From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The following list includes notable people, past and present, who were born or have lived in
Duluth, Minnesota , the second-largest city (and largest
U.S. city) on the shores of
Lake Superior .
W. T. Bailey (1842-1914), 19th and 20th-century
lumber tycoon who kept his headquarters in Duluth
Bob Chinn (1923-2022), owner of
Bob Chinn's Crab House , highest grossing restaurant in America in 2012
Thomas F. Cole (1862-1939), mining executive; president of
Oliver Iron Mining Company after its merge with
U.S. Steel
Chester Adgate Congdon (1853-1916), attorney and investor
Andy Goldfine , founder of
Aerostich ; creator of the Roadcrafter
motorcycle protective suit
Klapmeier brothers , founders of
Cirrus ; pioneered the use of
composites ,
glass cockpits and
ballistic parachutes for production aircraft; inducted into
National Aviation Hall of Fame (2014)
Merritt brothers , also known as the Seven Iron Brothers of Duluth, discovered
iron ore in 1890 on the
Mesabi Iron Range
David Oreck (1923-2023), entrepreneur and lecturer
Jeno Paulucci (1918-2011), entrepreneur, philanthropist and
food industry magnate; founder of
Chun King ,
Jeno's Inc. , and
Bellisio Foods ; creator of the
pizza roll
Dale Arnold , sportscaster for
WEEI-FM and
NESN
Dorothy Arnold , actress; first wife of baseball player
Joe DiMaggio
Maria Bamford , comedian and television actress;
American Comedy Award for Best Club Comic (2014)
Odin Biron , actor
Mitch Clem , cartoonist
Marguerite De La Motte , silent movie actress
Carol Dempster , silent movie actress
Otis Dozovic , professional wrestler for
World Wrestling Entertainment
Daniel Durant , stage and film actor
Jane Frazee , actress
Peggy Knudsen , actress
Don LaFontaine (1940-2008), prolific voice-over actor of film and video-game trailers, television advertisements, and network promotions
Jessica Lange , photographer and
Academy ,
Emmy ,
Tony ,
SAG and
Golden Globe Award-winning actress; tied as the sixth most Oscar-nominated actress in history; born in
Cloquet and resided in Duluth
Verne Lundquist , CBS sportscaster
Chris Monroe , cartoonist and children's book illustrator
Edna Munsey , stage and silent film actress
Lorenzo Music , voice actor, raised in Duluth
Gena Lee Nolin , actress
Charles Nolte (1923-2010), actor and director, born in Duluth
Dennis Shryack , screenwriter
Bill Berry , drummer for the band
R.E.M.
Haley Bonar ,
folk music singer and songwriter
David Dondero , indie-folk musician
Bob Dylan , iconic
Grammy and
Academy Award -winning folk singer and songwriter; spearheaded the
American folk music revival during mid-1960s; inducted into
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1988);
Nobel Prize in Literature (2016), born in Duluth
Sadik Hakim ,
jazz pianist, played on Charlie Parker's famous "
Ko-Ko " session
Dan Murphy ,
Soul Asylum band member and founder
Charlie Parr , folk musician
Rivulets ,
slowcore band, founder Nathan Amundson originates from Duluth
Alice Sjoselius (1888-1982), concert singer, voice teacher
Phil Solem , musician
Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker (Parker, 1967-2022), spouses and founding members of the
indie rock and slowcore band
Low
Trampled by Turtles ,
bluegrass band, hails from Duluth and refers to the city in several songs
Salisbury Adams (1925-2004), Minnesota state legislator and lawyer
John Antila (1902-1969), Minnesota state legislator and businessman
Melvin Baldwin , U.S. Representative
William W. Billson , Minnesota state senator and lawyer
Gordon H. Butler , Minnesota state senator
Chester Adgate Congdon (1853-1916), lawyer and capitalist
Albert J. Connors ,
Wisconsin state senator
Harold J. Dahl (1930-1989), Minnesota state legislator and judge
Richard E. Ferrario (1931-1985), Minnesota state senator and educator
Alfred E. France , Minnesota state representative and businessman
Ben E. Gustafson , Minnesota state legislator and businessman
Earl B. Gustafson , Minnesota state legislator, judge, and lawyer
James Gustafson , Minnesota State Senator and businessman
Richard H. Hanson (1931-2023), Minnesota state legislator
Gerald Heaney (1918-2010), United States Circuit Judge
Arlene Ione Lehto , Minnesota state legislator and businesswoman
Charles Lundy Lewis , Minnesota Supreme Court justice
Robert Mahoney , Michigan state legislator
Sidney Redding Mason , Minnesota state legislator and businessman
Henry Louis Morin , Minnesota state senator, farmer, and laborunion activist
Page Morris (1853-1924), United States Representative (1897-1903) and United States District Judge (1903-1924)
Thomas Francis O'Malley (1889-1954), Minnesota state legislator and railroad conductor
Richard F. Palmer , Minnesota state legislator and newspaper editor
Samuel F. Snively , Mayor of Duluth from 1921 to 1937; pushed for the creation of numerous parks and boulevards throughout the city; longest running Mayor in Duluth's history
Pete Stauber , U.S. Representative (2019-present)
Ozora P. Stearns , lawyer and
U.S. senator from Minnesota (1871)
Pat Sullivan , Majority Leader of the
Washington House of Representatives
Dwight A. Swanstrom , Minnesota state legislator and businessman
Gordon Voss , Minnesota state legislator
Gerald Willet , Minnesota state legislator and businessman
Mason Aguirre , professional snowboarder, competed in
2006 Winter Olympics
Jim Ahern , professional golfer, played on
PGA Tour and
Champions Tour
Greg Anderson , drag racer,
Pro Stock
NHRA champion
Herbert Clow ,
National Football League , 1920s
Jack Connolly , hockey player,
Hobey Baker Award winner (2012), captain of 2011
Minnesota-Duluth men's
NCAA championship team
Gary DeGrio , professional ice hockey forward
Dan Devine , captain of
UMD football team, later coached the
Missouri Tigers ,
Notre Dame Fighting Irish , and
Green Bay Packers
Ethan Finlay , soccer player
Derek Forbort , hockey player for the
Boston Bruins
Dates Fryberger , hockey player in
1964 Winter Olympics
Kara Goucher , distance runner, world championships silver medalist,
2008 and
2012 Olympian
C. J. Ham , running back for
Minnesota Vikings
Phil Hoene , hockey player, native Duluthian, played for
UMD and
Los Angeles Kings
Bill Irwin , professional wrestler, known in
WWE as "The Goon"
Lenny Lane , professional wrestler
Drew LeBlanc , hockey player,
Hobey Baker Award winner (2013)
Jim McNally , Olympic sport shooter
Russ Method , football player
Bill O'Toole , football player
Neal Pionk , hockey player for the
Winnipeg Jets
Chris Plys , curler,
2010 Winter Olympic team
Joe Polo , curler,
2006 Winter Olympic team
Rick Rickert , basketball player,
University of Minnesota and
New Zealand Breakers
Barbara Rotvig ,
AAGPBL player
John Shuster , Olympic
curling medalist
Whitey Skoog , basketball player,
University of Minnesota and
Minneapolis Lakers
Gordy Soltau , NFL player for
San Francisco 49ers
Jamie Trachsel , head softball coach at
Ole Miss ; former head coach at
Minnesota ,
Iowa State and
North Dakota State
Katie Vesterstein , skier
Darren Ward , Olympic swimmer
Butch Williams ,
NHL player
Tom Williams (1940-1992),
NHL player,
1960 Winter Olympics gold medalist
Margaret Culkin Banning , best-selling author of 36 novels; early women's rights advocate
Carol Bly , author
Irving Copi , philosopher, logician and textbook author
Marty Essen , ten-time award-winning author, photographer, professional speaker
Roger Grimsby , journalist, television news anchor and actor
David Hagberg , author of international thrillers
Steve Hagen ,
Zen author and priest
Dean Hoff , Scottish historian, folklorist, writer, and director
Louis Jenkins , author and poet
Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951), author and Nobel laureate, wrote the novel
Cass Timberlane while a resident of Duluth
John L. Morrison , newspaper publisher
Lauran Paine (1916-2001), author
Rick Shefchik , author, historian and journalist
Scott D. Anderson (1965-1999), author and pilot; successfully flew all in-flight test-deployments of the
Cirrus Airframe Parachute System ; inducted into
Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame (2010)
Mike Colalillo (1925-2011), Medal of Honor recipient (US Army, World War II)
Henry A. Courtney Jr. (1916-1945), posthumous Medal of Honor recipient (US Marine Corps, World War II)
John H. Darling , engineer and astronomer
Robert R. Gilruth (1913-2000), first director of
NASA 's
Manned Spacecraft Center ; served during programs
Mercury ,
Gemini and
Apollo ; inducted into
National Aviation Hall of Fame (1994), raised in Duluth
Robert Isabell (1952-2009), event planner
Kay Kurt , painter
Nika Nesgoda , conceptual artist and photographer
William P. Levine ,
U.S. Army major general and
Holocaust speaker
Janet McCarter Woolley (1906-1996), tuberculosis researcher
Ellen Pence , scholar and social activist, created
Duluth Model of intervention in domestic violence
Frederick Emil Resche (1866-1946), U.S. Army brigadier general
Erik Sommer , artist
Sarah Burger Stearns , first president of the
Minnesota Woman Suffrage Association
Gloria Tew (1923-2022), abstract sculptor
Oliver G. Traphagen (1854-1932), architect
Albert Woolson (1850-1956), last Union civil war soldier to die