Writers from Chicago

Barack Hussein Obama II is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president. Obama previously served as a U.S. senator representing Illinois from 2005 to 2008 and as an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004.

American animator, producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor and entrepreneur, founder of The Walt Disney Company (1901–1966)

American author and journalist (1899–1961)

lawyer and former First Lady of the United States (2009-2017)

American talk show host, actress, producer, and author (born 1954)

American economist and statistician (1912–2006)

Canadian-American writer (1915–2005)

American chess player (1943–2008)

James Dewey Watson was an American molecular biologist, geneticist, and zoologist. In 1953, he and Francis Crick co-authored an academic paper in Nature proposing the double helix structure of the DNA molecule, building on research by Rosalind Franklin and Raymond Gosling. In 1962, Watson, Crick, and Maurice Wilkins were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material".

Gillian Leigh Anderson is an American actress. Her credits include the roles of FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the series The X-Files, socialite Lily Bart in Terence Davies's film The House of Mirth (2000), DSU Stella Gibson in the BBC/RTÉ crime drama television series The Fall, sex therapist Jean Milburn in the Netflix comedy-drama Sex Education, and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the fourth season of Netflix drama series The Crown. Among other honors, she has won two Primetime Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards. She has resided in London since 2002, after earlier years divided between the United Kingdom and the United States.

American feminist social activist, reformer, social worker, sociologist, philosopher, and writer (1860–1935)

American film critic and author (1942–2013)

American writer and editor (1878–1967)

American actor and comedian

American writer (1875–1950)

American author, screenwriter, film director (1942–2008)

American screenwriter, film producer and director (born 1952)

American computer programmer and internet-political activist (1986-2013)

American political scientist, political economist, and author

American author of children's books (1856–1919)

First Lady of the United States from 1974 to 1977

vice president of the United States from 1925 to 1929

American actress (born 1965)

American doctor and NASA astronaut

American actor, producer, and screenwriter

American writer (1876–1941)

American writer (1917–2007)

Founder of the Church of Satan, author of the Satanic Bible (1930-1997)

American actor (1957–2025)

American choreographer, dancer, and director (1927–1987)

American film directors, screenwriters, and producers

History of Political Philosophy scholar (1899-1973)

Laurence T is an American actor and retired professional wrestler. He is known for his roles as B. A. Baracus in the 1980s television series The A-Team and as boxer Clubber Lang in the 1982 film Rocky III. He is also known for his distinctive hairstyle inspired by Mandinka warriors in West Africa, his copious gold jewelry, his tough-guy persona and his catchphrase "I pity the fool!", first uttered as Clubber Lang in Rocky III, then turned into a trademark used in slogans or titles, like the reality show I Pity the Fool in 2006.

Phillip Jack Brooks, better known by his ring name CM Punk, is an American professional wrestler and actor. He has been signed to WWE since November 2023, where he performs on the Raw brand. Brooks is known for his outspoken and confrontational straight edge persona, which is based on his real-life experiences. His 434-day reign as WWE Champion is the 10th-longest world title reign in WWE history.

American television producer, television and film writer, and author

American director and producer (1935–2023)

American actress and comedian

American science fiction writer and editor (1919–2013)

American television personality and politician (1944–2023)

American writer (1917–2000)

American film director (1899–1981)

United States Army general and 2004 Democratic Party presidential candidate

American author and critic

American actress

American actress, model, activist, television personality and author

American novelist, screenwriter and playwright (1931-2018)

American anarchist writer and feminist

American writer (born 1958)

American filmmaker and producer

American playwright, filmmaker and author (born 1947)

American journalist (1904–1993)

American poet, cartoonist, songwriter, and children's writer (1930-1999)

American writer, director, and producer (1894–1964)

Austrian-American child psychologist and writer (1903–1990)

American soul and jazz poet, musician, and author (1949–2011)

American whistleblower (1931–2023)

40th governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009

American musician

American game designer and author (1938–2008)

First Lady of California from 2003 to 2011