Famous People From Kansas

Reference
Updated April 24, 2020984 items

List of famous people from Kansas, including photos when available. The people below are listed by their popularity, so the most recognizable names are at the top of the list. Some of the people below are celebrities born in Kansas, while others are simply notable locals. If you're from Kansas you might already know that these prominent figures are also from your hometown, but some of the names below may really surprise you. This list includes people who were born and raised in Kansas, as well as those who were born there but moved away at a young age.

This list below has a variety of people, like Russ Pennell and Carrie Ingalls, in it.

If you want to answer the questions, "Which famous people are from Kansas?" or "Which celebrities were born in Kansas?" then this list is a great resource for you.
Ranked by
  • Earl Cole

    Earl Cole

    Age: 52
    • Birthplace: Kansas City, Kansas, USA
    Earl Cole (born April 9, 1971 in Kansas City, Kansas) was the $1 million winner on the reality television series Survivor: Fiji. He is an entrepreneur, producer, philanthropist and former California advertising executive.
  • Danni Boatwright
    • Birthplace: Tonganoxie, Kansas, USA
    Danni Boatwright Wiegmann (born July 13, 1975) is an American actress, TV host, model and beauty queen who won $1,000,000 on Survivor: Guatemala, the eleventh season of the reality television show Survivor. Boatwright was born in Tonganoxie, Kansas. She represented Kansas at the nationally televised Miss Teen USA and Miss USA pageants, and is one of the most successful delegates to compete in both competitions.
  • Mira Sorvino
    • Birthplace: Tenafly, USA, New Jersey
    Mira Katherine Sorvino (; born September 28, 1967) is an American actress. She won the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Woody Allen's Mighty Aphrodite (1995). She also starred in the films Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997), Mimic (1997), Lulu on the Bridge (1998), The Replacement Killers (1998), Summer of Sam (1999), and Like Dandelion Dust (2009). She received Golden Globe and Emmy nominations for her role in Norma Jean & Marilyn (1996), and a Golden Globe nomination for her role in Human Trafficking (2005).
  • Amelia Earhart
    Amelia Mary Earhart (, born July 24, 1897; disappeared July 2, 1937) was an American aviation pioneer and author. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many other records, wrote best-selling books about her flying experiences, and was instrumental in the formation of The Ninety-Nines, an organization for female pilots.Born in Atchison, Kansas, Earhart developed a passion for adventure at a young age, steadily gaining flying experience from her twenties. In 1928, Earhart became the first female passenger to cross the Atlantic by airplane (accompanying pilot Wilmer Stultz), for which she achieved celebrity status. In 1932, piloting a Lockheed Vega 5B, Earhart made a nonstop solo transatlantic flight, becoming the first woman to achieve such a feat. She received the United States Distinguished Flying Cross for this accomplishment. In 1935, Earhart became a visiting faculty member at Purdue University as an advisor to aeronautical engineering and a career counselor to women students. She was also a member of the National Woman's Party and an early supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment.During an attempt to make a circumnavigational flight of the globe in 1937 in a Purdue-funded Lockheed Model 10-E Electra, Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared over the central Pacific Ocean near Howland Island.
  • Martina McBride
    • Birthplace: Sharon, Kansas, USA
    Martina Mariea McBride (née Schiff, born July 29, 1966) is an American country music singer-songwriter and record producer. She is known for her soprano singing range and her country pop material. McBride signed to RCA Records in 1991, and made her debut the following year as a neo-traditionalist country singer with the single, "The Time Has Come". Over time, she developed a pop-styled crossover sound, similar to Shania Twain and Faith Hill, and had a string of major hit singles on the Billboard country chart and occasionally on the adult contemporary chart. Five of these singles went to No. 1 on the country chart between 1995 and 2001, and one peaked at No. 1 on the adult contemporary chart in 2003. She is called the "Celine Dion of Country Music" after she was recognized for her soprano singing range. McBride has thirteen studio albums, two greatest hits compilations, one "live" album, as well as two additional compilation albums. Eight of her studio albums and two of her compilations have an RIAA Gold certification, or higher. In the U.S., she has over 14 million albums. In addition, McBride has the Country Music Association's "Female Vocalist of the Year" award four times (tied with Reba McEntire for the second-most wins) and the Academy of Country Music's "Top Female Vocalist" award three times. She is also a 14-time Grammy Award nominee.
  • Hattie McDaniel

    Hattie McDaniel

    Dec. at 57 (1895-1952)
    • Birthplace: USA, Wichita, Kansas
    Hattie McDaniel (June 10, 1893 – October 26, 1952) was an American stage actress, professional singer-songwriter, and comedian. She is best known for her role as "Mammy" in Gone with the Wind (1939), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, the first Academy Award won by an African American entertainer. In addition to acting in many films, McDaniel recorded 16 blues sides between 1926–1929 (10 were issued), was a radio performer and television star; she was the first black woman to sing on radio in the United States. She appeared in over 300 films, although she received screen credits for only 83.McDaniel has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Hollywood: one at 6933 Hollywood Boulevard for her contributions to radio and one at 1719 Vine Street for acting in motion pictures. In 1975, she was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame and in 2006 became the first black Oscar winner honored with a US postage stamp.