#1Famous people · Madison
Of the 11 famous people born in Madison, an unusual share are athletes
Articles in 12 languages make the American basketball player Donnie Freeman the best known. Behind the leader come Maurice Baker and Charles Willis Lane. Between 1920 and 1969, 6 were born, the most of any period. Fewer than a quarter of the 747 towns in Illinois with famous people list more.
Born here
11
notable people
Best known
Donnie Freeman
in 12 Wikipedia languages
First
1869
Charles Willis Lane
Youngest
1994
Vincent Valentine
Most common field
Sports
6 people
What stands out about Madison’s famous people
★ What stands out · Known for
What Madison is known for
Set against the usual town, athletes come out 1.5 times as common.
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 Madison
Donnie Freeman leads with articles in 12 languages, ahead of Maurice Baker (10) and Charles Willis Lane (9).
#1MB#2
#3Through the years
When Madison’s famous people were born
The 1920s top the chart, with 3 births in the decade.
SportsFilm, TV & StageNotablePolitics & LawFaithWriting & Arts
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
Everyone
Everyone else born in Madison
The rest number 8, with 4 athletes among them.
No one matches both filters.
The town’s pick
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Next door
Famous people from the towns next door
The neighbour with the most names is Granite City, at 34.
From Wikidata and Wikipedia: people whose birthplace is Madison 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 (7)
- Donnie Freeman: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Charles Willis Lane: film screenshot (Paramount Pictures), Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Vincent Valentine: Jeffrey Beall, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Larry Ferguson: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Hamiet Bluiett: Andy Newcombe Farnborough, UK, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Johnny Wyrostek: Bowman Gum, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Clint Walker: Macfadden Publications, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons