READ Famous People From South Dakota

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List of famous people from South Dakota, 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 South Dakota, while others are simply notable locals. If you're from South Dakota 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 South Dakota, as well as those who were born there but moved away at a young age.

These people, like Myron Floren and Shawn Colvin include images when available.

If you want to answer the questions, "Which famous people are from South Dakota?" or "Which celebrities were born in South Dakota?" then this list is a great resource for you.

Brock Lesnar is listed (or ranked) 1 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
age 38 Brock Edward Lesnar is an American professional wrestler and former professional mixed martial artist, currently signed to WWE. Lesnar is a four-time WWE World Heavyweight Champion, a former UFC ...more

George McGovern is listed (or ranked) 2 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
Dec. at 90 (1922-2012) George Stanley McGovern was an American historian, author, U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and the Democratic Party presidential nominee in the 1972 presidential election. McGovern grew up in ...more

Sparky Anderson is listed (or ranked) 3 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
Dec. at 76 (1934-2010) George Lee "Sparky" Anderson was a Major League Baseball player and manager. He managed the National League's Cincinnati Reds to the 1975 and 1976 championships, then added a third ...more

Becky Hammon is listed (or ranked) 4 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
age 41 Rebecca Lynn "Becky" Hammon is an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association and a retired professional basketball player. Hammon played for the ...more

Russell Means is listed (or ranked) 5 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
Dec. at 73 (1939-2012) Russell Charles Means was an American Oglala Lakota activist for the rights of Native American people and libertarian political activist. He became a prominent member of the American Indian ...more

Lawrence Lessig is listed (or ranked) 6 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
age 56 Lawrence "Larry" Lessig is an American academic and political activist. He is a proponent of reduced legal restrictions on copyright, trademark, and radio frequency spectrum, ...more

Joseph Hansen is listed (or ranked) 7 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
Dec. at 81 (1923-2004) Joseph Hansen was an American crime writer and poet, best known for a series of novels featuring private eye Dave Brandstetter.

Hubert Humphrey is listed (or ranked) 8 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
Dec. at 67 (1911-1978) Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr. was an American politician who served as the 38th Vice President of the United States under President Lyndon B. Johnson, from 1965 to 1969. Humphrey twice served in ...more

Crazy Horse is listed (or ranked) 9 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
Crazy Horse, literally "His-Horse-Is-Crazy"; c. 1840 – September 5, 1877 was a Native American war leader of the Oglala Lakota. He took up arms against the U.S. Federal government to ...more

Dorothy Provine is listed (or ranked) 10 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
Dec. at 75 (1935-2010) Dorothy Michelle Provine was an American singer, dancer, actress, and comedienne.

Joseph H. Bottum is listed (or ranked) 11 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
Dec. at 81 (1903-1984) Joseph Henry Bottum was an American politician. He served as the 27th Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota and as a member of the United States Senate from South Dakota.

Ernest Lundeen is listed (or ranked) 12 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
Dec. at 62 (1878-1940) Ernest Lundeen was an American lawyer and politician. Lundeen was born and raised on his father's homestead in Brooklyn Township of Lincoln County near Beresford, South Dakota. His father, C. H. ...more

Billy Robinson is listed (or ranked) 13 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
Dec. at 32 (1884-1916) William C. "Billy" Robinson was an early American aviator. Robinson moved to Grinnell in 1896 at age 12. He was a handyman, tinkerer, and bicycle repairman who designed and built his ...more

Cindy Preszler is listed (or ranked) 14 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
Cindy Preszler is a television weathercaster who is the chief meteorologist at KSDK-TV 5, the NBC affiliate in St. Louis, Missouri. She is one of five female chief meteorologists that are on ...more

Charles D. Gemar is listed (or ranked) 15 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
age 62 Charles Donald "Sam" Gemar is an American former astronaut with NASA and a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army. Gemar has flown on three Space Shuttle missions. Gemar has ...more

Allen Benson is listed (or ranked) 16 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
Allen Benson Dec. at 94 (1905-1999) Allen Wilbert Benson, nicknamed "Bullet", was a professional baseball player who played pitcher in the Major Leagues in 1933. He would play for the Washington Senators.

Cash Asmussen is listed (or ranked) 17 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
Cash Asmussen age 56 Cash Asmussen is an American thoroughbred horse racing jockey. Born Brian Keith Asmussen, in 1977 he legally changed his name to "Cash". From a Texas horse racing family, his parents, ...more

Earl Caddock is listed (or ranked) 18 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
Dec. at 62 (1888-1950) Earl Caddock was an American professional wrestler and World Heavyweight Champion who was active in the early portion of the twentieth century. As the first man to bill himself as "The Man ...more

Gene Amdahl is listed (or ranked) 19 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
age 95 Gene Myron Amdahl is an American computer architect and high-tech entrepreneur, chiefly known for his work on mainframe computers at IBM and later his own companies, especially Amdahl ...more

Kris Krug is listed (or ranked) 20 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
age 41 Kris Krug is a 2009 Shorty Awards nominee for the Photography.

J. A. Jance is listed (or ranked) 21 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
age 73 Judith Ann Jance is an American author of mystery and horror novels. She writes at least three series of novels, centering on retired Seattle Police Department officer J. P. Beaumont, Arizona ...more

Cris Williamson is listed (or ranked) 22 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
age 71 Cris Williamson is an American feminist singer-songwriter, who achieved fame as a recording artist, and who was a pioneer as a visible lesbian political activist, during a time when few who were ...more

Gary Owens is listed (or ranked) 23 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
age 83 Gary Owens was an American disc jockey and voice actor. His polished baritone speaking voice generally offered deadpan recitations of total nonsense, which he frequently demonstrated as the ...more

Mary GrandPré is listed (or ranked) 24 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
age 64 Mary GrandPré is an American illustrator best known for her cover and chapter illustrations of the Harry Potter books in their U.S. editions published by Scholastic. She received a ...more

Alvin Hansen is listed (or ranked) 25 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
Dec. at 88 (1887-1975) Alvin Harvey Hansen, often referred to as "the American Keynes", was a professor of economics at Harvard, a widely read author on current economic issues, and an influential advisor to ...more

Stephanie Herseth Sandlin is listed (or ranked) 26 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
age 47 Stephanie Marie Herseth Sandlin is an attorney who served as the Democratic U.S. Representative for South Dakota's at-large congressional district from 2004 until 2011. She was first elected to ...more

Benjamin Pluimer is listed (or ranked) 27 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
age 36 Benjamin Pluimer is an actor, cinematographer, screenwriter, TV editor, TV producer, film and TV director.

Bill Pearson is listed (or ranked) 28 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
age 79 William Pearson, known professionally as Bill Pearson, is an American novelist, publisher, editor, artist, comic book scripter and letterer, notable as the editor-publisher of his own graphic ...more

Adam Johnson is listed (or ranked) 29 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
age 50 Adam Johnson is a Pulitzer Prize winning American novelist and short story writer.

Earl Sande is listed (or ranked) 30 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
Dec. at 70 (1898-1968) Earl Harold Sande was an American Hall of Fame jockey and thoroughbred horse trainer. Born in Groton, South Dakota, Earl Sande started out as a bronco buster in the early 1900s but then became a ...more

Terry Francona is listed (or ranked) 31 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
age 58 Terrence Jonathon "Terry" Francona, nicknamed "Tito",or "Chewie", is the current manager of the Cleveland Indians of Major League Baseball. He was a first baseman ...more

Dave Collins is listed (or ranked) 32 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
age 65 David S. Collins is a former outfielder in Major League Baseball from 1975 to 1990. Collins is one of three players to have made it to the major leagues who played for the storied Rapid City ...more

Ben Reifel is listed (or ranked) 33 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
Dec. at 84 (1906-1990) Benjamin "Ben" Reifel, also known as Lone Feather was a public administrator and politician of Lakota Sioux and German-American descent. He had a career with the Bureau of Indian ...more

Jana Lindsey is listed (or ranked) 34 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
age 33 Jana Lindsey is a freestyle skier.

J. James Exon is listed (or ranked) 35 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
Dec. at 84 (1921-2005) John James "Jim" Exon was an American Democratic politician. He served as the 33rd Governor of Nebraska from 1971 to 1979, and as a U.S. Senator from Nebraska from 1979 to 1997. Exon ...more

Edith Green is listed (or ranked) 36 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
Dec. at 77 (1910-1987) Edith Louise Starrett Green was an American politician and educator from Oregon. She was the second Oregonian woman to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and served a total of ten ...more

Amber Moelter is listed (or ranked) 37 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
age 37

Frank E. Denholm is listed (or ranked) 38 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
age 94 Frank Edward Denholm was a member of the United States House of Representatives from South Dakota. He was born in Scotland Township of Day County, South Dakota in 1923.

American Horse is listed (or ranked) 39 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
Dec. at 68 (1840-1908) American Horse was an Oglala Lakota chief, statesman, educator and historian. American Horse is notable in American history as a U.S. Army Indian Scout and a progressive Oglala Lakota leader who ...more

Michael Steinberg is listed (or ranked) 40 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
age 58 Michael Steinberg is a director, writer and producer. He is a graduate of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. He has directed three films that all premiered at the Sundance Film ...more

B.B. Andersen is listed (or ranked) 41 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
Dec. at 77 (1936-2013) B.B. Andersen is a former contestant on the reality television show Survivor: Borneo.

Monte Cook is listed (or ranked) 42 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
Monte Cook age 50 Monte Cook is an American professional table-top role-playing game designer and writer, best known for his work on Dungeons & Dragons. He was married to Sue Weinlein Cook, although they are ...more

Irwin Gunsalus is listed (or ranked) 43 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
Dec. at 96 (1912-2008) Irwin C. "Gunny" Gunsalus was an American biochemist who discovered lipoic acid, a vitamin-like substance that has been used as a treatment for chronic liver disease, and pyridoxal ...more

Conrad A. Nervig is listed (or ranked) 44 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
Conrad A. Nervig Dec. at 91 (1889-1980) Conrad Albinus Nervig was an American film editor with 81 film credits. He started work in 1922 at Goldwyn Pictures, and stayed with this firm after its merger to form Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in ...more

Ivan Dmitri is listed (or ranked) 45 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
Dec. at 68 (1900-1968) Ivan Dmitri, born Levon West, was an artist from the U.S. State of North Dakota. Born in Centerville, South Dakota, his father was a Congregational minister who immigrated from Armenia. The ...more

Jonathan Buss is listed (or ranked) 46 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
Jonathan Buss age 46 Jonathan Buss is a film director and producer.

Clinton Presba Anderson is listed (or ranked) 47 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
Dec. at 80 (1895-1975) Clinton Presba Anderson was an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a U.S. Representative from New Mexico from 1941 until 1945, the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture ...more

Robert M. Berdahl is listed (or ranked) 48 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
Robert M. Berdahl age 81 Robert M. "Bob" Berdahl is a retired administrator.

Brad Walker is listed (or ranked) 49 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
age 36 Brad Walker is an American pole vaulter. He is the American recordholder and was the 2007 World Champion in the event.

Spotted Tail is listed (or ranked) 50 on the list Famous People From South Dakota
Spotted Tail Dec. at 58 (1823-1881) Siŋté Glešká was a Brulé Lakota tribal chief. Although a great warrior in his youth, and having taken part in the Grattan massacre, he declined to participate in Red Cloud's ...more