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
 * 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

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

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