List of Famous people born in California, United States of America

Scott Lee Peterson is an American convicted murderer who is currently incarcerated in San Quentin State Prison. In 2004, he was convicted of the first-degree murder of his pregnant wife, Laci Peterson, and the second-degree murder of their unborn son, Conner, in Modesto, California. In 2005, he was sentenced to death by lethal injection. His case was on automatic appeal to the Supreme Court of California. On August 24, 2020, the death penalty for Peterson was overturned, though his conviction was upheld.

Andrew Phillip Cunanan was an American serial killer known to have murdered five people during a three-month period in mid-1997. His victims included Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace and Chicago real estate developer Lee Miglin. Cunanan died of suicide by gunshot on July 23, 1997.

Jonathan Kim is an American US Navy lieutenant, physician, and NASA astronaut.

Tessa Lynne Thompson is an American actress. She began her professional acting career with the Los Angeles Women's Shakespeare Company while studying at Santa Monica College. She appeared in productions of The Tempest and Romeo and Juliet, the latter of which earned her a NAACP Theatre Award nomination. Her breakthrough came with leading roles in Tina Mabry's independent drama film Mississippi Damned (2009) and Tyler Perry's drama film For Colored Girls (2010).

Rashida Leah Jones is an American actress, director, writer, and producer. Jones appeared as Louisa Fenn on the Fox drama series Boston Public (2000–2002), as Karen Filippelli on the NBC comedy series The Office (2005–2013), and as Ann Perkins on the NBC comedy series Parks and Recreation (2009–2015). From 2016 to 2019, Jones starred as the lead eponymous role in the TBS comedy series Angie Tribeca, and in 2020, Jones starred as Joya Barris in the Netflix series BlackAF.

Isabella Khair Hadid is an American model. In 2016, she was voted "Model of the Year" by industry professionals for Models.com.

Brenda Song is an American actress. She began her career in show business as a child fashion model, and her early acting work included roles in the television series Fudge (1995) and 100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd (1999). After many commercials and television roles in the late 1990s, Song appeared in The Ultimate Christmas Present (2000) and won a Young Artist Award for her performance. In 2002, she signed a contract with Disney Channel and starred in the Disney Channel Original Movie Get a Clue (2002). She went on to make significant contributions to the network, including starring in films such as Stuck in the Suburbs (2004), Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior (2006), and many other productions. Song went on to portray the lead female role of London Tipton in the comedy series The Suite Life of Zack & Cody (2005–2008), and later reprised the role on the spinoff series The Suite Life on Deck (2008–2011).

Gavin Christopher Newsom is an American politician and businessman who is the 40th governor of California, serving since January 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 49th lieutenant governor of California from 2011 to 2019 and as the 42nd mayor of San Francisco from 2004 to 2011.

Katherine Eunice Schwarzenegger Pratt is an American author. She is the eldest child of actor and former Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger and broadcast journalist Maria Shriver.

Mahershala Ali is an American actor and former rapper who is the recipient of several accolades, including two Academy Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, a BAFTA award, a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2019. In 2020, The New York Times ranked him #23 in its list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century.