37.9074° N, 121.0764° W

OAKLAND

Most Famous People Born in Oakland, United States

Notable people
1,016
Peak decade
1940s
Median birth year
1949
Most distinctive
Rapper 23.4×

The Rapper bench here runs at better than twenty-three times the global baseline — Too $hort, MC Hammer, and the entire Bay Area hyphy lineage compressed into one line of the panel, a regional rap dialect invented the way New Orleans invented jazz. The deep Baseball count is the other Oakland story, the A's dynasty years and the West Oakland sandlots that produced Rickey Henderson, while the outsized Artist bench still runs on Black Panther-era visual culture.

Through the Decades

One face per decade — the most globally famous figure born in Oakland during each.

Notable Births by Decade

Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1940s with 138 notable births.

What Oakland Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Football is Oakland's biggest profession — 12% of all notables (118).

Oakland over-indexes on rapper23.4× the global rate.

Oakland under-produces politician — only 0.4× the global rate.

  1. Football118
  2. Baseball102
  3. Actor85
  4. Basket52
  5. Politician50
  6. Music47
  7. Singer35
  8. Artist35
  1. Rapper2623.4×
  2. Baseball1028.8×
  3. Basket524.1×
  4. Artist353.4×
  5. Music473.2×
  6. Novelist112.7×
  7. Film241.9×
  8. Lawyer321.8×
  1. Politician500.4×
  2. Writer230.7×

Profession Mix Over Time

Each band shows a profession family's share of Oakland's notable births by decade. Hover the chart for the breakdown at any decade.

18001825185018751900192519501975
  • Sports
  • Music
  • Film & TV
  • Politics & Law
  • Writing
  • Art & Design
  • Other
All1,016
Sort By

Showing 138 of 1,016 notable people

0029 POLITICIAN

Jon Kyl

Born 1942

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0030 GUITAR

Seasick Steve

Born 1941

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0036 GUITAR

Timothy B. Schmit

Born 1947

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0045 PLAYWRIGHT

Dakin Matthews

Born 1940

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0048 COMPOSER

Bill Champlin

Born 1947

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0050 SINGER

Edwin Hawkins

1943 - 2018

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0061 FILM

Gary Goldman

Born 1944

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0065 FILM

Ted Lange

Born 1948

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0075 DANCER

Carolyn Carlson (artist)

Born 1943

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0081 SINGER

Barbara Acklin

1943 - 1998

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0101 ACTOR

Squire Fridell

Born 1943

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0102 MUSIC

Paul Jackson (bassist)

Born 1947

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0116 JOURNALIST

John Markoff

Born 1949

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0119 SINGER

Anita Pointer

Born 1948

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0130 FILM

Robert Mandel

Born 1945

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0136 ACTOR

Mills Watson

Born 1940

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0138 ACTOR

Susan Seaforth Hayes

Born 1943

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0141 PHOTOGRAPHER

Galen Rowell

1940 - 2002

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0152 CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Alan Mulally

Born 1945

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0158 SWIMMER

Steve Clark (swimmer)

Born 1943

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0170 PRODUCER

Roger Nichols (recording engineer)

1944 - 2011

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0173 MILITAR

Ronald Ridenhour

1946 - 1998

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0178 SINGER

Ruth Pointer

Born 1946

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0187 PRODUCER

Walter Hawkins

1949 - 2010

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0194 HISTORIAN

Walter Day

Born 1949

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0205 ACTOR

Benny Luke

1942 - 2013

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0208 FILM

Jeff Dowd

Born 1949

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0224 SWIMMER

Jan Henne

Born 1947

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0225 MUSIC

Mike Botts

1944 - 2005

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0232 FIDDLER

Sue Draheim

1949 - 2013

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0262 ACTOR

Ron Williams

Born 1942

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0268 THEORIST

Cedric Robinson

1940 - 2016

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0273 SCIENTIST

Elizabeth Nicholls

1946 - 2004

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0280 DERMATOLOGIST

Robert A. Schwartz

Born 1947

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0286 NOVELIST

Shawn Wong

Born 1949

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0287 WRITER

Wendy Rose

Born 1948

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0292 NOVELIST

Thomas Sanchez (writer)

Born 1944

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0293 CEO

Daniel Akerson

Born 1948

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0296 MUSIC

David Garibaldi

Born 1946

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0298 LAWYER

Saundra Brown Armstrong

Born 1947

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0309 WRITER

Jamison Green

Born 1948

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0313 PLAYER

Tom Edlefsen

Born 1941

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0326 PAINTER

Denny Dent

1948 - 2004

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0327 ANALYST

William P. Baker

Born 1940

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0334 POET

Daniel Moore (poet)

1940 - 2016

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0336 LAWYER

Bill Lockyer

Born 1941

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0342 FOOTBALL

Manny Fernandez (American football)

Born 1946

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0346 MATHEMATICIAN

David Gieseker

Born 1943

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0355 BASKET

Joe Ellis (basketball)

Born 1944

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0363 LAWYER

Howard Lincoln

Born 1940

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0369 PLAYER

Jim McManus (tennis)

1940 - 2011

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0370 BANK

Charles R. Morris

Born 1940

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0373 SINGER

Verne Langdon

1941 - 2011

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0384 BASKET

Odis Allison

Born 1949

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0387 SINGER

Adrienne Cooper

1946 - 2011

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0407 POLITICIAN

Brian Moore (political activist)

Born 1943

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0410 SONGWRITER

John McEuen

Born 1945

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0412 SPORT

Steven Woznick

Born 1949

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0423 FILM

Marv Newland

Born 1947

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0431 BROADCAST

Howard Dully

Born 1948

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0433 CARVER

Mark Lindquist

Born 1949

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0434 PHOTOGRAPHER

Steven F. Arnold

1943 - 1994

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0438 WRESTLER

George Wells (wrestler)

Born 1947

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0454 POLITICIAN

Sharon Percy Rockefeller

Born 1944

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0456 MOTION PICTURE

Kirk Francis

Born 1947

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0477 ROWER

Geoffrey Picard

1943 - 2002

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0478 POLITICIAN

Mike Eng

Born 1946

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0492 COLUMNIST

Chauncey Bailey

1949 - 2007

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0508 PRINTMAKER

Margo Humphrey

Born 1942

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0517 WRITER

James Ishmael Ford

Born 1948

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0520 BASEBALL

Al Hrabosky

Born 1949

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0531 ARTIST

Fred Uhl Ball

1945 - 1985

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0540 FOOTBALL

MacArthur Lane

1942 - 2019

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0545 PAINTER

Christine Rosamond

1947 - 1994

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0547 PAINTER

Guy Colwell

Born 1945

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0562 BASEBALL

Rich Nye

Born 1944

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0565 WRITER

Carol Field

1940 - 2017

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0574 POLITICIAN

Maxine Moul

Born 1947

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0576 NOVELIST

Phyllis Ann Karr

Born 1944

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0581 SINGER

Harmonica Shah

Born 1946

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0585 BASKET

Jon Ferguson

Born 1949

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0592 REPUBLICAN

Bill Emmerson

Born 1945

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0593 FOOTBALL

Gordon Gravelle

Born 1949

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0598 DESIGNER

Michael Vanderbyl

Born 1947

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0602 LEXICOGRAPHER

Brent Galloway

1944 - 2014

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0605 POLITICIAN

Tom Johnson (Illinois politician)

1945 - 2018

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0617 FOOTBALL

Leon Burns

1942 - 1985

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0621 SPORT

Daniel Butler (cyclist)

1944 - 1970

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0622 BASEBALL

Brock Davis

Born 1943

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0624 BASEBALL

Frank Duffy (baseball)

Born 1946

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0625 BASEBALL

Bill Plummer

Born 1947

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0642 BASEBALL

Dwain Anderson

Born 1947

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0648 SAXOPHONIST

Ron Stallings

1947 - 2009

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0654 POLITICIAN

Wendell R. Beitzel

Born 1943

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0660 LAWYER

Justin P. Wilson

Born 1945

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0669 BASEBALL

Ron Theobald

1943 - 2016

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0687 BASEBALL

Von Joshua

Born 1948

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0704 FOOTBALL

Kevin Hardy (defensive tackle)

Born 1945

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0705 FOOTBALL

Bob Grim (American football)

Born 1945

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0714 ARTIST

Mary Catherine Lamb

1949 - 2009

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0717 POET

George Edward Tait

1943 - 2017

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0725 DESIGNER

Ron Rezek

Born 1946

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0727 POLITICIAN

Linda Berglin

Born 1944

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0728 ARTIST

Stephen Laub

Born 1945

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0730 POLITICIAN

Hubert Houser

Born 1942

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0733 MUSIC

Bill Douglass (Bassist)

Born 1945

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0742 BASEBALL

Bruce Von Hoff

1943 - 2012

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0745 ARCHAEOLOGIST

Noel Broadbent

Born 1946

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0751 MUSIC

Oliver Johnson

1944 - 2002

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0760 BASEBALL

Len Gabrielson

Born 1940

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0779 GOLF

Dick Lotz

Born 1942

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0791 POLITICIAN

Sandré Swanson

Born 1948

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0795 GOLF

Jim Wiechers

1944 - 2018

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0817 JUDGE

Christine Odell Cook Miller

Born 1944

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0818 FOOTBALL

Bill Dunstan

Born 1949

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0830 SONGWRITER

Henry Oden

Born 1947

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0832 MUSIC

Greg Douglass

Born 1949

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0835 FOOTBALL

Elmer Collett

Born 1944

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0844 MUSIC

Ron Meagher

Born 1941

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0862 BASEBALL

Jay Kleven

1949 - 2009

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0868 POLITICIAN

Curt Bromm

Born 1945

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0869 WRESTLER

Burke Deadrich

1945 - 2012

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0872 FILM

Harold Gaba

1946 - 2009

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0883 BOTANIST

Mercedes S. Foster

Born 1942

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0884 MUSIC

Gentry McCreary

Born 1941

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0888 BUSINESS

Larry Dodge

1943 - 2012

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0895 FOOTBALL

Al Andrews

Born 1945

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0896 ACTOR

Laraine Stephens

Born 1941

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0907 CAMPAIGN

Andrew McGuire

Born 1945

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0919 ARTIST

Richard Newton (Künstler)

Born 1948

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0923 BASEBALL

Ernie Fazio

1942 - 2017

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0937 FOOTBALL

John Sutro (American football)

Born 1940

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0946 FOOTBALL

Steve Svitak

Born 1945

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0975 SECRETARY

Gregory P. Schmidt

1947 - 2016

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0979 LAWYER

Lucas A. Powe Jr.

Born 1943

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0987 POLITICIAN

Richard M. Romero

Born 1944

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0988 ARTIST

Erik d'Azevedo

Born 1948

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0998 BASEBALL

Chris Ward (baseball)

Born 1949

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