List of people from Des Moines, Iowa

This is a list of the people born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with the city of Des Moines, Iowa and its surrounding metropolitan area.

*Roger Williams, pianist with many hit songs
*Jim Morris, NCAA All-American, University of Miami
*Anthony Parker, NBA player
*Steve Bartkowski, former NFL quarterback
*Ross Verba, NFL lineman
*Bill Bryson, author
*Scott Clemmensen, National Hockey League player
*Stephen Collins, actor
*Bill Daily, actor best known as Colonel Roger Healey on "I Dream of Jeannie".
*Thomas M. Disch, author
*Rory Freeman, star on television show ""
*Dr. Stephen Gleason, advisor to President Clinton and Governor Vilsack
*Tana Goertz, star on television show "The Apprentice 3"
*Edna Griffin, civil rights activist.
*Peter Hedges, writer of movies "What's Eating Gilbert Grape and "About a Boy." Also the director of the movie "Pieces of April."
*David Anthony Higgins, actor, "Malcolm in the Middle"
*Frank Jenks, actor
*Lolo Jones, American track and field athlete
*Cloris Leachman, Academy Award, Golden Globe and Emmy Award winning actress
*Kevin Love - NASCAR driver
*Chris Pirillo, television personality and technology figure
*Ronald Reagan worked as a disc jockey (radio d.j.) in Des Moines.
*Shawna Robinson, NASCAR driver
*Members of Slipknot:
**Shawn "Clown" Crahan, percussionist
**Chris Fehn, percussionist
**Craig Jones, keyboardist/sampler
**James Root, rhythm guitarist; also with Stone Sour.
**Corey Taylor, rock/metal musician, vocalist; also with Stone Sour.
**Mick Thomson, lead guitarist
**Sid Wilson, DJ a.k.a DJ Starscream
**Joey Jordison, drummer
*Bill Stewart, well known jazz drummer, who has worked with Pat Metheny.
*Stephen Stucker, actor, best known for his role as the air traffic controller in the 1980 movie, "Airplane!"
*Kevin Tapani, Major League Baseball player
*Brian Wansink, author of Mindless Eating
*Tionne "T-Boz" Watkinsof TLC, Grammy winning R&B Singer
*Kurt Warner, NFL Quarterback, 1993 Gateway Football Conference(University of Northern Iowa) Player of the Year, 1999 Super Bowl XXXIV MVP/Champion, 3 time Pro Bowl Selection ('99,'00,'01), 2 time AP NFL MVP ('99,'01), Played for the Iowa Barnstormers in Des Moines ('95-'97)
*Kyle Orton, Professional Footbal player for the Chicago Bears; Quarterback
*Shawn Johnson, Gymnast, 2007 World All-Around Champion, 2007 U.S. National All-Around Champion, 2008 Olympic Champion in the balance beam.

Bands

*The Nadas, the band that Playboy magazine called the "Best College Band You've Never Heard Of" is based in Des Moines.
*Eight of the nine members of the band Slipknot were born in Des Moines. (Paul Gray was born in Los Angeles.)
*Jim Roth, guitarist with rock band Built to Spill, is from West Des Moines.
*The metal band Stone Sour began their music career in Des Moines. Both Slipknot and Stone Sour feature vocalist Corey Taylor and guitarist James Root.