Famous Coloradoans

Literature
Entertainment & Theatre
Artists
Musicians
Athletics
Politics

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Literature

Thomas Hornsby Ferril - Poet Laureate of Colorado, winner of Robert Frost Poetry Award, and friend of Carl Sandberg.

Eugene Field - Poet and Journalist known for his work in childrençs literature, wrote such poems as Little Boy Blue and Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.

Allen Ginsberg - Beat Poet, author of Howl and Kaddish, co-founder of the Naropa Instituteçs Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics in Boulder in 1969.

Horace Greeley - Publisher & Editor of the New York Tribune. Organized Utopian Union Colony at Greeley in 1869.

Helen Hunt Jackson - A resident of Colorado Springs in the late 1800s, she wrote about the relationship between Coloradans and the Native Indian Tribes, in such books as A Century of Dishonor and Ramona.

James Michener - Author of Centennial, a 1,000 plus page novel about Colorado History. Worked as a professor at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley where his archives are presently held.

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Entertainment & Theatre (Back to Top)

Mary Coyle Case - Playwright who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1945 for her play Harvey, which was later made into a major motion picture starring James Stewart.

Alonzo "Lon" Chaney - Famous silent screen actor known for his work in early horror movies, best remembered for his work in the Hunchback of Notre Dane and Phantom of the Opera.

Don Cheadle - Award winning actor in such films as Hamburger Hill (1987) and Devil in a Blue Dress (1995). A graduate of East High School in Denver.

Douglas Fairbanks - Famous silent screen star cast as the hero in classics, such as the Thief of Bagdad, Robin Hood, and Three Musketeers.

Harold Lloyd - Remembered as one of the world's greatest silent screen comedians.

Hattie McDaniel - First African American to win the Academy Award for her role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind.

Antoinette Perry - Namesake of the Tony Award for excellence in theater, Director and President of Experimental Theatre, Chairperson of American Theater Wing, and actress.

Cleo Parker Robinson - Founder of the internationally renowned Cleo Parker Robinson Modern Dance Ensemble, and Project Self-Discovery. Her honors include a position on the National Council on the Arts.

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Artists (Back to Top)

Robert Adams - Photographer of the western landscape, using the images to express the relationship between the environments and humans. Has received two John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowships, and the McArthur Foundation's "genius" Grant.

Eppie Archuleta - Leader of the resurgence of the Hispanic blanket weaving tradition in the San Luis Valley. Her honors include a National Heritage Fellowship, and a contribution to permanent display in the Smithsonian Institute.

Berke Breathed - Creator of the satirical comic strips Bloom County and Outlands.

George Elbert Burr - Famous etcher. His western themed work is in the permanent collections of many of the nation's largest museums.

William Henry Jackson - Created one of the largest and most expansive western photographic collections in the world. He opened his own private photo gallery in 1879, and is remembered as one of Colorado's greatest photographers.

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Musicians (Back to Top) 

Antonia Brico - The first woman to be admitted into the prestigious Berlin Academy as a symphony director she was. Founded the Womençs Orchestra of New York and Denver Businessman's Orchestra, and conducted the Brico Symphony from 1947 until 1989.

Judy Collins - Internationally known folk singer and anti-war advocate during the Vietnam War.

John Denver - Nationally known folk and pop musician. Wrote numerous songs about the western lifestyle, including Rocky Mountain High, his most famous song.

Glenn Miller - One of the preeminent "Big Band" swing orchestra conductors, producing such hits as Moonlight Serenade, In the Mood, and Chattanooga Choo-Choo. At the time of his death, one fifth of all music played on jukeboxes were Glenn Miller creations.

Paul Whiteman - Considered the "King of Jazz", Whiteman became one of the first nationally broadcast jazz musicians, and was recognized for his fusion of jazz and classical in hits. After founding the Whiteman Award competition, he was made music director of the NBS's Blues Network (now referred to as ABC).

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Athletics (Back to Top) 

Jack Dempsey - Starting his career as the "Manassa Mauler", he became the World Heavyweight Boxing Champion from 1910 to 1926.

Babe Didriksen Zaharias - Broke four golf records in the 1932 Olympics. In 1947 she was the first American to win the British Womençs Golf Championship.

John Elway - Denver Broncos quarterback from 1984 to 1999. Known for his last-minute, game-winning scoring drives Elway led the Broncos to back-to-back wins in Super Bowl XXXII and XXXIII. Elway was also the 1987 NFL MVP, a four-time Pro Bowl selection, and one of only two quarterbacks in National Football League history to throw for over 3,000 yards in 12 seasons.

Alex English - A Denver Nugget, who became the leading scorer of the National Basketball Association, and played in the NBA All-star games several times.

Ace Gruening - Considered one of the greatest basketball players of all time. He was chosen for the All American Basketball Team ten out of eleven years.

Amy Van Dyken - First American woman to win four gold medals in a single Olympics in 1996.

Wallace Werner - One of the greatest skiers of all time, he won the Grand Prix, Holemkollen, Lauberhorn, Criterium, Roch Cup, Harriman Cup, and received the National Ski Hall of Fame Athlete of the Year Award. In 1962 was the first American to win a major European ski event, Austriaçs Hahnenhamm.

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Politics (Back to Top) 

Wayne Aspinall - Colorado Congressional Representative for 24 years, and Chairman of the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee for 14 years. One of his most important pieces of legislation was the Colorado River Storage Project Act, providing many reservoir and dam projects after World War II.

Casimo Barela - A highly respected legislator whose career in the State Senate spanned 25 continuous years. Casimo Barela was a member of Coloradoçs Constitutional Convention of 1875, and was instrumental in the bi-lingual printing of Colorado laws.

Benjamin Lindsey - Pioneer of the Juvenile Court System, and child welfare advocate. He served as a Denver Judge from 1900 to 1927 promoting controversial views, such as juvenile rehabilitation, and sex education. In the 1920çs he was nearly disbarred by the Ku Klux Klan political machine for speaking against their organization.

Chief Ouray - Chief of the Uncompahgre Tribe of the Ute Nation. Visited with President Ulysses Grant, and in 1868 signed over the tribes' ancestral claims to the San Luis Valley in order to prevent further encroachment onto Indian lands in the San Juans. The infamous Meeker Massacre in Rio Blanco County was the result of the animosity that developed between the Utes and the encroaching white settlers. President Rutherford B. Hayes described him as the "most intelligent man I've ever conversed with."

Frederico Pena - City and County of Denver Mayor from 1983 to 1991, and held Presidential Cabinet Positions in Transportation and Energy during the Clinton Administration. Advocated large civic projects, like Denver International Airport and the Denver Convention Center, to boost local economy.

Pat Schroeder - U.S. Congresswoman from 1st District of Colorado, 1972-1996. Longest career of any woman elected to U.S. Congress. Her legacy includes sponsorship of the Family and Medical Leave Act and the Violence Against Women Act, as well as the co-founding of the bipartisan Congressional Women's Caucus. She is also credited with encouraging other women to enter politics.

Robert Speer - City and County of Denver Mayor from 1904-1912 and 1916-1918. Through his influence, the Denver Mountain Parks System was developed, Civic Center Park was created, parks were added, trees lined the streets, and the history and arts were funded.