Mary Astor One of Hollywood's top leading ladies in the early days of the silver screen. Mary Astor was born Lucile Vasconcellos Langhanke in Quincy, on May 3, 1906, to German immigrant parents. Astor was one of the few successful silent film stars that made a successful transition to "talkies" because of her voice and strong screen presence. In 1941, she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role of Sandra Kovac in THE GREAT LIE. That same year she appeared in the classic Humphrey Bogart film THE MALTESE FALCON. From 1920 to 1964, Mary Astor starred in 123 films.

 

Roy Brocksmith A veteran of the stage and screen, Roy Brocksmith was born in Quincy on September 15, 1945. A multi-talented entertainer, Roy performed on the stages of New York City after graduating from Quincy University, before moving to Hollywood starting his career as a character actor in the late 70's. Noted for his appearance in TOTAL RECALL, Brocksmith’s other films include THE ROAD TO WELLVILLE and THE HUDSUCKER PROXY. He also appeared in numerous televison shows, such as "Star Trek: The Next Generation", "L.A. Law," and was a regular on the CBS series "Picket Fences" from 1992 to 1996. In the course of his acting career, Roy had small but memorable roles in 35 films, and over two dozen TV shows.

 

Bob Havens Born in Quincy on May 3, 1930, Bob Havens received formal musical training on violin, piano, trombone, and composition. After serving as a bandsman during the Korean conflict, he left Quincy in 1955 to tour with the Ralph Flanagan Orchestra. From 1956 to 1960 Bob performed in Bourbon Street jazz clubs, recording several albums during his time in New Orleans. In 1960, Bob joined the Lawrence Welk Orchestra as a featured trombone soloist on his weekly national TV show. During his lengthy TV career, Bob established himself as a jazz musician through his appearances at major jazz festivals, parties, and concerts. After Lawrence Welk's retirment in 1982, he continued to be active as a free-lance professional.

 

Paul Tibbets Paul Warfield Tibbets, Jr. was born in Quincy, Illinois on February 23rd, 1915. On August 5th, 1945, Tibbets piloted the B-29 Enola Gay to Hiroshima and dropped the world’s first atomic bomb. In 1943 after flying B-17 missions over Europe, Tibbets was assigned to test the combat capability of the B-29. In 1944, Tibbets was assigned to the secret Manhattan Project. His responsibility was to organize and train a unit to deliver these weapons in combat operations and modify the B-29. He served in the Strategic Air Command, served a tour with NATO, and was responsible for establishing the National Military Command Center in the Pentagon. Paul Tibbets is enshrined in the National Aviation Hall of Fame.

 

D.A. Weibring Pro golfer D.A. Weibring joined the PGA Tour in 1977, recording five victories. His most recent PGA Tour victory came at the 1996 Canon Greater Hartford Open. D.A. was inducted into the Illinois PGA Hall of Fame in 2001, and joined the PGA Champions Tour in May 2003. Upon turning 50, D.A. recorded seven top 10 finishes in 14 of the Champions Tour events he entered, including his first Champions Tour victory at the SAS Championship in September 2003. D.A.'s outstanding play led him to be one of only three rookies to finish among the top 30 money-winners. Weibring designed the Tournament Players Club at Deere Run, the host course for the PGA TOUR’s John Deere Classic. D.A.'s son Matt Weibring is also a professional golfer, with the PGA Nationwide Tour.

 

Thomas Baldwin Thomas Scott Baldwin was born on June 30th, 1854 in neighboring Marion County, Missouri. Baldwin made a large number of balloon ascents throughout the U.S. and was the first to make parachute descents from a balloon, he is regarded as "the father of the modern parachute". Baldwin pioneered the construction and operation of the first dirigibles in America, and was awarded a contract to design and build the first U.S. Army Signal Corps dirigible. Known as a showman & daredevil, Baldwin accepted an invitation to demonstrate his "Red Devil" airplane in St. Louis in 1910. He flew over the Eads Bridge where thousands stood cheering him. Surprising his audience, Baldwin returned by air, flying under the Eads Bridge & McKinley Bridge at 50mph, in a feat of pure daring. Quincy's Baldwin School and Baldwin Field were named in his honor.

 

Rick Reuschel Major league pitcher Rick Reuschel was born in Quincy on May 16, 1949. Reuschel provided a strong arm for the Chicago Cubs increasingly mediocre staff. His best year was in 1977 when Reuschel won 20 games. For four years, his brother Paul was a relief pitcher for the Cubs while Rick was pitching. Rick was sent to the New York Yankees in 1981, where he pitched in the World Series. He was traded to the San Francisco Giants, pitching well for several years before finally hanging the spikes up. In 1989, Reuschel won 17 games for the Giants as he helped lead them to the World Series. Reuschel won the Hutch Award in 1985 (for fighting spirit and competitive desire to win), and is also a winner of The Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year Award. In a 19-year career, he had a record of 214-191 in 557 games (529 starts). Reuschel had 102 career complete games and 26 of those were shutouts. Rick Reuschel is one of the top 100 winning pitchers of all time.

 

Elvin "El" Tappe Elvin Walter Tappe was player and manager for the Chicago Cubs. Born in Quincy on May 21, 1927 in Quincy, El and his twin brother Mel were both standouts with the QHS basketball and baseball teams. After serving in the Navy, both played sports at Quincy University. Regarded as a superb defensive catcher, El was drafted by the Cubs in the 1951 minor league draft. After playing in the minors, he made his major league debut on April 24, 1954. In 1960, Cubs owner Philip K. Wrigley instituted the "College of Coaches" in which the team's coaches would rotate duties as manager. Tappe managed the majority of the 1961 season, 95 games, as well as 20 games in 1962. Brother Mel also coached with the Cubs. Both Tappes are members of the Quincy University Hall of Fame, charter member of the QHS Sports Hall of Fame, did play-by-play broadcasts on Quincy radio for 25 years, and ran Tappe's Sporting Goods in Quincy.

Arthur Pitney The idea of a postage meter occurred to Quincy native Arthur Pitney as a preventive measure to help stamp out stamp theft. The Pitney Postal Machine Company was formed in 1902 and the machine that he inspired came of age as a true postage meter machine in 1912. In 1919, Pitney met his English-born partner Mr. Walter Bowes who had had success with a Post Office stamp canceling machine, and in April 1920, the Pitney Bowes Postage Meter Company was formed. Since its formation, Pitney Bowes has evolved into the global leader in mailing equipment, and makes 86% of the postage meters used in the United States.

 

James B. Stewart Quincy native James B. Stewart is an lawyer, journalist, and author. He is currently a contributor to The New Yorker and an Editor-at-Large for Smart Money magazine. Stewart is a DePauw University and Harvard Law School graduate, a member of the Bar of New York and Bloomberg Professor of Business and Economic Journalism at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. In 1988, he won the Pulitzer Prize for his articles in The Wall Street Journal about the 1987 dramatic upheaval in the stock market and insider trading. These writings led to the publishing of his best-selling work of non-fiction "Den of Thieves" that recounted the criminal conduct of Wall Street's Ivan Boesky & Michael Milken. His non-fiction books have all met with much critical acclaim. His 1999 factual work, "Blind Eye: The Terrifying Story Of A Doctor Who Got Away With Murder," won the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Allen Poe Award. Blind Eye tells the story of serial killer Michael Swango who is also from Quincy. Among Stewarts other writings are the 1996 novels "Blood Sport," the tale of the Clintons' Whitewater affair, 2002's "Heart of a Soldier," looks back on the life of one of the heroes of 9/11, and most recently 2005's "DisneyWar," examines Michael Eisner and the corporate intrigue which has overtaken the Walt Disney Company in the last decade.

Michael Swango The most infamous person to hail from Quincy is Michael Swango. Nicknamed "Doctor Death" he was the subject of the best-selling book "Blind Eye: The Terrifying Story Of A Doctor Who Got Away with Murder." The book suggests he may have killed as many as 35 patients, and examines how Swango was allow to slip through the system. Other publications have reported he is suspected in more than 60 deaths. If true, that world make Michael Swango one of the most profilic serial killers in American history. Raised in Quincy, Swango attended Quincy Notre Dame, and SIU's School of Medicine in Carbondale. He was investigated in 1984 in connection with the death of a 19-year-old woman when he was an intern at the Ohio State University Hospital. In 1985, he was convicted of aggravated battery for the non-fatal poisoning of co-workers at Blessing Hospital while working as a paramedic with the Adams County Ambulance Service. He spent 30 months in prison and lost his medical license. Despite his past, Swango was able to get jobs at hospitals in South Dakota, Virginia and New York. He also worked at a hospital in Zimbabwe and was offered a position in Saudi Arabia. Later, he was sentenced to 42-months in prison for lying about his criminal record on an application for a medical residency. Just days before he was scheduled to be released, Swango was indicted for injecting three male patients with a drug that stopped their hearts in 1993 while he was on staff at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Northport, NY. Swango finally pleaded guilty to those murders and was sentenced to to life in prison without parole. Later, Swango was again sentenced to life for the murder of 19-year-old Cynthia McGee.

Elmer Wavering Elmer H. Wavering was born in 1907 in Quincy. The inventor of the automotive alternator, Wavering also helped develop the first commercially successful car radio with freinds Bill Lear and Paul Galvin. Lear eventually founded Lear Jet Corp., and Galvin went on to found Motorola. Wavering led the effort to produce the radio the Apollo astronauts used to communicate with Earth from the moon. He was selected as a member of the Automotive Hall of Fame in 1989.

 

Caren Kemner One of the best volleyball players in the world, Quincy's Caren Kemner was a member of the two U.S. Olympic volleyball teams. In 1988 at the Seoul games, as team captain at the 1992 Barcelona games, winning the bronze medal. A softball and volleyball standout at Quincy Notre Dame High School, Caren enrolled to the University of Arizona on a Volleyball Scholarship. She played two seasons before leaving to join the U.S. National team. After the '92 Olympics, Caren played with the U.S. Women in Japan, after playing Pro Volleyball in Italy and Brazil, and worked with the National team to prepare for the 1996 Olympic games in Atlanta.

Micki Free Musician Micki Free's career in music has earned 3 Grammy nominations with the group “Shalamar”, along with being managed by & touring with Diana Ross, playing guitar with Prince & Janet Jackson. Micki won a Grammy in 1985 for Original Score for a Motion Picture for BEVERLY HILLS COP. With Shalamar, he received three platinum albums for the song “Footloose”, from the movie of the same name. He also received a gold album for his song “Don’t get Stopped in Beverly Hills”, from the Beverly Hills Cop Soundtrack. Micki went on to form his band Crown Of Thorns, managed by friend and mentor Gene Simmons. After 3 world tours, Micki decide to go solo. As a mixed blood Cherokee-Comanche, Free chose to “walk the red path” of his heritage, as a proud Native American. He has been nominated for numerous Native America Music Awards, winning “Best Male Artist Award" in 2002, & “Best Pop/Rock Recording" in 2005.

Orville Browning Orville Hickman Browning was born in Kentucky in 1806. After attending Augusta College he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1831. That year he moved to Quincy, Illinois, where he worked as a lawyer. Browning joined the Whig Party and was elected to the Illinois Senate in 1836. Eight years later he was elected to the House of Representatives but was defeated by Stephen A. Douglas in 1844. In 1866 President Andrew Johnson appointed Browning as his Secretary of the Interior. He later became a special attorney for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad.

Bob Livingston Born Robert Edgar Randall in Quincy on December 9, 1904. Bob Livingston's father was a newspaper editor in Quincy until the family moved to California. In the late '20s he began performing onstage and in film shorts. By 1934 he had become an actor in feature films, and in 1936 he began a long stretch as a cowboy star: alongside costars Crash Corrigan and Max Terhune, he appeared as Stony Brooke in the Three Mesquiteers series of Westerns, going on to play the character 29 times; among the Top 10 Western Box-Office attractions in every year from 1937-43. In 1939 he portrayed the Lone Ranger in a serial, then in the early '40s he remained popular as the costar of the Lone Rider series with sidekick Fuzzy St. John; meanwhile, he also played romantic leads in a number of B-movies. Bob Livingston appeared in 128 films, as well as several TV appearances. He was briefly married to starlet Margaret Roach, daughter of film pioneer Hal Roach. His brother was minor actor and singing cowboy Jack Randall.

HONORABLE MENTION

Bill Lear Inventor & businessman William Powell Lear is from Hannibal, MO. Lear, with partners Elver Wavering and Paul Galvin, invented the first practical car radio, eventually selling their patents to what would become the Motorola company. He also developed the 8-track cartridge. Bill Lear is best known for founding Lear Jet Inc. The Lear Jet, introduced in 1963, was the first mass produced business jet. Lear developed radio direction finders, autopilots, and the first fully automatic aircraft landing system.

John Mahoney British-born actor John Mahoney is best known for playing Martin Crane in the popular TV show Frasier, as Dr. Frasier Crane's retired policeman father. Mahoney studied at Quincy University and graduated in 1966, before joining the U.S. Army and becoming an America citizen. He settled in Chicago and taught English until 1977 before actor John Malkovich encouraged him to join Steppenwolf Theater. He did and was very successful. He made his film debut in 1980, and has since appeard on over sixty television and film productions. He appeared in Frasier from its inception in 1993, until the final episode in 2004, and received Emmy and Golden Globe award nominations for this role.

Mark Twain This man needs no introduction. But why only an honorable mention here? Probably because he spent most of his time down the river in Hannibal! Twain (AKA Samuel Clemens) is world famous, and he made his hometown famous as well. Check out Hannibal's home page by clicking this link here. Also check out Mark Twain's entry in Wikipedia, full of information and links.