This is a list of people from Oakland, California, people born in Oakland or who lived in Oakland for a significant time.
Artists and designers
Natalia Anciso – artist and educator
Steven F. Arnold – filmmaker, photographer, painter, illustrator, set and costume designer, and assemblage artist.
Garry Knox Bennett – woodworker, metalworker, furniture maker, artist
Bernice Bing – artist, activist
Warrington Colescott – artist and educator
Henry Doane – landscape painter, commercial artist
Roger C. Field – industrial designer, graduated from California College of the Arts
Walter J. Mathews – architect, designed the First Unitarian Church of Oakland
Bernard Maybeck – architect
Jeremy Mayer-sculptor
Julia Morgan – architect, raised and buried in Oakland
Willis O'Brien – animator
Nathan Oliveira – painter, printmaker, sculptor, professor
Lisa Quinn – artist, author, designer
Galen Rowell – photographer
J. Otto Seibold – artist, illustrator, author
Morrie Turner - artist, illustrator, author of the Wee Pals comic strip
Wendy Yoshimura – artist
Seasick Steve - Blues musician
Nina Dewi Horstmann - Environmental Anthropologist
Zack Andrews – baseball player
Pervis Atkins – NFL football player, Los Angeles Rams, Washington Redskins, Oakland Raiders, actor, The Longest Yard (1974 film)
Drew Barry – basketball player
Jon Barry – basketball player and sportscaster
Charlie Beamon – baseball pitcher
Charlie Beamon, Jr. – baseball player
Davone Bess – football player
Will Blackwell – football player
Linc Blakely – Major League Baseball player, Cincinnati Reds
Marlin Briscoe – football player
John Brodie – football player and sportscaster
Jabari Brown – basketball player
Don Budge – tennis player
Chris Burford – football player
Glenn Burke – baseball player
Steve Clark, swimmer, won five Olympic gold medals
Ray Crouse – football player
Bruce Cunningham – Major League Baseball player, Boston Braves (baseball)
Antonio Davis – basketball player
Steve DeBerg – football player
Bernie DeViveiros – Major League Baseball player, Chicago White Sox, Detroit Tigers
Taylor Douthit – Major League Baseball player, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds
Forey Duckett – football player
Dennis Eckersley – baseball player
Manny Fernandez – football player
Eric Fernsten – basketball player, NBA, CBA, and Europe
Curt Flood – Major League Baseball player, Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals, Washington Senators known for challenging the Reserve clause
Greg Foster – basketball player
La Vel Freeman – baseball player
Len Gabrielson (first baseman) – Major League Baseball player, Philadelphia Phillies
Len Gabrielson (outfielder) – Major League Baseball player, Milwaukee Braves, Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants, California Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers
Joe Gaines – Major League Baseball player, Cincinnati Reds, Baltimore Orioles, Houston Astros
Derrick Gardner – football player
Brad Gilbert – tennis player and coach
John Gillespie (baseball) – Major League Baseball player, Cincinnati Reds
Drew Gooden – basketball player
Alexis Gray-Lawson – Professional basketball player, Phoenix Mercury
Bob Greenwood (baseball) – Major League Baseball player, Philadelphia Phillies
Bud Hafey – Major League Baseball player, Chicago White Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies
Tom Hafey (baseball) – Major League Baseball player, New York Giants (baseball), St. Louis Browns
Roger Harding – football player
Rickey Henderson – baseball player
Jan Henne – swimmer, two-time gold medalist at 1968 Summer Olympics
Steve Hosey – baseball player
Al Hrabosky – baseball pitcher and sportscaster
Proverb Jacobs – NFL football player, Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants
Brian Johnson – baseball player
Josh Johnson – Quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals
Maurice Jones-Drew – football player
Robert Jordan – football player
Bobby Kemp – football player
Jason Kidd – basketball player and coach
MacArthur Lane – football player
Cookie Lavagetto – baseball player and manager
Tony Lema – golfer
Bill Lester – NASCAR driver
Damian Lillard – basketball player
Ernie Lombardi – baseball player
Don Lofgran – professional basketball player
Terrell Lowery – baseball player
Lorenzo Lynch – football player
Marshawn Lynch – football player
Eddie McGah – baseball player, part-owner of Oakland Raiders
Bill McKalip – college All-American football player, NFL player, Portsmouth Spartans / Detroit Lions
Joe Mellana – Major League Baseball player, Philadelphia Athletics
Demetrius "Hook" Mitchell – streetball player, convicted for armed robbery
Joe Morgan – baseball second baseman and sportscaster
Kirk Morrison – football player
Hank Norberg – football player
Mike Norris – baseball player
Gary Payton – basketball player, born and raised in Oakland
Gary Pettis – baseball player and coach
Paul Pierce – basketball player
Vada Pinson – baseball player and coach
Jim Pollard – basketball player
Leon Powe – basketball player
Jarrod Pughsley – football player
John Ralston – football player and coach
Isiah Rider – basketball player
Chris Roberson – baseball player
Frank Robinson – baseball player and manager
Jimmy Rollins – baseball player
Bill Russell – basketball player and coach
Luis Scott-Vargas – Magic: the Gathering player
Brian Shaw – basketball player and coach
Paul Silas – basketball player and coach
Fred Silva – football official
Marvel Smith – football player
Dave Stewart – baseball player and executive
John Sutro – football player
Ron Theobald – baseball player
Jim Tobin – baseball player
Marviel Underwood – football player
Langston Walker – football player
Andre Ward – professional boxer
George Wells – professional wrestler
Ray Wells – football player
Bill Werle – baseball player
Archie Williams – runner
Dontrelle Willis – baseball player
Rodney Williams – American football player
Businesspeople and industrialists
Stephen Bechtel – engineer, president, CEO of Bechtel Corporation, 1933-1960
Anthony Chabot – entrepreneur, father of hydraulic mining, namesake of Chabot Space & Science Center, Lake Chabot, and Chabot College, buried in Oakland
Charles Crocker – railroad tycoon, buried in Oakland
Debbi Fields – entrepreneur, founder of Mrs. Fields cookies
Domingo Ghirardelli – founder of the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company based in San Francisco, buried in Oakland
Ken Hofmann – former owner of the Oakland Athletics
Henry J. Kaiser – entrepreneur, businessman, founder of Kaiser Permanente and Kaiser Family Foundation, buried in Oakland
Mark Mastrov – founder of 24 Hour Fitness, partial owner of the Sacramento Kings
Jonah Peretti, Founder of BuzzFeed
Francis Marion Smith (also known as"Borax" Smith) – miner, business magnate
Mahershala Ali – actor
Eddie Anderson – actor
Max Baer, Jr. – actor, film director
Pamela Blake – actress
True Boardman – silent film actor
David Carradine – actor
Connie Cezon – actress
Tracie Collins – actress, writer, theatre director and producer
Buster Crabbe – actor
T. D. Crittenden – silent film actor
Robert Culp – actor
Mark Curry – actor/comedian
Walter DeLeon – screenwriter
Rockmond Dunbar – actor, mixed-media artist
Michael Earl – puppeteer
Clint Eastwood – actor, Academy Award-winning film producer and director
Lyndsy Fonseca – actress
Marcus D. Spencer – actor, film producer, writer and director
Cary Fukunaga – Emmy Award-winning director
Sylvia Gerrish – musical comedy and light opera
Sumner Getchell – actor
Gerald Gillium – rapper
Gary Goldman – filmmaker
Michael A. Goorjian – actor and filmmaker
R. Henry Grey – silent film actor
Khamani Griffin – child actor
Mark Hamill – actor
Bernie Hamilton – actor, Starsky and Hutch
Tom Hanks – Academy Award-winning actor, raised in Oakland
Susan Seaforth Hayes – actor
Russell Hornsby – actor
Joseph Jackson – talent manager
Moshe Kasher – comedian, actor, and author/writer; raised in Oakland
Kehlani - Singer
Joe Knowland – newspaper publisher, actor
Ted Lange – actor
Brandon Lee (son of Bruce Lee) – actor, born in Oakland
Bruce Lee – actor, martial artist
Nnegest Likké – film director
Caryl Lincoln – actress
Dakin Matthews – actor
Russ Meyer – film director
Jefferson Moffitt – screenwriter, film director
Shemar Moore – actor, model
Mitch Mullany – actor
Roger Nichols – recording engineer
Natalie Nunn – model, Host, Actress, Author, Dancer, Author, television personality
Laura Oakley – silent film actress
Remy Lacroix – adult actress
Orunamamu Marybeth Washington-Stofle – storyteller
Frank Oz – Actor, director, puppeteer for Yoda in Star Wars series
John Pappas – actor
Chelsea Peretti – comedian, actress
Dorothy Revier – silent film actress, dancer
Cherie Roberts – adult model, photographer
Bob Smale – pianist on The Lawrence Welk Show, 1969-1982
Kellita Smith – actress and model
Jack Soo (Goro Suzuki) – Comedian, actor, Barney Miller
George Stevens – Academy Award-winning film director
Cynthia Stevenson – actress
Ethel Grey Terry – silent film actress
Colin Trevorrow – film director
Jo Van Fleet – actress
Matt Vasgersian – actor, sports broadcaster
Mills Watson – actor
Robert Webber – Film & TV actor, 12 Angry Men (1957 film)
Will Wright – game designer
Daniel Wu – actor
Bassem Youssef – satirist
Zendaya – actress
Leaders (activists and politicians)
Richard Aoki – activist
William P. Baker – politician
Sonny Barger – founder of the Hells Angels motorcycle club
Henry G. Blasdel – first governor of Nevada; resident of Oakland
Jerry Brown – politician, former and current governor of California and mayor of Oakland
Albert E. Carter – politician
Frank Chu – eccentric street protester
William Clark, Jr. – diplomat, ambassador
Angela Davis – activist, former member of the Black Panther Party
C. L. Dellums – organizer and leader of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
Ron Dellums – politician, former U.S. Congressman and Representative, mayor of Oakland
Warren B. English – Confederate war veteran, politician, realtor
Heather Fargo – politician, mayor of Sacramento, California
Marcus Foster – educator, the first African-American Superintendent of the Oakland Unified School District
Elihu Harris – politician, former mayor of Oakland
Kamala Harris – politician, the first female African-American attorney general for the state of California, former district attorney for San Francisco
Fred Korematsu – Japanese-American who fought forced internment, testing the law in Korematsu v. United States
Joseph R. Knowland – former U.S. Representative and former owner of the Oakland Tribune, cremated in Oakland
William F. Knowland – former U.S. Senator
Barbara Lee – U.S. Representative
Charles Goodall Lee – dentist, civic leader, benefactor of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance
Clara Elizabeth Chan Lee – activist, first Chinese-American woman voter in the U.S.
Richard Lee – horticulturist, activist for the legalization of marijuana
Joseph McKenna – former Congressman, Justice 9th US Circuit, Attorney General and Associate Justice US Supreme Court.
Edwin Meese III – former United States Attorney General
Victor H. Metcalf – politician, attorney, banker
Jessica Mitford – writer, activist, former Communist
Paul Montauk – Communist politician and two-time candidate for Oakland mayor
Anca Mosoiu – technology activist
Nancy Nadel – member of the Oakland City Council
Huey P. Newton – activist, co-founder of the Black Panther Party
Andrew Nisbet, Jr. – member of the Washington House of Representatives and United States Army officer
Pat Parker – black lesbian poet and activist
Ed Rosenthal – horticulturist, publisher, activist for the legalization of marijuana
Byron Rumford – pharmacist
John A. Russo – Oakland city attorney, former city councilman
Bobby Seale – activist, co-founder of the Black Panther Party
Robert Treuhaft – activist for labor and leftist causes, attorney, writer
Charles Stetson Wheeler – attorney, Regent of the University of California
Earl Warren – Assistant Attorney City of Oakland, District Attorney of Alameda County, Attorney General of California, Governor of California and US Supreme Court Chief Justice
Lionel J. Wilson – politician, first African-American mayor of Oakland
Mother Wright – anti-hunger activist
Bud Anderson – USAF (served 1942-1972) fighter pilot and commander, a triple ace who retired at the rank of colonel
Burton Christenson, WWII veteran, part of the US Army 101st Airborne Division 506 PIR, made famous by the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, graduate of Castlemont High School
Jeremiah C. Sullivan – Civil War general in the Union Army and staff member of Ulysses S. Grant, buried in Oakland
Christopher M. Darnell – U.S. Army Special Forces Medical Sergeant. Wounded in Afghanistan in 2013. Graduated from Skyline High School in 2006.
Musicians, composers and dancers
Gonzalo Noriega DJ, Producer
3XKrazy – male rap group
Billie Joe Armstrong – musician, lead vocalist and guitarist for the punk rock band Green Day
Tim Armstrong – musician, lead vocalist of punk rock band Rancid
Ant Banks – rapper, producer
Gaylord Birch – musician
Carla Bley – composer, musician
Mike Botts – studio musician, drummer for rock band Bread
Bobby Brackins – rapper, songwriter
Antonia Brico (born Wilhelmina Wolthius) classical pianist, first woman conductor of New York Philharmonic
Chris Broderick – musician, lead guitarist for heavy metal band Megadeth
Peter Buck – musician, guitarist and co-founder of the alternative rock band R.E.M.
Emilio Castillo – musician, founding member of Tower of Power
Mike Clark – musician
Cold Blood – rock, soul, jazz band
Keyshia Cole – Grammy Award-nominated R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, born and raised in Oakland
Jason Cropper – original band member of Weezer
Del tha Funkee Homosapien – musician
Daveed Diggs – rapper and actor
Digital Underground – rap group
Rose Ann Dimalanta – musician
Mike Dirnt – musician, bassist for rock band Green Day
Sue Draheim – fiddler
Mac Dre – rapper, born in Oakland, raised in Vallejo
Dru Down – rapper
Isadora Duncan – dancer
Sheila E. – drummer, born in Oakland
E-A-Ski – rapper, record producer
En Vogue – Grammy Award nominated female R&B singing group, originated from Oakland in 1990
Pete Escovedo – musician, born in Oakland
Robb Flynn – musician best known as lead guitarist and vocalist for Machine Head
Michael Franti – musician
Fred Frith – improvisational musician, guitarist, composer, professor of music
Nils Frykdahl – musician, founding member of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum and Idiot Flesh
David Garibaldi – musician, member of Tower of Power
G-Eazy – rapper and producer
Mic Gillette – musician, founding member of Tower of Power
Goapele – soul and R&B singer
Larry Graham – musician
MC Hammer – musician, born in Oakland
Jeff Hanneman – guitarist for heavy metal band Slayer
Shawn Harris – musician; former member of The Matches
Davey Havok – musician, lead singer for AFI
Edwin & Walter Hawkins – gospel singers
Hieroglyphics – rap group, originated from Oakland
Earl Hines – jazz pianist
John Lee Hooker blues singer
Paul Jackson – musician
Henry Kaiser – musician, grandson of Henry J. Kaiser
Keak da Sneak – musician
Kehlani – singer
Kid 606 – musician
Sharon Knight – Celtic musician, founding member of pagan rock band Pandemonaeon
Kreayshawn – rapper
Stephen "Doc" Kupka – musician, founding member of Tower of Power
LaToya London – singer; born in San Francisco, raised in Oakland
Pep Love – rapper
The Lovemakers – pop band
The Luniz – Grammy Award-nominated rap duo
MC Lars – rapper; post-punk laptop rap
Michael Manring – bassist, born in D.C., lives in Oakland
Jim Martin – musician
Tony Martin – singer, actor
Dave Meniketti – rock musician; born and raised in Oakland; lead singer/lead guitarist for Y&T
Seagram Miller – rapper
Mistah F.A.B. – rapper
David Murray – musician
Numskull – rapper
Ray Obiedo – musician
Marty Paich – pianist, composer, arranger, producer, director, conductor
Harry Partch – composer
Phesto – rapper, producer
Matt Pike – guitarist of Sleep and High on Fire
The Pointer Sisters – Grammy Award-winning R&B singing group
Pooh-Man – rapper
Francis Rocco Prestia – musician
Perri "Pebbles" Reid – singer-songwriter, manager of TLC
Richie Rich – rapper
Cynthia Robinson – musician
Raphael Saadiq – musician
Arion Salazar – musician in Third Eye Blind
Pharoah Sanders – musician
Timothy B. Schmit – rock musician, bassist for the Eagles
E.C. Scott – blues singer, songwriter and record producer; television host
Tupac Shakur – rapper, songwriter, poet, actor, activist
Sharon Shore – ballet dancer, model
Dave Smallen – musician, lead vocalist of Street to Nowhere
J. Stalin – rapper, co-founder of Livewire Records
Shakir Stewart – record producer, Senior Vice President of Island Def Jam Music Group
Bill Summers – musician
The Team – rap group
Too Short – rapper, born in Los Angeles, lived in Oakland from 1980 to 1994
Tony! Toni! Toné! – R&B singing group
Freddie Stone – musician
Rose Stone – musician
R. Prophet – rapper, former member of Nappy Roots
San Quinn – rapper, born in Oakland, raised in San Francisco
Shock G – rapper
Calvin E. Simmons – symphony orchestra conductor, namesake of Calvin Simmons Theatre, born in San Francisco
Sly Stone – musician
Souls of Mischief – rap group
Steady Mobb'n – rap duo
Bill Summers – musician
Tower of Power – band, formed and based in Oakland
Tre Cool – musician, drummer for rock band Green Day
Tune-Yards – band; indie, afro-funk
Weasel Walter – progressive rock and free jazz musician/composer
Freddie Washington – musician
Lenny Williams – musician, early member of Tower of Power
Y&T – rock band, formed in Oakland 1974
Yukmouth – rapper
Zendaya – singer and dancer & actress
Sage the Gemini – rapper, dancer & Producer
Samuel Merritt – practiced in San Francisco, namesake of Merritt College, Merritt Hospital, and Lake Merritt, buried in Oakland
David A. Bednar – LDS Apostle, born in Oakland
David Berg – controversial cult leader, founder of Children of God
Yusuf Bey – controversial Black Muslim activist, indicted for child rape
Mose Durst – author, educator, former president of the Unification Church
Jack Hayford – minister, chancellor, songwriter
James Ishmael Ford – Zen Buddhist priest and Unitarian Universalist minister
Ray Frank – female Jewish leader
Judah Leon Magnes – prominent Reform rabbi
Carol Anne O'Marie – Roman Catholic nun, mystery fiction writer
Bebe Patten – evangelist and founder of Patten University
Clarence Richard Silva – Catholic bishop from Oakland, current Bishop of Honolulu
Richard B. Stamps – anthropologist, archeologist, president of the Taipei Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
Allen Henry Vigneron – Catholic bishop, leader of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland
Scientists and inventors
Fernando J. Corbató – computer scientist
Frederick Cottrell – inventor
Kim Eric Drexler – engineer, molecular nanotechnology theorist
Frank Epperson – popsicle inventor
Alexei Filippenko – astrophysicist, professor of astronomy
Lloyd N. Ferguson – First African American to earn a Ph.D. in chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley
Ansel Franklin Hall – first park naturalist for Yosemite National Park, first Chief Forester for the National Park Service
Richard F. Johnston – ornithologist, academic and author
Ingemar Henry Lundquist – inventor and mechanical engineer
Stanley Miller – chemist
Writers and poets
Daniel Alarcon – writer, currently resides in Oakland
Catherine Asaro – writer
Chauncey Bailey – journalist assassinated by an agent of Your Black Muslim Bakery
Delilah L. Beasley – first African-American columnist to be published in a major newspaper
Charles Borden – American writer, sailed around the globe four times
Anthony Boucher – writer
Garrett Caples – poet, writer
Jon Carroll – columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle
Frank Chin – writer
Daniel Clowes – comic book writer, Academy Award-nominated screenwriter, currently resides in Oakland
Robert Duncan – poet
Sarah Webster Fabio – African-American writer, poet, educator; born in Nashville, lived in Oakland 1955-1979
Robert Harvey – literary theorist, born in Oakland
Bruce Henderson – author, born in Oakland
Sidney Howard – Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, Academy Award-winning screenwriter
Daedalus Howell – writer, currently resides in Oakland
Maxine Hong Kingston – writer, currently resides in Oakland
Jack London – writer, raised in Oakland, namesake of Jack London Square
Rod McKuen – poet, composer, singer
Joaquin Miller – poet, lived in Oakland from 1886–1913
Jessica Mitford – author
Jess Mowry – writer
Frank Norris – author, buried in Oakland
Colleen Patrick-Goudreau – author, speaker, and podcaster
Ishmael Reed – writer, currently resides in Oakland
Mary Roach – science writer, currently resides in Oakland
William Saroyan – dramatist, author, lived in Oakland from 1913-1918
Jason Shiga – author, cartoonist, puzzle designer
Jan Steckel – poet, writer, bisexual activist
Alex Steffen – writer, born in Oakland
Gertrude Stein – writer
Robert Louis Stevenson; writer,
Amy Tan – writer, born in Oakland
Nellie Wong – poet and activist, born in Oakland
Shawn Wong – writer, English professor
Helen Zia – writer, journalist, and activist, currently resides in Oakland
Felix Mitchell – notorious drug lord and gang leader of the 1970s and early 1980s
Hans Reiser – computer programmer, owner of Namesys, convicted of murdering his wife
List of people from Oakland, California Wikipedia (Text) CC BY-SA
