List of Famous people born in Washington, United States of America
Bill Gates
William Henry Gates III is an American business magnate, software developer, and philanthropist. He is best known as the co-founder of Microsoft Corporation. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions of chairman, chief executive officer (CEO), president and chief software architect, while also being the largest individual shareholder until May 2014. He is one of the best-known entrepreneurs and pioneers of the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s.
Dylan Arnold
Dylan Arnold is an American actor. He is known for playing Noah in the romantic drama After (2019), a role which he reprised in its sequel After We Collided (2020). He is also known for playing Cameron Elam in Halloween (2018), and in its sequel, Halloween Kills (2021). On stage, he portrayed Justin in Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's Good Boys and True at the Pasadena Playhouse in 2019.
Amanda Knox
Amanda Marie Knox is an American woman who spent almost four years in an Italian prison following her conviction for the 2007 murder of Meredith Kercher, a fellow exchange student who shared her apartment. In 2015, Knox was definitively acquitted by the Italian Supreme Court of Cassation.
Brandi Carlile
Brandi Marie Carlile is an American multiple Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter and producer whose music spans multiple genres. As of 2020, Carlile has released six studio albums and earned eleven Grammy Award nominations, including one for The Firewatcher's Daughter, six for By the Way, I Forgive You, and three for her work as producer and songwriter on Tanya Tucker's 2019 album While I’m Livin’. She was the most nominated woman at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards (six) including nominations for Album of the Year, Record of the Year and Song of the Year. In 2019, Carlile formed an all-female quartet with Amanda Shires, Maren Morris, and Natalie Hemby called the Highwomen. They released their debut album The Highwomen in 2019 to critical and commercial acclaim.
Gary Payton II
Gary Dwayne Payton II is an American professional basketball player who plays for Raptors 905 of the NBA G League. As a junior and senior playing college basketball for the Oregon State Beavers, Payton was named first-team All-Pac-12 as well as Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year. He is the son of NBA Hall of Famer Gary Payton. His nickname is "The Mitten", a reference to his father's nickname "The Glove".
Nick Robinson
Nicholas John Robinson is an American actor. As a child, he appeared in the 2008 stage productions of A Christmas Carol and Mame, following which he starred in the television sitcom Melissa & Joey (2010–2015). He went on to play a supporting role in the science fiction adventure film Jurassic World (2015), and took on lead roles in several teen dramas, including The Kings of Summer (2013), The 5th Wave (2016), Everything, Everything (2017), Love, Simon (2018), and Native Son (2019). In 2020, Robinson co-starred with Kate Mara in the FX miniseries, A Teacher.
Linda Lee Cadwell
Linda Lee Cadwell is an American teacher, martial artist, and writer. She is the author of the Bruce Lee biography Bruce Lee: The Man Only I Knew, upon which the film Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story is based, as well as the founder, a former trustee of, and an unpaid advisor of the Bruce Lee Foundation. Lee Cadwell is the widow of martial arts master and actor Bruce Lee (1940–1973) and the mother of actors Brandon Lee (1965–1993) and Shannon Lee.
Paolo Banchero
Paolo Napoleon James Banchero is an American-Italian college basketball player for the Duke Blue Devils of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). He was a consensus five-star recruit and one of the top players in the 2021 class.
Ken Jennings
Kenneth W. Jennings III is an American game show contestant, consultant, author, and television host. He is the highest-earning American game show contestant of all time.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Jeffrey Dean Morgan is an American actor of film and television. He is known for his roles as John Winchester in the fantasy horror series Supernatural, Denny Duquette in the medical drama series Grey's Anatomy (2006–2009), the Comedian in the superhero film Watchmen (2009), Jason Crouse in the political drama series The Good Wife (2015–2016), Negan in the horror drama series The Walking Dead (2016–present), and Harvey Russell in Rampage (2018).
Julianna Peña
Julianna Nicole Peña is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. She is the first woman to win The Ultimate Fighter. As January 25, 2020, she is #6 in the UFC women's bantamweight rankings,
Jo Koy
Joseph Glenn Herbert, known professionally as Jo Koy, is an American stand-up comic. He was a frequent panelist on E!'s late night show Chelsea Lately. He has since had a number of Comedy Central and Netflix specials.
Jean Smart
Jean Elizabeth Smart is an American actress. After beginning her career in regional theater in the Pacific Northwest, she appeared on Broadway in 1981, as Marlene Dietrich in the biographical play Piaf. Smart was later cast in a leading role as Charlene Frazier Stillfield on the CBS sitcom Designing Women, in which she starred from 1986 to 1991.
Miesha Tate
Miesha Theresa Tate is an American mixed martial arts pundit, submission grappler and former mixed martial artist who competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and is a former UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion. Primarily known for her grappling ability, Tate became a wrestler while attending Franklin Pierce High School in Tacoma, Washington and won a state championship during her senior year in 2005. She began her professional mixed martial arts (MMA) career in 2007, and won the bantamweight championship of the Freestyle Cage Fighting promotion in 2009. Tate gained increased recognition in 2011, when she won the Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Championship. She has also won a silver medal in the FILA Grappling Championships.
Isaiah Thomas
Isaiah Jamar Thomas is an American professional basketball player who is currently a free agent. The 5-foot-9-inch (1.75 m) point guard played three years of college basketball for the Washington Huskies and was a three-time all-conference selection in the Pac-10. After electing to forgo his senior year of college, Thomas was selected by the Sacramento Kings with the final pick in the 2011 NBA draft. He spent three seasons with the Kings before joining the Phoenix Suns in 2014. Thomas was traded to the Boston Celtics in February 2015. He was named an NBA All-Star in both 2016 and 2017, and received All-NBA Team honors for the 2016-17 season where he led the Celtics to the #1 seed of the Eastern Conference. He was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in August 2017 before being dealt to the Los Angeles Lakers at mid-season. In July 2018, Thomas joined the Denver Nuggets. He later signed with the Washington Wizards in July 2019, before again being traded mid-season, this time to the Los Angeles Clippers where he was waived shortly after.
James Mattis
James Norman Mattis is a retired United States Marine Corps four-star general who served as the 26th US secretary of defense from January 2017 to January 2019. During his 44 years in the Marine Corps, he commanded forces in the Persian Gulf War, the War in Afghanistan, and the Iraq War.
Kenny G
Kenneth Bruce Gorelick, known professionally as Kenny G, is an American smooth jazz saxophonist. His 1986 album Duotones brought him commercial success. Kenny G is one of the best-selling artists of all time, with global sales totaling more than 75 million records.
Jim Caviezel
Jim Patrick Caviezel is an American actor. Caviezel portrayed Jesus Christ in Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ (2004) and starred as John Reese on the CBS science-fiction crime drama series Person of Interest (2011–2016).
Cooper Kupp
Cooper Douglas Kupp is an American football wide receiver for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Eastern Washington and received All-America honors. Kupp was drafted by the Rams in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft.
Sydney Sweeney
Sydney Sweeney is an American actress. She appeared in the Netflix series Everything Sucks! (2018) and has taken on recurring roles in the Hulu series The Handmaid's Tale (2018) and the HBO miniseries Sharp Objects (2018). Since 2019, she has starred as Cassie Howard in the HBO teen drama series Euphoria. In film, she had a role in Quentin Tarantino's 2019 comedy-drama Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, portraying Snake, a member of the Manson Family.