The following notable people are from or have been associated with Appleton, Wisconsin.
Artists and performers
- Judah Bauer, guitarist
- Willem Dafoe, actor
- Theodore Hardeen, magician
- Harry Houdini, illusionist and stunt performer
- Lynn Kellogg, singer
- Steven Krueger, actor
- Maury Laws, composer
- Jeff Loomis, guitarist
- Michael Patrick McGill, actor
- Roy Purdy, rapper
- Brenda Rae, operatic soprano
- Mark Stewart, musician
- Mary Ann Wells, dancer and ballet dance teacher
- Terry Zwigoff, filmmaker
Athletes and sports personnel
- Esmir Bajraktarevic, MLS player
- Myrt Basing, NFL player
- Rocky Bleier, NFL player, four-time Super Bowl Champion
- Brian Butch, NBA player
- Mark Catlin Sr., football coach
- Clarence Currie, MLB player
- Christopher DeMarco, basketball coach
- Matt Erickson, MLB, Manager Wisconsin Timber Rattlers
- Royal T. Farrand, physician and college football player
- Sarah Hagen, NWSL player
- J. P. Hayes, PGA golfer
- Joe Hietpas, baseball player
- George Hogreiver, MLB player
- Danny Jansen, MLB player
- Roger Jenkins, hockey player
- Erik Jensen, NFL player
- Swede Johnston, NFL player
- Ross Kenseth, America Stock car racing driver
- Cole Konrad, first-ever Bellator Heavyweight Champion
- Ron Kostelnik, football player
- Tony Kubek, World Series champion baseball player and Hall of Fame broadcaster
- Stu Locklin, baseball and educator
- Garrett Lowney, Olympic medalist
- Jack Mead, NFL player
- Chester J. Roberts, head coach of the Miami RedHawks football and men's basketball teams
- Paul Schommer, Olympic biathlete
- Don Werner, MLB player
- Silas Young, professional wrestler
Authors and journalists
- Mary Agria, author
- Gary Arndt, travel photographer and writer
- Edna Ferber, author
- Alfred Galpin, correspondent of H. P. Lovecraft
- Henry Golde, author and Holocaust survivor
- William Norman Grigg, author
- Walter Havighurst, author
- Gladys Taber, author
- Greta Van Susteren, journalist, Newsmax television anchor
Businesspeople
- William Beverly Murphy, ex-president of Campbell Soup Company
- Brad Smith, president and chief legal officer at Microsoft
- Travis VanderZanden, founder of Bird Rides
- Walter B. Wriston, banker
Military personnel
- John Bradley, Iwo Jima Navy flag-raiser
- Zuhdi Jasser, doctor, former lieutenant commander in the United States Navy
- John S. Mills, U.S. Air Force major general
- Erik M. Ross, U.S. Navy rear admiral
- William J. Van Ryzin, U.S. Marine Corps lieutenant general
Politicians
- George Baldwin, politician and businessman
- Clinton B. Ballard, Wisconsin State Representative
- Mark Catlin Jr., speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly
- William F. Cirkel, Wisconsin politician and businessman
- Bob Corbin, former member of the Ohio House of Representatives
- Lorenzo E. Darling, Wisconsin State Representative
- Catherine Ebert-Gray, U.S. diplomat
- Harold Froehlich, U.S. Representative and Outagamie County Circuit Judge
- Charles J. Hagen, Wisconsin State Representative
- David Hammel, Wisconsin State Representative
- Leopold Hammel, Wisconsin State Representative
- William E. Hoehle, Wisconsin State Representative
- Steve Kagen, U.S. Congressman
- David M. Kelly, Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly and a Wisconsin State Senator
- William Kennedy, Wisconsin State Senator
- George Kreiss, Wisconsin politician
- August W. Laabs, Wisconsin State Representative
- John F. Lappen, Wisconsin State Senator
- James Lennon, Wisconsin State Representative
- James E. Lyons, Wisconsin State Representative
- Sue R. Magnuson, Wisconsin State Representative
- David Martin, Wisconsin State Representative
- Joseph McCarthy, U.S. Senator
- C. E. McIntosh, Wisconsin State Representative
- Talbot Peterson, Republican Party of Wisconsin chairman
- David Prosser Jr., Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice
- William J. Rogers, Wisconsin State Representative
- Sue Rohan, Wisconsin State Representative
- James Ryan, Wisconsin politician
- Samuel Ryan Jr., Wisconsin State Representative
- Oscar J. Schmiege, Wisconsin State Representative and jurist
- George J. Schneider, U.S. Representative
- Charles M. Schrimpf, Wisconsin State Representative
- David Schutter, criminal defense attorney
- Henry Clay Sloan, Wisconsin State Representative
- Perry H. Smith, Wisconsin politician
- John Tracy, Wisconsin State Representative
- William Smith Warner, Wisconsin State Representative
- Alexander B. Whitman, Wisconsin State Senator
- Jerry L. Wing, Wisconsin State Representative
- Bernard C. Wolter, Wisconsin State Representative
Other
- Stephanie Chasteen (1972–2024), physics education researcher and science communicator
- Anthony Czarnik, chemist and inventor
- Emanuel Gerechter, rabbi and professor
- August Knuppel, mason and contractor
- Ann McKee, neuropathologist specializing in traumatic brain injuries
- John Benjamin Murphy, surgeon
- Larry Rosebaugh, Roman Catholic priest
- James Zwerg, civil rights activist
References
- ^ "General Facts about Appleton, WI". Lawrence University. Archived from the original on November 26, 2010. Retrieved November 24, 2010.
- "Brad Smith". news.microsoft.com. Microsoft. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
Smith grew up in Appleton, Wisconsin
- "How Bird scooters CEO Travis VanderZanden went from Appleton to the head of a company valued at $2 billion". www.postcrescent.com. Retrieved September 22, 2021.(subscription required)
- 'Wisconsin Blue Book 1885,' Biographical Sketch of William Fredeick Cirkel, pg. 437-438
- Wisconsin Blue Book 1893, p. 671.
- Kampfer, Donald (August 16, 1981). "Schuetter is real". archived.