List of people from Colorado
This is a list of some notable people who have lived in the U.S. state of Colorado. It includes people who were born, raised, or have significant relations with the state.
Coloradans have been prominent in many fields, including literature, entertainment, art, music, politics, and business. This list attempts to maintain biographical notability of significant Coloradans, and to organize historically important men and women hailing from Colorado.
Actors
- Amy Adams – actress, nominated five times for an Oscar for performances in Junebug, Doubt, The Fighter, The Master and American Hustle
- Tim Allen – film and television actor, comedian, winner of a Golden Globe Award ; star of The Santa Clause, Toy Story and the television series Home Improvement and Last Man Standing
- Baby Marie – film actress and costumer, starred in numerous silent films as a child
- Roseanne Barr – film and television actress, comedian; Golden Globe Award winner, and a Primetime Emmy Award winner; starred in Roseanne and was host of The Roseanne Show
- Earl W. Bascom – film and television actor in Hollywood western The Lawless Rider and in television commercials with Roy Rogers
- Barbara Bates – actress, featured in such films as All About Eve and The Caddy
- Melissa Benoist – film and television actress, starred in 7th Heaven and films including Easy Virtue, The Illusionist and Playing for Keeps
- Julie Bishop – actress featured in many 1930s and 1940s films
- Kelly Bishop – film and television actress, played Emily Gilmore on Gilmore Girls
- Michael Boatman – film and television actor, co-starred in such TV shows as Spin City, China Beach, Arliss
- Frank Bogert – rodeo announcer, actor, author, mayor of Palm Springs California, Walk of Stars honoree
- Sierra Boggess – actress and singer; Laurence Olivier Award and Drama Desk Award-nominated Broadway and West End soprano; originated parts of Christine Daae in Love Never Dies and Ariel in The Little Mermaid
- Tom Bower – film and television actor, played Dr. Curtis Willard on The Waltons
- Jason Brooks – film and television actor, played Sean Monroe on Baywatch Hawaii and Peter Blake on Days of Our Lives
- Zachery Ty Bryan – film and television actor, starred in Home Improvement
- Molly Burnett – television actress, starred on Days of Our Lives
- Spring Byington – actress, star of many films and television series; December Bride
- Mary Jo Catlett – film and television actress, played Pearl Gallagher, the housekeeper, on Diff'rent Strokes and does the voice of Mrs. Puff on SpongeBob SquarePants
- Kristin Cavallari – reality television personality and actress best known for appearing in MTV's Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County and The Hills
- Lon Chaney – actor in films of 1910s and 1920s, subject of biographical film Man of a Thousand Faces
- "Baby" Lyssa Chapman – bounty hunter and television personality
- Beth Chapman – bounty hunter and television personality
- Duane "Dog" Chapman – bounty hunter and television personality
- Don Cheadle – actor, Oscar nominee and two-time Golden Globe Award winner, four-time Emmy Award nominee and Grammy winner; known for films Boogie Nights, Hotel Rwanda, Ocean's Eleven, The Rat Pack and Iron Man 2
- Ken Curtis – actor, musician; starred in TV series Gunsmoke and in western films The Searchers and The Alamo
- Kristin Davis – actress, star of Sex and the City television series and films
- Brian Dietzen – actor, co-star of NCIS as the young Dr. Jimmy Palmer
- Thomas Doerr – architect, author, and educator at the University of Colorado Boulder
- Big Jack Earle – silent film actor, sideshow performer and tall man
- Ralph Edwards – television host and producer known for This Is Your Life and Truth or Consequences
- Chris Eigeman – actor best known for Whit Stillman films Metropolitan, Barcelona, and The Last Days of Disco; starred in ABC's It's Like, You Know... and played Jason Stiles on Gilmore Girls
- Douglas Fairbanks – film actor, first president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, posthumous winner of an honorary Academy Award and star of numerous films during the 1910s and 1920s
- David Fincher – director of such films as Zodiac, Fight Club, Seven and Gone Girl
- Joel Geist – film and television actor
- Jacque Georgia – actress, author, Mrs. Colorado United States 2019
- Pam Grier – actress, star of films including Foxy Brown and Jackie Brown
- Devon Gummersall – film television actor, played Brian Kraków on ABC's teen drama My So-Called Life
- Jon Heder – actor, played title character in Napoleon Dynamite
- Michael "Ffish" Hemschoot – director, animator and visual effects artist in films
- Kelo Henderson – co-starred in 1957–1959 syndicated western television series 26 Men, based on case files of Arizona Rangers law-enforcement team
- Gregg Henry – film and television actor, known for his roles in Guardians of the Galaxy, Payback, Body Double and Slither, as well as playing Hollis Doyle on Scandal
- Neil Hopkins – film and television actor
- Steve Howey ; attended Green Mountain High School – film and television actor, played Van on Reba television show and has been in various films, including Bride Wars
- Olin Howland – film and television actor
- Matt Iseman – comedian, actor, television host, and winner of The New Celebrity Apprentice
- Daniel Junge – Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker
- Brandy Ledford – actress, model, former Penthouse Pet of the Year; played Dawn Masterton on Baywatch and Doyle on Andromeda
- Sheryl Lee – film and television actress, played Laura Palmer and Maddy Ferguson on Twin Peaks and Dr. Sarah Church on L.A. Doctors
- Jake Lloyd – film actor, played young Anakin Skywalker on Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace
- Scott Lowell – film and television actor, starred in Queer as Folk
- John Carroll Lynch – actor, starred in films including Zodiac and The Founder
- Ross Lynch – born in Littleton, Colorado: actor and singer, recurring character on TV series Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
- Ross Marquand – born in Fort Collins, Colorado; attended University of Colorado Boulder) – actor, recurring main character of TV series The Walking Dead
- Hattie McDaniel – film and television actress, winner of an Academy Award for Gone with the Wind
- T. J. Miller – actor and stand-up comedian, voice of Tuffnut in How to Train Your Dragon and Ranger Jones in Yogi Bear, played Hud in Cloverfield
- Bill Murray – film and television actor, comedian, starred in Saturday Night Live, Ghostbusters, Caddyshack, Rushmore, and Lost in Translation
- Tracey Needham – film and television actress, appeared as Paige Thatcher on Life Goes On, Lt. Meg Austin on JAG, and as Inspector Candace "C. D." DeLorenzo on The Division
- Cyrus Nowrasteh – screenwriter and director for theatrical films, television films and shows; notable works include the miniseries The Path to 9/11, the drama The Stoning of Soraya M., and the television film The Day Reagan Was Shot
- Stephen Thomas Ochsner – actor, director, musician, artist, translator and producer
- Peter O'Fallon – film and television director, created NBC sci-fi/drama series Mysterious Ways, directed such films as Suicide Kings and A Rumor of Angels
- Debra Paget – actress, star of films including The Ten Commandments and Love Me Tender
- Trey Parker – actor, animator, director, producer, musician, screenwriter; nominated for an Academy Award and winner of two Emmy Awards ; co-creator of South Park
- Antoinette Perry – stage actress and director, co-founder of the American Theatre Wing, posthumous namesake of the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, better known as the Tony Awards
- Amanda Peterson – film and television actress, starred in Can't Buy Me Love
- Cassandra Peterson – film and television actress, starred in Elvira, Mistress of the Dark
- Joseph C. Phillips – actor, played Lt. Martin Kendall on The Cosby Show
- Denver Pyle – actor featured in films including Bonnie and Clyde and on television; played Uncle Jesse in The Dukes of Hazzard
- Brandon Quinn – actor, starred as Tommy Dawkins in Big Wolf on Campus
- Kelly Reno – actor, starred in film The Black Stallion and its sequel
- Kristen Renton – actress, played Morgan Hollingsworth on Days of Our Lives
- AnnaSophia Robb – film and television actress, starred in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Bridge to Terabithia
- Mark Roberts – actor who appeared in over 100 films
- Karly Rothenberg – film and television actress
- Barbara Rush – actress, star of films including The Young Philadelphians, The Young Lions, Bigger Than Life, Robin and the 7 Hoods and Hombre
- Kristen Schaal – actress and comedian, played Mel on Flight of the Conchords and Louise on Bob's Burgers
- Charity Shea – actress, starred as Samantha Best on teen drama The Best Years
- Matt Stone – actor, musician, producer, writer; winner of two Emmy Awards ; co-creator of South Park
- Sherry Stringfield – actress, starred in TV series ER
- Tom Tully – film and television actor, nominated for an Academy Award in 1955 for The Caine Mutiny, starred in CBS's police drama, The Lineup and co-starred in ABC's western TV series Shane in 1966
- Jan-Michael Vincent – film and television actor, played helicopter pilot Stringfellow Hawke on 1980s series Airwolf
- Frank Welker – voice actor, played Fred in Scooby-Doo and Nibbler in Futurama
- David White – film and television actor, featured in TV series Bewitched
- Sheree J. Wilson – actress, played Alex Cahill in TV series ''Walker, Texas Ranger''
Artists, photographers
- Robert Adams – photographer of the western landscape; received two Guggenheim Fellowships, a MacArthur Fellowship; works are in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York
- Earl W. Bascom – artist, sculptor, cousin of western artist Frederic Remington, lived and worked in Northwest Colorado during the late 1920s
- John Fabian Carlson – painter, director and an instructor at the Broadmoor Academy, a precursor to the current Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center and founder of the John F. Carlson School of Landscape Painting
- Tomory Dodge – artist, advocate of Indian art
- John Fielder – landscape photographer and nature writer
- William Henry Jackson – photographer for the United States Geological Survey and Union Pacific Railroad, created one of the largest and most expansive western photographic collections in the world
- Frank Tenney Johnson – western artist related to artists Frederic Remington and Earl Bascom, lived and cowboyed near Hayden
- Barry Kooser – Disney artist, fine art painter and CCO of Worker Studio
- David Burroughs Mattingly – illustrator and painter known for book covers of science fiction and fantasy literature
- Amanda Marie Ploegsma – known as Amanda Marie – artist, alumna of Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, stencilist of storybook imagery in contemporary murals and paintings
- Robert Reid – painter, instructor at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Cooper Union, and the Broadmoor Academy
- Wendi Schneider – Denver-based photographer of nature and wildlife; often prints on paper vellum with hand-applied layers of gold leaf
Astronauts
- Loren Acton – mission specialist on STS-51-F
- Jeffrey Ashby – pilot of STS-93 and STS-100; commander of STS-112
- Patrick Baudry – payload specialist on STS-51-G
- John E. Blaha – pilot of STS-29 and STS-33; commander of STS-43 and STS-58; Mission Specialist on STS-79, STS-81, and Mir space station
- Michael J. Bloomfield – pilot of STS-86 and STS-97; commander of STS-110
- Karol J. Bobko – pilot of STS-6; commander of STS-51-D and STS-51-J
- Eric A. Boe – pilot of STS-126
- Vance D. Brand – Mercury astronaut; Apollo docking module pilot on the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project; commander of STS-5, STS-41-B, and STS-35
- Roy D. Bridges Jr. – pilot of STS-51-F; director of the Kennedy Space Center ; director of Langley Research Center
- Curtis Brown – pilot of STS-47, STS-66, and STS-77; commander of STS-85, STS-95, and STS-103
- Scott Carpenter – pilot of Mercury-Atlas 7 ; fourth human to orbit the Earth
- Gerald P. Carr – commander of Skylab 4
- John Casper – pilot of STS-36; commander of STS-54, STS-62, and STS-77
- Kalpana Chawla – mission specialist on STS-87 and STS-107; killed on February 1, 2003, on the reentry of the Space Shuttle Columbia
- Kevin P. Chilton – pilot of STS-49 and STS-59; commander of STS-76
- Mary L. Cleave – mission specialist on STS-61-B and STS-30
- Gordon Cooper – pilot of Mercury-Atlas 9 ; command pilot of Gemini V
- Richard O. Covey – pilot of STS-51-I and STS-26; commander of STS-38 and STS-61
- Takao Doi – mission specialist on STS-87
- B. Alvin Drew – mission specialist on STS-118
- Brian Duffy – pilot of STS-45 and STS-57; commander of STS-72 and STS-92
- Samuel T. Durrance – payload specialist on STS-35 and STS-67
- James Dutton – pilot of STS-131
- Martin J. Fettman – payload specialist on STS-58
- Dale Gardner – mission specialist on STS-8 and STS-51-A
- Guy Gardner – pilot of STS-27 and STS-35
- Ronald J. Grabe – pilot of STS-51-J and STS-30; commander of STS-42 and STS-57
- Frederick D. Gregory – pilot of STS-51-B; commander of STS-33 and STS-44
- William G. Gregory – pilot of STS-67
- Sidney M. Gutierrez – pilot of STS-40; commander of STS-59
- James D. Halsell – pilot of STS-65 and STS-74; commander of STS-83, STS-94, and STS-101
- L. Blaine Hammond – pilot of STS-39 and STS-64
- Susan J. Helms – mission specialist on STS-54, STS-64, STS-78, STS-101, STS-102, and STS-105; flight engineer of International Space Station Expedition 2
- Terence T. Henricks – pilot of STS-44 and STS-55; commander of STS-70 and STS-78
- John Herrington – mission specialist on STS-113
- Richard Hieb – mission specialist on STS-39, STS-49, and STS-65
- James Irwin – lunar module pilot on Apollo 15; eighth human to walk on the Moon
- Marsha Ivins – mission specialist on STS-32, STS-46, STS-62, STS-81, and STS-98
- Gregory H. Johnson – pilot of STS-123 and STS-134
- Thomas D. Jones – mission specialist on STS-59, STS-80, and STS-98; payload commander on STS-68
- James M. Kelly – pilot of STS-102 and STS-114
- Kevin R. Kregel – pilot of STS-70 and STS-78; commander of STS-87 and STS-99
- Mark C. Lee – mission specialist on STS-30, STS-64, and STS-82; payload commander of STS-47
- Kjell N. Lindgren – flight engineer and mission specialist on International Space Station Expedition 44 and Expedition 45
- Steven W. Lindsey – pilot of STS-87 and STS-95; commander of STS-104 and STS-121
- John M. Lounge – mission specialist on STS-51-I, STS-26, and STS-35
- Bruce McCandless II
- Donald R. McMonagle – mission specialist on STS-39; pilot of STS-54; commander of STS-66
- Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger – mission specialist on STS-131
- George Nelson – mission specialist on STS-41-C, STS-61-C, and STS-26
- Ellison Onizuka – mission specialist on STS-51-C and STS-51-L; killed on January 28, 1986, on the ascent of the Space Shuttle Challenger
- William A. Pailes – payload specialist on STS-51-J
- Scott E. Parazynski – payload specialist on STS-66; mission specialist on STS-86, STS-95, STS-100, and STS-120
- Charles J. Precourt – mission specialist on STS-55; pilot of STS-71; commander of STS-84 and STS-91
- Kent Rominger – pilot of STS-73, STS-80, and STS-85; commander of STS-96 and STS-100
- Stuart Roosa – command module pilot on Apollo 14; eleventh human to orbit the Moon
- Richard A. Searfoss – pilot of STS-58 and STS-76; commander of STS-90
- Ronald M. Sega – mission specialist on STS-60 and STS-76
- Loren Shriver – pilot of STS-41-B; commander of STS-31 and STS-46
- Robert L. Stewart – mission specialist on STS-41-C and STS-51-J
- Steven Swanson – mission specialist on STS-117 and STS-119, International Space Station expeditions 39 and 40
- Jack Swigert – command module pilot on Apollo 13 mission; orbited the Moon; elected to the United States Congress, but died before taking office
- Joseph R. Tanner – mission specialist on STS-66, STS-82, STS-97, and STS-115
- James van Hoften – mission specialist on STS-41-C and STS-51-I
- Charles L. Veach – mission specialist on STS-39 and STS-52
- Terry W. Virts – pilot of STS-130
- James Voss – mission specialist on STS-44, STS-53, STS-69, STS-101, STS-102, and STS-105; flight engineer of International Space Station Expedition 2
Athletes
- David Aardsma – Major League Baseball pitcher
- Max Aaron – 2013 U.S. national champion figure skater
- Louis Amundson – pro basketball player
- Heather Armbrust – IFBB professional bodybuilder
- Tom Ashworth – NFL player, member of three NFL Super Bowl champion teams with New England Patriots
- Buddy Baer – boxer and actor, brother of Max Baer
- Kalen Ballage – running back for the Miami Dolphins
- Josh Bard – MLB catcher and coach
- Earl W. Bascom – rodeo champion and Hall of Famer, invented rodeo's first hornless bronc saddle and fone-hand bareback rigging, called "father of modern rodeo", lived on White Bear Ranch in Northwest Colorado, married cousin of Jack Dempsey
- Chauncey Billups – NBA player for Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers and champion Detroit Pistons team ; selected as MVP of NBA Finals, three-time NBA All-Star
- Greg Bird – first baseman for New York Yankees
- Ben Bishop – National Hockey League goaltender
- Jeremy Bloom – Olympic and world champion freestyle moguls skier, played football for University of Colorado and in NFL
- Tony Boselli – offensive lineman for USC, second selection of 1995 NFL draft; All Pro for Jacksonville Jaguars
- Ronnie Bradford – NFL player for four teams; special teams coach of Denver Broncos
- William Glenn Brundige – former NFL defensive end
- Calais Campbell – NFL defensive end
- Joe Barry Carroll – basketball player for Purdue, first selection of 1980 NBA draft, center and NBA All Star
- Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone – mixed martial artist, UFC Hall of Famer and actor
- Tom Chambers – basketball player, 4-time NBA All Star
- Alysha Clark – American-Israeli basketball player for the Israeli team Elitzur Ramla and the Las Vegas Aces of the Women's National Basketball Association
- E.H. "Dutch" Clark – Colorado's first All-American football player; player and coach for Detroit Lions in 1930s; charter member of Pro Football Hall of Fame
- Jon Cooper – center for Minnesota Vikings
- John Coughlin – figure skater
- Jesse Crain – MLB relief pitcher
- Mason Crosby – NFL kicker for Green Bay Packers
- Hayden Dalton – basketball player for Hapoel Holon of the Israeli Basketball Premier League
- Drew Davis – wide receiver for Atlanta Falcons
- Pat Day – Hall of Fame jockey, Kentucky Derby winner
- Joe DeCamillis – special teams coach for Denver Broncos previously with Dallas Cowboys, Chicago Bears
- Jack Dempsey – professional boxer, nicknamed "the Manassa Mauler", regarded as boxing's World Heavyweight Champion from 1919 to 1926 Inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame ; author of two books relating to hand-to-hand combat
- Reed Doughty – safety for Washington Redskins
- Joel Dreessen – NFL tight end
- Justin Drescher – long snapper for New Orleans Saints
- John Elway – NFL quarterback for Denver Broncos, member of two Super Bowl champion teams, selected as NFL MVP, MVP of Super Bowl XXXIII, twice as UPI AFC Offensive Player of the Year, five times for AP NFL All-Pro team, nine-time Pro Bowl selection; Denver Broncos Ring of Fame, College Football Hall of Fame, and Pro Football Hall of Fame, vice president and general manager of Broncos
- Alex English – NBA player with Milwaukee Bucks, Indiana Pacers, Denver Nuggets and Dallas Mavericks, assistant coach with Toronto Raptors, seven-time NBA All-Star, inducted into Basketball Hall of Fame
- Brian Fisher – Major League Baseball pitcher with New York Yankees and Pittsburgh Pirates
- Ingals Fisher – sport shooter
- Peter Foley – former snowboarding coach; suspended for 10 years for sexual misconduct
- Missy Franklin – five-time Olympic gold medalist in swimming, attended Regis Jesuit High School, and swam collegiality at UCLA
- Ben Garland – offensive guard for the Atlanta Falcons
- Kevin Gausman – Major League Baseball pitcher for the Atlanta Braves
- Brian Ginsberg – gymnast, two-time US junior national gymnastics champion
- Arielle Gold – snowboarder; Olympic bronze medalist, Junior World Champion, and World Champion
- Taylor Gold – Olympic snowboarder
- Richard "Goose" Gossage – Major League Baseball pitcher for nine teams; member of 1978 World Series champion New York Yankees, 12-time All-Star, inducted into National Baseball Hall of Fame
- Daniel Graham – NFL tight end
- Robert Griswold – swimmer
- Roy Halladay – MLB starting pitcher, won AL Cy Young Award in 2003, NL Cy Young Award in 2010; eight-time All-Star
- Matt Hasselbeck – quarterback for four NFL teams, selected three times to Pro Bowl, commentator
- Chase Headley – third baseman for the New York Yankees
- Phil Heath – bodybuilder, twice Mr. Olympia
- Taryn Hemmings – professional soccer player for Chicago Red Stars and Boston Breakers, played in Japan for Tepco Mareeze and in Australia for Canberra United, all-time leading Division 1 scorer for University of Denver
- Jordan Hicks – linebacker for Philadelphia Eagles
- Sarah Hirshland chief executive officer of the United States Olympic Committee
- Luke Hochevar – relief pitcher for Kansas City Royals
- Noah Hoffman – Olympic skier
- Lamarr Houston – defensive end for Oakland Raiders
- Danny Jackson – baseball player, pitcher for KC Royals, Cincinnati Reds, Chicago Cubs
- Reggie Jackson – basketball player for NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder
- Vincent Jackson – wide receiver for San Diego Chargers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Ryan Jensen – offensive lineman for Baltimore Ravens, sixth-round pick of the 2013 NFL draft
- Dirk Johnson – NFL punter
- Seth Jones – plays defense in NHL currently with Columbus Blue Jackets
- Jonathan Kaye – professional golfer on PGA Tour
- Ronald Kiefel – bronze medal Olympic winner for road cycling' raced in Tour de France 7 times
- Mark Knudson – Major League Baseball pitcher, first Colorado native to play for the Colorado Rockies
- Kevin Kouzmanoff – Major League Baseball player for Colorado Rockies
- Oliver Larraz – soccer player
- Buddy Lazier – auto racing driver, winner of Indy Racing League championship and Indianapolis 500 – awarded Indianapolis Motor Speedway's Scott Brayton Trophy
- Brad Lidge – relief pitcher for Philadelphia Phillies, Houston Astros
- Phillip Lindsay – current National Football League running back
- Jacob Lissek – soccer player
- Phil Loadholt – offensive tackle for the Minnesota Vikings
- Dave Logan – drafted to three professional sports ; wide receiver for Cleveland Browns and Denver Broncos; radio personality on KOA; coached high school football teams for Arvada West High School, Chatfield Senior High School, Mullen High School, Cherry Creek High School to state championships
- Brian Matusz – relief pitcher for Baltimore Orioles
- Christian McCaffrey – NFL running back for the San Francisco 49ers
- Brandon McCarthy – MLB pitcher for Atlanta Braves
- Scot McCloughan – general manager of the Washington Redskins
- Darnell McDonald – outfielder for Boston Red Sox
- Mark Melancon – closer for Atlanta Braves
- Bill Musgrave – graduate of Grand Junction High School, football player for Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers and Denver Broncos, offensive coordinator for Minnesota Vikings
- Jesse Nading – defensive end for Houston Texans
- David Pauley – relief pitcher for Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox
- Erik Pears – offensive tackle for San Francisco 49ers
- Jake Pemberton – American-Israeli basketball player in the Israeli National League
- Tyler Polumbus – offensive tackle for Denver Broncos
- Alina Popa – IFBB professional bodybuilder
- Mike Purcell – defensive end for San Francisco 49ers
- Sam Raben – soccer player
- Micheal Ray Richardson – NBA All Star point guard
- Ryan Max Riley – national champion mogul skier on US Ski Team
- Dalton Risner – current National Football League left guard for the Denver Broncos
- Taylor Rogers – closer for the Minnesota Twins
- Kevin Russo – baseball player for New York Yankees
- Jeff Salzenstein – tennis player
- Bob Sapp – kickboxer, attended Mitchell High School
- Bo Scaife – NFL tight end
- Daniel Schlereth – relief pitcher for Detroit Tigers
- Brian Schottenheimer – offensive coordinator for Indianapolis Colts
- Brian Shaw – four-time World's Strongest Man champion; three-time Arnold Strongman Classic champion
- Nick Shore – plays center in NHL currently with Los Angeles Kings
- Jaccob Slavin – plays defense in NHL currently with Carolina Hurricanes
- Aaron Smith – defensive end for Pittsburgh Steelers, won two Super Bowls ; selected to NFL Pro Bowl ; named to Sports Illustrated's All-Decade Team
- Alex Smith – tight end for Cleveland Browns, New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Jason Smith – basketball player, first-round pick in 2007 NBA draft, power forward for Washington Wizards
- Nate Solder – offensive tackle for New York Giants, first-round pick in 2011 NFL draft
- Kory Sperry – tight end for San Diego Chargers
- Maor Tiyouri – Israeli Olympic marathon runner
- Eve Torres – WWE Divas champion
- Bobby Unser – auto racing driver; two-time winner of USAC/CART Indy Car championship, three-time winner of Indianapolis 500 ; 13-time winner of Open-Wheel Class at Pikes Peak International Hill Climb; inducted in International Motorsports Hall of Fame, Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, and National Sprint Car Hall of Fame
- Jerry Unser – auto racing driver, winner of USAC Stock Car championship
- Pat Valenzuela – swimmer, winner of six Olympic gold medals, three FINA World Championship gold medals and three Pan American Games gold medals
- Charles Washington – NFL player
- LenDale White – All-American running back for USC, running back for three NFL teams
- Joanna Zeiger – Olympic and world champion triathlete, and author
- Cat Zingano – UFC mixed martial artist
Business and community leaders
- William Bent – with his brothers, Bent established Bent's Fort trading post; became a peace negotiator between settlers and Native Americans
- Norman E. Brinker – restaurateur responsible for new business concepts in the restaurant field, such as the salad bar
- Margaret Brown – socialite, philanthropist, and activist who became famous in the 1912 sinking of the RMS Titanic, "The Unsinkable Molly Brown"
- James C. Collins – business consultant, author, and lecturer on the subject of company sustainability and growth
- Adolph Coors – based in Golden, established what is now the nation's third largest brewing company; his family has been active in Colorado politics and philanthropy
- Charles Gates Jr. – longtime president of the Gates Corporation, the world's largest maker of automotive belts and hoses
- Elliot Handler – co-founder of Mattel; helped develop some of the biggest-selling toys in American history, including Barbie dolls, Chatty Cathy, Creepy Crawlers and Hot Wheels
- Ruth Handler – businesswoman and inventor; served as the president of the toy manufacturer Mattel and is remembered for her role in designing and marketing the Barbie doll
- Margaret Isely – peace activist and co-founder of WCPA and Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage
- Philip Isely – peace activist, writer and co-founder of WCPA-GREN and Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage
- Daniel M. Lewin – mathematician and entrepreneur, known for co-founding the internet company, Akamai Technologies; one of the murdered passengers on American Airlines Flight 11
- J. George Leyner – Mining engineer who invented mining equipment with improved safety and efficiency
- James Smith McDonnell – aviation pioneer and founder of McDonnell Aircraft Corporation
- Otto Mears – entrepreneur, financier, and railroad builder; founder of the Rio Grande Southern and the Silverton railroads
- David Halliday Moffat – banker, financier, industrialist, and inspiration for the Moffat Tunnel, the world's-longest railway tunnel upon its completion
- Texas Jack Omohundro – frontier scout, actor, and cowboy
- General William Jackson Palmer – founder of Colorado Springs, developed the first narrow gauge railroad system, the Denver and Rio Grande, owned the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company in Pueblo
- Winfield Scott Stratton – prospector, businessman and philanthropist; became a millionaire after he discovered and developed the Independence Mine; when he died he left all of his wealth for the construction of the Myron Stratton Home, for homeless and poor people
- Horace Tabor – prospector, businessman, and politician
- Gertrude Vaile – social worker
- Stanley M. Wagner – academic and longtime congregational rabbi of Beth HaMedrosh Hagodol-Beth Joseph
Literary figures
- Robert Baer – author and a former CIA case officer assigned to the Middle East; wrote the books See No Evil and Sleeping with the Devil
- Matthew Berry – creator of the Man's League inductee in the Fantasy Sports Trade Association Hall of Fame, and author
- Eleanor Brown – author of New York Times bestselling novel The Weird Sisters and The Light of Paris
- Neal Cassady – figure from the Beat Generation, known for being characterized as Dean Moriarty in Jack Kerouac's novel On the Road
- Clive Cussler – novelist, Raise the Titanic, Deep Six
- Eugene Field – poet and journalist known for his work in children's literature, wrote such poems as "Little Boy Blue" and "Wynken, Blynken, and Nod"
- Allen Ginsberg – beat poet, author of "Howl" and "Kaddish", co-founder of the Naropa Institute's Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics in Boulder
- Shelby Holliday – journalist for The Wall Street Journal
- Helen Hunt Jackson – wrote about the relationship between Coloradans and the Native Indian Tribes, and is often remembered for her brave stance in books such as A Century of Dishonor and Ramona
- Ken Kesey – author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
- Benjamin Kunkel – novelist and political economist
- James A. Michener – worked as a professor at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley where his archives are held; his novel Centennial is about Colorado history
- Nellie Burget Miller – Poet Laureate of Colorado; president, Colorado State Federation of Women's Clubs
- Jack Murphy – sportswriter, football stadium in San Diego was named for him
- Sayyid Qutb – author, poet, educator, and Islamic political theorist who described his stay in Greeley in the censorious article The America that I Have Seen that aroused Anti-American Sentiment among many Muslims; executed by Egypt
- Marguerite Roberts – screenwriter, films include Ivanhoe, True Grit, 5 Card Stud
- Harold Ross – journalist, founder of The New Yorker
- Lowell Thomas – writer, journalist, broadcaster and traveler best known as the man who made Lawrence of Arabia famous
- Hunter S. Thompson – author; creator of Gonzo journalism
- Dalton Trumbo – author of Johnny Got His Gun and Oscar-winning screenwriter for his work in The Brave One; wrote the scripts for Spartacus, Exodus, Hawaii, and Papillon; was blacklisted during the 1950s as one of the Hollywood 10
- Connie Willis – science fiction writer
Military figures
- Erwin J. Boydston – recipient of the United States Navy Medal of Honor for his service during the Boxer Rebellion
- Arleigh Burke – admiral of the United States Navy during World War II along with the Korean War; later the Chief of Naval Operations during the Eisenhower administration
- Louis H. Carpenter – recipient of the United States Army Medal of Honor for meritorious service in Colorado during the Indian Wars
- Christopher Houston "Kit" Carson – frontiersman, commander of Fort Garland, and negotiator of the 1867 peace treaty between the United States and the Ute tribe
- Francis S. Dodge – recipient of the United States Army Medal of Honor for his service in Colorado during the Indian Wars
- Dwight David Eisenhower – 34th president of the United States; organized the temporary location of Lowry Air Force Base, Denver, for a new service academy, the United States Air Force Academy; in 1954, Colorado Springs won the location for the new United States Air Force Academy site; as president, his official airplanes, Lockheed Constellation, were The Columbine, Colorado's state flower; was treated for cardiac events several times at Fitzsimmons Army Hospital
- William R. Grove – recipient of the United States Army Medal of Honor for his service during the Philippine–American War
- William P. Hall – recipient of the United States Army Medal of Honor for his service in Colorado during the Indian Wars
- Henry Johnson – recipient of the United States Army Medal of Honor for his service as a "Buffalo Soldier" in Colorado during the Indian Wars
- Marc Alan Lee – first Navy SEAL to lose his life in Operation Iraqi Freedom; posthumously awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star Medal with Valor and the Purple Heart
- John Merrill – recipient of the United States Army Medal of Honor for gallant service in Colorado during the Indian Wars
- Wilhelm O. Philipsen – recipient of the United States Army Medal of Honor for his service in Colorado during the Indian Wars
- George W. Wallace – recipient of the United States Army Medal of Honor for his service during the Philippine–American War
Musicians
- 3OH!3 – electronica group; song "Don't Trust Me" from the album Want certified platinum by the RIAA
- Laurie Anderson – avant garde performer and musician, communications expert, writer
- The Astronauts – surf rock; first album along with the song "Baja" was number sixty-one in May 1963 on the Billboard 200 album chart
- Philip Bailey – singer/musician, Earth, Wind and Fire
- Ginger Baker – singer, songwriter, owner of Alternative Tentacles record label, member of the punk band Dead Kennedys
- Big Head Todd and the Monsters – rock band; two of the band's albums have reached Billboards Top 40 Album charts, with one certified platinum by the RIAA
- Tommy Bolin – guitarist of Zephyr, James Gang, and Deep Purple
- Breathe Carolina – electronica/screamo group; band consists of David Schmitt, Tommy Coops, Luis Bonet, Eric Armenta
- Antonia Brico – conductor and pianist; was conductor of the Brico Symphony Orchestra and the Denver Symphony Orchestra
- Chris Broderick – lead guitarist for thrash metal band Megadeth
- Jesse Carmichael – keyboardist for the rock group Maroon 5
- John Denver – singer, guitarist, songwriter; winner of a Grammy Award and a posthumous Grammy Hall of Fame Award ; inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame ; named the official Poet Laureate of the State of Colorado, with his song "Rocky Mountain High", which was named as one of the state's official songs
- DeVotchKa – rock band, nominated for a Grammy Award, assisted in composing and performing the score for the film Little Miss Sunshine
- Larry Dunn – musician/keyboards, Earth, Wind and Fire
- Bryan Erickson – singer, producer; member of the bands Velvet Acid Christ and Toxic Coma
- R5
- Flobots – Hip hop band known for the song "Handlebars" from their album Fight with Tools; board members on the non-profit organization Flobots.org, a community organization; Flobots.org was founded before the band attained any fame
- The Fluid – grunge band
- Dan Fogelberg – folk/soft rock/pop singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist; recorded material for some albums at Nederland, Colorado; built a recording studio, Mountain Bird Studio, in the Pagosa Springs area
- Josephine Foster – singer-songwriter
- The Fray – rock band; nominated for two Grammy Awards ; album How to Save a Life has been certified double platinum by the RIAA; members Dave Welsh and Ben Wysocki attended Ralston Valley High School in Arvada
- Bill Frisell – jazz musician/guitarist
- Don Grusin – songwriter, producer and keyboardist
- India.Arie – singer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer; winner of two Grammy Awards ; three released albums have all hit Billboard's Top 40 Albums chart and have been certified by the RIAA as either platinum or multi-platinum sellers
- Itchy-O – electronica experimental group; approximately 40 band members performing in the audience, with marching-band drums, taiko drums, electronics, dancers, and a Chinese lion; all while masked, covered in LED lights, often with fireworks and other props such as giant puppets and flame throwers
- Ronnie Lane – singer, songwriter, bass guitarist; member of the bands Small Faces and Faces, and founder of his own backing band Slim Chance
- Lecrae – Christian hip hop recording artist, songwriter, record producer, and actor; president, co-owner and co-founder of the independent record label Reach Records
- The Lumineers – folk rock band
- C.W. McCall – country singer known for the song "Convoy" in 1975; served six years as mayor of Ouray in 1986
- Ron Miles – musician/trumpet, jazz
- Glenn Miller – trombonist, band leader, leader of the Glenn Miller Orchestra and the United States Army Air Force Band; at the time of his death, one fifth of all music played on jukeboxes was a Glenn Miller creation
- Ronnie Montrose – rock guitarist who led a number of his own bands as well as performing with a variety of musicians
- Jaye P. Morgan – singer and television personality
- OneRepublic – rock band; album Dreaming Out Loud has been certified platinum by the RIAA
- Günther Johannes Paetsch was a cellist and co-founder of the Paetsch Family Chamber Music Ensemble in Colorado Springs
- Pretty Lights
- Nathaniel Rateliff is an American singer and songwriter whose influences are described as folk, Americana and vintage rhythm & blues.
- The Samples – reggae-influenced rock/pop group
- Sugarloaf (band) - scored two Top 10 hits, with the singles "Green-Eyed Lady" and "Don't Call Us, We'll Call You."
- Tickle Me Pink – signed to Wind-Up Records; debut album Madeline
- Townes Van Zandt – country singer and songwriter
- Velvet Acid Christ – electro-industrial band
- Chuck E. Weiss – musician and subject of the 1979 Rickie Lee Jones song "Chuck E.'s in Love"
- Paul Whiteman – considered by some the "King of Jazz"; after selling two million records with the song "The Japanese Sandman", Whiteman added to his fame by being one of the first nationally broadcast jazz musicians; remembered for his ability to fuse jazz and classical in hits like Rhapsody in Blue and "Whispering"
- Kip Winger – singer and bassist for the 1980s hair metal band Winger, which had hit songs such as "Seventeen" and "Headed for a Heartbreak"; since band's breakup in 1994, Winger has continued as a solo artist
- Andrew Woolfolk – musician/alto saxophone, Earth, Wind and Fire
- Yonder Mountain String Band – bluegrass jam band whose fan base has been fueled primarily through live performances since their inception in 1998; self-titled 2006 studio album was the band's first release with a major label
- Ace Young – American Idol finalist
Politicians
- Madeleine Albright – U.S. Secretary of State during the presidency of Bill Clinton
- Frank Bogert – rodeo announcer, actor, author, mayor of Palm Springs California, Walk of Stars honoree
- William B. Ebbert – served in Colorado General Assembly, 1889–1890 ; 1907–1908 ; 1911–1912 ; rancher, farmer, poet and American Civil War veteran
- Gerald Ford – 38th president of the United States
- Trent Franks – U.S. representative for Arizona's 2nd congressional district
- John Kerry – U.S. Secretary of State since 2013; longtime U.S. senator from Massachusetts, 1985–2013; ran as the Democratic nominee for U.S. president in 2004
- Golda Meir – fourth prime minister of Israel
- Chief Ouray – Native American leader of the Uncompahgre band of the Ute tribe of southwestern Colorado
- Dana Perino – White House Press Secretary during the presidency of George W. Bush from September 14, 2007, to January 20, 2009
- Condoleezza Rice – U.S. Secretary of State during the presidency of George W. Bush
- Karl Rove – Deputy Chief of Staff during the presidency of George W. Bush
- Kenneth R. Rutherford – co-founder of the Landmine Survivors Network
- Mohamed Sabry Soliman – Egyptian suspect in the 2025 Boulder fire attack
- Scott Walker – governor of Wisconsin
- Byron R. White – appointed by U.S. President John F. Kennedy as a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court; served from 1962 until retiring to senior status in 1993; also notable as a football player, both in college at the University of Colorado Boulder and professionally in the National Football League
- Chris Wright – U.S. Secretary of Energy during the second presidency of Donald Trump
Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics
- Maurice L. Albertson – civil engineer and educator
- Sidney Altman – molecular biologist; 1989 Nobel laureate in Chemistry for the discovery of catalytic properties of ribonucleic acid
- Albert Allen Bartlett – physicist; opponent of the concept of sustainable growth
- Arden L. Bement Jr. – metallurgical engineer, scientist; director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology
- Lewis M. Branscomb – physicist; director of the National Bureau of Standards, founder of the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics
- Mary Babnik Brown – her hair was used for the Norden bombsight crosshairs
- Louis George Carpenter – founder of the first Bachelor of Science degree in Irrigation Engineering in the Americas
- Thomas Robert Čech – biochemist; 1989 Nobel laureate in Chemistry for the discovery of catalytic properties of ribonucleic acid
- Edward Uhler Condon – nuclear physicist; director of the National Bureau of Standards; president of the American Physical Society
- Eric Allin Cornell – physicist; 2001 Nobel laureate in Physics for creating the first Bose–Einstein condensate in 1995
- Mary Ellen Cusack – Australian-born botanist and entomologist who lived and collected in Westcliffe, Custer County
- T. Neil Davis – professor emeritus of geophysics from the University of Alaska Fairbanks; author of several books
- George Gamow – theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author
- John Lewis "Jan" Hall – physicist; 2005 Nobel laureate in Physics for precision spectroscopy and the optical frequency comb technique
- Deborah S. Jin – physicist; created the first fermionic condensate in 2003
- Herbert Kroemer – physicist and electrical engineer; 2000 Nobel laureate in Physics for developing semiconductor heterostructures used in high-speed- and opto-electronics
- Matthew Meselson – geneticist and molecular biologist
- Margaret Mary Murnane – physicist and creator of ultra-high-speed lasers
- Frank Friedman Oppenheimer – nuclear physicist and educator
- Tim Samaras – engineer and storm chaser; starred on the Discovery Channel's documentary reality television series Storm Chasers; he died in Oklahoma City's EF3 wedge tornado on May 31, 2013, with his twenty-four-year-old son, Paul, and forty-five-year-old TWISTEX colleague Carl Young of South Lake Tahoe, California
- Nikola Tesla – inventor and engineer; ran a laboratory in Colorado Springs between 1899 and 1900 to conduct high-voltage, high-frequency experiments
- Carl Edwin Wieman – physicist; 2001 Nobel laureate in Physics for creating the first Bose–Einstein condensate in 1995
Other notable people
- Gavin Arthur – astrologer, sexologist, grandson of President Chester A. Arthur
- Emily Gibson Braerton – historian; vice president general of the Daughters of the American Revolution
- John Brown – mountain man and trader in and around Pueblo from 1841 to 1849
- Katherine M. Cook – Colorado state superintendent of public instruction
- Mary "Mamie" Geneva Doud Eisenhower – married West Point graduate and future U.S. President Dwight David Eisenhower in 1916 in her Lafayette Street home; was a military wife before becoming the First Lady of the United States
- Neil Gorsuch – associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
- Lars Grimsrud – aerospace engineer and performance automobile enthusiast
- Samuel Hartsel – pioneer rancher in Park County; founder and namesake of Hartsel
- Marvin Heemeyer – automobile muffler-repair shop owner killed in his rampage in Granby
- John J. Hoover – murderer lynched by a mob in Fairplay in Park County as he awaited transport to the state penitentiary
- Sheldon Jackson – Presbyterian missionary in Denver and Fairplay and later Alaska
- Dylan Klebold – one of the Columbine High School Massacre perpetrators
- Talcott Parsons – sociologist who founded the concept of action theory
- Grace Espy Patton - Colorado state superintendent of schools
- Elizabeth Prann – reporter, anchor
- Renee Rabinowitz – psychologist and lawyer
- Joy-Ann Reid – national correspondent
- Rick Reilly – sportswriter, author, screenwriter and commentator
- Teresita Sandoval – one of the earliest residents of the settlement which became the city of Pueblo
- Jon Scott – news anchor
- James Q. Wilson – academic, political scientist, and an authority on public administration
- Jessie Young – radio commentator, author, magazine publisher