List of Famous people born in West Virginia, United States of America
Nick Saban
Nicholas Lou Saban Jr. is an American football coach who has been the head football coach at the University of Alabama since 2007. Saban previously served as head coach of the National Football League's Miami Dolphins and at three other universities: Louisiana State University (LSU), Michigan State University, and the University of Toledo. Saban is considered by many to be the greatest coach in college football history.
Joe Manchin
Joseph Manchin III is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from West Virginia, a seat he has held since 2010. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the 34th governor of West Virginia from 2005 to 2010 and the 27th secretary of state of West Virginia from 2001 to 2005.
Thomas Massie
Thomas Harold Massie is an American Republican Party politician. He has been the United States Representative for Kentucky's 4th congressional district since 2012, when he defeated Bill Adkins in the special and general elections. Before joining Congress, Massie was Judge-Executive of Lewis County, Kentucky from 2011 to 2012. He also ran a start-up company based in Massachusetts, where he previously studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Jimbo Fisher
John James "Jimbo" Fisher Jr. is an American college football coach and former player. He is the head coach at Texas A&M University. Previously, Fisher was the head coach at Florida State University where his team won the 2014 BCS National Championship Game.
Steve Harvey
Broderick Stephen Harvey is an American television presenter, comedian, actor, broadcaster, author, game show host and businessman. He hosts The Steve Harvey Morning Show, Family Feud, Celebrity Family Feud and the Miss Universe competition.
Randy Moss
Randy Gene Moss is an American sports analyst and former professional football player. He played wide reciver for 14 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Widely regarded as one of the greatest wide receivers of all-time, he holds the NFL single-season touchdown reception record, the NFL single-season touchdown reception record for a rookie, and is second on the NFL all-time regular season touchdown reception list with 156. Moss was well known for his prowess in securing contested catches and "getting mossed" has entered football vernacular. Post-football, he began working for ESPN as a studio analyst for their Sunday NFL Countdown and Monday Night Countdown programs.
Brad Paisley
Brad Douglas Paisley is an American country music singer and songwriter. Starting with his 1999 debut album Who Needs Pictures, he has released eleven studio albums and a Christmas compilation on the Arista Nashville label, with all of his albums certified Gold or higher by the RIAA. He has scored 32 Top 10 singles on the US Billboard Country Airplay chart, 19 of which have reached number 1. He set a new record in 2009 for the most consecutive singles (10) reaching the top spot on that chart.
Deron Williams
Deron Michael Williams is an American retired professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Illinois Fighting Illini before being drafted third overall in the 2005 NBA draft by the Utah Jazz. The three-time NBA All-Star has also played for Beşiktaş of the Turkish Basketball League during the 2011 NBA lockout, and was a gold medal winner on the United States national team at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics.
Lou Holtz
Louis Leo Holtz is a former American football player, coach, and analyst. He served as the head football coach at The College of William & Mary (1969–1971), North Carolina State University (1972–1975), the New York Jets (1976), the University of Arkansas (1977–1983), the University of Minnesota (1984–1985), the University of Notre Dame (1986–1996), and the University of South Carolina (1999–2004), compiling a career record of 249–132–7. Holtz's 1988 Notre Dame team went 12–0 with a victory in the Fiesta Bowl and was the consensus national champion. Holtz is the only college football coach to lead six different programs to bowl games and the only coach to guide four different programs to the final top 20 rankings.
Chuck Yeager
Charles Elwood Yeager was a United States Air Force officer, flying ace, and record-setting test pilot who in 1947 became the first pilot in history confirmed to have exceeded the speed of sound in level flight.
Jerry West
Jerome Alan West is an American basketball executive and former player. He played professionally for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). His nicknames included "Mr. Clutch", for his ability to make a big play in a clutch situation, such as his famous buzzer-beating 60-foot shot that tied Game 3 of the 1970 NBA Finals against the New York Knicks; "the Logo", in reference to his silhouette being incorporated into the NBA logo; "Mr. Outside", in reference to his perimeter play with the Los Angeles Lakers; and "Zeke from Cabin Creek", for the creek near his birthplace of Chelyan, West Virginia. West played the small forward position early in his career, and he was a standout at East Bank High School and at West Virginia University, where he led the Mountaineers to the 1959 NCAA championship game. He earned the NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player honor despite the loss. He then embarked on a 14-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers, and was the co-captain of the 1960 U.S. Olympic gold medal team, a squad that was inducted as a unit into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.
Conchata Ferrell
Conchata Galen Ferrell was an American actress. Although she was a regular cast member of five TV sitcom series, she was best known for playing Berta the housekeeper for all twelve seasons of Two and a Half Men. For her performance as Berta, she received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. Those came in addition to an earlier nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her performance in L.A. Law (1992).
Cynthia Germanotta
Cynthia Louise Germanotta is an American philanthropist, activist and entrepreneur. She is the president of the Born This Way Foundation, which she co-founded with her daughter, Lady Gaga, in 2012.
Mary Lou Retton
Mary Lou Retton is a retired American gymnast. At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, she won a gold medal in the individual all-around competition, as well as two silver medals and two bronze medals. Her performance made her one of the most popular athletes in the United States.
Jason Williams
Jason Chandler Williams is an American former professional basketball player who was a point guard in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for twelve seasons during the late 1990s and 2000s. In 2006, Williams won an NBA championship as the starting point guard for the Miami Heat. Due to his flashy style of play throughout his career, he was given the nickname "White Chocolate".
John Corbett
John Joseph Corbett is an American actor and country music singer. He is known for his roles as Chris Stevens on CBS' Northern Exposure and as Aidan Shaw on HBO's Sex and the City. He reprised the latter role for the film sequel Sex and the City 2 (2010). Corbett also portrayed the male lead, Ian Miller, in the romantic comedy film My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002) and its 2016 sequel.
Brad Dourif
Bradford Claude Dourif is an American character actor. He was nominated for an Oscar, and won a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award for his supporting role as Billy Bibbit in the film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975). He is also known for his roles as Charles Lee Ray and the voice of Chucky in the Child's Play franchise (1988–2017), and Gríma Wormtongue in The Lord of the Rings series (2002–2003).
Heath Slater
Heath Wallace Miller is an American professional wrestler currently signed to Impact Wrestling under the ring name Heath. He is best known for his time in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Heath Slater.
Christy Martin
Christy Renea Martin is a former American world champion boxer and currently the CEO of Christy Martin Promotions.
Mike D'Antoni
Michael Andrew D'Antoni is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA).