| Name | Description |
| Jon Ackerson | Louisville lawyer who formerly served in both houses of the Kentucky State Legislature |
|
| James S. Albus | Engineer and Senior NIST Fellow; developer of digital solar aspect sensor, Real-time Control System, Robocrane |
| Muhammad Ali | Multiple heavyweight boxing champion; iconic figure of 20th-century American sports |
| Martha-Bryan Allen | Broadway actress; aunt of Elizabeth Montgomery |
| Derek L. Anderson | Former Kentucky Wildcat basketball player; played on the 1996 NCAA Championship team; former 12-year NBA basketball player drafted by Cleveland in 1997; won an NBA Championship with Miami in 2006 |
| Major Robert Anderson[1] | Union Army officer in the Civil War, known for his command of Fort Sumter at the start of the war |
| John James Audubon | Ornithologist, naturalist and painter; lived in Louisville for about two years |
| James Gilbert Baker | Astronomer and designer of optics systems; president of the Optical Society of America; helped found the Louisville Astronomical Society; born and raised in Louisville; attended the Louisville duPont Manual High School and the University of Louisville |
| Mickey Baker | Blues guitarist and singer; had million-seller hit in 1956 with "Love Is Strange" with wife Sylvia |
| Marty Bass | Television news reporter, weatherman, and presidential candidate; born and raised in Louisville |
| Matt Battaglia | Actor in and producer of more than 100 films; produced Brothers with Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal and Natalie Portman; co-founder of Derby Eve cancer benefit The Mint Jubilee |
| Ralph Beard | Born in Hardinsburg, Kentucky, attended Louisville Male High School; former Kentucky Wildcat basketball player; played on the 1948 and 1949 NCAA Championship teams; won gold medal with Team USA Basketball in the 1948 Summer Olympics |
| Ned Beatty | Character actor of film, TV and stage; appeared in a wide variety of roles in movies such as The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, Deliverance, Superman (1978), Network and 1941 |
| Morris Burke Belknap | businessman with Belknap Hardware and Manufacturing Company; Republican nominee for Governor of Kentucky |
| William Burke Belknap | philanthropist, breeder of American saddlebred horses, owner of Land O' Goshen Farms |
| William Richardson Belknap | President of W. B. Belknap Company |
| James Best | Character actor, known for his role as Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane on The Dukes of Hazzard |
| Barry Bingham, Jr. | Publisher of The Courier-Journal |
| Barry Bingham, Sr. | Publisher of The Courier-Journal and The Louisville Times; led both papers to national prominence |
| Larry Birkhead | Entertainment photojournalist |
| Rob Bironas | Professional football player for Tennessee Titans of the NFL |
| Phil Bond | Professional basketball player for the Houston Rockets |
| Anne Braden | Civil rights activist |
| Carl Braden | Civil rights activist |
| Louis Brandeis | Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States; namesake of the University of Louisville School of Law |
| Ulysses "Junior" Bridgeman | Louisville businessman; basketball star at the University of Louisville; had a long NBA career, mostly with the Milwaukee Bucks |
| Brian Brohm | Buffalo Bills quarterback |
| Foster Brooks | Actor and comedian; known for his "Lovable Lush" character; long-time Las Vegas headliner; appeared on numerous TV programs from the mid-1960s to mid-1990s; cameo roles in The Villain and Cannonball Run II; perhaps best known for his frequent appearances on the Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts, and on the Dean Martin Show |
| Odell Brown | Jazz organist |
| Pete Browning[2] | 19th century Major League Baseball player; first to use custom bats; uncle of Tod Browning |
| Tod Browning | Film actor and director; directed several films starring silent screen legend Lon Chaney Sr., among them The Unholy 3 (1925) and West of Zanzibar (1928); known for directing the horror classic Dracula (1931) starring Bela Lugosi, and the cult classic Freaks (1932) |
| John W. Bubbles | Half of the black comedic song and tap dance team "Buck & Bubbles" with his partner Ford Lee "Buck" Washington; appeared in films A Star Is Born (1937) and Cabin in the Sky (1943); originated the role of the character "Sportin' Life" in George Gershwin's musical Porgy and Bess; first black entertainer to appear on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson |
| Lance Burton | Stage magician |
| LaVerne Butler | Pastor of 9th & O Baptist Church in Louisville, 1969-1988; president of Mid-Continent University, 1988-1997[3] |
| Paul Byrd | Professional baseball player for the Boston Red Sox |
| Jennifer Carpenter | Actress best known as Debra Morgan on Showtime's Dexter |
| Harry Carter | Silent film actor; appeared in numerous films including the 1921 serial The Hope Diamond Mystery |
| Charley Chase | Pornographic actress |
| George Rogers Clark | Preeminent military leader on the northwestern frontier during the American Revolutionary War |
| Joseph Clayton | Former Kentucky Derby celebrity turned recycling industry leader and innovator. Best known for calling out woodpeckers in sawdust piles. |
| William Conrad | Actor and narrator in radio, film and television from the 1930s through the 1990s; provided the voice for Marshal Matt Dillon in the radio version of Gunsmoke; later starred as TV detective Frank Cannon |
| Jim Cornette | Professional wrestling manager and promoter |
| Joe Creason | Journalist for The Courier-Journal, known for his columns on the everyday lives of Kentuckians |
| Bernie Crimmins | University of Notre Dame football player; head football college football coach at Indiana University; assistant football coach at Notre Dame and Purdue University |
| Iman Crosson | Actor, Internet celebrity and Obama impersonator who became an example of professional promotion using the Internet |
| Tom Cruise | Actor (born in Syracuse, New York, lived in Louisville until his mid-teens); star of the films Risky Business, Top Gun, A Few Good Men, and Mission: Impossible |
| Denny Crum | University of Louisville men's basketball head coach; member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach |
| Vadim Dale | Australian reality television personality (Outback Jack); officer with the Louisville Metro Police Department |
| Josh Dallas | American actor. Best known for his roles as Prince Charming/David Nolan in the ABC television series Once Upon a Time and Fandral in the Marvel Comics film adaptation Thor |
| Roger Davis | Actor in Dark Shadows and Alias Smith and Jones; custom home designer and builder in Los Angeles |
| Frederick Detweiler | Sociologist, born in Louisville in 1881 |
| George Devol | Inventor of the first industrial robot |
| David Dick | WHAS (AM) radio and WHAS-TV newscaster in Louisville prior to joining CBS News as reporter and correspondent |
| Irene Dunne | Actress, starred in 1931 Academy Award Best Picture Cimarron |
| Reuben T. Durrett | Lawyer, jurist, writer, and historian; a founder of the Louisville Free Public Library |
| Thomas Alva Edison | Inventor and businessman; before fame, lived in Butchertown during 1866–1867 around age 19; a house near where he lived is now a museum in his honor |
| Bob Edwards | Broadcaster for National Public Radio |
| Jimmy Ellis | Heavyweight boxing champion |
| Pervis Ellison | Basketball player; born in Savannah, Georgia; "Never Nervous Pervis" was the starting center for the University of Louisville for four years, including the 1986 national championship year; second freshman to be named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Final Four; first overall pick in the 1989 NBA Draft by the Sacramento Kings |
| Norris Embry | Expressionist painter |
| Abraham Flexner | Educator |
| Simon Flexner | Pioneer of scientific medicine |
| Pat Forde | Sportswriter; reporter and columnist for The Courier-Journal, ESPN.com, and Yahoo! Sports[4] |
| Dian Fossey | Nurse at Kosair Children's Hospital; ethologist interested in gorillas |
| Fontaine Fox | Nationally syndicated cartoonist; creator of The Toonerville Trolley (aka Toonerville Folks), one of the most popular strips of the World War I era |
| Richard Frymire | Kentucky State Representative (1962–1964), State Senator (1966–1968), Adjutant General (1971–1977) |
| Gertrude Ganote | All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player, 1944-1945 |
| Billy Gilbert | Film actor during the 1930s and 1940s; appeared in supporting roles in Laurel & Hardy shorts The Music Box and County Hospital; model and voice for Sneezy in Disney's Snow White |
| Sam Gilliam | Abstract expressionist painter |
| William Girdler | Director and producer of 1970s B-grade films such as Abby, Asylum of Satan and Grizzly |
| C. W. Grafton | Author |
| Sue Grafton | Author |
| Petey Greene | Television and radio talk show host; two-time Emmy Award-winner |
| D. W. Griffith | Film director and innovator; credited with originating many camera techniques still commonly used in films today; directed The Birth of a Nation, Intolerance and Way Down East; lived several years in the Brown Hotel, until his death in 1948 |
| Darrell Griffith | Basketball player; won 1980 NCAA basketball championship and John R. Wooden Award, 1980 NCAA Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player, 1981 NBA Rookie of the Year Award; played 11 seasons with the Utah Jazz; nicknamed "Dr. Dunkenstein" for aerial exploits |
| David Grissom | Guitarist for Storyville, Joe Ely, The Allman Brothers Band, John Mellencamp |
| Ed Hamilton | Award-winning sculptor who is noted for his many famous public monuments |
| Lionel Hampton | Bandleader and jazz musician |
| Scott Harrington | Racing driver; Indianapolis 500 veteran and Indy Car Rookie of the Year |
| Bob Heleringer | Former member of the Kentucky House of Representatives; Louisville lawyer and spokesman for the equestrian industry |
| Heather French Henry | Miss America 2000 |
| John Hensley | TV and film actor, regular cast member on the cable TV program Nip/Tuck |
| Mildred and Patty Hill | Composers of the song "Happy Birthday to You" |
| Charles T. Hinde | Railroad executive, founder of the Hotel del Coronado and businessman |
| Doan Hoang | Movie director, movie producer, documentary Oh Saigon (2007) and short film Hard Times (2012); graduate of Seneca High School (1990) in Louisville |
| Audrey Hollander | Pornographic actress |
| Telma Hopkins | Singer and actress, member of the 1970s pop music trio Tony Orlando and Dawn |
| James Horan | Television and film actor |
| Paul Hornung | Football player with the National Football League's Green Bay Packers and Notre Dame Fighting Irish; member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame |
| Allan Houston | NBA player, New York Knicks; son of Wade Houston |
| Wade Houston | Louisville businessman; player and assistant coach at the University of Louisville; head men's basketball coach at the University of Tennessee; father of Allan Houston |
| Edwin Hubble | Astronomer, astrophysicist; basketball coach at New Albany High School; namesake of the Hubble Space Telescope; lived in the Highlands |
| Henry Hull | Stage and film actor, star of the 1935 film Werewolf of London |
| Lewis Craig Humphrey | Editor of Louisville newspapers The Evening Post and The Herald-Post |
| Thomas MacGillivray Humphrey | Economist, historian of economic thought, author, Federal Reserve Bank editor |
| Anna May Hutchison | All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player, 1944-1949 |
| Joe Jacoby | Football player for the Washington Redskins |
| Jim James | Born Jim Olliges; musician, lead singer of My Morning Jacket |
| Ken Jenkins | Stage and film actor; co-founder of Actors Theatre of Louisville; Scrubs, Gone in 60 Seconds, I Am Sam |
| Tom Kennedy | Game show host |
| Wesley Korir | Kenyan marathoner; winner of the 2012 Boston Marathon; member of the National Assembly of Kenya; ran track at, and graduated from, the University of Louisville; before his election to the National Assembly, he kept a home in Louisville |
| James Kottak | Drummer for metal band Scorpions; Yamaha drums endorser and clinician; drummer for Kingdom Come, Warrant and Wild Horses |
| Tim Krekel | Musician, recording artist, hit songwriter, member of Jimmy Buffett's band |
| Paul Laird | Musicologist, professor at University of Kansas |
| Increase A. Lapham | Surveyor, naturalist, helped found the U.S Weather Bureau |
| Jennifer Lawrence | Film actress, known for her Oscar-winning performance in Silver Linings Playbook and Oscar-nominated performance in Winter's Bone, and as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games |
| Maggie Lawson | TV actress known for her role as Juliet on the detective drama/comedy Psych |
| Stefan LeFors | Quarterback for University of Louisville, and in the NFL and CFL; head football coach for the high school team of the Christian Academy of Louisville |
| Tom London | Bit player and stunt performer in numerous films, primarily westerns; began film career in early silent era; transitioned to TV roles in the early 1950s; listed in Guinness World Records as Hollywood's most prolific actor, with over 600 film appearances |
| Patty Loveless | Country music singer-songwriter. Moved to Louisville at the age of 12. |
| William Mapother | Film/television actor and entrepreneur, known for his performances in Lost and In the Bedroom |
| Herbert Marcus | Co-founder and CEO of Neiman Marcus |
| Joe E. Martin | Olympic boxing coach who trained World Heavyweight Champions Muhammad Ali and Jimmy Ellis, and several National Golden Gloves champions |
| Oksana Masters | Paralympic medalist in rowing and cross-country skiing; graduate of Atherton High School[5] |
| A'dia Mathies | WNBA player for Los Angeles Sparks |
| Victor Mature | Actor; My Darling Clementine, Kiss of Death, Samson and Delilah, The Robe |
| Jane Mayhall | Poet[6] |
| William E. McAnulty, Jr. | First African American to serve on the Kentucky Supreme Court |
| U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell | U.S. Senate Majority Leader |
| Brian McMahan | Rock musician known for work in Squirrel Bait, Slint, Palace Brothers, The For Carnation, and King Kong |
| Mary T. Meagher | Olympic gold medalist and multiple world record holder in swimming; sister of Anne Northup |
| Terry Meiners | Radio and television personality |
| Milton Metz | Radio and television personality |
| Alexandria Mills | Miss World 2010 |
| Beverle Graves Myers | Author |
| Jack Narz | Game show host |
| First Sergeant James J. Nash | Medal of Honor recipient for his service during the Spanish–American War |
| Carrie Marcus Neiman | Co-founder and Chair of Neiman Marcus |
| Carl Nett | Kentucky State Representative (1970–1990) |
| Frank Neuhauser | Winner of the first National Spelling Bee, held in 1925[7] |
| Bobby Nichols | Professional golfer, known for winning the 1964 PGA Championship, one of the Majors in men's golf |
| Marsha Norman | Playwright who won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Drama |
| Anne Northup | U.S. Representative from Louisville, 1997–2007; member of the Consumer Products Safety Commission; sister of Mary T. Meagher |
| Grady Nutt | Humorist and television personality (Hee Haw); lived in Louisville from 1960 until his death in 1982; graduate of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary |
| Will Oldham | Songwriter and musician |
| Joan Osborne | Singer-songwriter |
| Jimmy Osting | Major League Baseball player |
| ZZ Packer | Writer; born in Chicago; lived in Louisville in her teens and graduated from Seneca High School in 1990 |
| Scott Padgett | Former Kentucky Wildcat basketball player, played on the 1996 and 1998 NCAA Championship teams; former 7-year NBA basketball player drafted by Utah in 1998; now head men's basketball coach at Samford University |
| Greg Page | Heavyweight boxing champion |
| David Pajo | Indie musician known for work in Slint, Tortoise, and Zwan |
| Bubba Paris | Graduate of Louisville's DeSales High School; offensive tackle for the 1982 Super Bowl-winning San Francisco 49ers |
| Clarence M. Pendleton, Jr.[8] | Chairman of the United States Commission on Civil Rights (1981 until his death in 1988), born in Louisville in 1930 |
| Fred Pfeffer[2] | Major League Baseball player |
| Rick Pitino | Men's basketball coach at University of Louisville; former head coach at Providence College, the University of Kentucky and the Boston Celtics |
| Bill Plaschke | Los Angeles sports columnist, panelist on ESPN's Around the Horn |
| Marty Pollio | (aka Marty Polio) Stand-up comic and mime; has appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson; has performed his semi-autobiographical one-man show "Prisoners Of Cheese" at The Montreal Fringe Festival |
| George Dennison Prentice | Newspaper editor and journalist for the Louisville Journal |
| Artimus Pyle | Drummer for the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd |
| Steve Raible | NFL player for the Seattle Seahawks; co-anchor of local KIRO News in Seattle |
| Wes Ramsey | TV and film actor, daytime serial Guiding Light and independent film Latter Days |
| Jimmy Raney | Jazz guitarist |
| Jon Rauch | Professional baseball player for the Arizona Diamondbacks |
| Pee Wee Reese | Hall of Fame shortstop for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers; noted for his acceptance of Jackie Robinson when the latter broke baseball's color line |
| Marco Reguzzoni | Italian politician and entrepreneur, owner of Biocell Center, honorary citizen |
| Rob Riggle | Actor on The Daily Show, The Office, and Saturday Night Live |
| Martha Rofheart née Jones | Model, actress and author; born in Louisville 1917, moved to New York City in late 1930s; actress Lynn Fontanne's protege; appeared on Broadway; published six historical novels in 1970s and 80s |
| Rajon Rondo | Former Kentucky Wildcat basketball player; current NBA player for the Sacramento Kings; won an NBA Championship with the Boston Celtics in 2008; participated in several NBA All-Star games |
| Don Rosa | Illustrator of Scrooge McDuck, Donald Duck and other Disney characters |
| Rudy Rucker | Computer scientist and science fiction author |
| Colonel Harland Sanders | Founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken; born, raised, and lived in Henryville, Indiana until adulthood |
| Diane Sawyer | Television journalist, anchor of ABC World News; former co-anchor of ABC's Good Morning America |
| Nicole Scherzinger | Actress, singer and dancer; known for her work as the lead vocalist for the Pussycat Dolls |
| "Papa" John Schnatter | Founder of Papa John's Pizza; born and raised in Jeffersonville, Indiana until founding his pizza chain |
| Phil Simms | Quarterback for the NFL's New York Giants; television sportscaster |
| Donta Smith | Professional basketball player for the South Dragons of the National Basketball League Australia |
| James Speed | Lawyer, politician, and professor |
| James Breckenridge Speed | Businessman and philanthropist |
| Sergeant John C. Squires | Medal of Honor recipient for his service during World War II |
| Static Major | Record producer who gained fame posthumously for featuring in Lil Wayne's "Lollipop" |
| Rudell Stitch | Welterweight boxer |
| Danny Sullivan | Racing driver and winner of the 1985 Indianapolis 500 |
| Gary J. Sullivan | Electrical engineer who led the development of the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC and HEVC international standards for video coding; created the DirectX Video Acceleration (DXVA) API/DDI video decoding feature of the Microsoft Windows operating system |
| Hunter S. Thompson | Journalist and author, long-time contributing writer for Rolling Stone magazine |
| Bryson Tiller | Singer-songwriter and rapper |
| Mary Travers | Folk singer with Peter, Paul and Mary |
| Dan Uggla | Infielder for the Atlanta Braves |
| Eugene Ulrich | Chief editor for interpretation of the Dead Sea Scrolls |
| Johnny Unitas | Quarterback at University of Louisville; went on to a Hall of Fame career, mainly with the Baltimore Colts |
| Wes Unseld | Basketball player and coach in the NBA; member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player |
| Gus Van Sant | Film director, photographer, musician, and author |
| Britt Walford | Drummer for Slint |
| Jeff Walz | Women's basketball coach at the University of Louisville |
| Jack Warden | Film and television actor; began his career in the early 1950s on TV shows such as Playhouse 90 and Studio One; later appeared in films such as Run Silent, Run Deep, Shampoo and All the President's Men |
| Henry Watterson | Founder of The Courier-Journal; namesake of the Henry Watterson Expressway |
| Brent Weedman | Mixed martial artist |
| Todd Wellemeyer | Major League Baseball player, Chicago Cubs, Florida Marlins, Kansas City Royals, St. Louis Cardinals |
| Hannah Welton | Drummer for Prince's backing band, 3rdeyegirl |
| Gus Weyhing | MLB pitcher for 11 teams |
| Jeffrey Wigand | 60 Minutes tobacco industry whistleblower |
| Evan Williams | Early Kentucky settler and distiller |
| Will Wolford | Pro Bowl NFL offensive lineman, played for Pittsburgh Steelers, Buffalo Bills, and Indianapolis Colts; head football coach at his alma mater of St. Xavier High School; radio color analyst for the Indianapolis Colts |
| Keke Wyatt | R&B singer, most prominent in the late 1990s and early 2000s |
| Enid Yandell | Sculptor |
| John Yarmuth | U.S. Representative from Louisville, 2007–present; founder of the alt-weekly Louisville Eccentric Observer |
| York | William Clark's manservant and participant in Lewis and Clark Expedition |
| Sean Young | Film and television actress; began career with supporting roles in films such as Blade Runner, Stripes and Dune |
| Mia Zapata | Murdered singer of the Seattle punk band The Gits |
| John Ziegler | Radio talk show host |
| Fuzzy Zoeller | Professional golfer; winner of two major championships (1979 Masters, 1984 U.S. Open); born, raised, and lives on the Indiana side of the metropolitan area in Floyd County |
| Jacek M. Zurada | Professor of electrical engineering at the University of Louisville J. B. Speed School of Engineering, specializing in artificial neural networks |
