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

Allen Cedric "A.C." Cowlings is a former American football player and actor. He began playing for the National Football League (NFL) in 1970 and played for such teams as the Buffalo Bills, Houston Oilers, Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks, and the San Francisco 49ers until he retired following the 1979 season. Cowlings was taken fifth overall in the first round by the Buffalo Bills in the 1970 NFL Draft.

Logan Wade Lerman is an American actor, known for playing the title role in the fantasy-adventure Percy Jackson films. He appeared in commercials in the mid-1990s, before starring in the series Jack & Bobby (2004–2005) and the movies The Butterfly Effect (2004) and Hoot (2006). Lerman gained further recognition for his roles in the western 3:10 to Yuma, the thriller The Number 23, the comedy Meet Bill, and 2009's Gamer and My One and Only. He subsequently played d'Artagnan in 2011's The Three Musketeers, starred in the coming-of-age dramas The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012), Indignation (2016) and The Vanishing of Sidney Hall (2017), and had major roles in the 2014 films Noah and Fury. In 2020, he returned to television with the series Hunters.

Josh Adam Klinghoffer is an American musician best known for being the former guitarist for the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers from 2009 to 2019, with whom he recorded two studio albums, I'm with You (2011) and The Getaway (2016), and the b-sides compilation, I'm Beside You (2013). Klinghoffer took the place of his friend and frequent collaborator John Frusciante in 2009, after a period as a touring member. Klinghoffer was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 2012, becoming the Hall of Fame's youngest-ever living inductee at age 32, passing Stevie Wonder, who was 38 when he was inducted. Ilan Rubin, also at the age of 32, then went on to beat out Josh as the youngest upon his 2020 HoF induction as a member of Nine Inch Nails.

Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. is an American politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected Secretary of State of California in the early 1970s; Brown later served as Mayor of Oakland from 1999 to 2007 and Attorney General of California from 2007 to 2011. He was both the oldest and sixth-youngest governor of California due to the 28-year gap between his second and third terms. Upon completing his fourth term in office, Brown became the third longest-serving governor in U.S. history, serving 16 years and 5 days in office.

Aubrey Morgan O'Day is an American singer-songwriter and reality television personality, best known for being a member of the girl group Danity Kane. Following discord among Danity Kane and with her mentor at the time, P. Diddy, O'Day was fired from the group in 2008, but reunited with them in 2013 before a second disbandment. Danity Kane reunited in 2018 as a trio. She has also performed in the duo Dumblonde with former Danity Kane bandmate Shannon Bex since 2015.

Ishi was the last known member of the Native American Yahi people from the present-day state of California in the United States. The rest of the Yahi were killed in the California genocide in the 19th century. Ishi, who was widely acclaimed as the "last wild Indian" in America, lived most of his life isolated from modern American culture. In 1911, aged 50, he emerged near the foothills of Lassen Peak in Northern California.

Alison Eastwood is an American actress, director, producer, model, and fashion designer.

Anthony David Gonzalez is a former professional American football tight end and sports analyst who played in the National Football League for 17 seasons, primarily with the Kansas City Chiefs. Regarded as one of the greatest tight ends of all-time, Gonzalez played college football and college basketball at University of California, Berkeley, and was recognized as a consensus All-American in football. He was drafted by the Chiefs in the first round of the 1997 NFL Draft, where he played for 12 seasons, and was a member of the Atlanta Falcons in his last five seasons. Since retiring, he has served as an analyst for Fox Sports.

Chaz Salvatore Bono is an American writer, musician and actor. His parents are entertainers Sonny Bono and Cher, and he became widely known in appearances as a child on their television show, The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour.

Charles Patrick Ryan O'Neal is an American actor and former boxer. O'Neal trained as an amateur boxer before beginning his career in acting in 1960. In 1964, he landed the role of Rodney Harrington on the ABC nighttime soap opera Peyton Place. The series was an instant hit and boosted O'Neal's career. He later found success in films, most notably Love Story (1970), for which he received Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations as Best Actor, Peter Bogdanovich's What's Up, Doc? (1972) and Paper Moon (1973), Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon (1975), Richard Attenborough's A Bridge Too Far (1977), and Walter Hill's The Driver (1978). From 2005 to 2017, he had a recurring role in the Fox TV series Bones as Max, the father of the show's protagonist.