The following list includes notable people who were born or have lived in Davenport, Iowa.

Fine arts and music

* Bix Beiderbecke, jazz musician; the

Bix 7 Road Race The Bix 7 Road Race is held annually in Davenport, Iowa, as a commemoration to Davenport native and jazz musician Bix Beiderbecke. It is followed a week later by the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival. Race The 7 mile road race is annually he ...

and Memorial Jazz Festival are named for him * Isabel Bloom, sculpture artist; raised in Davenport * Branden Campbell, bassist for

Neon Trees Neon Trees is an American rock band from Provo, Utah. The band received nationwide exposure in late 2008 when they opened several North American tour dates for the band The Killers. Not long after, the band was signed by Mercury Records. Their f ...

; born in Davenport *

Julia Michaels Julia is usually a feminine given name. It is a Latinate feminine form of the name Julio and Julius. (For further details on etymology, see the Wiktionary entry "Julius".) The given name ''Julia'' had been in use throughout Late Antiquity (e.g ...

, singer-songwriter; born in Davenport * Helen Vanni, opera singer; born in Davenport

Media

Matthew Ashford Matthew Nile Ashford (born January 29, 1960) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles on the soap operas ''Days of Our Lives'' and '' The Bay'', for the former of which he received a nomination for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstand ...

, actor (

Jack Deveraux Jack Deveraux is a fictional character from '' Days of Our Lives'', an American soap opera on the NBC network, most famously played by actor Matthew Ashford since 1987. He is a member of the Johnson family and first appeared onscreen in 1987. A ...

on '' Days of Our Lives'') *

Lara Flynn Boyle Lara Flynn Boyle (born March 24, 1970) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Donna Hayward in the television series ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991). After portraying Stacy in Penelope Spheeris's comedy ''Wayne's World'' (1992), ...

, actress (''

Twin Peaks ''Twin Peaks'' is an American mystery serial drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It premiered on ABC on April 8, 1990, and originally ran for two seasons until its cancellation in 1991. The show returned in 2017 for ...

'' and ''

The Practice ''The Practice'' is an American legal drama television series created by David E. Kelley centering on partners and associates at a Boston law firm. The show ran for eight seasons on ABC, from March 4, 1997, to May 16, 2004. It won an Emmy in ...

'') *

Louise Carver Louise Carver (June 9, 1869 - June 19, 1956) was an American actress who performed in grand opera, stage, nickelodeon, and motion pictures. Early years and career Born Mary Louise Steiger in Davenport, Iowa, she was the daughter of Mr. and Mr ...

, silent film and stage actress *

Dana Davis Dana Davis (born October 4, 1978) is an American actress, voice actress, and novelist known for playing Monica Dawson on the NBC series '' Heroes'' (2007), Chastity Church on the ABC Family television series ''10 Things I Hate About You'' (2009� ...

, actress (''

Franklin & Bash ''Franklin & Bash'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Kevin Falls and Bill Chais. The series starred Breckin Meyer and Mark-Paul Gosselaar as unconventional lawyers and longtime friends. A Turner Broadcasting executive r ...

'' and ''

10 Things I Hate About You ''10 Things I Hate About You'' is a 1999 American teen romantic comedy film directed by Gil Junger and starring Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Larisa Oleynik. The screenplay, written by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirs ...

'') *

Joe Frisco Joe Frisco (born Louis Wilson Joseph; November 4, 1889 – February 18, 1958) was an American vaudeville performer who first made his name on stage as a jazz dancer, but later incorporated his stuttering voice to his act and became a popular ...

, jazz dancer and performer in

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

John Getz John William Getz (born October 15, 1946) is an American character actor. After starting his acting career on stage, he has appeared in numerous television series and films. Personal life Getz, one of four children, was born in Davenport, Iowa, ...

, stage and film actor (''

Blood Simple ''Blood Simple'' is a 1984 American independent neo-noir crime film written, edited, produced, and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, and starring John Getz, Frances McDormand, Dan Hedaya, and M. Emmet Walsh. Its plot follows a Texas bartender w ...

'', ''

Zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north or south (as measured in celestial latitude) of the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. The pat ...

'') *

Hazel Keener Hazel Keener (October 22, 1904 – August 7, 1979) was a motion picture actress from Fairbury, Illinois. She was raised in Davenport, Iowa. Keener won a national beauty contest sponsored by the Chicago Tribune and used her success to begi ...

, silent-film actress *

Perry Lafferty Perry Francis Lafferty (October 3, 1917 – August 25, 2005) was an American television producer and network television executive who produced several television programs, including the CBS programs ''All in the Family'', ''M*A*S*H'', '' Maude ...

, executive TV producer (''

All in the Family ''All in the Family'' is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS for nine seasons, from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. Afterwards, it was continued with the spin-off series ''Archie Bunker's Place'', which picked up where ''All in ...

'', ''

M*A*S*H ''M*A*S*H'' (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American media franchise consisting of a series of novels, a film, several television series, plays, and other properties, and based on the semi-autobiographical fiction of Richard Hooker. Th ...

'', and ''

The Mary Tyler Moore Show ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (also known simply as ''Mary Tyler Moore'') is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns and starring actress Mary Tyler Moore. The show originally aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977. Mo ...

'') * Sue Lyon, actress ('' Lolita'') *

Stuart Margolin Stuart Margolin (January 31, 1940 – December 12, 2022) was an American film, theater, and television actor and director who won two Emmy Awards for playing Evelyn "Angel" Martin on the 1970s television series ''The Rockford Files''. In 1973, h ...

, actor and director (''

The Rockford Files ''The Rockford Files'' is an American detective drama television series starring James Garner that aired on the NBC network from September 13, 1974 to January 10, 1980, and remains in syndication. Garner portrays Los Angeles private investiga ...

'') *

Vanessa McNeal Vanessa McNeal-Atadoga (born August 3, 1993) is an American social activist, public speaker, and documentary filmmaker. She directed the documentary that features stories of five male survivors of sexual violence titled ''The Voiceless,'' and '' ...

, activist *

Mary Beth Peil Mary Beth Peil (born June 25, 1940) is an American actress and soprano. She began her career as an opera singer in 1962 with the Goldovsky Opera Theater. In 1964 she won two major singing competitions, the Young Concert Artists International Au ...

, actress and singer (''

The Good Wife ''The Good Wife'' is an American legal and political drama television series that aired on CBS from September 22, 2009, to May 8, 2016. It focuses on Alicia Florrick, the wife of the Cook County State's Attorney, who returns to her career in l ...

'') *

Roger Perry Roger Perry (May 7, 1933 – July 12, 2018) was an American film and television actor whose career began in the late 1950s. He served as an intelligence officer in the United States Air Force during the early 1950s. Career Television In th ...

, actor (''

Harrigan and Son ''Harrigan and Son'' is an ABC sitcom about a father-and-son team of lawyers, played by Pat O'Brien as Jim Harrigan Sr. and Roger Perry as Jim Jr.. In supporting roles, as secretaries, are Georgine Darcy as Gypsy and Helen Kleeb Helen Kleeb ...

'') *

James Philbrook James Philbrook was an American actor who appeared in several major films, including ''I Want to Live!'' (1958), ''Woman Obsessed'' and as Colonel Tall in the 1964 war picture '' The Thin Red Line''. He had supporting roles on television, includi ...

, actor ('' The Thin Red Line'') *

Linnea Quigley Barbara Linnea Quigley (born May 27, 1958) is an American actress, film producer, model, singer, and author. She is best known as a B-movie actress, and is often referred to as a " scream queen" due to her frequent appearances in low-budget horro ...

, actress, known as a B movie scream queen *

Robin Thede Robin Thede ( ) is an American comedian, actress and writer. Raised in Iowa, she has also worked as an entertainment correspondent, host, and radio personality. In 2015, she became the first African-American woman to be head writer for a late- ...

, comedian, writer and actress; lived here as a child; first African-American woman host of a late-night TV talk show, ''

The Rundown ''The Rundown'' (known internationally as ''Welcome to the Jungle'') is a 2003 American buddy action comedy film directed by Peter Berg and written by James Vanderbilt and R.J. Stewart. It stars Dwayne Johnson (credited as The Rock), Seann Will ...

'' *

Hynden Walch Hynden Walch is an American actress. She is best known for voicing Starfire in the ''Teen Titans'' franchise and Princess Bubblegum in ''Adventure Time''. She also voiced Penny Sanchez in ''ChalkZone'', Amore and Lockette in the Nickelodeon ver ...

, voice actress

Politics

Lyda Krewson Lyda Krewson (born November 14, 1953) is an American retired politician who was the 46th mayor of St. Louis, Missouri. She is a member of the Democratic Party and St. Louis's first female mayor, serving from 2017 to 2021. On November 18, 2020, ...

, Mayor of

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Jim Leach James Albert Smith Leach (born October 15, 1942) is an American academic and former politician. He served as ninth Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities from 2009 to 2013 Pogrebin, Robin"Rocco Landesman Confirmed as Chairman of the N ...

, U.S. congressman; chairperson of

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

Larry Leonard James Patrick "Larry" Leonard, Jr. (August 18, 1934 – July 4, 2002) was an American radio director and politician. Born in Davenport, Iowa, Leonard went to University of Iowa and John Marshall Law School in Chicago, Illinois. Leonard serve ...

, Illinois state senator *

Hiram Price Hiram Price (January 10, 1814 – May 30, 1901) was a nineteenth-century banker, merchant, bookkeeper, bank president, railroad president, and five-term Republican congressman from Iowa's 2nd congressional district and as commissioner of In ...

, U.S. congressman *

Phyllis Thede Phyllis Thede (born February 23, 1954) is an American politician, representing the 93rd District in the Iowa House of Representatives as a member of the Iowa Democratic Party. With a background in community education and unions, she was first ele ...

, Iowa state representative since 2009 * Anthony Van Wyck, Wisconsin state senator * Jarvis White, Wisconsin state assemblyman

Professional

* Frederick G. Clausen, architect *

Samuel Cody Samuel Franklin Cowdery (later known as Samuel Franklin Cody; 6 March 1867 – 7 August 1913, born Davenport, Iowa, USA)) was a Wild West showman and early pioneer of manned flight. He is most famous for his work on the large kites known ...

, aviation pioneer; native of Davenport *

Edward Hammatt Edward Hammatt (September 8, 1856 – August 24, 1907) was an architect in the United States. He designed several notable buildings that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Biography Edward Seymour Hammatt was born in ...

, architect * Daniel David Palmer, founder of

chiropractic Chiropractic is a form of alternative medicine concerned with the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mechanical disorders of the musculoskeletal system, especially of the spine. It has esoteric origins and is based on several pseudosci ...

Oran Pape Oran Henry Pape (March 10, 1904 – April 30, 1936) was a member of the Iowa State Patrol in the United States. He is the first member of the Patrol to have been murdered in the line of duty. Prior to joining the Patrol, Pape played professional ...

, first Iowa state patrolman murdered in the line of duty *

Otto Frederick Rohwedder Otto Frederick Rohwedder (July 7, 1880 – November 8, 1960) was an American inventor and engineer who created the first automatic bread-slicing machine for commercial use. It was first used by the Chillicothe Baking Company. Early life and ed ...

, inventor of mass-produced sliced bread; grew up in Davenport * James A. Skinner, Executive Chairman of

Walgreens Boots Alliance Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. is an American-British-Swiss holding company headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois that owns the retail pharmacy chains Walgreens and Boots, as well as several pharmaceutical manufacturing and distribution companie ...

, and former CEO and Vice President of

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...

; graduated from West High School (1962)

Religion

* Ambrose Burke, priest and eighth president of

Saint Ambrose University St. Ambrose University is a private Catholic university in Davenport, Iowa. It was founded as a school of commerce for young men in 1882. History Foundation St. Ambrose was founded as a seminary and school of commerce for young men in 1882, kn ...

* Martin Cone, priest and sixth president of Saint Ambrose University * John Flannagan, priest and second president of Saint Ambrose University *

Mary Porter Gamewell Mary Porter Gamewell (née, Mary Porter; missionary pseudonym until marriage, Mary Q. Porter; October 20, 1848 – November 27, 1906) was an American missionary, teacher, speaker, and writer who founded a school for girls in Beijing, China. She w ...

(1848-1906), American missionary to China *

Gail Karp Gail Ilene Posner Karp (born in the mid 1950s in Detroit, Michigan) served as the Hazzan, cantor of the Reform Judaism, Reform Jewish synagogue Temple Emanuel (Davenport, Iowa), Temple Emanuel in Davenport, Iowa from 1987 - 2016. She is also emp ...

, cantor of Temple Emanuel * Cletus Madsen, priest * Carl Meinberg, priest and seventh president of Saint Ambrose University *

Sebastian Menke Sebastian G. Menke (December 21, 1910 – April 21, 2002) was a 20th-century Catholic priest in the United States who served as the tenth president of St. Ambrose College in Davenport, Iowa from 1964 to 1973. Biography Early life and educa ...

, priest and tenth president of Saint Ambrose University *

Marvin Mottet Marvin Alfred Mottet (May 31, 1930 – September 16, 2016) was a 20th and 21st century Roman Catholic priest in the Diocese of Davenport in the US state of Iowa. He was a noted advocate of social justice causes. Biography Early life and education ...

, priest *

Gerald Francis O'Keefe Gerald Francis O'Keefe (March 30, 1918 – April 12, 2000) was a 20th-century bishop of the Catholic Church in the United States. He served as auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Saint Paul in the state of Minnesota from 1961 to 1966 and bish ...

, bishop of the

Diocese of Davenport The Diocese of Davenport ( la, Diœcesis Davenportensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Roman Catholicism in the United States, Catholic Church for the southeastern quarter of the United States, U.S. state of Iowa ...

Sports

Gene Baker Eugene Walter Baker (June 15, 1925 – December 1, 1999) was an American Major League Baseball infielder who played for the Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates during eight seasons between 1953 and 1961, and was selected for the National League t ...

, infielder for Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates * Mike Busch, infielder for

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 (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

* Mike Butcher, pitcher for California Angels, coach for

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The ...

* Ed Conroy, college basketball head coach * Roger Craig, running back for

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

Los Angeles Raiders The Los Angeles Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 before relocating back to Oakland, California, where the team played from its inaugural 1960 season to the 1981 season and then agai ...

, and

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...

Ricky Davis Tyree Ricardo Davis (born September 23, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player who played twelve seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for University of Iowa. Biography Davis atten ...

, basketball shooting guard for multiple NBA teams *

Justin Diercks Justin Diercks (born April 4, 1980) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He previously drove the No. 70 car for ML Motorsports. He made his Busch Series debut in 2006 in the Circuit City 250 at Richmond International Raceway. He ...

, driver with

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...

Greg Engel Gregory Allen Engel (born January 18, 1971) is a former American football center who played five seasons in the National Football League with the San Diego Chargers and Detroit Lions. He played college football at The University of Illinois and at ...

, center for San Diego Chargers and Detroit Lions *

Bill Fitch William Charles Fitch (May 19, 1932 – February 2, 2022) was an American professional basketball coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He developed multiple teams into playoff contenders and won an NBA championship with the Bost ...

, two-time

NBA Coach of the Year The National Basketball Association's Coach of the Year is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1962–63 NBA season. The winner receives the Red Auerbach Trophy, which is named in honor of the head coach who led ...

Dana Holgorsen Dana Carl Holgorsen (born June 21, 1971) is the head football coach at the University of Houston. He was the head coach at West Virginia University from 2011 to 2018. During his coaching career he has served under coaches such as Hal Mumme, Mike ...

, head coach of the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the university in Texas with over 47,000 students. Its campus, which is primarily in s ...

football team *

Austin Howard Austin Howard (born March 22, 1987) is a former American football offensive tackle. He played college football at Northern Iowa, and was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent in 2010. He was also a member of the New Yor ...

, offensive tackle for Oakland Raiders * James Jones, defensive tackle for multiple NFL teams * Josh Kroeger, outfielder for

Elmer Layden Elmer Francis Layden (May 4, 1903 – June 30, 1973) was an American football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and professional sports executive. He played college football at the University of Notre Dame where he starred at full ...

, fullback for three NFL teams, Notre Dame coach, College Football Hall of Famer * Colby Lopez, professional wrestler known as Seth "Freakin'" Rollins in

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vari ...

Pat Miletich Patrick Jay Miletich (; born March 9, 1966) is a retired American mixed martial artist and former sports commentator. He is known for his fights in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where he became the first UFC Welterweight Champion and UFC ...

, mixed martial artist, inaugural

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

welterweight champion *

Michael Nunn Michael John Nunn (born April 14, 1963) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 2002. He is a two-weight world champion, having held the IBF middleweight title from 1988 to 1991, and the WBA super middleweight title ...

, middleweight boxing champion; born in Davenport *

Nat Pendleton Nathaniel Greene Pendleton (August 9, 1895 – October 12, 1967) was an American Olympic wrestler, film actor, and stage performer. His younger brother, Edmund J. Pendleton (1899-1987), was a well-known music composer and choir master ...

, Olympic wrestler (silver medalist); actor *

Scott Pose Scott Vernon Pose (; born February 11, 1967) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He is an alumnus of Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines, Iowa and the Arkansas Razorbacks, University of Arkansas. Drafted by the C ...

, outfielder for

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The fran ...

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

, and Kansas City Royals * Rebecca Quin, professional wrestler known as Becky Lynch in

Kenny Shedd Kendrick Dwayne Shedd (born February 14, 1971) is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) who played for the New York Jets, the Chicago Bears, the Oakland Raiders and the Washington Redskins. He was selec ...

, wide receiver for multiple NFL teams, including Oakland Raiders *

Bob Stull Bob Stull (born November 21, 1945) is a retired American college athletics administrator and former college football player and coach. He is the former athletic director at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), a position he held from 1998 ...

, football head coach,

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...

and UTEP Miners football

Writing

Alice Braunlich Alice Freda Braunlich (February 1, 1888 – August 9, 1989) was an American classical philologist. Life Braunlich was born to parents of German extraction, Emilie Hedwig Hoering Braunlich and the physician Henry Uchtorf Braunlich, in Davenp ...

(1888–1989), classical philologist; taught at Shimer and

Goucher Goucher College ( ') is a private liberal arts college in Towson, Maryland. It was chartered in 1885 by a conference in Baltimore led by namesake John F. Goucher and local leaders of the Methodist Episcopal Church.https://archive.org/details ...

colleges *

George Cram Cook George Cram Cook or Jig Cook (October 7, 1873 – January 14, 1924) was an American theatre producer, director, playwright, novelist, poet, and university professor. Believing it was his personal mission to inspire others, Cook led the fou ...

, novelist, poet, and playwright * Lillien Blanche Fearing (1863–1901), American lawyer and poet * Susan Glaspell, writer, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright *

Charles Edward Russell Charles Edward Russell (September 25, 1860 in Davenport, Iowa – April 23, 1941 in Washington, D.C.) was an American journalist, opinion columnist, newspaper editor, and political activist. The author of a number of books of biography and soci ...

(1860–1941), muckraking journalist; co-founder of the NAACP; 1927 Pulitzer Prize winnerRobert Miraldi, ''The Pen is Mightier: The Muckraking Life of Charles Edward Russell.'' New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003; pg. 17.

References

{{reflist, 1 * Davenport Davenport