Check out our Chicago Visitors Guide, with budget advice, travel guides, and information about local Chicago attractions
Chicago likes to claim many amazing actors, musicians, entrepreneurs and Abraham Lincoln. (He is OURS! We are the Land of Lincoln after all.) Here is a list of some of the most famous folks who lived in or were from Chicago.
Derrick Rose. Born, bred, and now dominates in Chicago. I love this guy. Rose is the starter for the Chicago Bulls basketball team. He was awarded the NBA Most Valuable Player at 22 years old (which is the youngest to receive this honor). The best thing about D. Rose is that he is totally humble. While receiving the MVP award, he thanked his mom. HIS MOM.
Tour Tip: D. Rose lives in the Trump Tower which you can see on the Riverwalk Tour.
Hugh Hefner. Yup! Hugh was born in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, IL. He is most famous for being the creator of the magazine Playboy. Playboy Enterprises had their home on Michigan Avenue in the Palmolive building from 1965-1989. During that time the building was renamed as The Playboy Building. The Playboy mansion ALSO used to reside in the windy city along the gold coast. Of course those bunnies are LONG gone now. It was too cold for them. Now I have to hand it to Hugh since he is another one of those hard-working folks who started from nothing and built something HUGE. That is a Chicago trend.
Tour Tip: You can see the old Playboy mansion and the Palmolive building on the Gold Coast Tour. Apparently Vince Vahn still lives in the penthouse of the Palmolive building. (Another Chicagoan).
Tour Tip: Many establishments still exist that Capone frequented including The Green Mill Jazz club and the Jeweler’s building. You can see the Jeweler’s building on the Riverwalk Tour and get a taste for gangster activity on the Lincoln Park Tour.
Kanye West and Common. Two incredibly gifted hip-hop artists who grew up in Chicago. In fact, they have even collaborated! Now everyone knows who Kanye West is. He won’t let us forget. Plus he is married to Kim Kardashian. We are all very familiar with his beats, his attention to deal with inner rhyming and samples (love that), and his totally bizarre behavior. Common, also known as Lonnie Rashid Lynn Jr. is also very talented and very versatile. He is an actor, musician, model, and has even voiced a few video games! So, Common doesn’t live here anymore…. But here is one of my favorite things he said: "At times I contemplate movin' to a warmer place. Then the Lake and skyline, give me a warm embrace."
Other folks worth mentioning:
- Michael Jordan played for the Chicago Bulls.
- Shel Silverstein the author of The Giving Tree was born in Chicago
- Carl Sandburg a famous poet lived in Chicago
- Mandy Patinkin the actor was born in Chicago
- Mr. T the actor was born in Chicago.
+++Check out our walking tours of Chicago and join us on a tour. Who knows which famous Chicago person we are going to meet.+++