This is a list of notable people who were born or lived in Kansas City, Missouri.
- Aaron D. Yates -Tech N9Ne - Rapper
- Bud Abell â" linebacker in the American Football League; born in Kansas City
- Oleta Adams â" singer
- Amy Alcott â" professional golfer; born in Kansas City
- M.A. Alford â" multimedia artist
- Henry Wilson Allen â" Western author and screenwriter
- Robert Altman â" film director
- Raleigh DeGeer Amyx â" collector of Olympic and Presidential memorabilia
- Stewart Ashby, Jr. â" rapper
- Edward Asner â" actor, born in Kansas City
- Ashley Aull â" 2006 Miss Kansas USA
- Burt Bacharach â" pianist and composer
- Parrish Baker â" cartoonist
- Joy Bang - actress born in Kansas City.
- Kay Barnes â" mayor of Kansas City 1999â"2007
- H. Roe Bartle â" mayor of Kansas City and namesake of Kansas City Chiefs
- Count Basie â" jazz musician and bandleader
- Noah Beery â" actor
- Wallace Beery â" Oscar-winning actor
- Thomas Hart Benton â" artist
- Richard L. Berkley â" politician, former mayor
- Ken Berry â" baseball player
- Danni Boatwright â" Survivor: Guatemala winner; Miss Kansas
- Johnny Yong Bosch â" actor, martial artist, voice actor, and musician
- Connee Boswell - singer
- Diane Brewster â" actress
- Walter Brown â" blues musician
- Sylvia Browne â" psychic and medium
- Melvin Calhoun â" rapper
- Danny Carey â" drummer for rock band TOOL
- John D. Carmack â" game programmer
- Joe Carter â" baseball player with Cleveland Indians and Toronto Blue Jays, lives in the city
- Don Cheadle â" actor, Hotel Rwanda, Ocean's Eleven, Crash
- Anthony Civella â" mobster
- Emanuel Cleaver â" politician, U.S. Representative for Fifth District in Missouri
- Gene Clark â" singer/songwriter with The Byrds
- Jonathan Coachman â" ESPN sportscaster, wrestling commentator, college basketball player
- Jennifer Jo Cobb â" NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver
- Robert Coldsnow â" Kansas legislator and lawyer
- Evan S. Connell â" author
- Chris Cooper â" Oscar-winning actor
- John Coughlin â" figure skater, 2011 U.S. pairs champion
- Joan Crawford â" Oscar-winning actress
- Walter Cronkite â" CBS television journalist, news anchor
- Marcus Denmon â" NBA player
- Bob Dernier â" MLB outfielder
- Walt Disney â" film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, and animator
- James T. Draper, Jr. â" president of Southern Baptist Convention 1982-1984; pastor of Red Bridge Baptist Church in Kansas City 1965-1970
- Carol Duboc â" singer, composer, arranger, and actress
- Amelia Earhart â" iconic aviator
- James E. Edmondson â" Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice
- Melissa Etheridge â" singer
- Harris Faulkner â" newscaster
- Samantha Fish â" Musician
- Scott Foley â" actor
- Lisa Forbes â" Miss Kansas and Miss Earth USA 2007
- William P. Foster â" band director
- Thomas Frank â" writer, editor
- Josh Freeman â" NFL quarterback
- Matt Freije â" NBA player
- Friz Freleng â" film producer, director, animator, and cartoonist
- Caroline Glaser â" The Voice contestant
- Maurice Greene â" sprinter, gold-medalist Olympian in track and field
- Masten Gregory â" auto racing
- Eddie Griffin â" comedian and actor, Deuce Bigalow, Undercover Brother
- Karolyn Grimes â" actress, Zu-Zu in the Frank Capra classic It's a Wonderful Life, lived in town for many years
- Donald J. Hall, Sr. â" businessman
- Joyce Hall â" businessman, founder of Hallmark Cards
- Leon Harden â" football player for Green Bay Packers
- Jean Harlow â" actress
- Jessica Harp â" country music singer-songwriter, former member of The Wreckers with Michelle Branch
- Thomas Hayward â" leading tenor of Metropolitan Opera
- Robert A. Heinlein â" science fiction author; his stories are frequently set in or reference Kansas City
- Ernest Hemingway â" iconic novelist and short story author
- Shauntay Henderson â" FBI Ten Most Wanted fugitive, convicted criminal
- Paul Henning â" writer, producer of The Beverly Hillbillies TV series
- Opal Hill â" golfer and LPGA co-founder
- Jerry Hines â" Emmy Award-winning photographer, voted cutest baby of Kansas City 1975
- Ralph F. Hirschmann (1922â"2009) â" biochemist who led synthesis of first enzyme
- Mabel Hite â" vaudeville and musical comedy performer, father worked at Owl Drug Store
- Bob Holden â" 53rd Governor of Missouri*Dorothy B. Hughes - novelist
- Jane Dee Hull - 20th Governor of Arizona
- Jim Humphreys â" prominent Texas rancher
- Ub Iwerks â" animator and cartoonist
- Pete Johnson â" blues and jazz pianist
- Elaine Joyce â" actress
- Tim Kaine â" former Governor and current U.S. Senator from Virginia; 2016 Democratic nominee for Vice president under Hillary Clinton
- John Kander â" composer
- Ewing Kauffman â" pharmaceutical magnate, philanthropist, and Major League Baseball owner
- Ellie Kemper â" actress, The Office, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
- Vern Kennedy â" baseball pitcher
- Bill Kenney â" politician, ex-Chiefs player
- Edward Kerr â" actor, Above Suspicion, Confessions of a Sexist Pig, The Astronaut's Wife
- Craig Kilborn â" actor, sportscaster, talk show host
- Philip Klutznick â" U.S. Secretary of Commerce to President Jimmy Carter
- Evalyn Knapp â" actress
- Krizz Kaliko (born Samuel Watson, Jr.) â" rapper
- Sarah Lancaster â" actress
- Frank Sherman Land â" Freemason and founder of Order of DeMolay, international organization for young men
- Barbara Lawrence â" actress
- William Least Heat-Moon â" author
- Muna Lee â" three-time track and field Olympic finalist
- Jeff Leiding â" football player
- Lesa Lewis â" IFBB professional bodybuilder
- Ryan Lilja â" NFL player for Indianapolis Colts and Kansas City Chiefs, Shawnee Mission Northwest High School graduate
- Tyronn Lue â" NBA player and current head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Raytown Senior High School
- Betty Lynn - actress best known for playing Thelma Lou on The Andy Griffith Show
- Bill Maas â" NFL player
- Arthur Mag â" lawyer, legal counsel to Harry S. Truman
- Sean Malto â" professional skateboarder
- Amanda Marsh â" first winner of The Bachelor
- Eminem (real name Marshall Mathers) â" rapper and actor
- Denny Matthews â" sportscaster, author
- John Mayberry, Jr. â" baseball outfielder with Philadelphia Phillies
- Claire McCaskill â" politician and senator
- Edie McClurg â" actress
- Courtney McCool â" athlete and Olympian
- Glenn McGee â" bioethicist and philosopher
- Phil McGraw â" psychologist and talk show host, lived in the area as a teen
- Katherine McNamara - actress on the TV Show, Shadowhunters on Freeform as Clary Fray
- Jay McShann â" blues musician
- Pat Metheny â" jazz guitarist
- Frederick H. Michaelis â" U.S. Navy Admiral
- Janelle Monáe â" singer
- Wendy Moniz â" actress
- Julia Montgomery â" actress in Revenge of the Nerds and One Life to Live
- Dennis Moore â" Congressman, politician
- Logan Morrison â" baseball player
- Paul Morrison â" politician
- Tommy Morrison â" heavyweight boxer
- Bennie Moten â" pianist, bandleader
- Mancow Muller â" radio personality
- Richard B. Myers â" U.S. Air Force General and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
- Jesse Clyde Nichols â" developer of commercial and residential real estate
- William F. Nolan â" author
- Satchel Paige â" baseball pitcher
- Charlie Parker â" jazz saxophonist and composer
- Gordon Parks â" screenwriter, director, actor, photographer
- Jamie Paulin-Ramirez â" American Muslim convert arrested in Jihad Jane plot to kill a Danish artist
- Rodney Peete â" NFL quarterback, Fox Sports TV host
- Tom Pendergast - political boss
- Tom Pernice, Jr. â" professional golfer
- Darrell Porter â" professional baseball player, author
- Joe Posnanski â" sports writer, author
- William Powell â" actor
- Joe Randa â" baseball player
- Rob Riggle â" actor and comedian
- Bullet Rogan â" baseball player
- Ginger Rogers â" dancer, Academy Award-winning actress, Broadway performer
- Paul Rudd â" actor, Ant Man, The 40 Year-Old Virgin, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
- Karl L. Rundberg (1899â"1969) â" Los Angeles City Council member
- Brandon Rush â" NBA player
- Kareem Rush â" NBA player
- Pierre Russell â" basketball player
- Ray Sadecki â" Major League Baseball pitcher
- Lori Saunders â" actress, Petticoat Junction
- Rachel Saunders â" 2005 Miss Kansas USA
- Melana Scantlin â" Miss Missouri USA and Average Joe star, co-host of World Series of Blackjack
- Wes Scantlin â" lead singer and rhythm guitarist of rock band Puddle of Mudd, cousin of Melana Scantlin
- Ted Shawn â" modern dance pioneer
- Columbus Short â" choreographer, actor, singer
- Sam Simmons â" former NFL and Arena Football League player
- Crystal Smith â" model
- Jack Sock â" professional tennis player
- Alberto Sordi - Italian actor (Honorary citizen)
- Kate Spade â" fashion designer
- Alexis Spight â" gospel musician
- Darren Sproles- NFL running back
- Casey Stengel â" baseball player and Hall of Fame manager
- Eric Stonestreet â" actor, Modern Family
- George Strohmeyer â" football player
- Darrell Stuckey â" NFL player with the San Diego Chargers
- Jason Sudeikis â" actor, Saturday Night Live
- Justin Swift â" football player with NFL's Detroit Lions
- Myra Taylor â" blues singer, solo career and member of The Wild Women of Kansas
- Bobb'e J. Thompson â" child actor
- Virgil Thomson â" Pulitzer Prize-winning composer
- Calvin Trillin â" food writer, journalist, humorist
- Marion A. Trozzolo â" businessman, River Quay
- Harry S. Truman â" 33rd President of the United States (from Independence, Missouri)
- Lisa Tucker â" writer
- Big Joe Turner â" blues singer
- Henry Clay Van Noy â" owner of Van Noy Railway News and Hotel Company (today known as HMSHost)
- Grace VanderWaal â" singer-songwriter, ukuleleist, and season 11 winner of NBC's America's Got Talent
- Janie Wagstaff â" 1992 olympic swimmer
- Dee Wallace â" actress, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
- Earl Watson â" basketball player
- Orla Watson â" inventor
- Tom Watson â" professional golfer, twice Masters champion, five-time British Open winner, World Golf Hall of Fame
- Ben Webster â" jazz saxophonist
- Jason Whitlock â" sports journalist
- Charles Wheeler â" Kansas City Mayor
- Frank White â" professional baseball player
- Dianne Wiest â" two-time Oscar-winning actress
- Chuck Wild â" recording artist, songwriter and composer
- Jason Wiles â" actor, played Maurice 'Bosco' Boscorelli in TV series Third Watch
- Barry Winchell â" Private First Class, murdered by a fellow soldier for his sexual orientation
- Smoky Joe Wood â" a.k.a. The Kansas Cyclone; professional baseball player for Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians
- Doug Worgul â" journalist and author of the novel Thin Blue Smoke
- Chely Wright â" country music singer
- Katie Wright â" actress married to Hank Azaria
- Jack Wyatt â" host of ABC's Confession (1958â"1959); Episcopalian priest
- Sophia Dominguez-Heithoff â" model and Miss Teen USA 2017
- Vanessa Jo Merrell- Youtuber, Singer, Model, Actress, Songwriter,
- Veronica Jo Merrell- Youtuber, Singer, Model, Actress, Songwriter
See also
- List of people from Missouri