List of people from Akron, Ohio

See also: Category:People from Akron, Ohio

The following people were all born in or were residents of the city of Akron, Ohio, United States.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Name	Occupation/industry	Description	Association	Reference
Henry Eugene Abbey	Theatre	Theatre manager and producer	Born in Akron	[1]
Richard F. Abel	Military	U.S. Air Force brigadier general	Born in Akron	[2]
John R. Adams	Judge	Federal judge on U.S. District Court for Northern District of Ohio	Practiced in Akron	[3]
James E. Akins	Politician	U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 1973 to 1976	Born and raised in Akron	[4]
Lola Albright	Actress and singer	Starred in TV series Peter Gunn and films such as Kid Galahad	Born and raised in Akron	[5]
Andy Alleman	Athlete	Football center for Miami Dolphins	Born in Akron	[6]
Harold Anderson	Athlete	Basketball coach at Bowling Green State and University of Toledo	Born in Akron	[7]
R. W. Apple, Jr.	Writer	Editor, writer for The New York Times	Born in Akron	[8]
Joseph Arthur	Musician	Musician and artist	Born and raised in Akron	[9]
Dan Auerbach	Musician	Solo musician, guitarist for The Black Keys, owner of Akron Analog Recording Studios	Born and raised in Akron	[10]
William Hanes Ayres	Politician	Republican member of U.S. House of Representatives	Represented Akron in Congress	[11]
Josh Azzarella	Artist	Artist	Born in Akron	[12]
E.T. Barnette	Politician	Founder of Fairbanks, Alaska and its first mayor	Born in Akron	[13]
Alice M. Batchelder	Attorney	Attorney and jurist, currently[when?] chief judge of U.S. Court of Appeals for Sixth Circuit	Practiced in Akron	[14]
Elsworth R. Bathrick	Politician	U.S. representative	Worked in Akron	[15]
Tom Batiuk	Cartoonist	Comic strip creator (Funky Winkerbean, Crankshaft)	Born in Akron	[16]
Cliff Battles	Athlete	Football player	Born in Akron	[17]
Margaret Baxtresser	Musician	Classical pianist	Supporter of Akron	[18]
Art Becker	Athlete	Basketball player	Born in Akron	[19]
Sam H. Bell	Judge	Federal judge on U.S. District Court for Northern District of Ohio	Practiced in Akron	[citation needed]
Terry Bevington	Athlete	Baseball player and manager	Born in Akron	[citation needed]
George Bliss	Politician	Congressman	Practiced and worked in Akron	[citation needed]
Ray C. Bliss	Politician	Republican Party leader	Born and worked in Akron	[citation needed]
Mark Bloch	Artist	Artist	Raised in Akron	[citation needed]
Jim Boeke	Athlete	Football player	Born and raised in Akron	[citation needed]
Phil Boggs	Athlete	Diver, 1976 Olympic gold medalist	Born and raised in Akron	[citation needed]
Dante Booker	Athlete	Football player	Born and raised in Akron	[citation needed]
Rosario Borgio	Criminal	Mobster	Worked in Akron	[citation needed]
William Boyett	Actor	Actor	Born in Akron	[citation needed]
Dave Brown	Athlete	Football player	Born and raised in Akron	[citation needed]
John Brown	Politician	Abolitionist	Worked in Akron	[citation needed]
Walter Hermann Bucher	Scientist	Geologist and paleontologist	Born in Akron	[citation needed]
Michael Buckley	Writer	Author of The Sisters Grimm and NERDS series	Born in Akron	[citation needed]
E. J. Burt	Athlete	Football player	Born and raised in Akron	[citation needed]
River Butcher	Actor	Stand-up comic, co-creator and co-star of Take My Wife	Born and raised in Akron	[20]
Jimmy Butler	Actor	Actor	Born in Akron	[citation needed]
Glen Buxton	Musician	Guitarist for Alice Cooper	Born in Akron	[citation needed]
Patrick Carney	Musician	Drummer for The Black Keys, bassist for band Drummer	Born and raised in Akron	[citation needed]
Gilbert S. Carpenter	US Army brigadier general	Veteran of the American Civil War, American Indian Wars, Spanish–American War, and Philippine–American War	Raised in Akron, lived there in retirement	[21]
Bob Casale	Musician	Musician, Devo	Raised in Akron	[citation needed]
Gerald Casale	Musician	Musician, Devo	Raised in Akron	[citation needed]
Len Chandler	Musician	Folk musician	Born in Akron	[citation needed]
David Allan Coe	Singer	Country music artist	Born in Akron	[citation needed]
Russell Coffey	Military	World War I veteran	Lived in Akron	[citation needed]
Dellmus Colvin	Serial killer	Truck driver who kidnapped and murdered 6 women	Raised in Akron
Arthur L. Conger	Historian	Theosophist	Born in Akron	[citation needed]
Deborah L. Cook	Judge	Federal judge on U.S. Court of Appeals for Sixth Circuit	Practiced in Akron	[citation needed]
Jarrod Cooper	Athlete	Football player	Born in Akron	[citation needed]
MacNolia Cox	Student	First African-American to reach last five of National Spelling Bee	Born in Akron	[22]
Cheryl Crawford	Theatre	Director and producer	Born in Akron	[citation needed]
Mark Croghan	Athlete	Five-time national champion in steeplechase	Born in Akron	[citation needed]
Stephen Curry	Athlete	Basketball player for Golden State Warriors, four-time NBA champion	Born in Akron	[citation needed]
Ruby Nash Curtis	Singer	Singer of Ruby & The Romantics	Born in Akron	[citation needed]
Hammer Damage	Singer	Rock band	Formed in Akron	[citation needed]
Keith Dambrot	Athlete	Basketball coach	Born, raised, and worked in Akron	[citation needed]
Jimmy Darrow	Athlete	Basketball player	Born in Akron	[citation needed]
John Dean	Politician	White House counsel to Richard Nixon		[citation needed]
Charles W. F. Dick	Politician	U.S. senator (Republican)		[citation needed]
Frank Dicopoulos	Actor	Actor		[citation needed]
Michael Dokes	Athlete	Boxer, WBA World Heavyweight Champion 1982–1983	Born in Akron	[citation needed]
Lloyd C. Douglas	Minister	Minister, author		[citation needed]
Rita Dove	Writer	Poet		[citation needed]
Hugh Downs	TV	TV journalist and personality, 20/20		[citation needed]
Peter C. Economus	Judge	Federal judge on U.S. District Court for Northern District of Ohio	Practiced in Akron	[citation needed]
Sidney Edgerton	Politician	19th-century politician		[citation needed]
Bruce L. Edwards	Academic and author	Bowling Green State University professor and C. S. Lewis scholar	Born in Akron	[23]
Eddie Elias	Athlete	Founder of Professional Bowlers Assn.		[citation needed]
Harold G. Epperson	Military	Decorated U.S. Marine		[citation needed]
Eugene C. Eppley	Corporate executive	Hotel mogul		[citation needed]
Angie Everhart	Actress	Model and actress		[citation needed]
Fritzi Fern	Actress	Actress		[citation needed]
Harvey Samuel Firestone	Corporate executive	Founder of Firestone Tire and Rubber Company	Lived in Akron	[citation needed]
Leonard Firestone	Corporate executive	Industrialist		[citation needed]
Steve Fitzhugh	Athlete	Football player		[citation needed]
Art Fleming	TV	TV game show host, Jeopardy		[citation needed]
Carol Folt	College executive	President, University of Southern California	Born in Akron	[citation needed]
Martha Firestone Ford	Business executive	Owner and chairwoman of NFL's Detroit Lions	Born in Akron
Trent Ford	Actor	Actor, model		[citation needed]
Mike Fox	Athlete	Football player		[citation needed]
Elizabeth Franz	Actress	Tony Award and Obie Award-winning actress		[citation needed]
Shirley Fry	Athlete	Tennis player		[citation needed]
Ruby Nash Garnett	Singer	Singer of Ruby & the Romantics	Born in Akron	[citation needed]
William H. Gerstenmaier	NASA	NASA administrator		[citation needed]
Joe Glazer	Musician	Musician		[citation needed]
Dick Goddard	Scientist	Meteorologist		[citation needed]
Harvey Gold	Musician	Musician		[citation needed]
Bob Golic	Athlete	Football player, radio personality		[citation needed]
Mike Golic	Athlete	Football player		[citation needed]
Benjamin Goodrich	Corporate executive	Founder of B.F. Goodrich Company		[citation needed]
Jim Graner	TV	Sports anchor at WKYC; color commentator for Cleveland Browns radio	Born in Akron	[24]
Brad Guigar	Cartoonist	Cartoonist		[citation needed]
James S. Gwin	Judge	Federal judge on U.S. District Court for Northern District of Ohio	Practiced in Akron	[citation needed]
Kris Haines	Athlete	Football player		[citation needed]
Dave Hampton	Athlete	Football player		[citation needed]
Leon Harris	TV	Television journalist		[citation needed]
James Harrison	Athlete	Football player for Pittsburgh Steelers, two-time Super Bowl champion		[citation needed]
Dow W. Harter	Politician	U.S. representative		[citation needed]
Umar Bin Hassan	Writer	Poet		[citation needed]
Anne Heche	Actress	Star of films like Volcano, Psycho, Cedar Rapids		[citation needed]
John Heisman	Actor, athlete, coach	Football and baseball coach at Buchtel College (now known as the University of Akron); Heisman Trophy named in his honor	Lived in Akron	[25]
Carol Heiss	Athlete	Figure skater, Olympic gold medalist, five-time world champion		[citation needed]
Daniel Hesidence	Artist	Painter
Howard Hewett	Singer	Gospel and R&B singer		[citation needed]
Michael Holley	Writer	Sports journalist		[citation needed]
M. Herbert Hoover	Politician	Politician		[citation needed]
Roger Hoover	Singer	Singer, musician		[citation needed]
Walter B. Huber	Politician	U.S. representative		[citation needed]
Rex Humbard	Televangelist	Televangelist		[citation needed]
Craig Hummer	TV	Sportscaster		[citation needed]
Chrissie Hynde	Singer	Musician, leader of The Pretenders		[citation needed]
James Ingram	Musician	Singer, songwriter, two-time Grammy Award winner	Born in Akron	[citation needed]
Lux Interior	Musician	Singer and founding member of The Cramps		[citation needed]
Shirley Fry Irvin	Athlete	Hall of Fame tennis player	Born in Akron	[citation needed]
Ike Isaacs	Musician	Jazz bassist	Born in Akron	[26]
Sandi Jackson	Politician	Politician		[citation needed]
LeBron James	Athlete	Basketball player for Los Angeles Lakers, four-time NBA champion	Born and raised in Akron	[27]
Jim Jarmusch	Filmmaker	Director of films such as Down by Law, Broken Flowers		[citation needed]
David Jenkins	Athlete	Figure skater, Olympic gold medalist, three-time world champion		[citation needed]
Hayes Alan Jenkins	Athlete	Figure skater, 1956 Olympic gold medalist		[citation needed]
Helen Jepson	Singer	Soprano		[citation needed]
Gus Johnson	Athlete	Basketball player, television sportscaster		[citation needed]
Steve Johnson	Athlete	Basketball player		[citation needed]
Grandpa Jones	Musician	Musician, comedian (Hee-Haw)		[citation needed]
Melina Kanakaredes	Actress	Star of television series Providence, CSI: NY		[citation needed]
Salaria Kea	Nurse	Nurse		[citation needed]
Maynard James Keenan	Singer	Singer, Tool, A Perfect Circle, Puscifer	Born in Akron	[citation needed]
Dean Keener	Coach	Basketball coach		[citation needed]
Herman Keiser	Athlete	Golfer, 1946 Masters champion		[citation needed]
Charlton Keith	Athlete	Football player		[citation needed]
Phil Kline	Musician	Composer		[citation needed]
Bob Knepper	Athlete	Major League Baseball pitcher
George Knepper	Historian	Distinguished professor at the University of Akron	Born in Akron	[28]
Charles Landon Knight	Attorney	Publisher, politician		[citation needed]
James L. Knight	Writer	Publisher		[citation needed]
John S. Knight	Writer	Publisher		[citation needed]
Parke Kolbe	College executive	College president		[citation needed]
Heather Kozar	Model	Model; former Barker's Beauty on The Price Is Right		[citation needed]
Brock Kreitzburg	Athlete	Bobsledder		[citation needed]
Art Kusnyer	Athlete	Baseball player and coach		[citation needed]
Jani Lane	Singer	Lead singer of Glam metal band Warrant	Born in Akron	[citation needed]
Jerome Lane	Athlete	Basketball player		[citation needed]
Bob Lape	TV	Television journalist		[citation needed]
Robert M. Lawton	Politician	New Hampshire representative	Born in Akron	[29]
Mortimer Dormer Leggett	Military	Civil War officer		[citation needed]
Menachem Leibtag	Rabbi	Tanach scholar and pioneer of Jewish Education on the internet	Born and raised in Akron	[30]
Bob Lewis	Singer	Founder of Devo		[citation needed]
Thomas Lewis	Athlete	Football player		[citation needed]
Frank Fowler Loomis	Engineer	Inventor and city director of mechanical engineering	Born and raised in Akron	[31]
David Lough	Athlete	Baseball player	Born in Akron	[citation needed]
Liam Lynch	Musician	Musician, puppeteer, Sifl and Olly		[citation needed]
Dylan Mabin	Athlete	Football player	Born in Akron
John Magaro	Actor	Actor	Born in Akron	[32]
Doug Marsh	Athlete	Football player		[citation needed]
Thomas E. Martin	Politician	Iowa politician		[citation needed]
Mike Massie	Politician	Wyoming politician		[citation needed]
Banjo Matthews	Athlete	NASCAR driver		[citation needed]
Andy McCollum	Athlete	Football player		[citation needed]
Moses McCormick	YouTuber	YouTube personality	Born in Akron	[citation needed]
Gates McFadden	Actress	Actress	Born in Akron	[33]
Frances McGovern	Politician	U.S. representative		[citation needed]
Charles McGraw	Actor	Stage, film and television actor		[34]
Marian Mercer	Actress	Tony Award-winning actress of stage, film and TV		[citation needed]
Paul T. Mikolashek	Military officer	U.S. Army lieutenant general	Born and raised in Akron	[35]
Gene Mingo	Athlete	Football player		[citation needed]
Dan Moldea	Writer	Journalist and author		[citation needed]
Vaughn Monroe	Singer	Recording artist, actor, bandleader on Hollywood Walk of Fame		[citation needed]
Michael Morell	TV	ICIA director, TV analyst		[citation needed]
Brian Mosteller	Politician	Director of Oval Office Operations for President Barack Obama		[citation needed]
Bob Mothersbaugh	Musician	Musician, member of Devo		[citation needed]
Jim Mothersbaugh	Musician	Musician, member of Devo		[citation needed]
Mark Mothersbaugh	Musician	Musician, member of Devo		[citation needed]
Scott Muni	Radio	Radio personality		[citation needed]
Thurman Munson	Athlete	Baseball player, seven-time All-Star, 1976 American League MVP		[citation needed]
Ron Negray	Athlete	Baseball player		[citation needed]
John Neidert	Athlete	Football player	Born in Akron	[citation needed]
Donnie Nickey	Athlete	Football player		[citation needed]
Pete Nischt	Musician	Musician		[citation needed]
Gabe Norwood	Athlete	Basketball player for the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters		[citation needed]
Russell Oberlin	Musician	Musician		[citation needed]
Les Olsson	Athlete	Football player		[citation needed]
Stanford R. Ovshinsky	Scientist	Inventor and scientist		[citation needed]
Chris Owens	Athlete	Basketball player		[citation needed]
Tim "Ripper" Owens	Singer	Singer, replaced Rob Halford in Judas Priest; inspiration for movie Rock Star	Born in Akron	[citation needed]
Paige Palmer	TV	Fitness expert, TV personality		[citation needed]
John Parry	Sports official	Football official		[citation needed]
Ara Parseghian	Coach	Football coach, Notre Dame		[citation needed]
Jaroslav Pelikan	Theologian	Christianity scholar		[citation needed]
Simon Perkins	Founder	Settler, surveyor		[citation needed]
Ronald Phillips	Murderer	Child murderer	Executed for rape and murder of child
Antonio Pittman	Athlete	Football player		[citation needed]
Terry Pluto	Writer	Sports journalist		[citation needed]
Shawn Porter	Athlete	Professional boxer		[citation needed]
Ricky Powers	Athlete	Football player		[citation needed]
Edward Pramuk	Artist	Artist	Born in Akron	[citation needed]
Richard Quick	Athlete	Swimming coach		[citation needed]
Robert Quine	Musician	Guitarist		[citation needed]
Willard Van Orman Quine	Philosopher	Philosopher		[citation needed]
Ron Rector	Athlete	Football player		[citation needed]
Robin Reed	Biologist	Cell biologist	Born in Akron	[36]
James W. Reilly	Politician	Politician		[citation needed]
Nikola Resanovic	Musician	Composer		[citation needed]
Judith Resnik	NASA	Astronaut, killed in Challenger explosion	Born and raised in Akron	[citation needed]
Butch Reynolds	Athlete	Track and field star, gold medalist in 1988 Olympics		[37]
Jennifer Niederst Robbins	Corporate executive	Designed the web's first commercial site		[citation needed]
Sydne Rome	Actress	Actress		[citation needed]
Edmund Rowe	Politician	U.S. representative		[citation needed]
Ed Sadowski	Athlete	Basketball player	Born in Akron	[citation needed]
Wilbur F. Sanders	Politician	Montana politician		[citation needed]
Thomas C. Sawyer	Politician	Politician		[citation needed]
Bo Schembechler	Coach	Football coach, University of Michigan		[citation needed]
Mark Schubert	Coach	Swimming coach	Born and raised in Akron	[citation needed]
Francis Seiberling	Politician	U.S. representative		[citation needed]
Frank Seiberling	Corporate executive	Founder of Goodyear Tire and Rubber	Born in Akron	[citation needed]
John F. Seiberling	Politician	U.S. representative		[citation needed]
Luke Sewell	Athlete	Baseball player and manager		[citation needed]
Chuck Share	Athlete	Basketball player		[citation needed]
Denny Shute	Athlete	Golfer		[citation needed]
Matt Simon	Athlete	Football player		[citation needed]
Harry Simpson	Athlete	Baseball player		[citation needed]
George Sisler	Athlete	Baseball player, member of Hall of Fame		[citation needed]
Richard Smalley	Scientist	Chemist, winner of Nobel Prize		[citation needed]
Bob Smith	Founder	Founder of Alcoholics Anonymous		[citation needed]
Neal Smith	Musician	Drummer for Alice Cooper		[citation needed]
Mark Smucker	Business executive	CEO of The J.M. Smucker Company	Resident of Akron since 2002	[38]
Donald Ray Snodgrass	Author	Author		[citation needed]
Mark Stevens	Actor	Star of films such as The Dark Corner, The Street with No Name		[citation needed]
Chris Stuckmann	Film critic	Film critic, filmmaker, author, and YouTuber		[citation needed]
Betty Sutton	Politician	U.S. representative for 13th Congressional District	Practiced in Akron	[citation needed]
Tyrell Sutton	Athlete	Football player		[citation needed]
Rachel Sweet	Actress	Singer, actress and TV writer		[citation needed]
Michael Tarver	Athlete	Professional wrestler		[citation needed]
Gene Thomas	Athlete	Football player		[citation needed]
Nate Thurmond	Athlete	Basketball player, member of Hall of Fame		[citation needed]
Todd Tobias	Musician	Musician		[citation needed]
Aiden Wilson Tozer	Author	Preacher, author		[citation needed]
Bill Upham	Athlete	Baseball player		[citation needed]
William H. Upson	Politician	19th-century politician		[citation needed]
Claude Virden	Athlete	Basketball player		[citation needed]
Mike Vrabel	Athlete	Former NFL player and head coach of the Tennessee Titans since 2018		[citation needed]
Michael Wadleigh	Director	Director and cinematographer, filmed documentary of 1969 Woodstock Festival, Woodstock		[citation needed]
Ramon Walker	Athlete	Football player		[citation needed]
Brad Warner	Musician	Zen priest, musician		[citation needed]
Beanie Wells	Athlete	Football player for Arizona Cardinals		[citation needed]
Jesse White	Actor	Actor, known as Maytag Repairman in 1967–1988 commercials	Raised in Akron	[citation needed]
Shane Wiedt	Athlete	Professional soccer player	Born in Akron	[39]
Josh Williams	Athlete	Professional soccer player	Born in Akron	[40]
Wendell Willkie	Politician	Presidential candidate, lawyer	Worked in Akron	[citation needed]
Dan Wilson	Musician	Jazz guitarist	Raised in Akron	[citation needed]
Melinda Windsor	Model	Playboy model		[citation needed]
Antoine Winfield	Athlete	Football player		[citation needed]
Ray Wise	Actor	Known for films and TV series such as Twin Peaks, 24		[citation needed]
Sam Wise	Athlete	Baseball player		[citation needed]
Gene Woodling	Athlete	Baseball player		[citation needed]
George Younce	Southern gospel singer	Bass vocalist for the Cathedral Quartet	Resident of Akron	[citation needed]
Kim Zurz	Politician	Politician		[citation needed]

Fictional people from Akron, Ohio

• Jiminy Glick, fictional talk-show host portrayed by Martin Short on film and TV^{[citation needed]}
• J. Reid, in In Too Deep, played by Omar Epps