Arts and entertainment
Architecture and design
- Norman Bel Geddes - industrial designer, Hollywood set designer, noted modernist architect
- Harold Van Doren - co-founder and former president of Society of Industrial Designers
Art
- Richard DeVore - ceramic artist
- Joseph Kosuth - conceptual artist
- Paul Timman - Hollywood tattoo artist
- Leslie Adams - Portrait Artist
Journalism
- Amy Braunschweiger - freelance journalist for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal
- Christine Brennan, USA Today sports columnist, ESPN, ABC, and NPR sports analyst, author of seven books
- Janet Cooke - journalist with The Blade and The Washington Post
- David Ross Locke - journalist and early political commentator during the American Civil War under the pen name Petroleum V. Nasby
- P. J. O'Rourke - political satirist, journalist, writer
- Gloria Steinem - founder of Ms., feminist icon, journalist, women's rights advocate
Literature and poetry
- Mildred Benson - author of the original books in the Nancy Drew series
- Michael Brooks, historian and journalist
- Paul Lawrence Dunbar - African-American poet, originally from Dayton, Ohio
- Edward Eager - author of children's books
- Mari Evans - author, dramatist
- Christopher Moore - novelist
- Scott Nearing - conservationist, peace activist, educator, writer
- Allen Saunders - cartoonist, creator of "Mary Worth" and "Steve Roper" comic strips
- Scott Smith - novelist, author of A Simple Plan and The Ruins
- Mildred D. Taylor, author of various novels concerning race relations, particularly Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and its sequels.
- Elizabeth Witherell - editor-in-chief of The Writings of Henry D. Thoreau
Modeling
- Cynthia Myers - Playboy Playmate, model, actress
- Jan Roberts - Playboy Playmate, model
- Runa Lucienne -Playboy Playmate, model
- Jessica Flowers - model
Music
Tom Scholz was a member of the 1970s rock band Boston.
- Anita Baker - R&B singer
- Teresa Brewer - singer
- Stanley Cowell - pianist, composer
- Johnny and the Hurricanes
- Tom Scholz - founder of the 1970s rock group Boston
- Jon Hendricks - member of the jazz group Lambert, Hendricks & Ross
- Chester "Lyfe" Jennings, singer
- Koufax - alternative rock band
- Lollipop Lust Kill - heavy metal/alternative band
- Gary Louris - singer and guitarist for The Jayhawks
- Shirley Murdock - R&B singer
- Chris Byrd - gospel singer
- Mary Zilba - singer
- Scott Shriner - bassist of the rock band Weezer
- Sanctus Real - Christian rock band
- This Beautiful Republic - Christian rock band
- Stylex - electroclash/new wave band
- Art Tatum - jazz pianist
- Static Rituals - alternative rock band
- We are the Fury - alternative rock band
- Crystal Bowersox - folk&blues singer-songwriter and guitarist
- Ruby Starr - rock singer
Theater and film
Jamie Farr played Maxwell Klinger on the long-running TV series M*A*S*H.
- Chadwick Cohn - casting director
- Cliff Arquette - actor, comedian
- Jonathan Bennett - film actor
- Casey Biggs - actor
- Joe E. Brown - actor, comedian
- Daws Butler - voice actor
- Jason Cameron - actor, television presenter, model
- John Cromwell - actor, film producer and director
- Jason Dohring - actor
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Jamie Farr - actor
- Maxwell Klinger - fictional character in the television series M*A*S*H
- Teresa Ganzel, actress
- Philip Baker Hall - film actor
- Katie Holmes - actress, ex-wife of Tom Cruise
- Sandy Helberg - film and television actor
- Eric Kripke - television writer, director, and producer
- Shirley Mitchell - radio and television actress
- Adrianne Palicki - film and television actress
- Kate Shindle - Broadway actress
- Alyson Stoner - actress and dancer
- Brandy Talore - pornographic film actress
- Lloyd Thaxton - producer, director, writer, hosted self-titled TV show in 1960s
- Danny Thomas - actor and father of Marlo.
- Marlo Thomas - actress, daughter of Danny, wife of Phil Donahue
- Bonnie Turner - Creator of That '70s Show and 3rd Rock from the Sun.
- Derek Westerman - film director, screenwriter, and producer.
- Pat Brady - Roy Rogers fans instantly think of Brady and Nellybelle his
jeep. Pat Brady was born on December 31, 1914 in Toledo, Ohio as Robert Ellsworth Patrick Aloysious
Government
- Walter Folger Brown - former Postmaster General of the United States
- Samuel M. "Golden Rule" Jones - Mayor
- Brand Whitlock - Mayor and U.S. Ambassador to Belgium during WWI
Business
- Doug Dohring - former CEO and co-founder of Neopets
- Doug Ducey - CEO of Cold Stone Creamery
- Edward Drummond Libbey - glassmaker, philanthropist
- John F. Savage - founder of Savage and Associates, author, philanthropist
Science and technology
- Eugene F. "Gene" Kranz - retired NASA flight director who served during the Gemini & Apollo space programs, known for his role in the rescue of Apollo 13
- Blair P. Grubb - world expert on POTS and dysautonomia
- Lyman Spitzer Jr. - theoretical physicist, astronomer, driving force behind the Hubble Space Telescope
- Michael S. Witherell - particle physicist, former president of Fermilab
- Michael Owens developed the world's first automated bottle-blowing machine, revolutionizing the bottle industry
Sports
Baseball
- Roger Bresnahan - Baseball Hall of Fame member
- Gene Cook - longtime executive of the Toledo Mud Hens, International League Hall of Fame member
- Addie Joss - Baseball Hall of Fame member
- Jim Leyland - manager of Detroit Tigers Major League Baseball (MLB) baseball team
- Zach McClellan - MLB player
- Doug Mientkiewicz - MLB player, one of five American players to win both an Olympic gold medal and a World Series championship
- Bob Meyer - MLB player for the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Angels, Kansas City Athletics, and the Seattle Pilots/Milwaukee Brewers
- George Mullin - MLB player
- Lee Richmond - baseball player (pitched the first perfect game in MLB history)
- Ron Rightnowar - MLB player for the Milwaukee Brewers
- Terry Harmon-MLB player for the Philadelphia Phillies
- Stan Clarke-MLB player for the Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners, Kansas City Royals, St Louis Cardinals
Basketball
- Don Donoher - former University of Dayton head basketball coach
- Dennis Hopson - American former National Basketball Association (NBA) player
- Jim Jackson, NBA player
- Todd Mitchell - former NBA player
- Steve Mix - former NBA player
- Tony Peyton - last of the original Harlem Globetrotters
- Kelvin Ransey - NBA player
- Howard "Butch" Komives - former NBA player
Football
Fred Davis currently plays as the tight end for the Washington Redskins.
- Rob Chudzinski - National Football League (NFL) player & coach, Cleveland Browns offensive coordinator
- Jim Harbaugh - former NFL quarterback, former head coach of Stanford University and current head coach of San Francisco 49'ers
- John Harbaugh - head coach of Baltimore Ravens
- Curtis Johnson - former NFL player (#45 of 1972 undefeated Miami Dolphins "no-name defense")
- Rick Upchurch - Professional football player Known for one of the fastest NFL players of all time
- Chester Taylor - NFL player (running back for the Minnesota Vikings), former University of Toledo player
- Nate Washington - NFL player (#85 Pittsburgh Steelers)
- Urban Meyer - former head coach of Bowling Green State University, University of Utah, and University of Florida, current head coach of The Ohio State University, was born in Toledo.
- Joe Tiller - Purdue University head coach
- Dane Sanzenbacher - NFL player (Chicago Bears), former Ohio State player
- Ryne Robinson - NFL player (Carolina Panthers), former Miami University player
- Fred Davis - NFL player (tight end for the Washington Redskins), former USC player
- Myron Bell - former NFL player
- Brandon Fields - NFL player (punter for the Miami Dolphins)
- Dick Kazmaier - 1951 Heisman Trophy winner
- Stan Heath - NFL player (quarterback for the Green Bay Packers)
- Khary Campbell - NFL Player
- Chuck Webb - NFL player (fullback for the Green Bay Packers)
Ice hockey
- Pat Jablonski[1] - retired National Hockey League (NHL) goaltender
- Bryan Smolinski[2] - retired NHL player.
- Cecil Dillon - retired NHL player.
- Rick Hayward - retired NHL player.
Golf
- Arthur Hills - golf course designer
- Byron Nelson - World Golf Hall of Fame member, Professional Golfers' Association (PGA) Tour golfer, former Inverness Club pro
- Frank Stranahan - PGA golfer, weightlifter
- A.W. Tillinghast - golf course designer
- John Cook - PGA golfer
Wrestling and boxing
- Mark Kerr - Syracuse University Division I champion, US Senior Champion, professional mixed martial arts fighter
- Wilbert McClure - gold medal in boxing in 1960 Olympics
- Devin Vargas - professional boxer, former olympian
- Greg Wojciechowski - 1980 Olympic wrestler who was unable to compete due to the United States boycott, alternate on the 1984 and 1988 US Olympic wrestling teams
Other sports
- Gretchen Bleiler - 2006 Olympic silver medalist in snowboarding, Three-time X Games champion (2003, 2005, 2008)
- Paul Chamberlin - professional tennis player
- Edmund Coffin - saddle-maker, equestrian Olympic gold medalist
- Terry Cook - driver in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
- Frances Schroth - winner of one gold medal and two bronze medals in swimming in 1920 Olympic games
Other notables
- Stephen Bolles - U.S. Representative from Wisconsin
- Ernest E. Debs - Los Angeles City Council member and county supervisor, born in Toledo
- Martin Frankel - former financier convicted in 2002 of insurance fraud, racketeering and money laundering.
- Thomas Francis Ford, member of the U.S. Congress, an editor, a specialist in international trade and the only person ever sent to the Los Angeles City Council by a write-in vote
- Kristina Keneally - Premier of New South Wales, Australia
- Ernest M. McSorley - captain of the ill-fated lake freighter SS Edmund Fitzgerald
- Thomas Noe - former Ohio Republican Party fundraiser and activist, played part in "Coingate" scandal
- Gerald Robinson - Roman Catholic priest convicted of the murder of a nun in 1980
- Selma Rubin - Environmental activist based in Santa Barbara, California