thumb|right|250px|[[Flag of Nebraska|State flag of Nebraska]]

thumb|right|250px|Location of Nebraska on the U.S. map

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The following are notable people who were born in, raised in, or have lived for a significant period of time in the U.S. state of Nebraska.

Native Americans

thumb|right|120px|[[Susan La Flesche Picotte]]

  • Crazy Horse (1838–1877), great warrior of the Oglala Lakota Sioux pre-statehood
  • Chief Waukon Decorah (c. 1780–1868)
  • He Dog (c. 1840–1936)
  • Hononegah (c. 1814–1847) (Ho-Chunk)
  • Francis La Flesche (1857–1932), first Native American anthropologist, author (Omaha people)
  • Susan La Flesche Picotte (1865–1915), first Native American woman to earn a medical degree
  • Susette LaFlesche Tibbles (1854–1903), writer and translator in this trial the state was led to recognize that Native Americans are human beings
  • John Trudell (1946–2015), civil rights activist, community activist, speaker, poet, performer, musician, actor; Santee
  • Raymond Yellow Thunder (1921–1972), ranch hand killed in a notable hate crime in 1972 in Gordon (Oglala Lakota)

Public office

thumb|right|120px|[[Gerald Ford]]

  • Frank Aloysius Barrett (1892–1962), congressman, Wyoming, 1943–1950; governor of Wyoming, 1951–1953; Senator of Wyoming, 1953–1959
  • Herbert Brownell Jr. (1904–1996), United States attorney general in President Eisenhower's cabinet, 1952–1957
  • William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925), United States secretary of state; U.S. representative; Democratic Party nominee for president in 1896, 1900, and 1908; prosecuting attorney in Scopes Trial
  • Hugh A. Butler (1878–1954), U.S. senator
  • James Vincenzo Capone (1892–1952), federal Prohibition agent; oldest brother of gangster Al Capone; changed name to Richard James Hart
  • Ernie Chambers (born 1937 in Omaha), Nebraska state senator; Nebraska State Legislature; civil rights activist
  • Dick Cheney (1941–2025), former U.S. secretary of defense under George H.W. Bush, and 46th vice president of the United States under George W. Bush
  • George E. Cryer (1875–1961), 32nd mayor of Los Angeles, 1921–1929
  • Glenn Cunningham (1912–2003), U.S. representative and mayor of Omaha
  • Carl Curtis (1905–2000), U.S. representative and U.S. senator
  • Samuel Gordon Daily (1823–1866), U.S. representative for three terms
  • Robert Vernon Denney (1916–1981), U.S. representative and United States district court judge
  • Jane English (born 1940), Republican member of the Arkansas State Senate
  • J. James Exon (1921–2005), governor of Nebraska and U.S. senator
  • Gerald Ford (1913–2006), 38th president of the United States (born in Omaha, raised in Michigan)
  • Dwight Griswold (1893–1954), governor of Nebraska and U.S. senator
  • Chuck Hagel (born 1946), U.S. senator and 24th U.S. secretary of defense
  • Robert Dinsmore Harrison (1897–1977), U.S. representative
  • Edgar Howard (1858–1951), private secretary to William Jennings Bryan; lieutenant governor of Nebraska; U.S. Representative
  • Megan Hunt (born 1986), Nebraska state legislator and first openly LGBT person elected to state legislature
  • Bob Kerrey (born 1943), governor of Nebraska and U.S. senator
  • Julius Sterling Morton (1832–1902), United States secretary of agriculture; founder of Arbor Day
  • Kay A. Orr (born 1939), first Republican female governor (Nebraska) in U.S. history (1987–1991)
  • Pete Peterson (born 1935), U.S. representative for Florida, U.S. ambassador to Vietnam
  • Peter George Peterson (1926–2018), U.S. secretary of commerce under Richard Nixon; chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York; chair of the Council on Foreign Relations
  • Donald Pike (1925–2008), Los Angeles County Superior Court commissioner
  • Leo Ryan (1925–1978), U.S. representative (Democrat–California; born in Lincoln)
  • Ted Sorensen (1928–2010), speechwriter and special counsel to President John F. Kennedy
  • Charles Thone (1924–2018), governor of Nebraska and U.S. representative
  • Kenneth S. Wherry (1892–1951), U.S. senator

Military

thumb|right|120px|[[Butler B. Miltonberger]]

  • Buffalo Bill Cody (1845–1917), iconic western figure; lived in Nebraska (born in Iowa Territory) while working as a scout for the 5th Cavalry; on July 17, 1876, at War Bonnet Creek, while dressed in his Wild West stage clothing, he killed and scalped Chief Yellow Hair (Cheyenne), claiming it a revenge for Custer; took up residence in Scout's Rest Ranch in 1886
  • Alfred Gruenther (1899–1983), youngest four-star general in United States history; Supreme Allied Commander Europe
  • William Hayward (1877–1944), commanding officer of the Harlem Hellfighters in World War I; later served as United States attorney for the Southern District of New York
  • Galen B. Jackman (born 1951), United States Army major general (retired); Nancy Reagan's escort throughout the death and state funeral of Ronald Reagan; first commanding general of the Joint Force Headquarters National Capital Region
  • Bob Kerrey (born 1943), United States Navy, LT(JG); commanded a Navy SEAL team in Vietnam; Medal of Honor recipient
  • Francis P. Matthews (1887–1952), 49th United States secretary of the Navy during the administration of President Harry Truman
  • Butler B. Miltonberger (1897–1977), commanded the 134th Infantry Regiment, 35th Division during World War II
  • Jarvis Offutt (1894–1918), World War I aviator, namesake of Offutt Air Force Base
  • Forrest S. Petersen (1922–1990), Navy and NASA test pilot, head of Naval Air Systems Command
  • James G. Roudebush (born c. 1949), United States Air Force lieutenant general and doctor of medicine, current Surgeon General of the United States Air Force
  • Albert Coady Wedemeyer (1897–1989), military planner and strategist

Entertainment

Film and theater

;A–M

thumb|right|120px|[[Montgomery Clift]]

thumb|right|120px|[[Henry Fonda]]

  • Wesley Addy (1913–1996), actor, Network, The Verdict
  • Adele Astaire (1897–1981), dancer and entertainer
  • Fred Astaire (1899–1987), dancer and actor, The Band Wagon, Funny Face, The Towering Inferno, That's Entertainment!
  • Pamela Austin (born 1941), actress, Kissin' Cousins
  • Ray Baker (born 1948), actor, Silverado, Total Recall
  • Andrew Rannells (born 1978), actor, The Book of Mormon
  • John Beasley (born 1943), actor, Everwood
  • Michael Biehn (born 1956), actor, The Terminator, Tombstone
  • Moon Bloodgood (born 1975), actress, Terminator Salvation, Falling Skies
  • Ward Bond (1903–1960), actor, The Searchers, The Quiet Man, Rio Bravo
  • Marlon Brando (1924–2004), Academy Award-winning actor, The Godfather, On the Waterfront, Last Tango in Paris, Apocalypse Now
  • Montgomery Clift (1920–1966), 4-time Oscar-nominated actor, From Here to Eternity, The Misfits, Red River, Judgment at Nuremberg
  • James Coburn (1928–2002), Academy Award-winning actor, Our Man Flint, The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, Affliction
  • James M. Connor (born 1960), actor
  • Sandy Dennis (1937–1992), Academy Award-winning actress, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Sweet November, The Out-of-Towners
  • Adam Devine (born 1983), actor and comedian
  • David Doyle (1929–1997), actor, Charlie's Angels
  • Mary Doyle (1931–1995), actress
  • Leslie Easterbrook (born 1949), actress, Police Academy films
  • Henry Fonda (1905–1982), Academy Award-winning actor, Mister Roberts, 12 Angry Men, The Grapes of Wrath, On Golden Pond
  • Hoot Gibson (1892–1962), actor and rodeo cowboy
  • Coleen Gray (1922–2015), actress, Kiss of Death, Red River
  • Leland Hayward (1902–1971), Hollywood and Broadway agent and producer
  • Jean Heather (1921–1995), actress, Double Indemnity
  • Hallee Hirsh (born 1987), actress, Flight 29 Down, JAG, ER
  • Virginia Huston (1925–1981), actress, Out of the Past
  • Bill Lee, overdub singer whose voice was used instead of Christopher Plummer's in the film version of The Sound of Music
  • Harold Lloyd (1893–1971), silent film actor and comedian
  • Danny Lockin (1943–1970), actor and dancer, Hello, Dolly!
  • Pierce Lyden (1908–1998), actor
  • Gordon MacRae (1921–1986), actor and singer, Oklahoma!, Carousel
  • Dorothy McGuire (1916–2001), Oscar-nominated actress, Gentleman's Agreement, Friendly Persuasion, Old Yeller

;N–Z

thumb|right|120px|[[Hilary Swank]]

thumb|right|120px|[[Gabrielle Union]]

  • Fred Niblo (1874–1948), actor, director, and producer
  • Nick Nolte (born 1941), Oscar-nominated actor and producer, 48 Hrs., The Prince of Tides, Cape Fear
  • Alexander Payne (born 1961), Oscar-nominated director and screenwriter, Nebraska, The Descendants, Sideways
  • Lenka Peterson (1925–2021), actress
  • Anne Ramsey (1929–1988), Oscar-nominated actress
  • Thurl Ravenscroft (1914–2005), voice actor and singer
  • Hilary Swank (born 1974), two-time Academy Award-winning actress, Boys Don't Cry, Million Dollar Baby (born in Lincoln)
  • Inga Swenson (born 1932), actress, Benson, Advise and Consent
  • Robert Taylor (1911–1969), actor, Ivanhoe, Quo Vadis, Camille
  • John Trudell (1946–2015), actor and documentary subject
  • Gabrielle Union (born 1973), actress, Bring It On, Bad Boys II (born in Omaha)
  • Red Wing (1884–1974), actress
  • Irene Worth (1916–2002), Tony Award-winning actress, Nicholas and Alexandra, Lost in Yonkers, Deathtrap
  • Darryl F. Zanuck (1902–1979), Hollywood studio mogul, producer and director

Comedians and humorists

  • James Adomian (born 1980), actor and stand-up comedian
  • Johnny Carson (1925–2005), comedian
  • Ryan Cownie, stand-up comedian
  • Adam DeVine (born 1983), actor, comedian, writer, Workaholics
  • Godfrey (born 1969), comedian and actor
  • Larry the Cable Guy (born 1963), comedian
  • Skip Stephenson (1940–1992), comedian and actor
  • Roger Welsch (born 1936), author, humorist, and folklorist
  • Bob Wiltfong (born 1969), comedian and actor, The Daily Show

Television and radio

thumb|right|120px|[[Emily Kinney]]

thumb|right|120px|[[Paula Zahn]]

  • Justin Bruening (born 1979), actor, All My Children, Knight Rider
  • Dick Cavett (born 1936), television talk show host
  • Abbie Cobb, actress, Suburgatory
  • Christopher B. Duncan (born 1964), actor, The Jamie Foxx Show, The District, Aliens in America
  • Jim Fitzpatrick (born 1959), actor, All My Children
  • Bryan Greenberg (born 1978), actor, musician, One Tree Hill, October Road, How to Make It in America
  • Randy J. Goodwin (born 1967), actor and director, The Vampire Diaries, Girlfriends, Grey's Anatomy
  • Marg Helgenberger (born 1958), actress, CSI
  • Brad William Henke (born 1971), actor, October Road, Nikki, Lost
  • Vivi Janiss (1911–1988), theatre, film, and television actress
  • David Janssen (1931–1980), actor, The Fugitive
  • Floyd Kalber (1924–2004), television journalist and anchorman
  • Jay Karnes (born 1963), actor, Det. "Dutch" Wagenbach on The Shield
  • Emily Kinney (born 1985), actress, singer, The Walking Dead
  • Swoosie Kurtz (born 1944), actress, Sisters, Mike & Molly
  • Irish McCalla (1928–2002), actress, Sheena, Queen of the Jungle
  • Holt McCallany (born 1964), actor, Lights Out, Freedom, CSI: Miami
  • Scott Porter (born 1979), actor, Friday Night Lights, The Good Wife
  • Lindsey Shaw (born 1989), child actor for Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide (born in Lincoln)
  • Julie Sommars (born 1942), actress, Matlock
  • Rebecca Staab (born 1961), actress, former beauty queen, Live Shot
  • Janine Turner (born 1962), actress and author, Northern Exposure (born in Lincoln, raised in Texas)
  • Lucky Vanous (born 1961), model, actor, Pacific Palisades
  • Kim Winona (1930–1978), actress, Brave Eagle
  • David Yost (born 1969), actor and producer, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
  • Paula Zahn (born 1956), television journalist

Music

thumb|right|120px|[[Wynonie Harris]]

  • Kianna Alarid (born 1978), lead singer for band Tilly and the Wall
  • Roni Benise, flamenco guitarist
  • Chip Davis (born 1947), singer-songwriter, founder of Mannheim Steamroller, and president and CEO of American Gramaphone
  • Ruth Etting (1896–1976), singer
  • Rick Evans, member of rock duo Zager and Evans, made famous by song "In the Year 2525" in 1969
  • Todd Fink (born 1974), member of the band The Faint
  • Jack Gilinsky (born 1996), musician, rap artist, part of rap duo Jack & Jack
  • Howard Hanson (1896–1981), composer and conductor
  • Wynonie "Mr. Blues" Harris (1915–1969), rhythm and blues singer
  • Neal Hefti (1922–2008), jazz trumpeter and composer
  • Amy Heidemann, member of the band Karmin, graduated from Seward High School in Seward, Nebraska
  • Nick Hexum, member of band 311
  • Neely Jenkins (born 1974), member of band Tilly and the Wall
  • Tim Kasher (born 1976), singer
  • Matty Lewis (born 1975), singer, guitarist
  • Randy Meisner (born 1946), singer-songwriter, bassist former member of the Eagles and Poco
  • Conor Oberst (born 1980), singer-songwriter with Bright Eyes
  • Bryan Olesen (born 1973), singer, guitarist of VOTA, former member of Newsboys
  • Jamie Pressnall (born 1976), member of band Tilly and the Wall
  • Paul Revere (born 1938), born in Harvard, Clay County; musician, teen idol, founder Paul Revere and the Raiders
  • Ann Ronell (1906/1908–1993), jazz composer and lyricist
  • Josh Rouse (born 1972), singer-songwriter
  • Elliott Smith (1969–2003), singer-songwriter
  • Ryland Steen (born 1980), Reel Big Fish drummer
  • Matthew Sweet (born 1964), rock musician
  • John Trudell (1946–2015), poet, performer, musician, leader AKA Graffiti Band
  • James Valentine (born 1978), Maroon 5 guitarist
  • Paul Williams (born 1940), singer-songwriter
  • Roger Williams (1924–2011), pianist
  • Denny Zager, member of rock duo Zager and Evans, made famous by song "In the Year 2525" in 1969

Other

thumb|right|120px|[[Ashley Graham (model)|Ashley Graham]]

  • David Phelps Abbott (1863–1934), magician and author
  • Lucas Cruikshank (born 1993), maker of internet videos
  • Ashley Graham (born 1987), model
  • Jaime King (born 1979), model and actress
  • Sono Osato (1919–2018), dancer
  • JoJo Siwa (born 2003), dancer and singer, Dance Moms
  • Sarah Rose Summers (born 1994), model and Miss USA 2018
  • Shelton Tappes (born 1911), union and civil rights activist
  • Charles Weidman (1901–1975), dancer and choreographer

Art, literature, and journalism

thumb|right|120px|[[Nicholas Sparks]]

  • Bess Streeter Aldrich (1881–1954), author of 200 short stories and 13 novels including Miss Bishop
  • Hartley Burr Alexander (1873–1939), writer, educator, scholar, philosopher, poet, and iconographer
  • Kurt Andersen (born 1954), co-founder of Spy Magazine
  • Gutzon Borglum (1867–1941), painter, sculptor, designer and engineer of the presidential busts on Mount Rushmore
  • Solon Borglum (1869–1922), sculptor, younger brother of Gutzon Borglum
  • Jennine Capó Crucet (born 1981), novelist, short story writer, essayist, professor, and cultural critic
  • Willa Cather (1873–1947), author
  • Raymond Chandler (1888–1959), detective fiction author, The Big Sleep (raised in Plattsmouth)
  • Earle D. Chesney (1900–1966), cartoonist
  • Mamie Claflin (1867–1929), newspaper editor and publisher
  • Ana Marie Cox (born 1972), founder and editor of the political blog Wonkette
  • Angel De Cora, painter, illustrator, American Indian advocate, Carlisle Boarding School teacher (1871–1919)
  • Loren Eiseley (1907–1977), anthropologist, science writer, ecologist, and poet (born in Lincoln)
  • John Philip Falter (1910–1982), artist known for many Saturday Evening Post covers
  • Ernest K. Gann (1910–1991), pioneer airline pilot, aviation writer, author of The High and the Mighty
  • Roxane Gay (born 1974), feminist writer, professor, editor and commentator
  • Terry Goodkind (1948–2020), best-selling fantasy author
  • Robert Henri (1865–1929), painter
  • M. Miriam Herrera, poet
  • Clifton Hillegass (1918–2001), publisher and founder of CliffsNotes
  • L. Ron Hubbard (1911–1986), science fiction author and founder of Scientology
  • Lew Hunter (born 1935), screenwriter
  • Weldon Kees (1914–1955), poet, novelist, and short story writer
  • Ted Kooser (born 1939), former Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress; former Poet Laureate of the United States; Pulitzer Prize winner
  • Stephen R. Lawhead (born 1950), best-selling author of fantasy and historical fiction
  • Christopher Lasch (1932–1994), historian, moralist, and social critic
  • Jefferson Machamer (1900–1960), illustrator
  • DeBarra Mayo (born 1953), writer and author
  • Wright Morris (1910–1998), novelist, photographer, and essayist
  • John Neihardt (1881–1973), poet, dubbed the "Poet Laureate of Nebraska and the Plains" by the Nebraska State Legislature in 1921
  • Tillie Olsen (1912–2007), author
  • Rose O'Neill (1874–1944), illustrator, writer, and creator of the Kewpie doll
  • Jean Potts (1910–1999), mystery writer
  • Daniel Quinn (1935–2018), author of the philosophical novel Ishmael and its sequels
  • Edward Ruscha (born 1937), artist
  • Brandon Sanderson (born 1975), best-selling science fiction and fantasy author
  • Mari Sandoz (1896–1966), novelist, biographer, lecturer, and teacher; author of Old Jules, Cheyenne Autumn, Slogum House
  • Joel Sartore, National Geographic photographer and founder of the Photo Ark
  • Dan Schlissel, record producer and label founder (Stand Up! Records, -ismist Recordings)
  • Nicholas Sparks (born 1965), author
  • Anna Louise Strong (1885–1970), journalist and author
  • John Trudell (1946–2015), author

Business

thumb|right|120px|[[Warren Buffett]]

  • Howard F. Ahmanson Sr. (1906–1968), financier and philanthropist
  • Walter Behlen (1905–1994), founder of the Behlen Manufacturing Company in Columbus, Nebraska
  • Warren Buffett (born 1930), "Oracle of Omaha", investor; Forbes 2008 Richest Man in the World
  • Richard N. Cabela (1936–2014), entrepreneur, founder of Cabela's sporting goods store
  • Paul Endacott, Basketball Hall of Fame inductee (University of Kansas), president of Phillips Petroleum Company
  • Joyce Hall (1891–1982), founder of Hallmark Cards
  • Mary E. Smith Hayward (1842–1938), businesswoman; honorary president of the Nebraska Equal Suffrage Association
  • Andrew Higgins (1886–1952), industrialist and shipbuilder; owner and founder of Higgins Industries; manufacturer of "Higgins boats"
  • Peter Kiewit (1900–1979), contractor, investor, and philanthropist
  • C. Edward McVaney (1940–2020), founder of JD Edwards
  • Zach Nelson (born 1961), CEO of NetSuite (2002–2016)
  • William Norris (1911–2006), pioneering CEO of Control Data Corporation
  • Edwin Perkins (1889–1961), inventor of Kool-Aid; philanthropist
  • Frank Phillips (1873–1950), co-founder of Phillips Petroleum
  • Michael J. Saylor (born 1965), founder and CEO of MicroStrategy
  • Walter Scott Jr. (born 1931), civil engineer and philanthropist
  • Carl A. Swanson (1879–1949), founder of Swanson
  • Evan Williams (born 1972), creator of Blogger; CEO of Twitter

Science and medicine

thumb|right|120px|[[Val Logsdon Fitch|Val Fitch]]

  • Clayton Anderson (born 1959), NASA astronaut assigned to International Space Station Expedition 15
  • Nancy Coover Andreasen, neuroscientist and neuropsychiatrist
  • Barry Barish (born 1936), Nobel Prize in Physics 2017 for discovery of gravity waves
  • Henry Beachell (1906–2006), developer of hybrid rice
  • George Wells Beadle (1903–1989), geneticist, 1958 Nobel Prize winner
  • Charles Edwin Bessey (1845–1915), botanist, responsible for planting of the Nebraska National Forest
  • Leon Douglass (1869–1940), inventor; co–founder of the Victor Talking Machine Company
  • John R. Dunning (1907–1975), physicist, played an instrumental role in the development of the atomic bomb
  • Harold "Doc" Edgerton (1903–1990), professor at MIT, pioneer in stroboscopic photography
  • Rollins A. Emerson (1873–1947), geneticist, pioneer in researching the genetics of maize
  • Val Fitch (1923–2015), nuclear physicist, 1980 Nobel Prize winner
  • Jay Wright Forrester (1918–2016), pioneer of computer engineering
  • Daniel Freeman (1826–1908), homesteader, physician and American Civil War veteran, first person to file for a claim under the Homestead Act of 1862
  • Edmund Jaeger (1887–1983), biologist
  • Jay Keasling (born 1964), synthetic biology pioneer
  • Francis La Flesche (1857–1932), first Native American anthropologist; author
  • Susan La Flesche Picotte (1865–1915), first person to receive federal aid for education; first American Indian woman to become a "western medicine" physician in the United States
  • Max Mathews (1926–2011), wrote first computer music program
  • Victor Mills (1897–1997), chemical engineer, inventor of the modern disposable diaper
  • Donald Othmer (1904–1995), chemical engineer
  • Joel Stebbins (1878–1966), astronomer
  • Ivan Sutherland (born 1938), inventor of the Sketchpad

Sportspeople

;A–M

thumb|right|120px|[[Grover Cleveland Alexander]]

thumb|right|120px|[[Richie Ashburn]]

thumb|right|120px|[[Sam Crawford]]

thumb|right|120px|[[Bob Gibson]]

thumb|right|120px|[[Jordan Larson]]

  • Grover Cleveland Alexander (1887–1950), Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher
  • Houston Alexander (born 1972), mixed martial artist
  • Barry Alvarez (born 1946), Wisconsin Badgers football coach and athletic director
  • Heather Armbrust (born 1977), IFBB professional bodybuilder
  • Richie Ashburn (1927–1997), Baseball Hall of Fame center fielder
  • Max Baer (1909–1959), former heavyweight boxing champion
  • George Baird (1907–2004), 1928 Olympic gold medalist in track and field
  • Brad Beckman (1964–1989), professional football player, 1988–1989
  • Wade Boggs (born 1958), professional baseball player, 1982–1999; 5x American League batting champion
  • Craig Bohl (born 1958), college football coach
  • Steve Borden "Sting" (born 1959), professional wrestler for CWA, UWF, NWA, WCW, WWA, TNA, and WWE
  • Bob Boozer (1937–2012), NBA All-Star (1968) and Olympian (Rome, 1960)
  • Buddy Carlyle (born 1977), professional baseball pitcher from Omaha who played for the MLB, KBO and NPB
  • Dan Carpenter (born 1985), placekicker for the Buffalo Bills
  • Bob Cerv (1926–2017), professional baseball player, 1951–1962
  • Joba Chamberlain (born 1985), professional baseball pitcher for the Detroit Tigers
  • Jeromey Clary (born 1983), offensive tackle for the San Diego Chargers
  • Sam Crawford (1880–1968), Baseball Hall of Fame, 2x Home run champion (1901, 1908), and 3x AL RBI champion (1910, 1914, 1915)
  • Terence Crawford (born 1987), undisputed welterweight champion
  • Gene Cronin (born 1933), lineman for 1957 NFL champion Detroit Lions
  • Eric Crouch (born 1978), football quarterback, 2001 Heisman Trophy winner
  • Brian Deegan (born 1975), motocross racer
  • Bob Devaney (1915–1997), football coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers
  • Ted "The Million Dollar Man" DiBiase (born 1954), professional wrestler
  • Jake Diekman (born 1987), relief pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks
  • Brian Duensing (born 1983), relief pitcher for the Minnesota Twins
  • Jake Ellenberger (born 1985), UFC fighter
  • David Erb (1923–2019), jockey, winner of 1956 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes
  • Chad Fleischer (born 1972), Alpine skier who competed in the 1994 and 1998 Winter Olympics
  • Rulon Gardner (born 1971), Olympic gold medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling
  • Bob Gibson (1935–2020), Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals
  • Johnny Goodman (1909–1970), last amateur golfer to win U.S. Open
  • Alex Gordon (born 1984), left fielder for the Kansas City Royals
  • Ahman Green (born 1977), football player for the Seattle Seahawks, Green Bay Packers, and Houston Texans
  • Ira Hanford (1918–2009), jockey
  • Ron Hansen (born 1938), professional baseball player for six MLB teams
  • Mel Harder (1909–2002), pitcher and manager for the Cleveland Indians
  • Alex Henery (born 1987), placekicker for the Philadelphia Eagles
  • Opal Hill (1892–1981), golfer and LPGA co-founder
  • Russ Hochstein (born 1977), guard for the Denver Broncos
  • Jeremy Horn (born 1975), mixed martial arts fighter in the Ultimate Fighting Championship
  • Chris Kelsay (born 1979), outside linebacker for the Buffalo Bills
  • Lane Kiffin (born 1975), football coach
  • Monte Kiffin (born 1940), football coach
  • Bill Kinnamon (1919–2011), MLB umpire
  • Oliver Kirk (1884–1960), bantamweight and featherweight professional boxer
  • Sam Koch (born 1982), punter for Baltimore Ravens
  • Jordan Larson (born 1986), volleyball player, Olympic gold medalist
  • Manny Lawson (born 1984), outside linebacker for the Buffalo Bills
  • Frank Leahy (1908–1973), football player, coach, and College Football Hall of Famer
  • Maggie Malone-Hardin (born 1993), javelin thrower
  • Sean McDermott (born 1974), Head Coach for the Buffalo Bills
  • Zach Miller (born 1984), tight end for the Jacksonville Jaguars
  • Clarence Mitchell (1891–1963), professional baseball pitcher
  • Carol Moseke (born 1945), discus thrower
  • Darrell Mudra (born 1929), college football coach

;N–Z

thumb|right|120px|[[Gale Sayers]]

thumb|right|120px|[[Danny Woodhead]]

  • Gregg Olson (born 1966), MLB pitcher, 1989 Rookie of the Year
  • Jed Ortmeyer (born 1978), professional hockey player for the Minnesota Wild
  • Tom Osborne (born 1937), former football coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers
  • Justin Patton (born 1997), basketball player for Hapoel Eilat of the Israeli Basketball Premier League, formerly in the NBA
  • Zach Potter (born 1986), tight end for the Jacksonville Jaguars
  • Ron Prince (born 1969), assistant offensive line coach for the Indianapolis Colts
  • James Raschke (born 1940), professional wrestler
  • Dave Rimington (born 1960), NFL offensive lineman, two-time Outland Trophy winner
  • Andy Roddick (born 1982), tennis star
  • Johnny Rodgers (born 1951), football running back, 1972 Heisman Trophy winner
  • Lisa Rohde (born 1955), Olympic rower
  • Gale Sayers (1943–2020), Pro Football Hall of Fame running back for the Chicago Bears
  • Scott Shanle (born 1979), outside linebacker for the New Orleans Saints
  • Billy Southworth (1893–1969), manager of two World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals teams
  • George Stone (1876–1945), Major League Baseball left fielder; 1906 American League batting champion
  • Khyri Thomas (born 1996), basketball player for Maccabi Tel Aviv of the Israeli Basketball Premier League and the EuroLeague
  • Curtis Tomasevicz (born 1980), 2006 U.S. Olympic bobsledder and former Nebraska Cornhuskers football player
  • Jack Van Berg (1936–2017), Hall of Fame thoroughbred trainer
  • Brad Vering (born 1977), Olympic Greco-Roman wrestler in 2004 and 2008
  • "Gorgeous George" Wagner (1915–1963), professional wrestler
  • Xavier Watts (born 2001) NFL Safety, Ex-Omaha Burke Grad, Ex-Notre Dame football player
  • Dan Warthen (born 1952), former MLB pitcher and current pitching coach for the Texas Rangers
  • Danny Woodhead (born 1983), running back for the San Diego Chargers, attended Chadron State College
  • Jerry Zimmerman (1934–1998), MLB catcher for the Minnesota Twins
  • Greg Zuerlein (born 1987), placekicker for the St. Louis Rams

Fictional characters

  • "Clara Allen", who owns a ranch near Ogallala, in the miniseries Lonesome Dove, played by Anjelica Huston
  • "Ryan Bingham", the Omaha-based principal character from the film Up in the Air, played by George Clooney
  • "Tracy Flick" (Reese Witherspoon) and "Jim McAllister" (Matthew Broderick), student and teacher in Omaha suburb from Election
  • "Emma Greenway", a woman living in Kearney and hospitalized in Lincoln from the film Terms of Endearment, played by Debra Winger
  • "Whitey Marsh" (Mickey Rooney) and other characters in the Omaha-set 1938 film Boys Town, based on a true story
  • "Will McAvoy", anchor of the fictional Newsnight with Will McAvoy, HBO's The Newsroom; portrayed by Jeff Daniels
  • "Penny" from The Big Bang Theory television sitcom, played by actress Kaley Cuoco
  • "Brock Samson", an OSI agent born in Omaha, on the Adult Swim show The Venture Bros.
  • "Warren Schmidt", an insurance agent from Omaha in the film About Schmidt, played by Jack Nicholson
  • "Kim Wexler", a lawyer in the television drama Better Call Saul, played by Rhea Seehorn
  • Members of the Strategic Air Command based in Omaha in the 1964 film Fail-Safe

Other

thumb|right|120px|[[Malcolm X]]

  • Edith Abbott (1876–1957), economist, social worker, educator, and author
  • Grace Abbott (1878–1939), social worker and child welfare reformer
  • Walter Brueggemann (born 1933), Protestant Old Testament scholar and theologian
  • Frank W. Cyr (1900–1995), educator, author, and "father of the yellow school bus"
  • Clayton Danks (1879–1970), inspiration of the cowboy on the Wyoming trademark, Bucking Horse and Rider, with the gelding horse Steamboat; born in O'Neill in Holt County, Nebraska
  • William Eugene Galbraith (1926–2012), businessman and national commander of The American Legion (1967–68)
  • Merle Elwin Hansen (1919–2009), farmer and conservationist
  • Carmelita Hinton (1890–1983), progressive educator
  • John L. Loos (1918–2011), historian of the Lewis and Clark Expedition
  • Malcolm X (1925–1965), civil rights leader
  • Roscoe Pound (1870–1964), botanist, lawyer, and law professor and theorist
  • Carrie B. Raymond (1857–1927), choral director, University of Nebraska chorus
  • Teresa Scanlan (born 1993), Miss America 2011
  • Charles Starkweather (1938–1959), spree killer who murdered 11 victims
  • Brandon Teena (1972–1993), trans man whose murder was the basis of the movie Boys Don't Cry
  • Virginia Lamp Thomas (born 1957), consultant for The Heritage Foundation; wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas
  • Robert B. Wilson (born 1937), economist
  • Caroline M. Clark Woodward (1840–1924), temperance activist

See also

  • Lists of Americans
  • List of Nebraska state senators
  • List of Nebraska suffragists
  • Who's Who in Nebraska

References

  • "700 Famous Nebraskans"