This is a list of notable people who were born or lived in Kansas City, Missouri.
- Aaron D. Yates -Tech N9Ne - Rapper
- Bud Abell â€" linebacker in the American Football League; born in Kansas City
- Oleta Adams â€" singer
- Amy Alcott â€" professional golfer; born in Kansas City
- M.A. Alford â€" multimedia artist
- Henry Wilson Allen â€" Western author and screenwriter
- Robert Altman â€" film director
- Raleigh DeGeer Amyx â€" collector of Olympic and Presidential memorabilia
- Stewart Ashby, Jr. â€" rapper
- Edward Asner â€" actor, born in Kansas City
- Ashley Aull â€" 2006 Miss Kansas USA
- Burt Bacharach â€" pianist and composer
- Parrish Baker â€" cartoonist
- Joy Bang - actress born in Kansas City.
- Kay Barnes â€" mayor of Kansas City 1999â€"2007
- H. Roe Bartle â€" mayor of Kansas City and namesake of Kansas City Chiefs
- Count Basie â€" jazz musician and bandleader
- Noah Beery â€" actor
- Wallace Beery â€" Oscar-winning actor
- Thomas Hart Benton â€" artist
- Richard L. Berkley â€" politician, former mayor
- Ken Berry â€" baseball player
- Danni Boatwright â€" Survivor: Guatemala winner; Miss Kansas
- Johnny Yong Bosch â€" actor, martial artist, voice actor, and musician
- Connee Boswell - singer
- Diane Brewster â€" actress
- Walter Brown â€" blues musician
- Sylvia Browne â€" psychic and medium
- Melvin Calhoun â€" rapper
- Danny Carey â€" drummer for rock band TOOL
- John D. Carmack â€" game programmer
- Joe Carter â€" baseball player with Cleveland Indians and Toronto Blue Jays, lives in the city
- Don Cheadle â€" actor, Hotel Rwanda, Ocean's Eleven, Crash
- Anthony Civella â€" mobster
- Emanuel Cleaver â€" politician, U.S. Representative for Fifth District in Missouri
- Gene Clark â€" singer/songwriter with The Byrds
- Jonathan Coachman â€" ESPN sportscaster, wrestling commentator, college basketball player
- Jennifer Jo Cobb â€" NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver
- Robert Coldsnow â€" Kansas legislator and lawyer
- Evan S. Connell â€" author
- Chris Cooper â€" Oscar-winning actor
- John Coughlin â€" figure skater, 2011 U.S. pairs champion
- Joan Crawford â€" Oscar-winning actress
- Walter Cronkite â€" CBS television journalist, news anchor
- Marcus Denmon â€" NBA player
- Bob Dernier â€" MLB outfielder
- Walt Disney â€" film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, and animator
- James T. Draper, Jr. â€" president of Southern Baptist Convention 1982-1984; pastor of Red Bridge Baptist Church in Kansas City 1965-1970
- Carol Duboc â€" singer, composer, arranger, and actress
- Amelia Earhart â€" iconic aviator
- James E. Edmondson â€" Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice
- Melissa Etheridge â€" singer
- Harris Faulkner â€" newscaster
- Samantha Fish â€" Musician
- Scott Foley â€" actor
- Lisa Forbes â€" Miss Kansas and Miss Earth USA 2007
- William P. Foster â€" band director
- Thomas Frank â€" writer, editor
- Josh Freeman â€" NFL quarterback
- Matt Freije â€" NBA player
- Friz Freleng â€" film producer, director, animator, and cartoonist
- Caroline Glaser â€" The Voice contestant
- Maurice Greene â€" sprinter, gold-medalist Olympian in track and field
- Masten Gregory â€" auto racing
- Eddie Griffin â€" comedian and actor, Deuce Bigalow, Undercover Brother
- Karolyn Grimes â€" actress, Zu-Zu in the Frank Capra classic It's a Wonderful Life, lived in town for many years
- Donald J. Hall, Sr. â€" businessman
- Joyce Hall â€" businessman, founder of Hallmark Cards
- Leon Harden â€" football player for Green Bay Packers
- Jean Harlow â€" actress
- Jessica Harp â€" country music singer-songwriter, former member of The Wreckers with Michelle Branch
- Thomas Hayward â€" leading tenor of Metropolitan Opera
- Robert A. Heinlein â€" science fiction author; his stories are frequently set in or reference Kansas City
- Ernest Hemingway â€" iconic novelist and short story author
- Shauntay Henderson â€" FBI Ten Most Wanted fugitive, convicted criminal
- Paul Henning â€" writer, producer of The Beverly Hillbillies TV series
- Opal Hill â€" golfer and LPGA co-founder
- Jerry Hines â€" Emmy Award-winning photographer, voted cutest baby of Kansas City 1975
- Ralph F. Hirschmann (1922â€"2009) â€" biochemist who led synthesis of first enzyme
- Mabel Hite â€" vaudeville and musical comedy performer, father worked at Owl Drug Store
- Bob Holden â€" 53rd Governor of Missouri*Dorothy B. Hughes - novelist
- Jane Dee Hull - 20th Governor of Arizona
- Jim Humphreys â€" prominent Texas rancher
- Ub Iwerks â€" animator and cartoonist
- Pete Johnson â€" blues and jazz pianist
- Elaine Joyce â€" actress
- Tim Kaine â€" former Governor and current U.S. Senator from Virginia; 2016 Democratic nominee for Vice president under Hillary Clinton
- John Kander â€" composer
- Ewing Kauffman â€" pharmaceutical magnate, philanthropist, and Major League Baseball owner
- Ellie Kemper â€" actress, The Office, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
- Vern Kennedy â€" baseball pitcher
- Bill Kenney â€" politician, ex-Chiefs player
- Edward Kerr â€" actor, Above Suspicion, Confessions of a Sexist Pig, The Astronaut's Wife
- Craig Kilborn â€" actor, sportscaster, talk show host
- Philip Klutznick â€" U.S. Secretary of Commerce to President Jimmy Carter
- Evalyn Knapp â€" actress
- Krizz Kaliko (born Samuel Watson, Jr.) â€" rapper
- Sarah Lancaster â€" actress
- Frank Sherman Land â€" Freemason and founder of Order of DeMolay, international organization for young men
- Barbara Lawrence â€" actress
- William Least Heat-Moon â€" author
- Muna Lee â€" three-time track and field Olympic finalist
- Jeff Leiding â€" football player
- Lesa Lewis â€" IFBB professional bodybuilder
- Ryan Lilja â€" NFL player for Indianapolis Colts and Kansas City Chiefs, Shawnee Mission Northwest High School graduate
- Tyronn Lue â€" 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
- Bill Maas â€" NFL player
- Arthur Mag â€" lawyer, legal counsel to Harry S. Truman
- Sean Malto â€" professional skateboarder
- Amanda Marsh â€" first winner of The Bachelor
- Eminem (real name Marshall Mathers) â€" rapper and actor
- Denny Matthews â€" sportscaster, author
- John Mayberry, Jr. â€" baseball outfielder with Philadelphia Phillies
- Claire McCaskill â€" politician and senator
- Edie McClurg â€" actress
- Courtney McCool â€" athlete and Olympian
- Glenn McGee â€" bioethicist and philosopher
- Phil McGraw â€" psychologist and talk show host, lived in the area as a teen
- Katherine McNamara - actress on the TV Show, Shadowhunters on Freeform as Clary Fray
- Jay McShann â€" blues musician
- Pat Metheny â€" jazz guitarist
- Frederick H. Michaelis â€" U.S. Navy Admiral
- Janelle Monáe â€" singer
- Wendy Moniz â€" actress
- Julia Montgomery â€" actress in Revenge of the Nerds and One Life to Live
- Dennis Moore â€" Congressman, politician
- Logan Morrison â€" baseball player
- Paul Morrison â€" politician
- Tommy Morrison â€" heavyweight boxer
- Jared Moser â€" actor, U.S. Air Force SrA Airman
- Bennie Moten â€" pianist, bandleader
- Mancow Muller â€" radio personality
- Richard B. Myers â€" U.S. Air Force General and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
- Jesse Clyde Nichols â€" developer of commercial and residential real estate
- William F. Nolan â€" author
- Satchel Paige â€" baseball pitcher
- Charlie Parker â€" jazz saxophonist and composer
- Gordon Parks â€" screenwriter, director, actor, photographer
- Jamie Paulin-Ramirez â€" American Muslim convert arrested in Jihad Jane plot to kill a Danish artist
- Rodney Peete â€" NFL quarterback, Fox Sports TV host
- Tom Pendergast - political boss
- Tom Pernice, Jr. â€" professional golfer
- Darrell Porter â€" professional baseball player, author
- Joe Posnanski â€" sports writer, author
- William Powell â€" actor
- Joe Randa â€" baseball player
- Rob Riggle â€" actor and comedian
- Bullet Rogan â€" baseball player
- Ginger Rogers â€" dancer, Academy Award-winning actress, Broadway performer
- Paul Rudd â€" actor, Ant-Man, The 40-Year-Old-Virgin, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
- Karl L. Rundberg (1899â€"1969) â€" Los Angeles City Council member
- Brandon Rush â€" NBA player
- Kareem Rush â€" NBA player
- Pierre Russell â€" basketball player
- Ray Sadecki â€" Major League Baseball pitcher
- Lori Saunders â€" actress, Petticoat Junction
- Rachel Saunders â€" 2005 Miss Kansas USA
- Melana Scantlin â€" Miss Missouri USA and Average Joe star, co-host of World Series of Blackjack
- Wes Scantlin â€" lead singer and rhythm guitarist of rock band Puddle of Mudd, cousin of Melana Scantlin
- Ted Shawn â€" modern dance pioneer
- Columbus Short â€" choreographer, actor, singer
- Sam Simmons â€" former NFL and Arena Football League player
- Crystal Smith â€" model
- Jack Sock â€" professional tennis player
- Alberto Sordi - Italian actor (Honorary citizen)
- Kate Spade â€" fashion designer
- Alexis Spight â€" gospel musician
- Darren Sproles- NFL running back
- Casey Stengel â€" baseball player and Hall of Fame manager
- Eric Stonestreet â€" actor, Modern Family
- George Strohmeyer â€" football player
- Darrell Stuckey â€" NFL player with the San Diego Chargers
- Jason Sudeikis â€" actor, Saturday Night Live
- Justin Swift â€" football player with NFL's Detroit Lions
- Myra Taylor â€" blues singer, solo career and member of The Wild Women of Kansas
- Bobb'e J. Thompson â€" child actor
- Virgil Thomson â€" Pulitzer Prize-winning composer
- Calvin Trillin â€" food writer, journalist, humorist
- Marion A. Trozzolo â€" businessman, River Quay
- Harry S. Truman â€" 33rd President of the United States (from Independence, Missouri)
- Lisa Tucker â€" writer
- Big Joe Turner â€" blues singer
- Henry Clay Van Noy â€" owner of Van Noy Railway News and Hotel Company (today known as HMSHost)
- Grace VanderWaal â€" singer-songwriter, ukuleleist, and season 11 winner of NBC's America's Got Talent
- Janie Wagstaff â€" 1992 olympic swimmer
- Dee Wallace â€" actress, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
- Earl Watson â€" basketball player
- Orla Watson â€" inventor
- Tom Watson â€" professional golfer, twice Masters champion, five-time British Open winner, World Golf Hall of Fame
- Ben Webster â€" jazz saxophonist
- Jason Whitlock â€" sports journalist
- Charles Wheeler â€" Kansas City Mayor
- Frank White â€" professional baseball player
- Dianne Wiest â€" two-time Oscar-winning actress
- Chuck Wild â€" recording artist, songwriter and composer
- Jason Wiles â€" actor, played Maurice 'Bosco' Boscorelli in TV series Third Watch
- Barry Winchell â€" Private First Class, murdered by a fellow soldier for his sexual orientation
- Smoky Joe Wood â€" a.k.a. The Kansas Cyclone; professional baseball player for Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians
- Doug Worgul â€" journalist and author of the novel Thin Blue Smoke
- Chely Wright â€" country music singer
- Katie Wright â€" actress married to Hank Azaria
- Jack Wyatt â€" host of ABC's Confession (1958â€"1959); Episcopalian priest
- Sophia Dominguez-Heithoff â€" model and Miss Teen USA 2017
- Vanessa Jo Merrell- Youtuber, Singer, Model, Actress, Songwriter,
- Veronica Jo Merrell- Youtuber, Singer, Model, Actress, Songwriter
See also
Why Kansas City is (Mostly) in Missouri - Why is Kansas City in Missouri? Mr. Beat answers, and films on location, getting some strange looks on State Line Road. Yayness! Want Mr. Beat to create a video about a topic of your choice?...
- List of people from Missouri
References
