OAK PARK & RIVER FOREST
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More than 300 former and present citzens have shaped American culture in the 20th Century, including some very surprising well-known names and inventions.
Many of the people below have been honored by OPRF High School with the |
Jim Ameche |
Movie Actor; The "All American Boy" on radio | |
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Beverly Archer |
b. 7/19/1948 | Movie & TV Actress. |
Richard C. Atkinson |
b. 1929 | Scientist; Member National Academy of Sciences. |
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John G. Avildsen |
b. 12/21/1935 | Movie Director, Editor, Producer. |
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Richard D. Bach |
b. 1936 | Writer of Jonathan Livingston Seagull |
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Philander Barclay |
b. 1878 d. 7/7/1940 |
Oak Park Photographer & Historian |
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William Bishop |
b. 7/16/1918 d. 10/3/1959 |
Movie & TV, Stage, & Radio Actor |
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Edgar R. Burroughs |
Writer; Creator of "Tarzan" Series | |
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Dawson Butler |
b. 11/16/1916 d. 5/18/1988 |
Voices of Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound and more! |
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Dale Calandra |
Director & Playwright | |
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Ed Carrol |
Baroque Trumpet Soloist | |
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Dan Castellaneta |
b. 1958 | Movie Actor; Voice of Homer Simpson |
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Anna Chlumsky |
b. 12/3/1980 | Movie & TV Actress. |
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Staats Cotsworth |
b. 2/17/1908 d. 4/9/1979 |
Movie & TV Actor. |
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Bruce Davidson |
b. 1933 | One of America's most respected and influential documentary photographers. |
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James Dewar |
b. 2/5/1897 | Created the Twinkie! |
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Donald Duncan |
Invented the parking meter | |
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Shawn Edmonds |
Trumpet Player | |
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Kenneth Fearing |
b. 7/28/1902 d. 6/26/1968 |
Movie Writer. |
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Robert Follett |
Publisher, Founder Follets Bookstores. | |
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Carl Grapentine |
WFMT Radio Host, OPRF Symphony Host. | |
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Father Andrew Greeley |
Catholic Priest, Sociologist and Writer | |
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Sean Grennan |
Movie Actor; Director & Playwright | |
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Kathy Griffin |
b. 11/6/19?? | Movie Actress. |
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Walter Burley Griffin |
Architect; designed plan for city of Canberra, Austrailia | |
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George Halas |
Coach of Chicago Bears | |
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Howard Hamilton |
Medical Science; National Academy of Science. | |
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Jane Hamilton |
Writer. | |
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Paul Harvey |
Radio Commentator (a 20 year resident of River Forest.) | |
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Julie Haydon |
b. 6/10/1910 d. 12/24/1994 |
Movie Actress. |
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Maj. Gen. Michael Healy |
The real Colonel Mike of The Green Berets | |
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Ernest Hemingway |
b. 7/21/1899 d. 7/2/1961 |
Writer; Movie Actor; Nobel Prize in Literature 1954 |
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Doris Humphrey |
Co-Founder of Modern Dance | |
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Charles Johnson |
Playwright. | |
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Percy Lavon Julian |
b. 4/11/1899 d. 4/19/1975 |
Research Chemist, Teacher and Humanitarian. |
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Jerry Kenilli |
Invented the "Mars Light" on top of police cars. | |
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Dr. Joseph Kerwin |
b. 2/19/1932 | Skylab Astronaut. |
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Tom Kirk |
b. 4/1/1947 | Movie Actor, in "Downhill Racer" |
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Nick Kitsos |
Drummer for BoDean's | |
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Ray Kroc |
Founder of McDonald's | |
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Robert Kubicek |
Founder of TV Forecast, precursor to TV Guide. | |
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John La Montaine |
Composer; Pulitzer Prize for Music, 1959. | |
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Felicity LaFortune |
b. 12/15/19?? | Movie & TV Actress. |
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Tom Lennon |
Comedian & Actor. | |
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John MacArthur |
MacArthur Foundation. | |
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George W. Maher |
b. 12/25/1864 d. 9/12/1926 |
Prairie School Architect. |
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John Mahoney |
TV & Movie Actor. | |
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Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio |
b. 11/17/1958 | Movie Actress. |
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Paul Mertons |
Saxophonist | |
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Herbert Mills |
Inventor of the slot machine | |
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Lois Nettleton |
b. 8/6/1929 | Movie & TV Actress. |
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Bob Newhart |
b. 9/5/1929 | Comedian; Movie & TV Actor. |
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Thomas Perry |
The first helicopter flew in his back yard in Oak Park | |
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Lewis R. Pope |
d. 1998 | Outstanding Business Leader |
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Luther Repogle |
Manufacturer of the Repogle Globes | |
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Carl Rogers |
b. 1/8/1902 d. 2/4/1987 |
Founder of Client-Centered Therapy |
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J. Robert Schrieffer |
b. 5/31/1931 | Nobel Prize in Physics 1972 |
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Richard Sears |
b. 1863 d. 1913 |
Co-founder of Sears Roebuck & Co. |
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Carol Shields |
b. 1935 | Writer; Movie Writer. |
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Charles Simic |
b. 5/9/1938 | Poet. |
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Anna Strong |
Wrote a chapter of Mao Tse-Tung's "Little Red Book" | |
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John Sturges |
b. 1/3/1911 d. 1992 |
Movie Director, Producer, Editor. |
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Keith Szarabajka |
b. 12/2/1952 | Movie & TV Actor. |
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Dorothy Thompson |
Famed political writer in 1930's and 40's | |
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Grace Wilbur Trout |
Celebrated OP suffragette, 1903 to 1921 | |
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Marjorie Judith Vincent |
Miss America 1991 | |
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Betty White |
b. 1/17/1922 | Movie & TV Actress; Golden Girl; and early pioneer of TV |
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Frank Lloyd Wright |
b. 6/8/1867 d. 4/9/1959 |
Founder of Prairie School of Architecture |
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John Lloyd Wright |
Invented Lincoln Logs with Donald Duncan | |
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Bob Zuppke |
Invented the huddle and screen pass |
Know of someone missing from this list? Or information or a web URL that should be added?
Send email to celebrated@oprf.com and we'll add them.
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URL for this page: http://www.oprf.com/history/celebrated.html Comments to opt@oprf.com. -- Updated September 16, 2000 Copyright © 1996-2000 Steven Hurder, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED |