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.

Athletics

George Brett

Jesse Burkett

Necro Butcher

Mike D'Antoni

Pete Maravich

Randy Moss

Mary Lou Retton

Nick Swisher

• Randy Barnes (b. 1966), professional shot putter, born in Charleston
• Larry Barnett (b. 1945), professional baseball umpire, born in Nitro
• Clair Bee, college basketball coach
• Vern Bickford, professional baseball player
• Terry Bowden, college football analyst and commentator
• Tommy Bowden, college football coach
• Brian Bowles, UFC/MMA fighter
• Rich Braham, professional football coach
• George Brett, professional baseball player
• Lew Burdette, professional baseball player
• Jesse Burkett, professional baseball player
• Necro Butcher, professional wrestler
• Eddie Cameron, college basketball coach
• Mark Canterbury, professional wrestler
• Bimbo Coles, professional basketball player
• Wilbur Cooper, professional baseball player
• Larry Coyer, professional football coach
• Dan D'Antoni, professional basketball coach
• Mike D'Antoni, professional basketball player and coach
• Jack Dempsey, professional boxer
• Jimbo Fisher, college football coach
• Gene Freese, professional baseball player
• Frank Gatski, professional football player
• Hal Greer, professional basketball player
• Cam Henderson, college football, basketball, and football coach
• Lou Holtz, college football coach
• 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
• Dwayne Jones, professional basketball player
• John Kruk, professional baseball 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
• Renee Montgomery, professional women's basketball player
• Randy Moss, professional football player
• 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
• Mary Lou Retton, professional gymnast
• Nick Saban, professional and college football coach
• Ben Schwartzwalder, Hall of Fame college football coach
• Heath Slater, professional wrestler (WWE)
• Tamar Slay, professional basketball player
• Stephanie Sparks, professional golfer and commentator
• Emanuel Steward, boxing trainer
• Bill Stewart, ex. head football coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers
• Nick Swisher, professional baseball player
• Rick Tolley, college football coach
• Rod Thorn, professional basketball player
• Bill Walker, professional basketball player
• Curt Warner, professional football player
• Jerry West, professional basketball player
• Deron Williams, professional basketball player
• Jason Williams, professional basketball player
• Hack Wilson, professional baseball player
• Steve Yeager, professional baseball player
• Fielding H. Yost, college football coach

Business

• Don Blankenship, former CEO of Massey Energy
• John Chambers, CEO of Cisco Systems
• William Luke, businessman and entrepreneur
• George Preston Marshall, owner and president of the Washington Redskins
• William N. Page, civil engineer, entrepreneur, capitalist, businessman, and industrialist
• Milan Puskar, entrepreneur, philanthropist, co-founder of Mylan Inc.
• Alex Schoenbaum, founder of Shoney's restaurant chain
• Harry F. Sinclair, industrialist
• Ellsworth Milton Statler, hotel businessman
• Rod Thorn, president of the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers
• Clarence Wayland Watson, businessman

Entertainment

Hasil Adkins

Brad Dourif

Jennifer Garner

Katie Lee Joel

Brad Paisley

• Hasil Adkins, rockabilly musician
• Michael Ammar, magician
• Samuel Ball, actor
• Charlie Barnett, actor and comedian
• Lina Basquette, actress
• Leon "Chu" Berry, jazz saxophonist
• Chris Booker, radio DJ and TV personality
• Byzantine, progressive extreme metal band
• Bobby Campo, actor
• Jean Carson, actress
• Bernie Casey, actor
• Ted Cassidy, actor
• Joe Cerisano, singer, songwriter
• Larry Combs, clarinetist
• Wilma Lee Cooper, country/bluegrass singer
• Stoney Cooper, country/bluegrass singer
• John Corbett, actor
• Billy Cox, Drummer
• George Crumb, composer
• Joyce DeWitt, actress
• Joanne Dru, actress
• Virginia Egnor, AKA Dagmar - actress, pin-up model, TV personality
• Little Jimmy Dickens, country singer, Country Music Hall of Fame inductee
• Hazel Dickens, bluegrass singer
• Brad Divens, former vocalist/bassist for Wrathchild America, former guitarist for Kix
• Paul Dooley, actor, writer and comedian
• Brad Dourif, actor
• Greg Dulli, Afghan Whigs singer
• Conchata Ferrell, actress
• Virginia Fox, silent film actress, frequent co-star of Buster Keaton
• Jennifer Garner, actress
• Randy Gilkey, singer, songwriter
• Kristen Ruhlin, actress
• Larry Groce, musician, radio personality
• Ed Haley, blind professional fiddler
• Joshua Harto, actor
• Steve Harvey, actor, stand-up comedian
• Katie Lee Joel, TV host
• Johnnie Johnson, blues musician
• Daniel Johnston, musician, artist, subject of 2006 Sundance winning documentary "The Devil and Daniel Johnston"
• Lawrence Kasdan, movie director, producer, screenwriter
• Fuzzy Knight, actor
• Jake E. Lee, rock guitarist; formerly w/ Ozzy Osbourne, Badlands
• Kristi Lee, air personality/news director, The Bob and Tom Show
• Karma to Burn, instrumental alt-metal band
• Lesli Kay, soap actress who played Molly Conlan on As The World Turns, and now plays Felicia Forrester on The Bold And The Beautiful
• Don Knotts, actor
• Shannon Larkin, drummer for Godsmack, former Amen, Wrathchild America
• Ann Magnuson, actress
• Peter Marshall, host of "Hollywood Squares" from 1966-1981
• Kathy Mattea, country and bluegrass performer
• Charlie McCoy, musician
• Garnet Mimms, soul singer
• Tim O'Brien, bluegrass musician
• Devon Odessa, film producer, actress - "My So-Called Life"
• Brad Paisley, country singer and songwriter
• Wilber Pan, singer, rapper and actor
• Sam Pancake, actor
• Squire Parsons, gospel singer
• Johnny Paycheck, country musician
• Rachel Proctor, country singer and songwriter
• Walter E. "Jack" Rollins, songwriter
• Soupy Sales, actor and comedian
• Frank "Poncho" Sampedro, musician, guitarist for Neil Young's band Crazy Horse
• Chris Sarandon, actor, activist
• Scenes from a Movie, a Charleston based pop-punk band
• David Selby, actor
• Robert R. Shafer, actor
• Bill Slater, radio personality, sportscaster, host of game show "Twenty Questions"
• Fred "Sonic" Smith, guitarist for the MC5
• Connie Smith, country singer, Country Music Hall of Fame inductee
• Michael W. Smith, Contemporary Christian singer, songwriter, guitarist, and keyboardist
• Red Sovine, country singer
• Morgan Spurlock, independent film director and screenwriter
• Blaze Starr, stripper and burlesque star
• Aaron Staton, actor, Mad Men
• 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 and songwriter
• J. T. Woodruff, Hawthorne Heights singer, songwriter, guitarist
• Wrathchild America, a power/thrash metal band
• Bobby Wright, country singer, son of Kitty Wells and Johnny Wright
• Frankie Yankovic, polka musician

Frontiersmen

• Patrick Gass, frontiersman
• Morgan Morgan, frontiersman
• Lewis Wetzel, frontiersman

Journalism

• 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.
• Herbert Morrison, radio reporter, known for his dramatic 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 & Art

Stonewall Jackson

Booker T. Washington

• Allen Appel, novelist
• John Peale Bishop, poet and man of letters
• Pearl S. Buck, writer and Nobel prize winner
• Bob Carroll, historian, author
• Stephen Coonts, novelist
• Henry Louis Gates, Jr., author, educator, and scholar
• Denise Giardina, author
• Linda Goodman, poet, novelist, best-selling astrology writer
• Davis Grubb, novelist
• Homer Hickam, writer
• John Knowles, novelist
• Brooke McEldowney, cartoonist, creator of 9 Chickweed Lane comic strip.
• Ehrman Syme Nadal, author
• Breece D'J Pancake, acclaimed short fiction writer, author of Trilobites
• Roger Price, author, cartoonist, and humorist. 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

Military

Chuck Yeager

• John James Abert, explorer and soldier
• Earl E. Anderson, United States Marine Corps general
• John Ashby, frontiersman and soldier
• Woodrow Wilson Barr, United States Marine
• Frank Buckles, last surviving U.S. veteran of World War I
• French Ensor Chadwick, naval officer and educator
• Lynndie England, U.S. Army reservist involved in the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal
• Stonewall Jackson, soldier and teacher
• Albert G. Jenkins, general and politician
• Jonah Edward Kelley, US Army soldier, Medal of Honor recipient
• Edwin Gray Lee, Confederate general
• Carwood Lipton, US Army soldier
• John P. Lucas, American general, commander at Anzio
• Jessica Lynch, prisoner of war
• Basil L. Plumley, Command Sergeant Major, U.S. Army
• William E. Shuck, Jr., U.S. Marine, Medal of Honor recipient
• Hershel W. Williams, U.S. Marine, Medal of Honor recipient
• John Yarnall, U.S. Navy officer
• Chuck Yeager, aviation legend
• Ruby Bradley, most decorated woman in United States military history

Politics & Government

Robert C. Byrd

Jay Rockefeller

Cyrus Vance

Further information: List of Governors of West Virginia

• 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
• Harry F. Byrd, politician
• Robert Byrd, U.S. Senate majority leader, longest-serving member in history of the United States Congress.
• 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
• Walter Lowrie Fisher, United States Secretary of the 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
• Elizabeth Kee, politician
• John E. Kenna, politician
• Chief Logan, Native American leader
• William A. MacCorkle, politician
• Joe Manchin, politician
• William C. Marland, politician
• Arch A. Moore, Jr., politician
• Dwight Morrow, businessman, politician, diplomat; father-in-law of Charles Lindbergh
• Matthew M. Neely, politician
• Bob Ney, politician
• Okey L. Patteson, politician
• Francis Harrison Pierpont, politician and "Father of West Virginia"
• Nick Rahall, politician
• Jennings Randolph, politician
• Absalom Willis Robertson, politician
• Jay Rockefeller, politician
• Rick Santorum, politician
• Hulett C. Smith, politician
• William E. Stevenson, politician
• Cyrus Vance, United States Secretary of State
• Charles Washington, statesman
• Erik Wells, politician and news anchor
• Bob Wise, politician

Religion

• Alexander Campbell, Restoration Movement leader
• B. R. Lakin, evangelist
• Matthew W. Clair, Methodist Episcopal Church bishop
• T. D. Jakes, televangelist

Science

• Eugene Aserinsky, discovered REM sleep
• Maurice Brooks, ornithologist
• Homer Hickam, former NASA engineer
• Mahlon Loomis, inventor of the wireless telegraph
• Jon McBride, NASA astronaut, pilot of Challenger mission STS 41-G
• Adrian Melott, physicist and cosmologist
• George A. Miller, psychologist and cognitive scientist
• John Forbes Nash, mathematician
• James Rumsey, inventor and mechanical engineer

Other

Belle Boyd

• 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 and relative of actor Tom Hanks
• Devil Anse Hatfield, Hatfield-McCoy feud
• Sid Hatfield, Matewan police chief, prominent figure in labor history
• Jacob and Samuel Hawken, designers of the Hawken rifle
• Glen and Bessie Hyde, disappeared raftsmen
• John Henry, the steel driving man of folklore
• Julia Neale Jackson, mother of Stonewall Jackson
• Anna Jarvis, founder of Mother's Day
• Mary Harris "Mother" Jones, labor and community organizer
• Randal McCloy, lone survivor of the 2006 Sago Mine disaster
• Patsy Paugh Ramsey, former Miss West Virginia and mother of slain beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey
• Walter Reuther, labor leader
• Cecil Roberts, United Mine Workers president
• Harry Randall Truman, volcano victim, owner of Spirit Lake Lodge at Mount St. Helens
• Jack Whittaker, lottery winner