Eddie Albert, student '27-'29, actor, "Green Acres" (deceased 2005)

Loni Anderson, student '63-'64, actress, "WKRP in Cincinnati"

John Astin, actor, "The Addam's Family"

Harald Bakken, B.A. '56, syndicated cartoonist; best known as a gag writer for cartoonists whose drawings appeared in magazines including the New Yorker, TV Guide, and Playboy; co-author of The Cartoonist's Muse: A Guide to Generating and Developing Creative Ideas (deceased 1998)

Uri Barnea, M.A. '74, Ph.D. '77, Music Advisory Panel for NEA, 1990-95; conductor, world premier of opera Pamela by Eric Funk, 1989; Billings Montana Symphony music director, 1984; 1st prize Aspen Music Festival Composition; Oberhoffer prize for ballet Ruth, 1976

Carol Bly, graduate school '54-'55, author/short story writer of such works as "Backbone" and "Changing the Bully Who Rules the World" (deceased 2007)

Joel Brooks, actor, starring role in "My Sister Sam"; guest-starring roles in "Ally McBeal," "Six Feet Under," "Everybody Loves Raymond," and "Crossing Jordon"

Arlene Ross Cardoza, author of  Sequencing: Having It All But Not All at Once -- A New Solution for Women Who Want Marriage, Career and Family, 1986

Yanni Chryssomallis, B.A. '76, internationally acclaimed contemporary composer.

Marchette Chute, B.A. '30, author of numerous texts on Shakespeare, Chaucer, and others, including Stories from Shakespeare, which retells the plot of each Shakespearean play in entertaining and easy-to-understand prose, and Shakespeare in London, which gives glimpses of real life in a teeming Renaissance society (deceased 1984)

Arlene Dahl, actress

Dahl Delu, M.F.A. '79, art director for Broadway plays and television shows including "Cheers," "Diff'rent Strokes," and "Facts of Life"; Art Directors Guild Awards Chairman

Carl Dennis, B.A. '61, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and author of six books of peotry. He received the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for his book Practical Gods.

Bob Dylan (Zimmerman), student '59-'60, singer/songwriter

Kimberly Elise, B.A. '89, actress, Set it Off, Beloved; awarded a $25,000 grant given by the Minnesota Independent Film Fund to direct a film she wrote called Snow in April

Robert Engels, B.A. '72, scriptwriter, "Twin Peaks"

Henry Fonda, student '23-'25, Oscar-winning actor; appeared in more than 80 movies, including Young Mr. Lincoln, The Grapes of Wrath, The Ox-Bow Incident, Mr. Roberts, 12 Angry Men, and On Golden Pond (deceased 1982). See more (scroll down to October, 1982).

Linda Ann Gehringer, M.A. '87, actress; guest-starring roles in "Ally McBeal," "The Practice," and "The West Wing"; received the Back Stage West Garland Award for her performance in But Not for Me

Peter Graves, B.A. '49, film and stage actor; TV's "Mission: Impossible"

Kate Hardy Green, B.A.'72, author of several murder mysteries

Patricia Hampl, B.A. '68, fiction, poetry, and memoir writer; recognized for A Romantic Education, U of M Regent's professor in English department's M.F.A program; recipient of MacArthur "genius grant"

Greg Howard, J.D. '69, lawyer and cartoonist, Sally Forth

Dave Kapell, B.A. '91, inventor of Magnetic Poetry

Garrison Keillor, B.A. '66, creator and host of "A Prairie Home Companion"; best-selling author

Linda Kelsey, actress, "Lou Grant"

Jessica Lange, attended U of M in 1967, Oscar-winning actress for supporting role in Tootsie; other movies include King Kong, The Postman Always Rings Twice, Frances, Country, Sweet Dreams, Music Box, Cape Fear, Blue Sky

Libby Larsen, B.A. '72, M.A. '75, Ph.D. '78, composer of widely performed and recorded works for orchestra, dance, opera, choral, chamber, and solo performance

Nancy Smiler Levinson, B.A '60, author of historical fiction, non-fiction, and biographies for children

Maud Hart Lovelace, '15, author of the beloved Betsy-Tacy books and many other volumes. (deceased 1980)

Danita Monness, B.S. '93, western wear designer; launched Danita label

Kate Mulgrew, actress, best known for role as Captain Janeway on "Star Trek Voyager"; starred in the American Movie Channel mini-series "The Manions of America" with Pierce Brosnan and in the film Throw Momma from the Train with Danny DeVito and Billy Crystal

Judy Olausen, B.S. '67, internationally-known photojournalist; named one of top 10 photographers in the world by camera manufacturer Hasselblad; published best-selling book Mother

Shannon Olson, M.F.A. '98, author of Welcome to My Planet: Where English Is Sometimes Spoken

Jon Pankake, B.A. '63, Ph.D. '75, 1997 Grammy winner for Best Album Notes: The Brotherhood of the Anthology, which accompanied the American Anthology of Folk Music.

Stephen Paulus, M.A. '74, composer of operas; co-founder of Minnesota's Composers Forum

Robert Pirsig, M.A. '58, author of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Max Shulman, B.A. '42, M.A. '58, wrote Doby Gillis and television series based on the book; wrote bestseller Rally Round the Flag, Boys! (deceased 1988)

Gale Sondergaard, B.A. early '20s, won first-ever Academy Award for best supporting actress for her role in 1936's Anthony Adverse; was blacklisted during 1950s anti-communist hysteria in Hollywood (deceased 1985)

William Swanberg, B.A. '30, author of Pulitzer Prize-winning biography Luce and His Empire (deceased 1992)

Robert Thaves, B.A. '49; M.A. '50, Frank and Ernest cartoon developer (deceased 2006)

Robert Vaughn, actor, "Man From U.N.C.L.E."

Will Weaver, B.A. '72, author of best-selling novel Red Earth, White Earth, the short-story collection A Gravestone Made of Wheat & Other Stories, and young adult novels such as Striking Out and Farm Team

Levon West, B.A. '24, well-known artist who later changed his name to Ivan Dmitri and became a celebrated photographer. (deceased 1968)

David Zinman, M.A. '63, conductor, Baltimore Symphony; Chief Conductor Tonhalle Orchestra, Zurich, '95-'96 season; music director, Aspen Music Festival and School; program director of the newly formed American Academy of Conducting