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David Ayer is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. David Ayer was born in Champaign, Illinois and grew up in Bloomington, Minnesota, and Bethesda, Maryland, where he was kicked out of his house by his parents as a teenager. Ayer then lived with his cousin in Los Angeles, California, where his experiences in South Central Los Angeles became the inspiration for many of his films. Ayer then enlisted in the United States Navy as a submariner.

Ludacris was born Christopher Brian Bridges in Champaign, Illinois, where he was raised, the son of Roberta Shields and Wayne Brian Bridges. At nine years old, he started rapping. He attended Emerson Middle School and, eventually, Oak Park and River Forest High School for his freshman year. Furthermore, his family moved to live in Atlanta, Georgia and, in this time, his father exposed him to all kinds of music, ranging from Hip-Hop to Rock. In Alanta, Georgia, he attended Banneker High School. He is also a graduate of Georgia State University. In 2000, he got his breakthrough with his album, titled "Back for the First Time", which reached 3x platinum. All albums following have either been 2x or 3x platinum, with his first film appearance being 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003), which was a success. Other film appearances included Crash (2004) and Hustle & Flow (2005).

Brianna Baker was born in Rantoul, Champaign, Illinois, USA. Brianna is an actor and writer, known for 9-1-1: Lone Star (2020), I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson (2019) and Friendsgiving (2020).

Megyn Kelly was born on 18 November 1970 in Champaign, Illinois, USA. She is a producer and writer, known for Embeds (2017), Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly (2017) and Mr. Birchum (2024). She has been married to Douglas Brunt since 1 March 2008. They have three children. She was previously married to Dr. Daniel Ronald Kendall.

Lexi Atkins was born on 10 February 1993 in Champaign, Illinois, USA. She is an actress, known for The Boy Next Door (2015), Ted 2 (2015) and Zombeavers (2014).

McKinley Freeman was born on 9 June 1973 in Champaign, Illinois, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for End of Watch (2012), Greencard Warriors (2013) and Delta Farce (2007).

Jean Yoon is a playwright and actress born in Illinois and raised in Toronto. Jean has lived and worked in Vancouver, Edmonton, Harbin City and Yanji City in North Eastern China and makes her home in Toronto.

Jean began her career in Toronto in the early 1980s performing with now long gone companies such as Upstage Theatre, Toronto Free Theatre and Canasian Artists Group. In the 1990s, Jean was active as a cultural equity advocate and new play producer. She was Cross Cultural Coordinator for Theatre Ontario 1991/92, and then Co-Artistic Director of Cahoots Theatre Projects 1992 to early 1994, founding Lift Off! and cementing Cahoots' role as a leader in new play development for playwrights of diverse cultures.

Jean's playwriting credits include the Dora-nominated stage play, The Yoko Ono Project, a multimedia performance art comedy, produced by Loud Mouth Asian Babes and Theatre Passe Muraille in Toronto, January 2000, and published by Broken Jaw Press. Jean's comedic adaptation of a classic Korean folktale Hongbu & Nolbu: The Tale of the Magic Pumpkins premiered at Young Peoples Theatre in 2005 and was published in Seven Contemporary Plays from the Korean Diaspora in the Americas, edited by Esther Kim Lee, Duke University Press in 2012. Other playwriting credits include Sliding for Home, Spite, and Yes Yoko Solo.

Jean's stage credits include Necessary Angel, Young Peoples Theatre, Factory, Tarragon, Cahoots Theatre Projects, Crows, Civilized Theatre and Die in Debt. Jean originated the role "Umma" in the Toronto Fringe production of Kim's Convenience in 2011 and performed the show at Soulpepper Theatre, The Grand Theatre London, National Arts Centre, Theatre Calgary, Theatre Aquarius and the Capitol Theatre in Port Hope.

Jean is well-known for her work as Umma in the CBC comedy series Kim's Convenience. She is also known for work on The Expanse, Orphan Black, Dragon Boys and The Time Traveler's Wife. Jean voices Connie on the Emmy Award winning PBS Kids show Peg + Cat; and is especially proud of her work on the CBC mini-series Dragon Boys for which she earned a Gemini nomination in 2007.

Abbey is a comedy actress and writer best known for her role on VH1's critically acclaimed series, Barely Famous (2015), where she also contributed as a writer. Abbey's TV credits include Veep (2012), Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2013), Alone Together (2018), Kevin (Probably) Saves the World (2017), Life in Pieces (2015), Workaholics (2011), Community (2009), New Girl (2011), The League (2009), and Parks and Recreation (2009). She is also known for her various voice over roles including American Dad! (2005), Drawn Together (2004), and Golan the Insatiable (2013).

Austin Lysy was born on 19 April 1977 in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, USA. He is an actor, known for Garden State (2004), Everybody's Fine (2009) and Hitch (2005).

Patrick Melton was born on 18 June 1975 in Champaign, Illinois, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019), Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025) and Saw 3D (2010).

Mary Sohn was born on 7 November 1980 in Champaign, Illinois, USA. She is an actress and writer, known for The Boss (2016), Between Two Ferns: The Movie (2019) and Irregular Fruit (2009).

A former newspaper writer and cartoonist, George D. Baker joined Vitagraph in 1913 as a director, and was the main director for the films of the studio's popular comedian John Bunny--of Bunny's 43 comedies at Vitagraph, Baker made 39 of them. Bunny left Vitagraph to return to the stage, and Vitagraph put Baker to work with comedian Jay Dwiggins, hoping to strike gold with him as they did with Bunny. It didn't work. Baker subsequently left Vitagraph and went to Metro Pictures, where he became the main director for star Viola Dana. He left the industry in 1924.

Adria Dawn is an Emmy-nominated multi hyphenate who grew up in the Midwest, and broke into Hollywood working as a Levi's model. She is a filmmaker and an actor.

As a filmmaker, Adria is most known for her award-winning films for social change. Her series, Kids Matter, deals with contemporary issues our youth face today. The eighth episode of the series, Identity, deals with gender and inclusion and received a 2023 Chicago Emmy Nomination. Dawn has garnered three Telly Awards in two years for her social change films including her Black Lives Matter film Karen, and Gray Area, about Kelley Kitley's journey with alcohol addiction. She operates Tarleton/Dawn Productions with her husband, partner and co-collaborator, David Tarleton. TDP is a boutique production company whose award winning projects include series, plays, music videos and films.

As an actor, Adria has appeared on numerous television shows for FOX, CBS, NBC, Nickelodeon, the WB, etc. as well as appeared in many films. You may have seen her on Chicago Med, Nip/Tuck, My Name is Earl, Felicity, NCIS or Popular (as April Tuna) to name a few. Adria's decades long career includes a roster of acting credits that steadily expands, always adding memorable roles to her resume.

Roger Young grew up on his Grandfather's farm, and in the town of Mahomet, Illinois. Population 850. At age thirteen he moved to the big town of Bloomington, Illinois, where he learned to play pool, compete on the swim team, and circle the Steak-n-Shake in his buddy's '57 Chevy. After high school he went to the University of Illinois, where he almost flunked out the first year. By his junior year he was on the Dean's List with straight A's, in the school of Journalism.

Working his way through school meant working in a donut shop, selling shoes, corn de-tasseler, and finally stage manager at the local PBS station. That led to directing news shows. Then producing and directing an early morning talk show on the CBS channel in Champaign. After graduating from U of I, he spent a year in the sales department at the CBS affiliate while working toward his master's degree. Hated sales ! Hated sales !! Moved to Indianapolis to direct the 5:30am Farm News show at the NBC affiliate. Then news shows, documentaries for Time/Life, and a variety show.

Chicago called. Producer of commercials for Foote, Cone & Belding Advertising. Then moved to directing commercials for a production company. And finally forming his own production company shooting Ford, Sears, Hallmark, and Johnson Wax commercials, among others.

When a friend told him to give Hollywood a try, Roger got an apartment in Los Feliz, and shuttled back and forth between LAX and ORD. After four months he was hired to be the Associate Producer on a MOW. Then Associate Producer on "Lou Grant", the CBS series starring Ed Asner. There he was overseeing editing and spending a lot of time on the set. This was a graduate education in every phase of making a film. In the second year of the show Executive Producer Gene Reynolds gave Roger a shot at directing an episode. A few episodes later he won the DGA award and the Emmy for one of his episodes. Soon he was shooting films for television, and pilots. Later he moved on to mini-series, which has been the joy of his career, winning two more DGA awards, and working all over the world.

Jess Kirkpatrick was born on 2 October 1897 in Champaign, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for D.O.A. (1949), The Magical World of Disney (1954) and Gunsmoke (1955). He died on 9 August 1976 in La Jolla, California, USA.

George F. Will's newspaper column has been syndicated by The Washington Post since 1974. Today it appears twice weekly in more than 440 newspapers. In 1976 he became a regular contributing editor of Newsweek magazine, for which he provided a bimonthly essay until 2011. In 1977 he won a Pulitzer Prize for commentary in his newspaper columns. In June 2019, Mr. Will released his most recent work, The Conservative Sensibility. Altogether eight collections of Mr. Will's Newsweek and Washington Post columns have been published, the most recent being One Man's America: The Pleasures and Provocations of Our Singular Nation (2008). Mr. Will has also published three books on political theory, Statecraft as Soulcraft: What Government Does (1983), The New Season: A Spectator's Guide to the 1988 Election (1987) and Restoration: Congress, Term Limits and The Recovery of Deliberative Democracy (1992). In 1990, Mr. Will published Men At Work: The Craft of Baseball, which topped The New York Times bestseller list for two months. In 1998, Scribner published Bunts: Curt Flood, Camden Yards, Pete Rose and Other Reflections on Baseball, a best-selling collection of new and previously published writings by Mr. Will on baseball. Mr. Will's most recent book on baseball is A Nice Little Place on the North Side: Wrigley Field at One Hundred (2014). In July 2000, Mr. Will was a member of Major League Baseball's Blue Ribbon Panel, examining baseball economics. In 1981, Mr. Will became a founding panel member on ABC television's "This Week" and spent over three decades providing regular commentary. Then followed three years with Fox News where he appeared regularly on "Special Report" and "Fox News Sunday." Mr. Will is now a regular contributor to MSNBC and NBC News. Mr. Will was born in Champaign, Illinois, educated at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, Oxford University and Princeton University, where he earned his Ph.D. and he later served as a trustee. He has taught political philosophy at Michigan State University, the University of Toronto and Harvard University. Mr. Will served as a staff member in the United States Senate from 1970 to 1972. From 1973 through 1976, he was the Washington editor of National Review magazine. Today, Mr. Will lives and works in the Washington, D.C., area.

Tom Bodett was born on 23 February 1955 in Champaign, Illinois, USA. He is an actor, known for Northern Borders (2013), Pinky and the Brain (1995) and Animaniacs (1993). He has been married to Rita A. Ramirez since 1997. They have two children. He was previously married to Debi Hochstetler.

Lisa is an actor, writer, improviser and producer living in Los Angeles. She has been steadily working across genres in TV and film production and is also the co-host of Go Help Yourself Podcast, a comedy self-help podcast to make life suck less.

Lisa grew up in Illinois and studied and performed improvisation and sketch comedy in Chicago at The Second City, iO (formerly Improv Olympic), and The Annoyance. She was in several critically acclaimed shows, including the remount of Close Quarters at iO, Out Of Character at The Playground, and A Woman's Path at The Annoyance.

Recently, her short film PHILANTHROPY had its world premiere at the Dances With Films festival. She wrote, starred in and co-produced the project. It had an excellent festival season, appearing in a eleven festivals across the nation, including the San Jose International Short Film Festival, Beloit International Film Festival, Austin Comedy Film Festival, and was a nominee in the Laugh or Die Comedy Fest.

She created DOG MOMS, a satirical web series parody of Lifetime TV's Dance Moms, which was selected in 2016 for the New Media Film Festival as well as the Austin Revolution Film Festival. She is co-creator/writer/producer/star of the web series Rick & Len Fix Sh!t In Your House, which won several awards in 2013: Lead Actress at LAWebfest, a finalist at the Chicago Comedy Pilot Competition, and overall web series winner at the Chicago Comedy Film Festival.

Her podcast has produced over 250 episodes and was featured in Spotify's 2021 "Find The One" event, alongside Brené Brown, Michelle Obama, and Oprah's podcasts.

She relocated to Los Angeles in 2013.

Doug Wilson grew up on his family's farm in central Illinois. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and moved to New York in 1986 to study at the National Shakespeare Conservatory to pursue a stage and screen career. He won several stage and commercial roles but he didn't quite take to the hurry-up-and-wait nature of auditioning. In the meantime, Doug supplemented his actor's income by doing different odd jobs from professional window washing to handyman chores to word-of-mouth interior design jobs. Later in the April 2000 issue of House and Garden magazine he noted an article on color psychology which got him an invitation to audition for "Trading Spaces," which, at that time, was in its formative stages.

Silent-screen actress Ethel Clayton was a convent-educated girl from Champaign, IL, who sought work as a stage actress after finishing her education. She secured small parts here and there, but hit the big time when she went to work for the Frawley Organization, which had several touring stock companies. She got small parts at first but then began getting bigger ones until finally she was getting star billing. Howver, the advent of motion pictures soon piqued her curiosity, and a visit to a film studio aroused her interest even more. Producer Siegmund Lubin offered to star her in one of his productions, she consented--"just this one, though"--and made her film debut in "The Great Divide". However, after she saw the completed film, she consented to do another, The Lion and the Mouse (1914), and soon she had given up the stage altogether in favor of pictures. It was the beginning of a career that lasted more than 30 years and comprised more than 180 films. Her last one was The Perils of Pauline (1947), in which she had an uncredited bit part, after which she left the screen. She died in Oxnard, CA, in 1966.

Amy Chua was born on 26 October 1962 in Champaign, Illinois, USA. She is married to Jed Rubenfeld. They have two children.

Nina Paley was born on 3 May 1968 in Champaign, Illinois, USA. She is a director and writer, known for Sita Sings the Blues (2008), Seder-Masochism (2018) and Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet (2014). She was previously married to Liam.

Bruce Hall was born on 3 May 1953 in Champaign, Illinois, USA. He is an actor, known for Supernatural (2005), Ozark (2017) and FM (1978).

Marcella Martin was born on 5 June 1916 in Champaign, Illinois, USA. She was an actress, known for Gone with the Wind (1939), The Man Who Returned to Life (1942) and West of Tombstone (1942). She was married to Robert Lee McGratty, John Martin and James Ferguson. She died on 31 October 1986 in Houston, Texas, USA.

Eric Vogel was born on 11 February 1975 in Champaign, Illinois, USA. He is a producer and director, known for Quo Vadis, Aida? (2020), Two Buddies and a Badger: The Great Big Beast (2020) and Valkyrien (2017).