# List of people from Duluth, Minnesota

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.

## Business and industry

* 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

## Entertainment

* 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

## Music

* 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

## Politics and law

* 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
* Alicia Kozlowski (born 1988), member of the Minnesota House of Representatives
* Arlene Ione Lehto, Minnesota state legislator and businesswoman
* Charles Lundy Lewis, Minnesota Supreme Court justice
* Edwin L. MacLean (1890–1968), Minnesota state legislator
* 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

## Sports

* 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
* Gianna Kneepkens, Women's Basketball

## Writers and journalists

* 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

## Others

* 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