List of people from West Virginia
This is a list of prominent people from the territory that now makes up the U.S. state of West Virginia.
Location of West Virginia on the U.S. map
Athletics
George Brett
- A–G
- Michael Barber, professional football player
- Randy Barnes (born 1966), shotputter
- Larry Barnett (born 1945), baseball umpire
- Clair Bee, college basketball coach
- Vern Bickford, professional baseball player
- Brian Bowles, UFC/MMA fighter
- Rich Braham, professional football coach
- George Brett, professional baseball player
- Vicky Bullett, professional basketball player
- Lew Burdette, professional baseball player
- Jesse Burkett, professional baseball player
- Necro Butcher, professional wrestler
- Eddie Cameron, college basketball coach
- Mark Canterbury, professional wrestler
- David Carpenter, professional baseball player
- Bimbo Coles, professional basketball player
- Wilbur Cooper, professional baseball player
- Larry Coyer, professional football coach
- Dan D'Antoni, college basketball coach
- Mike D'Antoni, professional basketball player and coach
- Jack Dempsey, professional boxer
- Jimbo Fisher, college football coach
- Gene Freese, professional baseball player
- George Freese, professional baseball player
- Bob Gain, professional football player
- Frank Gatski, professional football player
- Marshall Goldberg, professional football player
- C. J. Goodwin, professional football player
- Hal Greer, professional basketball player
- Jedd Gyorko, professional baseball player
- H–M
- Cam Henderson, college football, basketball, and baseball coach
- Lou Holtz, college football coach
- Alexis Hornbuckle, professional basketball player
- Jeff Hostetler, professional football player
- J. R. House, professional baseball and football player
- Chuck Howley, professional football player
- Sam Huff, professional football player
- Bob Huggins, college basketball coach
- Hot Rod Hundley, professional basketball player and broadcaster
- Gary Jeter, professional football player
- James Jett, professional football player
- Dwayne Jones, professional basketball player
- Jason Kincaid, professional wrestler[1]
- John Kruk, professional baseball player
- Carl Lee, professional football player
- Doug Legursky, professional football player
- Gino Marchetti, professional football player
- Chris Massey, professional football player
- O. J. Mayo, professional basketball player
- Bill Mazeroski, professional baseball player
- Leo Mazzone, professional baseball player
- Seth McClung, professional baseball player
- John McKay, college and professional football coach
- Renee Montgomery, professional basketball player
- Eric Moss, professional football player
- Randy Moss, professional football player
- N–Z
- Dustin Nippert, professional baseball player
- Jamie Noble, professional wrestler (WWE)
- Patrick Patterson, professional basketball player
- Joe Pettini, professional baseball coach
- Kevin Pittsnogle, college basketball player
- Tom Pridemore, professional football player
- Paul Popovich, professional baseball player
- Mary Lou Retton, professional gymnast
- Ira Rodgers, college football coach
- Rich Rodriguez, college football coach
- Nick Saban, professional and college football coach
- Ben Schwartzwalder, Hall of Fame college football coach
- Mike Sheppard, kickboxing champion
- Heath Slater, professional wrestler (WWE)
- Tamar Slay, professional basketball player
- Stephanie Sparks, professional golfer and commentator
- Ray Stevens, professional wrestler
- Emanuel Steward, boxing trainer
- Bill Stewart, college football coach
- Joe Stydahar, professional football player
- Nick Swisher, professional baseball player
- Steve Swisher, professional baseball player
- Ryan Switzer, professional football player
- Rod Thorn, basketball player and executive
- Rick Tolley, college football coach
- Bill Walker, professional basketball player
- Fulton Walker, professional football player
- Robert Walker, professional football player
- Curt Warner, professional football player
- Jerry West, professional basketball player
- Deron Williams, professional basketball player
- Jason Williams, professional basketball player
- Kayla Williams, world champion gymnast[2]
- Alex Wilson, professional baseball player
- Hack Wilson, professional baseball player
- Quincy Wilson, professional football player
- Steve Yeager, professional baseball player
- Fielding H. Yost, college football coach
- Guy Zinn, professional baseball player
- Don Blankenship, chief executive officer of Massey Energy
- John Chambers, chief executive officer of Cisco Systems
- Carl Keith, inventor
- William Luke, businessman and entrepreneur
- George Preston Marshall, owner and president of Washington Redskins
- William N. Page, civil engineer, entrepreneur, capitalist, businessman, and industrialist
- Milan Puskar, entrepreneur, philanthropist, co-founder of Mylan
- Alex Schoenbaum, founder of Shoney's restaurant chain
- Harry F. Sinclair, industrialist
- Brad D. Smith, chief executive officer of Intuit, Inc.
- Ellsworth Milton Statler, hotel businessman
- Clarence Wayland Watson, businessman
- Allen Harvey Woodward, industrialist
Entertainment
- A–G
- Hasil Adkins, musician
- Michael Ammar, magician
- Karen Austin, actress
- Charlie Barnett, actor, comedian
- Lina Basquette, actress
- Leon "Chu" Berry, jazz saxophonist
- Chris Booker, radio DJ, TV personality
- Bobby Campo, actor
- Mark Carman, producer, songwriter
- Jean Carson, actress
- Bernie Casey, actor
- Ted Cassidy, actor
- Joe Cerisano, singer-songwriter
- Michael Cerveris, actor, singer-songwriter
- John Davis Chandler, actor
- Larry Combs, clarinetist
- Stoney Cooper, country/bluegrass singer
- Wilma Lee Cooper, country/bluegrass singer
- John Corbett, actor
- Billy Cox, bassist
- George Crumb, composer
- Phyllis Curtin, operatic soprano, NYCO
- Frank De Vol, film composer, actor
- Joyce DeWitt, actress; Three's Company
- Hazel Dickens, bluegrass singer
- Little Jimmy Dickens, country singer; Country Music Hall of Fame inductee
- Brad Divens, vocalist, musician, Wrathchild America, Kix
- Paul Dooley, actor, writer and comedian
- Brad Dourif, actor
- Joanne Dru, actress
- Greg Dulli, singer, The Afghan Whigs
- Virginia Egnor (also known as Dagmar), actress, model, TV personality
- Conchata Ferrell, actress
- Virginia Fox, silent-film actress; frequent co-star with Buster Keaton
- Jennifer Garner, actress
- Randy Gilkey, singer-songwriter
- Larry Groce, musician, radio personality
- H–M
- Ed Haley, blind professional fiddler
- Joshua Harto, actor, writer, producer
- Steve Harvey, comedian, TV personality
- Hawkshaw Hawkins, country music singer
- Allison Hayes, actress
- Blind Joe Hill, one-man band
- Frank Hutchison, slide guitar player
- Katie Lee Joel, television host
- Johnnie Johnson, blues musician
- Daniel Johnston, musician, artist; subject of film The Devil and Daniel Johnston
- Lawrence Kasdan, director, producer, screenwriter
- Lesli Kay, actress, As The World Turns, The Bold and the Beautiful
- Fuzzy Knight, actor
- Don Knotts, actor
- Shannon Larkin, musician, Godsmack
- Rex Lease, actor
- Jake E. Lee, rock guitarist
- Kristi Lee, TV personality, director of The Bob & Tom Show
- Ann Magnuson, actress
- Peter Marshall, musician, actor, host of TV's Hollywood Squares
- Kathy Mattea, country and bluegrass performer
- Charlie McCoy, musician
- Russ McCubbin, actor, stuntman, comedian
- Justin McElroy, Travis McElroy, and Griffin McElroy, hosts of My Brother, My Brother and Me
- Elizabeth McLaughlin, actress
- Garnet Mimms, soul singer
- Landau Eugene Murphy Jr., singer, winner of America's Got Talent, Season 6 (2010)
- Lou Myers, actor
- N–Z
- Tim O'Brien, bluegrass musician
- Devon Odessa, producer, actress, My So-Called Life
- Brad Paisley, country singer-songwriter
- Will Pan, rapper, actor
- Sam Pancake, actor
- Squire Parsons, gospel singer
- Johnny Paycheck, country musician
- Rachel Proctor, country singer-songwriter
- Don Redman, jazz musician and bandleader
- Ashlie Rhey, actress, writer
- Jeff Richmond, producer, composer
- Walter E. "Jack" Rollins, songwriter
- Kristen Ruhlin, actress
- Soupy Sales, actor and comedian
- Frank "Poncho" Sampedro, guitarist for Neil Young's band
- Chris Sarandon, actor, activist
- David Selby, actor
- Robert R. Shafer, actor
- Bill Slater, radio personality, host of Twenty Questions
- Connie Smith, country singer, Country Music Hall of Fame inductee
- Fred "Sonic" Smith, guitarist for MC5
- Michael W. Smith, contemporary Christian singer-songwriter
- Red Sovine, country singer
- Morgan Spurlock, film director, screenwriter
- Blaze Starr, stripper and burlesque star
- Aaron Staton, actor; Mad Men
- Eleanor Steber, soprano, The Metropolitan Opera, NYC
- Josh Stewart, actor
- Sam Trammell, actor, True Blood
- Teddy Weatherford, jazz pianist
- Patty Weaver, actress
- Donald Ray White, mountain dancer
- Jesse "Jesco" White, mountain dancer
- Steve Whiteman, former Kix singer
- Garland Wilson, jazz pianist
- Melvin Wine, fiddler
- Bill Withers, singer-songwriter
- J. T. Woodruff, Hawthorne Heights singer
- Bobby Wright, country singer
- Frankie Yankovic, polka musician
- Traci Lords, adult film star
Frontiersmen
- Patrick Gass, frontiersman
- Morgan Morgan, frontiersman
- Lewis Wetzel, frontiersman
Journalism
- William E. Chilton, newspaper publisher and politician
- J. R. Clifford, journalist, first African-American lawyer in West Virginia; founder of the Pioneer Press
- George Esper, newspaper reporter; known for his coverage of the Vietnam War for the Associated Press
- John S. Knight, newspaper publisher and editor
- Hoda Kotb, television reporter; host of Today
- Molly Line, news correspondent for Fox News Channel
- Herbert Morrison, radio reporter; known for his coverage of the Hindenburg disaster
- Asra Nomani, Indian-American journalist, author, and feminist
- Mike Patrick, sportscaster
- Michael Tomasky, newspaper writer and editor
- Carter G. Woodson, historian, author, and journalist
Literature and art
- Allen Appel, novelist
- John Peale Bishop, poet, man of letters
- Pearl S. Buck, writer and Nobel Prize winner
- Bob Carroll, historian, author
- Stephen Coonts, novelist
- Rebecca Harding Davis, short story writer
- Henry Louis Gates, Jr., author, educator, and scholar
- Denise Giardina, author
- Linda Goodman, poet, novelist, best-selling astrology writer
- Davis Grubb, novelist
- Charley Harper, artist
- Homer Hickam, writer
- Craig Johnson, novelist
- John Knowles, novelist
- William Robinson Leigh, artist
- Keith Maillard, novelist, poet
- Brooke McEldowney, cartoonist; creator of 9 Chickweed Lane comic strip
- Ehrman Syme Nadal, author
- Breece D'J Pancake, short fiction writer, author of Trilobites
- Roger Price, creator of Mad Libs and Droodles
- Jedediah Purdy, author and professor
- Mary Lee Settle, author
- Beau Smith, comic book writer
- Jean Edward Smith, biographer
- David Hunter Strother (aka Porte Crayon), artist
- Timothy Truman, writer, artist, and musician
- Jeannette Walls, author and columnist
- Booker T. Washington, political leader, educator, and author
- Tom Wilson, creator of Ziggy comic strip
Military
- John James Abert, explorer and soldier
- Earl E. Anderson, U.S. Marine Corps general
- John Ashby, frontiersman and soldier
- Woodrow Wilson Barr, U.S. Marine
- Ruby Bradley, most-decorated woman in U.S. military history
- Frank Buckles, last-surviving U.S. veteran of World War I
- French Ensor Chadwick, U.S. Navy officer and educator
- Lynndie England, U.S. Army reservist involved in the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse scandal
- Stonewall Jackson, C.S. Army general - Not a true West Virginian, was born in Virginia, died before West Virginia became a state
- Albert G. Jenkins, general and politician
- Jonah Edward Kelley, U.S. Army soldier; Medal of Honor recipient
- Edwin Gray Lee, C.S. Army general Born in Virginia, never lived in West Virginia
- Carwood Lipton, U.S. Army soldier
- John P. Lucas, U.S. Army general; commander at Battle of Anzio
- Jessica Lynch, prisoner of war
- Basil L. Plumley, U.S. Army command sergeant major
- William E. Shuck, Jr., U.S. Marine, Medal of Honor recipient
- M. Jeff. Thompson, Mo. State Guard general
- Hershel W. Williams, U.S. Marine, Medal of Honor recipient
- John Yarnall, U.S. Navy officer
- Chuck Yeager, aviator
Politics and government
Robert C. Byrd
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- Newton D. Baker, politician
- William Wallace Barron, politician
- John J. Beckley, frontiersman and Librarian of Congress
- Ephraim Bee, frontiersman and politician
- Charles Bent, frontiersman and politician
- Arthur I. Boreman, politician
- Sylvia Mathews Burwell, politician
- Harry F. Byrd, politician
- Robert Byrd, U.S. Senator and majority leader, longest-serving member of Senate (51 years, 5 months, 21 days)[3]
- Gaston Caperton, politician
- Shelley Moore Capito, politician
- Thomas R. Carper, economist and politician
- John J. Cornwell, politician
- Henry G. Davis, politician
- John W. Davis, politician and attorney, Democratic Party nominee for U.S. President (1924)
- Stephen Benton Elkins, politician
- Sarah Feinberg (born 1977), Interim President of the New York City Transit Authority, and former Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration
- Walter Lowrie Fisher, U.S. Secretary of Interior
- Mark Funkhouser, politician; mayor of Kansas City, Missouri
- William E. Glasscock, politician
- Nathan Goff, Jr., politician
- Howard Mason Gore, politician
- Henry D. Hatfield, politician
- Ken Hechler, politician and author
- John J. Jacob, politician
- Evan Jenkins, state senator
- Elizabeth Kee, politician
- John E. Kenna, politician
- Chief Logan, Native-American leader
- William A. MacCorkle, politician
- Joe Manchin, politician
- William C. Marland, politician
- Bruce Marks (born 1957), politician
- Roy L. McCulty, politician
- Arch A. Moore, Jr., politician
- Dwight Morrow, diplomat; father-in-law of Charles Lindbergh
- Matthew M. Neely, politician
- Bob Ney, politician
- Okey L. Patteson, politician
- Francis Harrison Pierpont, politician, "father of West Virginia"
- Nick Rahall, politician
- Jennings Randolph, politician
- Absalom Willis Robertson, politician
- Jay Rockefeller, politician
- Hulett C. Smith, politician
- William E. Stevenson, politician
- Cyrus Vance, U.S. Secretary of State
- Charles Washington, statesman
- Erik Wells, politician and news anchor
- Bob Wise, politician
Religion
- Alexander Campbell, Restoration Movement leader
- Matthew W. Clair, Methodist Episcopal Church bishop
- T. D. Jakes, televangelist
- B. R. Lakin, evangelist
Science
- Eugene Aserinsky, discovered rapid eye movement sleep (REM)
- Maurice Brooks, ornithologist
- Homer Hickam, former NASA engineer
- Andrew Delmar Hopkins, entomologist
- Katherine Johnson, mathematician and NASA computer scientist
- Carl D. Keith, chemist, invented three-way catalytic converter
- Mahlon Loomis, inventor of the wireless telegraph
- Robert J. Marks II, electrical engineer
- Joseph Maroon, neurosurgeon
- Jon McBride, NASA astronaut; pilot of Space Shuttle Challenger mission STS-41-G (1984)
- Adrian Melott, physicist and cosmologist
- George A. Miller, psychologist and cognitive scientist
- John Forbes Nash, mathematician
- James Rumsey, inventor and mechanical engineer
- Charles Marstiller Vest, educator and mechanical engineer
Other
- James J. Andrews, espionage agent
- Bill Blizzard, labor leader
- Julia Bonds, environmental activist; winner of Goldman Prize
- Belle Boyd, espionage agent
- Larry Gibson, environmental activist; founder of Keeper of the Mountains Foundation
- Nancy Hanks, mother of Abraham Lincoln; distant cousin of Tom Hanks
- Devil Anse Hatfield, patriarch of Hatfield clan of 19th-century Hatfield–McCoy feud
- Sid Hatfield, Matewan police chief, prominent figure in labor history
- Jacob and Samuel Hawken, designers of Hawken rifle
- John Henry, steel-driving man of folklore
- Glen and Bessie Hyde, disappeared raftsmen
- Julia Neale Jackson, mother of Stonewall Jackson
- Anna Jarvis, founder of Mother's Day in United States
- Mary Harris "Mother" Jones, labor and community organizer
- Charles Manson, convicted murderer
- Randal McCloy, lone survivor of 2006 Sago Mine disaster
- Stephen Murphy, ex-DEA agent; along with Javier Peña, one of the lead investigators in the manhunt of Colombian drug smuggler Pablo Escobar
- Harry Powers, serial killer
- Patsy Paugh Ramsey, Miss West Virginia; mother of JonBenét Ramsey
- Walter Reuther, labor leader
- Cecil Roberts, United Mine Workers president
- Leon Sullivan, civil rights activist
- Harry Randall Truman, volcano victim; owner of lodge at Mount St. Helens
- Jack Whittaker, lottery winner
References
- NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship.
- "Williams Vaults to Gold at Worlds". ESPN. October 17, 2009. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
- CNN Politics, Senator Byrd's record as longest serving member of the U.S. Congress was surpassed by U.S. Representative John Dingell of Michigan in 2013. Senator Byrd still holds the record as the longest serving U.S. Senator (51 years, 5 months, 21 days), but his 57 years, 5 months, 21 days of service in the U.S. Congress is no longer the longest record of Congressional service.
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