Famous people with valley ties
Jenifer Alcorn — retired world-champion boxer
Alan Autry — film and TV actor, mayor of Fresno
Ross Bagdasarian (aka David Seville) — songwriter, creator of “The Chipmunks”
Summer Bartholomew — former Miss America
Robert Beltran — actor, known for his roles on “Star Trek Voyager”
Laura Berg — Olympic gold medalist softball player
Deborah Blum — The Fresno Bee Pulitzer Prize-winner
Tommy Bond — child actor, known for his role as Butch on “Little Rascals”
Bruce Bowen — NBA championship player with the San Antonio Spurs
Gregory “Pappy” Boyington — war hero, inspiration for the television series “Baa Baa Black Sheep”
Cruz Bustamante — former Lieutenant Governor of California
David Carr— former Fresno State, now NFL, quarterback with the Carolina Panthers
Ceasar Chavez — Mexican American labor activist and leader of the United Farm Workers
Judy Chicago — feminist arist
Mike Connors — film and TV actor
Kevin Costner — actor and Academy Award-winning director
Bobby Cox — manager, Atlanta Braves
Sid and Jenny Craig — founders of the Jenny Craig weight loss system
Ken Curtis — actor, singer, known for his role as Festus on “Gunsmoke”
Kevin Federline (aka K-Fed) — back-up dancer, model, actor and rapper once married to Britney Spears
Tom Flores — former NFL quarterback, coach and general manager
Andy Finch — snowboarder, on the Olympic team
Christopher Gorham — film and TV actor
Sid Haig — cult film star
Victor Davis Hanson — scholar, historian and author
Rafer Johnson — Olympic gold medalist
Bill Jones — former Secretary of State
Kerkor “Kirk” Kerkorian — land developer, known for helping develop Las Vegas
Joanna Kerns — actress, known for her role as Maggie Seaver on “Growing Pains”
Richard Kiel — actor, known for his role as “Jaws,” in the James Bond movies
Daryle Lamonica — former NFL quarterback, nicknamed the “Mad Bomber”
Cher (aka Cherilyn Sarkisian LaPierre) — singer, actress, songwriter and author
Claude “Pop” Laval — commerical photgrapher who captured Fresno history
Philip Levine — Pulitzer Prize-winning poet
Ricky Manning — NFL cornerback with the Chicago Bears
Bob Mathias — two-time Olympic decathlon winner
Audra McDonald — singer, actress and Tony Award-winner
Barry McGuire — singer-songwriter
Ralph Moore — father of the miniature rose
Barbara Morgan — teacher, NASA astronaut
Lorenzo Neil — NFL fullback with the San Diego Chargers
Paul H. O’Neill — former United States treasury secretary
Sam Peckinpah — film director
Karen Pendleton — former Mouseketeer
Steve Perry — singer, Journey
Slim Pickens — actor, famous as the bomb-riding cowboy in “Dr. Strangelove”
Stuart Quan — martial artist and educator; actor/stuntman
Elbert “Burt” Rutan — aerospace engineer, won the $10 million Ansari X prize for space flight 2004
William Saroyan — Pulitzer Prize-winning author
Gary Scelzi — four-time NHRA champion
Tom Seaver — Major League Baseball Hall of Famer
Tommy Smith — Olympic gold medalist, known for giving the black power salute at the games
“Boogaloo” Sam Solomon — dancer, creator of Popping dance style
Jerry Tarkanian — aka “Tark the Shark,” former NCAA basketball coach
Jan Michael Vincent — film and TV actor, star of “Air Wolf”
Billy Vokovick — two-time Indy 500 winner
Pamela Wallace — Academy Award-winning author of “Witness”
Del Webb — construction magnate, real estate developer and sports- team owner
Robert Westenberg — Tony Award-winning actor
Grace Lee Whitney — actress, “Star Trek”
Randy Williams — Olympic gold medalist
Bob Wills — country western musician
Elbert “Ickey” Woods — former NFL fullback, known for the “Ickey Shuffle”
Steve Yarbrough — author, PEN/Faulkner award finalist