List of people from Ohio
The following is a list of famous people born in Ohio and people who spent significant periods of their lives living in Ohio.
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Journalists, photojournalists, writers, cartoonists, poets, authors, playwrights, screen writers, film directors, film producers, critics, etc.
- Berenice Abbott (journalist, photographer) (Springfield)
- Karen Ackerman (author) (Cincinnati)
- Sherwood Anderson (author) (Camden/Clyde)
- R.W. Apple, Jr. (journalist and author) (Akron)
- Brian Azzarello (comic book writer) (Cleveland)
- Natalie Barney (author) (Dayton)
- Billy Bass (radio host, program director) (Cleveland)
- Brian Michael Bendis (comic book writer) (Cleveland)
- Greg Berg (character actor-voce talent) (Cleveland/Akron)
- Ambrose Bierce (author) (Meigs County)
- Hanne Blank (author) (Cleveland)
- Erma Bombeck (newspaper columnist, author) (Dayton)
- Louis Bromfield (author) (Mansfield)
- Raymond Buckland (author) (Warren)
- Michael Buckley (author) (Akron)
- Milton Caniff (cartoonist) (Dayton)
- Vincent J. Cardinal (playwright & director) (Kent)
- Alice Cary (poet) (Cincinnati)
- Charles Chesnutt (writer) (Cleveland)
- Chris Columbus (film director) (Warren)
- Ian Corrigan (author, liturgist) (Warren)
- Hart Crane (poet) (Garrettsville)
- Wes Craven (film director) (Cleveland)
- Michael Cunningham (author) (Cincinnati)
- William H. Daniels (cinematographer) (Cleveland)
- Khashyar Darvich (film producer, director)(Oxford, Cleveland)
- Stephen Donaldson (author) (Cleveland)
- Rita Dove (poet) (Akron)
- Paul Laurence Dunbar (poet) (Dayton)
- Harlan Ellison (author) (Cincinnati)
- Mel Epstein (film producer) (Dayton)
- Joe Eszterhas (screenwriter) (Cleveland)
- Paul Gilger (playwright, set designer, architect) (Mansfield)
- Bob Greene (newspaper columnist) (Columbus)
- Zane Grey (author) (Zanesville)
- Cathy Guisewite (cartoonist) (Dayton)
- Stephen Gyllenhaal (film director, poet) (Cleveland)
- Virginia Hamilton (children's author) (Yellow Springs)
- Benjamin Hanby (writer, composer) (Rushville, Westerville)
- Bill Hemmer (news anchor for Fox News) (Cincinnati)
- William Dean Howells (author, critic)
- Langston Hughes (poet) (Cleveland)
- Jim Jarmusch (film director) (Akron)
- Katharine Kerr (sci-fi/fantasy author) (Cleveland)
- Jerome Lawrence (writer) (Cleveland)
- Robert Edwin Lee (writer) (Elyria)
- Brett Leonard (film director) (Toledo)
- Mark L. Lester (film director) (Cleveland)
- Dwight H. Little (director) (Cleveland)
- Sorche Nic Leodhas - (writer, recipient of Newbery Honor and Caldecott Medal) (Youngstown)
- Bryan Malessa (author) (Chagrin Falls)
- Nick G. Miller (screenwriter, film producer, film director) (Dayton)\
- Toni Morrison (author) (Lorain)
- Nema (author, liturgist) (Logan)
- Frederick Burr Opper (cartoonist, creator of Happy Hooligan) (Madison)
- P. J. O'Rourke (political satirist, author) (Toledo)
- Paul Palnik {artist,cartoonist} (Cleveland)
- Harvey Pekar (author) (Cleveland)
- Bob Peterson (animator, director) (Wooster/Dover)
- Dav Pilkey (author) (Cleveland)
- Ted Rall (editorial cartoonist) (Kettering)
- Terry Ryan (author) (Defiance) wrote The Prize Winning Mother from Defiance, Ohio, later made into a film
- Bill Sammon (Fox News Washington Managing Editor) (Cleveland)
- Martin Savidge (television journalist) (Rocky River)
- Dominic Sena (film director) (Niles)
- Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the creators of Superman (Cleveland)
- Marisa Silver (film director) (Shaker Heights)
- Jeff Smith (cartoonist) (Columbus)
- Al Snow (professional wrestler) (Lima)
- Tony Snow (news anchor) (Cincinnati)
- Stephen Sommers (film director, screenwriter) (Dayton)
- Steven Spielberg (film director, film producer) (Cincinnati)
- R. L. Stine (author) (Columbus)
- Harriet Beecher Stowe (author) (Cincinnati)
- Lowell Thomas (commentator/author) (Woodington)
- James Thurber (author, cartoonist) (Columbus)
- George Trendle (radio/TV producer) (Norwalk)
- Michael Wadleigh (film director) (Akron)
- Paula Wagner (film producer) (Youngstown)
- Brad Warner (author) (Akron)
- Jack Warner (movie mogul) (Youngstown)
- Harvey Wasserman (author, political activist) (Columbus)
- Lew Wasserman (studio executive) (Cleveland)
- Daniel Waters (screenwriter) (Cleveland)
- Bill Watterson (cartoonist)
- David Whitney (author) (Youngstown)
- Gerri Willis (news anchor for Fox Business Network) (Cincinnati)
Politicians, public servants, public officeholders, etc.
See also: List of Ohio politicians
- Michael K. Allen (politician, lawyer)
- Charles Anderson (Ohio governor) (Dayton)
- Frank J. Battisti (judge, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio) (Youngstown)
- Albert J. Beveridge (political leader) (Highland)
- Ken Blackwell (politician) (Cincinnati)
- William Jennings Bryan (U.S. presidential candidate) (Salem)
- Henry Lawrence Burnett - (prosecutor in trial for Abraham Lincoln assassination) (Youngstown)
- Prescott Bush (U.S. Senator, businessman) (Columbus)
- William Case (Cleveland)
- Steve Chabot (politician, former U.S. representative) (Cincinnati)
- James M. Cox (Governor, Presidential candidate, Media mogul) (Dayton)
- Charles G. Dawes (politician)
- William R. Day (US Supreme Court Justice) (Ravenna/Canton)
- John Dean (White House Counsel to President Nixon) (Akron)
- R. Michael DeWine (politician, U.S. Senator) (Cedarville)
- Steve Driehaus (politician, U.S. representative) (Cincinnati)
- James A. Garfield (Civil War general, U.S. president)
- James Rudolph Garfield (U.S. Interior Secretary)
- John J. Gilligan (politician, Ohio Governor)
- Bill Gradison (politician, U.S. representative)
- Ulysses S. Grant (soldier, politician, U.S. president) (Point Pleasant)
- Warren G. Harding (U.S. president) (Blooming Grove/Caledonia)
- Andrew L. Harris (Civil War general, U.S. Commissioner, Ohio Governor)
- Benjamin Harrison (soldier, politician, U.S. president) (North Bend)
- Dave Hobson (politician, U.S. representative) (Springfield)
- Rutherford B. Hayes (politician, U.S. president) (Delaware)
- Nathaniel R. Jones (judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit) (Youngstown)
- Michael J. Kirwan (politician, U.S. representative) (Youngstown)
- Dennis Kucinich (politician)
- Kenesaw Mountain Landis (federal judge, baseball commissioner) (Millville)
- Frank Lausche (Ohio Senator and Governor)
- Neil H. McElroy (businessman666, cabinet secretary)
- William McKinley (U.S. president) (Niles)
- Arthur Ernest Morgan (college president, hydraulic engineer, TVA administrator)
- James A. Rhodes (politician, Ohio Governor) (Jackson)
- Christina Romer (chair of Council of Economic Advisers) (Canton)
- William Saxbe (U.S. Senator, U.S. Attorney General, Ambassador to India)
- Kathleen Sebelius (U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, former Governor of Kansas) (Cincinnati)
- Donna Edna Shalala (U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, 1993 - 2001)
- Tony Snow (White House Press Secretary) (Cincinnati)
- William Howard Taft (politician, jurist, U.S. president, chief justice) (Cincinnati)
- Robert A. Taft I (politician) (Cincinnati)
- Robert Taft (Jr.)
- Robert A. Taft II (politician, Ohio governor)
- Charles Phelps Taft II, Mayor of Cincinnati
- Norman Thomas (politician) (Marion)
- David Tod (governor) (Youngstown)
- James Traficant (politician, U.S. representative) (Youngstown)
- Clement Vallandigham (politician, activist) (Dayton)
- George Voinovich (politician) (Cleveland)
- Brand Whitlock (politician, diplomat)
- Jay Williams, (mayor) (Youngstown)
- Mary Ellen Withrow, (U.S. Treasurer) (Marion)
- Victoria Claflin Woodhull (first woman to be nominated President) (Homer, Licking County)
Artists, painters, sculptors, photographers, etc.
- William Jacob Baer (painter)
- George Bellows (painter) (Columbus)
- Charles E. Burchfield, (painter) (Ashtabula Harbor)
- Joseph DeCamp, (painter) (Cincinnati)
- Jim Dine (painter, sculptor) (Cincinnati)
- Carl Gaertner (painter) (Cleveland)
- Ann Hamilton (artist) (Lima)
- Robert Henri (painter) (Cincinnati)
- Jenny Holzer, (conceptual artist) (Gallipolis)
- Joseph Kosuth, (conceptual artist) (Toledo)
- Maya Lin (sculptor) (Athens)
- Robert E. L. Rainey (artist) (North Canton)
- Alice Schille (painter) (Columbus)
- Fred Schrier (comic book artist) (Kirtland)
- Dave Sheridan (comic book artist) (Cleveland)
- Lily Martin Spencer (painter) (Avondale/Marietta)
- Tom Tsuchiya (sculptor) (Cincinnati)
- John Henry Twachtman (painter) (Cincinnati)
- Tom Wesselmann (pop artist) (Cincinnati)
- Clarence White (photographer) (West Carlisle/Newark)
- Worthington Whittredge (painter) (Springfield)
- Dare Wright (photographer, children's author)