#1Film, TV & Stage
John Cusack
born 1966American actor, producer, and screenwriter
67 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
Famous people · Evanston
Of the 48 famous people born in Evanston, an unusual share are performers
Best known of all is John Cusack, written about in 67 languages. Second place goes to the American economist Edmund Phelps, third to Eddie Vedder. Between 1920 and 1969, 31 were born, the most of any period. For every 10,000 residents the town has 6.3, while at least half the towns in Illinois list nobody born there.
Born here
48
notable people
Best known
John Cusack
in 67 Wikipedia languages
First
1895
Laurens Hammond
Youngest
1985
Lauren Lapkus
Most common field
Film, TV & Stage
28 people
Also called it home
15
notable residents
What stands out about Evanston’s famous people
A town of performers28 of the 48 people born here are performers, 6.2× the usual share.Known worldwideJohn Cusack has a Wikipedia article in 67 languages.Still making namesThe most recent birth on the list came in 1985, among 34 since 1950.A chosen home15 more notable people chose to live here, Marlon Brando among them.
★ What stands out · Known for
What Evanston is known for
Performers stand out most, at 6.2 times the usual share.
The usual town: the share across everyone born in the towns gathered so far. Tap a field to see its people.
The best known
Born in Evanston
By how many languages cover them, John Cusack comes first (67), then Edmund Phelps (58) and Eddie Vedder (57).
#1
#2
#3Through the years
When Evanston’s famous people were born
Births peak in the 1960s, with 12 people born in that decade.
Film, TV & StageSportsScience & MedicineMusicWriting & ArtsBusiness
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
Everyone
Everyone else born in Evanston
Still to come: 45 more, from 1895 to 1985.
Seth Gordon
born 1976American film director, producer, screenwriter, and film editor
Film, TV & StageWikipedia ↗
No one matches both filters.
A chosen home
Also called Evanston home
15 notable people born elsewhere made the town home, Marlon Brando the best known.
Ann Hardy
1933–2023American computer programmer, pioneer of computer time-sharing systems
NotableWikipedia ↗
The town’s pick
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Next door
Famous people from the towns next door
Of the towns nearby, 3 have famous names listed.
From Wikidata and Wikipedia: people whose birthplace is Evanston and whose English Wikipedia article agrees, ranked by how many Wikipedia languages cover each person. People known mainly for crimes, and adult performers, aren’t listed. “The usual town” = everyone born in the towns gathered so far.
Photo credits (27)
- John Cusack: Gerald Geronimo, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Edmund Phelps: Robert Scoble, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Eddie Vedder: marco annunziata, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Seth Meyers: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- William Petersen: Shane Saunders, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Jake Johnson: Kevin Paul, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Patrick Stump: Arturo Pardavila III from Hoboken, NJ, USA, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Erik Spoelstra: Erik Drost, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Gwynne Shotwell: Kim Shiflett, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Richard Powers: Phoebe, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Barbara Harris: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Carlos Bernard: GabboT, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- D. A. Pennebaker: David Shankbone, CC BY 2.5, Wikimedia Commons
- Jeffrey Lieber: Neeta Lind, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Laurens Hammond: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- William Christopher: CBS Television., Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Anders Holm: iDominick, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Bob Bondurant: Lathe857, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Peter Ueberroth: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Mark Gorski: Mark Gorski, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Julianne Phillips: Alan Light, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Seth Gordon: Dominick D, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Tom Neal: Los Angeles Times, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Marlon Brando: None visible/Paramount Pictures, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Kathryn Hahn: Our Movie Guide, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Maude Apatow: Daniel Benavides from Austin, TX, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Walt Disney: Boy Scouts of America, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons