The following is a list of notable people from

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. The population was 137,710 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Iowa, second-most populous city in Iowa. The city lies o ...

. This list includes people who were born, have lived, or worked there.

Arts

* Douglas Barr, actor and vintner *

Michael Boddicker Michael Lehmann Boddicker (born January 19, 1953) is an American film composer and session musician, specializing in electronic music. He is a three times National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (N.A.R.A.S.) Most Valuable Player "Synthes ...

, musician (distant cousin of Mike Boddicker, MLB player) * Marvin D. Cone, artist * Paul Conrad, Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist * Joshua Coyne, musician * Jim Cummins,

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...

correspondent, 1963 graduate of Regis High School *

Geof Darrow Geofrey "Geof" Darrow (born October 21, 1955) is an American comic book artist, best known for his work on comic series ''Shaolin Cowboy'', ''Hard Boiled (comics), Hard Boiled'' and ''The Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot'', which was adapted into ...

, comic book artist *

Michael Daugherty Michael Kevin Daugherty (born April 28, 1954) is a multiple Grammy Award-winning American composer, pianist, and teacher. He is influenced by popular culture, Romanticism, and Postmodernism. Daugherty's notable works include his Superman comic b ...

, classical composer *

Don DeFore Donald John DeFore (August 25, 1913 – December 22, 1993) was an American actor. He is best known for his roles in the sitcom ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet'' from 1952 to 1957 and the sitcom ''Hazel'' from 1961 to 1965, the former of w ...

, actor and president of

National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), also known as the National Television Academy until 2007, is an American professional service organization founded in 1955 for "the advancement of the arts and sciences of televisio ...

Bobby Driscoll Robert Cletus Driscoll (March 3, 1937 – March 30, 1968) was an American actor who performed on film and television from 1943 to 1960. He starred in some of the The Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios' best-known live-action pict ...

, child actor, ''

Treasure Island ''Treasure Island'' (originally titled ''The Sea Cook: A Story for Boys''Hammond, J. R. 1984. "Treasure Island." In ''A Robert Louis Stevenson Companion'', Palgrave Macmillan Literary Companions. London: Palgrave Macmillan. .) is an adventure a ...

'', ''

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythical ...

'' * Mark Elliot, voice-over artist for Disney previews *

Michael Emerson Michael Emerson (born September 7, 1954) is an American actor who is best known for his roles as Benjamin Linus on '' Lost'' (2006–2010) and as Harold Finch in the CBS series ''Person of Interest'' (2011–2016). Other prominent roles include ...

, actor, grew up in

Toledo, Iowa Toledo is a city in, and the county seat of, Tama County, Iowa, Tama County, Iowa, United States. The population was 2,369 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Toledo was founded in 1853 as the county seat of Tama ...

* Paul Engle, poet * James Erwin, author * Terry Farrell, actress * Ed Gorman, writer *

John Hench John Hench (June 29, 1908 – February 5, 2004) was an American artist, designer and director at The Walt Disney Company. For 65 years, he helped design and develop various Disney attractions and theme parks. Early life Hench was born on June ...

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

animator and Imagineer * Harry Hershfield, cartoonist * Larry N. Jordan (born 1952), publisher, journalist, and author, launched weekly ''Cedar Rapids Press-American'' as a 15-year-old student *

Bert Kelly Charles Robert "Bert" Kelly (22 June 1912 – 17 January 1997) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Liberal Party of Australia, Liberal Party and was an influential campaigner for free trade and the elimination of tariffs. He h ...

, jazz musician *

Ashton Kutcher Christopher Ashton Kutcher (; born February 7, 1978) is an American actor, producer and entrepreneur. His accolades include a People's Choice Award and fifteen Teen Choice Awards, in addition to a nomination for a Screen Actors Guild Award. K ...

, actor, star of films and TV's ''

Two and a Half Men Two and a Half Men is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Lee Aronsohn that aired on CBS for 12 seasons from September 22, 2003, to February 19, 2015. The series originally starred Charlie Sheen as Charlie Harper, a hedonis ...

'' *

Ron Livingston Ronald Joseph Livingston (born June 5, 1967) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Peter Gibbons in ''Office Space'' (1999) and Captain Lewis Nixon III in the miniseries ''Band of Brothers (miniseries), Band of Brothers'' (2001). Liv ...

, actor, ''

Office Space ''Office Space'' is a 1999 American satirical black comedy film written and directed by Mike Judge. It satirizes the office work life of a typical 1990s software company, focusing on a handful of individuals weary of their jobs. It stars Ron ...

'', '' Band of Brothers'', grew up in

Marion, Iowa Marion is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States. The population was 26,294 at the 2000 census and was 41,535 in 2020, an increase of 58%. The city is located next to Cedar Rapids and part of the Cedar Rapids Metropolitan Statistical Area ...

* Byron McKeeby, artist *

Conger Metcalf Conger Metcalf (1914–1998) was an American painter. He was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and died in Boston, Massachusetts. Metcalf began his art studies in 1932 at the Iowa Stone City Art Colony, headed by American Regionalist painter Grant Woo ...

, artist * Dow Mossman, author * Matthew Reinhart, author and

pop-up book A pop-up book is any book with three-dimensional space, three-dimensional pages, often with elements that ''pop up'' as a page is turned. The terminology serves as an umbrella term for movable book, pop-ups, tunnel books, transformations, volvel ...

artist * Megan Reinking, actor * Ann Royer, painter, sculptor *

William L. Shirer William Lawrence Shirer (; February 23, 1904 – December 28, 1993) was an American journalist, war correspondent, and historian. His '' The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich'', a history of Nazi Germany, has been read by many and cited in schol ...

, journalist and author *

Riley Smith Riley Smith (born April 12, 1978) is an American actor. He is known for his roles on television, such as recurring roles in the series '' 24'', ''Joan of Arcadia'', '' 90210'', ''True Blood'' and '' The Messengers'', and starring roles on the ...

, actor *

Carl Van Vechten Carl Van Vechten (; June 17, 1880December 21, 1964) was an American writer and Fine-art photography, artistic photographer who was a patron of the Harlem Renaissance and the literary estate, literary executor of Gertrude Stein. He gained fame ...

, novelist and photographer * Brooks Wheelan (born 1986), stand-up comedian, featured player on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' *

Elijah Wood Elijah Jordan Wood (born January 28, 1981) is an American actor and producer. Wood made his film debut with a minor part in ''Back to the Future Part II'' (1989) at the age of eight and achieved recognition in the early 1990s as a child acto ...

, actor, ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...

'' *

Grant Wood Grant DeVolson Wood (February 13, 1891February 12, 1942) was an American artist and representative of Regionalism (art), Regionalism, best known for his paintings depicting the rural American Midwest. He is particularly well known for ''America ...

, painter ('' American Gothic'')

Business

* Arthur A. Collins (1909–1987), inventor and founder of

Collins Radio Company Rockwell Collins, Inc. was a multinational corporation headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, providing avionics and information technology systems and services to government agencies and aircraft manufacturers. It was formed when the Collins Rad ...

* Walter Donald Douglas, co-founder of Penick & Ford Starch Company, died on RMS ''Titanic'' *

Bob Parsons Robert Ralph Parsons (born November 27, 1950) is an American entrepreneur and philanthropist. In 1997, he founded the GoDaddy group of companies, including Internet domain name registrar GoDaddy.com, reseller registrar Wild West Domains, and Bl ...

, founder of Parsons Technology and Go Daddy * John Stuart, CEO of Quaker Oats *

Mark Walter Mark Richard Walter (born January 1, 1960) is an American businessman and the chief executive officer of Guggenheim Partners, a privately held global financial services firm with more than $325 billion in assets under management. Outside invest ...

, CEO of Guggenheim Partners, co-owner of the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

Military

* Salvatore Giunta,

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

, first living recipient of

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

since

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

* John O. Miner, U.S. Navy rear admiral *

Paul Tibbets Paul Warfield Tibbets Jr. (23 February 1915 – 1 November 2007) was a brigadier general in the United States Air Force. He is best known as the aircraft captain who flew the B-29 Superfortress known as the '' Enola Gay'' (named after his moth ...

, pilot of

B-29 The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is a retired American four-engined Propeller (aeronautics), propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to ...

Enola Gay The ''Enola Gay'' () is a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of the pilot, Colonel (United States), Colonel Paul Tibbets. On 6 August 1945, during the final stages of World War II, it became the Atomi ...

'' that dropped

atomic bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear expl ...

on Hiroshima, Japan; lived in Cedar Rapids until 1927

Politics

Lord Acton John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton, 13th Marquess of Groppoli, (10 January 1834 – 19 June 1902), better known as Lord Acton, was an English Catholic historian, Liberal politician, and writer. A strong advocate for individua ...

(1941–2010), British peer and politician * Jeff Cooling (born 1987), member of the

Iowa House of Representatives The Iowa House of Representatives is the lower house of the Iowa General Assembly, the upper house being the Iowa Senate. There are 100 seats in the Iowa House of Representatives, representing 100 single-member districts across the state, formed ...

* John Ely, member of

Iowa General Assembly The Iowa General Assembly is the legislative branch of the state government of Iowa. Like the federal United States Congress, the General Assembly is a bicameral body, composed of the upper house Iowa Senate and the lower Iowa House of Repre ...

, instrumental in abolishing

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

in Iowa * T. Cooper Evans (1924–2005), congressman * Bourke B. Hickenlooper (1896–1971), lieutenant governor, 29th governor of Iowa, 4-term

U.S. senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

* Benny Johnson, conservative political commentator and columnist * Sami Scheetz (born 1996), member of the

Science

Alexander Lippisch Alexander Martin Lippisch (2 November 1894 – 11 February 1976) was a German aeronautical engineer, a pioneer of aerodynamics who made important contributions to the understanding of tailless aircraft, delta wings and the ground effect in aircra ...

(1894–1976), aerodynamics pioneer and aircraft designer *

Wright Brothers The Wright brothers, Orville Wright (August 19, 1871 – January 30, 1948) and Wilbur Wright (April 16, 1867 – May 30, 1912), were American aviation List of aviation pioneers, pioneers generally credited with inventing, building, and flyin ...

, Orville (1871–1948) and Wilbur (1867–1912), aviation pioneers, resided in Cedar Rapids in their youth

Sports

* Katie Abrahamson-Henderson, head coach of the Georgia Lady Bulldogs basketball team * Adrian Arrington (born 1985), football player * Charlie Bales (born 1991), soccer player, manager, and sports commentator *

Mike Boddicker Michael James Boddicker (born August 23, 1957) is an American right-handed former Major League Baseball pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles (1980–1988), Boston Red Sox (1988–1990), Kansas City Royals (1991–1992), and Milwaukee Brewers (1993) ...

, Major League Baseball pitcher (distant cousin of Michael Boddicker, musician) * Robert Bruggeman, football player * Pauly Burke, professional road cyclist *

Landon Cassill Landon Douglas Cassill (born July 7, 1989) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 10 Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing. Early career Cassill was born i ...

, NASCAR racer * Ray Cheetany, UNLV football player, founder of RawTeams.com * Ian Christianson, soccer player * Tim DeBoom, Ironman triathlon champion * Cal Eldred, baseball player *

Phil Estes Philip D. Estes (born June 7, 1958) is an American college football coach and former player. He was the head football coach at Brown University from December 1997 until stepping down in November 2018. Estes compiled a 115–94 record during his t ...

, college football coach * Kent Ferguson, Olympic diver, 1991 world champion * Ben Ford, baseball player * Joey Gase, NASCAR driver *

Trent Green Trent Jason Green (born July 9, 1970) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for 15 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Indiana Hoosiers. He was selected by the San ...

, NFL quarterback * Beulah Gundling, synchronized swimmer, aquatic artist, choreographer and author * Fred Jackson, NFL player for Buffalo Bills * Ashley Joens, basketball player,

Phoenix Mercury The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Mercury compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. One of eight original franchises, it wa ...

Zach Johnson Zachary Harris Johnson (born February 24, 1976) is an American professional golfer who has 12 victories on the PGA Tour, including two major championships, the 2007 Masters and the 2015 Open Championship. At the 2023 Ryder Cup, Johnson capt ...

(born 1976), professional golfer, 2007 Masters champion, and the 2015 Open Championship winner * Danielle Kahle (born 1989), figure skater *

Aaron Kampman Aaron Allan Kampman (; born November 30, 1979) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end for ten seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Iowa Hawkeyes. He was selected ...

(born 1979), football player, 2-time

All-Pro All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list t ...

* Mitch Keller, baseball player, Pittsburgh Pirates *

Bruce Kimm Bruce Edward Kimm (born June 29, 1951) is an American former professional baseball catcher, manager and coach. He played all or part of four seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers, Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox betwee ...

, baseball player, coach, and manager * Timothy LeDuc, figure skater * Pat Mason,

All-American Girls Professional Baseball League The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) was a professional women's baseball league founded by Philip K. Wrigley, which existed from 1943 to 1954. The AAGPBL is the forerunner of women's professional league sports in the Uni ...

player (1950 season) *

George Nissen George Peter Nissen (February 3, 1914 – April 7, 2010) was an American gymnast and inventor who developed the modern trampoline and made trampolining a worldwide sport and recreation. Background Born on February 3, 1914, in Blairstown, Iowa, to ...

(1914–2010), three-time national AAU champion, 1935–37, developer of modern trampoline * Wes Obermueller, baseball player * Arthur D. Pennington, known as Art "Superman" Pennington, was a

Negro league baseball The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relativel ...

star * Lance Rozeboom,

USL USL may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Underground Sound of Lisbon, a Portuguese dance music project * Urban Strawberry Lunch, a band from Liverpool Companies * United Spirits Limited, India * Former United States Lines shipping company C ...

soccer player,

Rochester Rhinos Rochester Rhinos, formerly known as the Rochester Raging Rhinos, was an American soccer team based in Rochester, New York, United States. The club won the 1999 U.S. Open Cup, marking the only time a non-MLS team has won the U.S. Open Cup sinc ...

former

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanctioned by the United ...

player, D.C. United *Scott Schebler, baseball player,

*Shawn Sedlacek, baseball player, Kansas City Royals *Kiah Stokes, basketball player, Las Vegas Aces *Ryan Sweeney (baseball), Ryan Sweeney, baseball player, Chicago Cubs *Dedric Ward, football player *Kurt Warner (born 1971), pro football quarterback, played in three Super Bowls, won Super Bowl XXXIV as Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Award, Super Bowl MVP *Earl Whitehill, Major League Baseball pitcher with the Detroit Tigers; won 218 games during his career *Marshal Yanda, NFL offensive lineman, Baltimore Ravens, Super Bowl champion Super Bowl XLVII

Other

*Alanna Arrington, fashion model *Mark Elliott (voice-over artist), Mark Elliott, former disc jockey, familiar for voicing Disney (among other companies) trailers and guest-hosting ''American Top 40'' with Casey Kasem *George Greene (judge), George Greene, Iowa Supreme Court justice *Šárka B. Hrbková (1878–1948), Czech-American Slavic studies, Slavologist *Sarah Lacina, winner of CBS show ''Survivor: Game Changers''

References

{{reflist Lists of American people by populated place, Cedar Rapids People from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Lists of people from Iowa, Cedar Rapids