Notable Pekinites

Everett McKinley Dirksen (1896-1969) represented central Illinois in the U.S. House of Representatives, 1933-1949. He later won four elections to the U.S. Senate, beginning in 1950. He rose through the leadership ranks of the Republican Party in the Senate as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (1951-1954), Republican Whip (1957-1959), and Senate Minority Leader (1959-1969). Dirksen played key roles in passing the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (1963), the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Open Housing Act of 1968.

John T. McNaughton, son of F.F. McNaughton, owner of the Pekin Daily Times for half a century, served with distinction in the navy in World War II. He was decorated with honors by both the U.S. government and the U.S.S.R.. After the war, he served as managing editor of the Times, ran unsuccessfully for Congress and returned to Harvard to teach economics. Trained as a lawyer, McNaughton was recruited by the Kennedy administration to serve as counsel for the defense department. He became assistant secretary of defense for international affairs and was nominated to be secretary of the navy. Before he could be confirmed in that office, he died, tragically, in an airplane accident. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery and his funeral was attended by the distinguished of the nation.

Susan Hollack Dey is a retired American actress, known for her television roles as Laurie Partridge on the sitcom The Partridge Family from 1970 to 1974, and as Grace Van Owen on the drama series L.A. Law from 1986 to 1992. A three-time Emmy Award nominee and six-time Golden Globe Award nominee, she won the Golden Globe for Best Actess in a Drama Series for L.A. Law in 1988.

Jack Wallace was an American actor who is known for his roles in films including Death Wish (1974), Tune in Tomorrow (1990), Boogie Nights (1997), American Pie 2 (2001), and Love for Rent (2005) as well as television programs such as Law & Order, Six Feet Under and NYPD Blue.

Scott Douglas "Scooter" Altman is a retired United States Navy Captain and naval aviator, engineer, test pilot and former NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of four Space Suttle missions. His fourth mission on STS-125 was the last serving mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. As of November 2022, he is president of the Spaca operating group for ASRC Federal.

Richard Brockway Stolley was an American journalist and magazine editor. He is noted as the founding managing editor of People magazine and for acquiring the Zapruder film for Life magazine in 1963.

Stolley began his career with Life in 1953. He subsequently held a number of roles at the magazine, including reporter, bureau chief, senior editor, and assistant managing editor. He became the inaugural editor of People when it was launched in 1974. During his eight years at the publication, it became the most profitable magazine in the country. He returned to Life in 1982 and eventually became editorial director across all Time Inc. magazines. He continued working for the company until his retirement in 2014.

Henry "Hank" George Bruder Jr. was born on November 22, 1907 in Pekin, Illinois. He was an American football player in the National Football League (NFL). He played nine years with the Green Bay Packers from 1931 to 1939 and was inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame in 1972. Bruder played for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1940 and was part of the offensive line that blocked for Pro Football Hall of Fame back Johnny "Blood" McNally.

Born Willis Oswald Cooper in Pekin, Illinois, he attended Pekin High School, graduating in 1916.

Cooper joined the Army as a bugler and served along the Mexican border before shipping out to fight in World War I in 1917. He survived gas attacks with the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), fought in the Argonne Offensive and served in Europe into 1919. After leaving the service, he tried his hand at journalism and advertising, among other things, before finding his calling in radio in Chicago in 1928. By 1931, he was writing scripts about explorers and pioneers for the series “Empire Builders,” and created “Tales of the Foreign Legion,” which was partially based on stories he’d heard from French soldiers while he was serving in the AEF. On January 3, 1934, Cooper’s late-night horror and mystery series “Lights Out!” premiered over NBC Chicago affiliate WENR, clicking quickly in that market and going national a little over a year later and becoming a hit coast-to-coast.

Eric Monti was an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s.

Monti was born in Pekin, Illinois. He started caddying at age 6, and was one of six golfing brothers. He turned professional in 1943. He moved to Los Angeles with his wife in the mid-1940s, and began play on the PGA Tour in the late 1940s, winning three times. His best finish in a major championship was T6 at the 1961 U.S. Open.

Like most golfers of his generation, Monti earned his living primarily as a club pro. He initially worked at the Los Angeles Country Club before being hired as an assistant pro to George Fazio at Hillcrest Country Club. In 1955, he became head pro at Hillcrest and developed a reputation as the teacher to the stars. Henry Fonda, Burt Lancaster, Danny Thomas, Dinah Shore, Danny Kaye, and Jack Benny were among the famous Hollywood celebrities he instructed. He worked at Hillcrest for 45 years before retiring in 1990.

Jack Truman, born August 14th, 1965 in Pekin, IL, is an award-winning filmmaker, stage and film director, actor, and writer. A 35 year veteran of stage and screen, his filmmaking debut, the award-winning hit cult comedy short Phone Sex Grandma, premiered at the 2006 Slamdance Film Festival to standing-room only audiences. Combined, Truman's films have screened at over 600 film festivals worldwide. Prior to his filmmaking career, Truman had a 20 year career in stage and theater, directing and starring in over 70 stage productions nationwide. Jack is also a college professor, award-winning screenwriter and playwright, and author of the book No Budget Filmmaking. He is the Founder of the Holly Weird Film Festival in Los Angeles, California. Truman has a Bachelor's degree in Business, an MFA in Theatre, and is an Army veteran.

Larry Kenney, born August 5th, 1947 in Pekin, IL, is an American voice actor and radio personality. Kenney began his radio career at the age of 15 as a disc jockey at WIRL radio station in Peoria, IL. He went on to work at radio stations in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Cleveland, Ohio, Chicago, Illinois, and New York City. Kenney was part of the regular cast on the Imus in the Morning radio show from 1973 to 2007, where he recorded impersonations of dozens of characters, including General George Patton, Andy Rooney, and Ross Perot.

He is also known for his voice work as Lion-O on the 1980s Rankin/Bass cartoon ThunderCats, and Karate Kat, a martial arts blackbelt cat featured as part of The Comic Strip. He was also the voice of Bluegrass in SilverHawks and Dolph in TigerSharks. Kenney also did voice work for several breakfast cereal characters, including Count Chocula and Sonny the Cuckoo Bird. In recent years, he has reprised this role for humorous ThunderCats references on the animated series Family Guy. In the 2011 ThunderCats animated series on Cartoon Network, Kenney returned to the series, but as Claudus, Lion-O's and Tygra's father. Kenney provided voice-overs for The State, the 1990s sketch comedy cult classic which featured his daughter, Kerri Kenney. He was also the announcer for VH1's Best Week Ever during its run from 2004 to 2009, and provides introductions for Westwood One's radio coverage of Monday Night Football and various other commercial work, including for Skittles and Campbell's soup. He was the announcer for The Beat 102.7 in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV and K.T.I. Radio in the L.A. Noire. He also gives the voice to JB Cripps in Red Dead Online, the online component of Red Dead Redemption 2.