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.
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Athletics
- 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
- 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
- Mike D'Antoni, professional basketball player and coach
- Gene Freese, professional baseball player
- Frank Gatski, professional football player
- Hal Greer, professional basketball player
- 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
- John Kruk, professional baseball player
- Pete Maravich, professional basketball 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 womens basketball player
- Randy Moss, professional football player
- Jamie Noble, professional wrestler (WWE)
- Kevin Pittsnogle, college basketball player
- Mary Lou Retton, professional gymnast
- Nick Saban, professional and college football coach
- Tamar Slay, professional basketball player
- Stephanie Sparks, professional golfer and commentator
- Emanuel Steward, boxing trainer
- Bill Stewart, current 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
- Steve Yeager, professional baseball player
- Fielding Yost, college football coach
Business
- John Chambers, CEO of Cisco Systems
- William Luke, businessman and entrepreneur
- William N. Page, civil engineer, entrepreneur, capitalist, businessman, and industrialist
- Harry F. Sinclair, industrialist
- Ellsworth Milton Statler, hotel businessman
- Rod Thorn, president of the NBA's New Jersey Nets
- Clarence Wayland Watson, businessman
Entertainment
- Hasil Adkins, rockabilly musician
- Michael Ammar, magician
- Samuel Ball, actor
- Charlie Barnett, actor and comedian
- Lina Basquette, actress
- Leon "Chu" Berry, jazz saxophonist
- Byzantine, progressive extreme metal band
- Jean Carson, actress
- Bernie Casey, actor
- Ted Cassidy, actor
- Larry Combs, clarinetist
- John Corbett, actor
- Billy Cox, Drummer
- George Crumb, composer
- Joyce DeWitt, actress
- Bob Denver, actor
- Little Jimmy Dickens, country singer
- Hazel Dickens, bluegrass singer
- Brad Divens, former vocalist/bassist for Wrathchild America, former guitarist for Kix
- Paul Dooley, actor
- Brad Dourif, actor
- Conchata Ferrell, actress
- Jennifer Garner, actress
- Ed Haley, blind professional fiddler
- Joshua Harto, actor
- Steve Harvey, actor
- Katie Lee Joel, TV host
- Johnnie Johnson, blues musician
- 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
- Kathy Mattea, country and bluegrass performer
- Charlie McCoy, musician
- Garnet Mimms, soul singer
- Tim O'Brien, bluegrass musician
- Brad Paisley, country singer and songwriter
- Wilber Pan, singer, rapper and actor
- Sam Pancake, actor
- Rachel Proctor, country singer and songwriter
- Walter E. "Jack" Rollins, songwriter
- Soupy Sales, actor and comedian
- Frank "Poncho" Sampedro, musician
- Chris Sarandon, actor, activist
- Scenes from a Movie, a Charleston based pop-punk band
- David Selby, actor
- Fred "Sonic" Smith, guitarist
- 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
- 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
- Melvin Wine, fiddler
- Bill Withers, singer and songwriter
- J. T. Woodruff, Hawthorne Heights singer, songwriter, guitarist
- Wrathchild America, a power/thrash metal band
- Frankie Yankovic, polka musician
Frontiersmen
- Patrick Gass, frontiersman
- Morgan Morgan, frontiersman
- Lewis Wetzel, frontiersman
Journalism
- Jodi Applegate, news anchor
- John S. Knight, newspaper publisher and editor
- Mike Patrick, sportscaster
- Michael Tomasky, newspaper writer and editor
- Carter G. Woodson, historian, author, and journalist
Literature & Art
- Allen Appel, novelist
- John Peale Bishop, poet and man of letters
- Pearl S. Buck, writer and Nobel prize winner
- Willa Cather, novelist
- Stephen Coonts, novelist
- Che Elias, author and poet
- 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
- Ehrman Syme Nadal, author
- Breece D'J Pancake, author
- Roger Price, author, cartoonist, and humorist
- Jedediah Purdy, author and professor
- Mary Lee Settle, author
- David Hunter Strother (aka Porte Crayon), artist
- Timothy Truman, writer, artist, and musician
- Booker T. Washington, political leader, educator, and author
Military
- 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
- 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
- John P. Lucas, American general, commander at Anzio
- Jessica Lynch, prisoner of war
- William E. Shuck, Jr., U.S. Marine, Medal of Honor recipient
- John Yarnall, U.S. Navy officer
- Chuck Yeager, aviation legend
Politics & Government
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, politician
- 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
- 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
- John J. Jacob, 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
- Absalom Willis Robertson, politician
- Jay Rockefeller, politician
- Hulett C. Smith, politician
- Wayne C. Spiggle, politician
- William E. Stevenson, politician
- John Swan, 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
- Matthew W. Clair, Methodist Episcopal Church bishop
- T. D. Jakes, televangelist
Science
- Eugene Aserinsky, discovered REM sleep
- Maurice Brooks, ornithologist
- Mahlon Loomis, inventor of the wireless telegraph
- John Forbes Nash, mathematician
- James Rumsey, inventor and mechanical engineer
Other
- James J. Andrews, espionage agent
- Belle Boyd, espionage agent
- Nancy Hanks, mother of Abraham Lincoln and relative of actor Tom Hanks
- Devil Anse Hatfield, Hatfield-McCoy feud
- 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
- John Marshall, last person in the United States to be executed by being hung in chains (April 4, 1913)
- Patsy Paugh Ramsey, former Miss West Virginia and mother of slain beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey
- Walter Reuther, labor leader
- Harry Randall Truman, volcano victim
- Jack Whittaker, lottery winner
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