Quickly accessible, concise information about each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia!
California
People
Every state of the Union has given birth to people who have left a lasting impression on our history and culture. The following native Californians have played distinctive roles.
Born in California
| Famous Californians | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Born / Died | Place | ||||
| Ansel Easton Adams
Photographer, Environmentalist |
Born: | February 20, 1902 | San Francisco | |||
| Died: | April 22, 1984 | Monterey | ||||
| Marcus LeMarr Allen
Football player |
Born: | March 26, 196 | San Diego | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| Luis Walter Alvarez
Physicist, Inventor, Nobel Prize Winner |
Born: | June 13, 1911 | San Francisco | |||
| Died: | September 1, 1988 | Berkley | ||||
| Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton
Author |
Born: | October 30, 1857 | San Francisco | |||
| Died: | June 14, 1948 | San Francisco | ||||
| David Belasco
Playwright, Director, Theatrical producer |
Born: | July 25, 1853 | San Francisco | |||
| Died: | May 14, 1931 | New York, N.Y. | ||||
| Shirley Jane Temple Black
Actress, Ambassador |
Born: | April 23, 1928 | Santa Monica | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| Robert W. Bower
Scientist, Inventor |
Born: | June 12, 1936 | Santa Monica | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| David Warren (Dave) Brubeck
Jazz pianist, Composer |
Born: | December 6, 1920 | Concord | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| Julia Carolyn McWilliams Child
Gourmet cook, Author |
Born: | August 15, 1912 | Pasadena | |||
| Died: | August 13, 2004 | Santa Barbara | ||||
| Frederick Gardner Cottrell
Scientist, Inventor |
Born: | January 10, 1877 | Oakland | |||
| Died: | November 16, 1948 | Berkeley | ||||
| Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio
Actor |
Born: | November 11, 1974 | Los Angeles | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| Joseph Paul (Joe) DiMaggio, Jr.
Baseball player |
Born: | November 25, 1914 | Martinez | |||
| Died: | March 8, 1999 | Hollywood, Fla. | ||||
| James Harold (Jimmy) Doolittle
Air Force General |
Born: | December 14, 1896 | Alameda | |||
| Died: | September 27, 1993 | Pebble Beach | ||||
| Dora Angela (Isadora) Duncan
Dancer |
Born: | May 26, 1877 | San Francisco | |||
| Died: | September 14, 1927 | Nice, France | ||||
| Clinton (Clint) Eastwood, Jr.
Actor, Producer, Director |
Born: | May 31, 1930 | San Francisco | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| Maria de Lourdes Villiers (Mia) Farrow
Actress |
Born: | February 9, 1945 | Los Angeles | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| Sally Margaret Field
Actress |
Born: | November 6, 1946 | Pasadena | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| Carrie Frances Fisher
Actress, Screenwriter |
Born: | October 21, 1956 | Beverly Hills | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| Alicia Christian (Jodie) Foster
Actress, Director, Producer |
Born: | November 19, 1962 | Los Angeles | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| Robert Lee Frost
Poet |
Born: | March 26, 1874 | San Francisco | |||
| Died: | January 29, 1963 | Boston, Mass. | ||||
| Jerome John (Jerry) Garcia
Musician, Singer |
Born: | August 1, 1942 | San Francisco | |||
| Died: | August 9, 1995 | Forest Knolls | ||||
| Lillian Moller Gilbreth
Consulting engineer |
Born: | May 24, 1878 | Oakland | |||
| Died: | January 2, 1972 | Phoenix, Ariz. | ||||
| Charles P. Ginsburg
Inventor |
Born: | July 27, 1920 | San Francisco | |||
| Died: | April 9, 1992 | Eugene, Ore. | ||||
| Ricardo Alonso (Pancho) González
Tennis player |
Born: | May 9, 1928 | Los Angeles | |||
| Died: | July 3, 1995 | Las Vegas, Nev. | ||||
| Jeffrey Michael (Jeff) Gordon
Race car driver |
Born: | August 4, 1971 | Vallejo | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| Merle Ronald Haggard
Singer, Songwriter |
Born: | April 6, 1937 | Bakersfield | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| Thomas Jeffrey Hanks
Actor, Producer |
Born: | July 9, 1956 | Concord | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| William Randolph Hearst
Publisher |
Born: | April 29, 1863 | San Francisco | |||
| Died: | August 14, 1951 | Beverly Hills | ||||
| Mariel Hadley Hemingway
Actress |
Born: | November 22, 1961 | Mill Valley | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| Dustin Lee Hoffman
Actor |
Born: | August 8, 1937 | Los Angeles | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| Sidney Coe Howard
Playwright, Screenwriter |
Born: | June 26, 1891 | Oakland | |||
| Died: | August 23, 1939 | Tyringham, Mass. | ||||
| Steven Paul Jobs
Businessman |
Born: | February 24, 1955 | San Francisco | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| Anthony McLeod Kennedy
Associate Supreme Court Justice |
Born: | July 23, 1936 | Sacramento | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| John Griffith Chaney? (Jack London)
|
AuthorBorn: | January 12, 1876 | San Francisco | |||
| Died: | November 22, 1916 | Glen Ellen | ||||
| George Walton Lucas, Jr.
Film director, Producer, Screenwriter |
Born: | May 14, 1944 | Modesto | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| Theodore Harold Maiman
Physicist, Inventor |
Born: | July 11, 1927 | Los Angeles | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| Mark David McGwire
Baseball player |
Born: | October 1, 1963 | Pomona | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| Norma Jeane Mortenson (Marylin Monroe)
Actress |
Born: | June 1, 1926 | Los Angeles | |||
| Died: | August 5, 1962 | Brentwood | ||||
| Emma Wixom (Nevada)
Opera singer |
Born: | February 7, 1859 | Alpha mining camp near Nevada City | |||
| Died: | June 20, 1940 | Liverpool, England | ||||
| Richard Milhous Nixon
President |
Born: | January 9, 1913 | Yorba Linda | |||
| Died: | April 22, 1994 | New York, N.Y. | ||||
| Isamu Noguchi
Sculptor, Landscape architect |
Born: | November 17, 1904 | Los Angeles | |||
| Died: | December 30, 1988 | New York, N.Y. | ||||
| George Smith Patton, Jr.
Army General |
Born: | November 11, 1885 | San Gabriel | |||
| Died: | December 21, 1945 | Heidelberg, Germany | ||||
| Eldred Gregory Peck
Actor |
Born: | April 5, 1916 | La Jolla | |||
| Died: | June 12, 2003 | Los Angeles | ||||
| Charles Robert Redford Jr.
Actor, Director, Producer, Philanthropist |
Born: | August 18, 1936 | Santa Monica | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| Sally Kristen Ride
NASA Astronaut (First American woman in space), Professor, Author |
Born: | May 26, 1951 | Los Angeles | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| Robert LeRoy Ripley
Cartoonist, Entrepreneur |
Born: | December 25, 1893 | Santa Rosa | |||
| Died: | May 27, 1949 | New York, N.Y. | ||||
| Cherilyn Sarkisian LaPierre (Cher)
Actress, Singer, Songwriter |
Born: | May 20, 1946 | El Centro | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| William Saroyan
Author |
Born: | August 31, 1908 | Fresno | |||
| Died: | May 18, 1981 | Fresno | ||||
| Adlai Ewing Stevenson
Public official |
Born: | February 5, 1900 | Los Angeles | |||
| Died: | July 14, 1965 | London, England | ||||
| John Ernst Steinbeck
Writer, Nobel Prize for Literature |
Born: | February 27, 1902 | Salinas | |||
| Died: | December 20, 1968 | New York, N.Y. | ||||
| Michael Tilson Thomas
Conductor, Pianist, Composer |
Born: | December 21, 1944 | Los Angeles | |||
| Died: | ||||||
| Richard Steven Valenzuela (Ritchie Valenz)
Singer, Songwriter |
Born: | May 13, 1941 | San Fernando Valley | |||
| Died: | February 3, 1959 | Near Clear Lake, Ia. | ||||
| Earl Warren
Supreme Court Chief Justice |
Born: | March 19, 1891 | Los Angeles | |||
| Died: | July 9, 1974 | Washington, D.C. | ||||
| Theodore Samuel (Ted) Williams
Baseball player |
Born: | August 30, 1918 | San Diego | |||
| Died: | July 5, 2002 | Crystal River, Fla. | ||||
| Eldrick (Tiger) Woods
Professional golfer |
Born: | December 30, 1975 | Cypress | |||
| Died: | ||||||
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