. He is a comedian and an actor who has been in the industry for a long time now and is known for his versatile characters. He is working on movies like Casa de Mi Padre, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, The Sisters Brothers, and Ralph Break the Internet. His other notable works include Chicago (2002), Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006), Step Brothers (2008), Wreck-It Ralph (2012), and more.

11. Adam Rapp (Actor, Screenwriter, Playwright)

Adam Rapp is an American actor, playwright, and screenwriter. He has written many plays, including Red Light Winter, which premiered in Chicago’s Live Bait Theater in 1999. He wrote the screenplay for The Year of Getting to Know Us (2008). His other notable works include Blackbird (2015), The Metal Children (2014), and more. He is a very good playwright and screenwriter who has put his heart and soul into writing some of the best pieces in his collection.

10. Keke Palmer (Actress)

Keke Palmer is an American actress, singer, and television personality. She came into mainstream attention with her breakthrough role as the Nickelodeon sitcom True Jackson, VP (2008–2011). Her other notable works include A Trip to Unicorn Island (2016), Joyful Noise (2012), Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012), Jump In! (2007–2008), True Jackson, VP (2008–2011), and more. She is an actress with a very promising film career that has only just begun. She has a long history of acting and entertainment in general, and she has managed to catch people’s attention at least once before.

9. Danica Patrick (Race car driver)

Danica Sue Patrick is an American professional racing driver, model, and advertising spokeswoman. She has driven in the IndyCar Series and the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Her highest finish in the IndyCar Series is a third-place she achieved four times (2005-2008). As of 2018, she competes full-time in the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series, driving the No. 10 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for GoFas Racing. She has many awards to her name, including IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year (2005), International Race of Champions Most Popular Driver Award (2006), and more.

8. Bob Odenkirk (Actor)

Robert “Bob” Odenkirk is an American actor, comedian, writer, director, and producer. He is best known as the co-creator and co-star of the HBO sketch comedy series Mr. Show with Bob and David (1995–1998). In the 1980s and 1990s, he worked as a writer for such notable shows as Saturday Night Live, Get a Life, The Ben Stiller Show, and The Dennis Miller Show. His other notable works include Nebraska (2013), Let’s Go to Prison (2006), Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016), The Post (2017), Inglourious Basterds (2009), A Mighty Wind (2003), Better Call Saul (2015–), and more.

7. Michelle Obama (Former First Lady of the United States)

Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama is an American lawyer, writer, and former First Lady of the United States. She is married to Barack Obama, who was elected President of the United States in 2008. Her parents are Fraser C. Robinson III and Marian Lois (Dunham), whose mother was a cousin of the late President Franklin D. Roosevelt. She was named one of the best-dressed women in 2009 by “Glamour.” Her other notable authoring works include The Becoming (2018) and American Grown (2013).

6. Kiernan Shipka (Actor)

Kiernan Brennan Shipka is an American actress who played the lead role of Sabrina Spellman in the 2018 Netflix television series Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Her previous notable works include Mad Men (2008–2010), Feud: Bette and Joan (2017), and more. She started acting at a tender age and is already a prominent name in the industry. She continues to act in more successful TV shows and movies, hoping for many more to come.

5. Barack Obama (Former President of the United States)

Barack Hussein Obama II is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. He also served as the United States Senator from Illinois from 2005 to 2008. He was also the first African American to serve as President and the firstborn outside the contiguous United States. He released his first autobiography, Dreams from My Father, in 1995 while a student at Columbia University and published The Audacity of Hope in 2006. His other notable authoring works include Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters (2010), Barack Obama’s Five Point Plan To Stop Gun Violence (2012), Broke: The Plan to Restore Our Trust, Truth, and Treasure (2016), Of Thee I Sing (2010), Change We Can Believe In (2008), Audacity of Hope (2006), Dreams from My Father (1995), The Tumultuous Years 1917-1922 (2017), How Lincoln Lost America And Won the Nobel Peace Prize (2015), and more.

4. Ludacris (Rapper and Actor)

Christopher Brian Bridges, better known by his stage name, Ludacris, is an American rapper, entrepreneur, and actor. On September 11, 1977, he was born in Champaign, Illinois, to Roberta Shields and Wayne Brian Bridges. His songs have appeared in several films, including Fast Five (2011), Battle: Los Angeles (2011), and Furious 7 (2015). He was ranked No. 10 on MTV’s list of the Top-Earning MCs in 2006 and No. 11 in 2007. His other notable works include Incredibles 2 (2018), The Fate of the Furious (2017), Central Intelligence (2016), The Fast and the Furious (2001), Furious 7 (2015), The Other Woman (2014), 2 Guns (2013), No Strings Attached (2011), Battle: Los Angeles (2011) among many others.

3. Juice WRLD (Rapper and Singer)

Jarad Anthony Higgins was an American rapper, singer, and songwriter from Northbrook, Illinois. On December 2, 1998, he was born in Chicago and died on December 8, 2019. He was known as one of the most influential artists in music today, with his songs dominating the charts and social media. According to The Guardian, he died at age 21 in an accidental overdose of oxycodone and codeine. His best songs include Lucid Dreams (2017), Armed and Dangerous (2016), Rider (2017), the list goes on.

2. Robin Williams (Actor)

Robin McLaurin Williams was an American actor and comedian. Born on July 21, 1951, in Chicago, Illinois, he started performing stand-up comedy in San Francisco during the mid-1970s. He became a star with his leading role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork & Mindy (1978–1982). His other notable works include Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), Dead Poets Society (1989), Aladdin (1992), The Fisher King (1991), among several others. He committed suicide on August 11, 2014, in Paradise Cay, California. After his death, he received tributes from several quarters, including the White House.

1. Betty White (Actress and Television Personality)

Betty Marion White was an American actress with the longest TV career for a female entertainer, as described by Wikipedia. Born on January 17, 1922, in Oak Park, Illinois, she rose to fame on The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1977–1977) and went on to star in several TV series, including The Golden Girls (1985–1992), Mama’s Family (1983–1990), and Hot in Cleveland (2010–2015). In 2010, she became the oldest person to host Saturday Night Live at the age of 88. She won several awards, including Daytime Emmy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, and an American Comedy Award.

Conclusion

Illinois has contributed immensely to the world in terms of artistry, academia, entertainment, and sports. It is one of the most populated areas in America, with several notable people hailing from the state. The future also looks bright for them as many young people are striving to become future celebrities.

You can also read:

ncG1vNJzZmiblaGyo77IrbCtp5%2BXe6S7zGidmq6fp7a1sYycnKWdkqe2tbXErGSfqp%2Bieqq4y6KlqKGjZA%3D%3D