List of Famous people born in West Virginia, United States of America

Doris Marie Payne is an American convicted jewel thief.

Andrew Jackson Whittaker Jr. was an American businessman in the construction industry. He was noted for being the winner of a 2002 lottery jackpot. His win of US$314.9 million in the Powerball multi-state lottery was, at the time, the largest jackpot ever won by a single winning ticket in the history of American lottery. After winning the lottery, he had several brushes with the law and personal tragedies.

Eric Earl Porterfield is an American politician and a Republican member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, representing District 27, which includes parts of Mercer and Raleigh counties. First elected in 2018, Porterfield is the second blind person ever to serve in the West Virginia legislature. Alongside being known for being a physically disabled politician, Porterfield is also well known for his unwavering opposition to LGBT rights who he compares to terrorists. He is on video expressing what he would do should his daughter or son come out gay, saying he would "see if they knew how to swim" and implying he would drown them. In the June 2020 primary he was defeated in his bid for re-election, coming in last of Republican candidates running.

Michael Whitaker Smith is an American musician who has charted in both contemporary Christian and mainstream charts. His biggest success in mainstream music was in 1991 when "Place in This World" hit No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. Over the course of his career, he has sold more than 18 million albums.

Morgan Valentine Spurlock is an American documentary filmmaker, humorist, television producer, screenwriter and playwright.

Joshua Paul Pastner is an American college basketball coach, and the current head coach of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.

Henry Louis "Skip" Gates Jr. is an American literary critic, professor, historian, filmmaker, and public intellectual who serves as the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University. He rediscovered the earliest African-American novels, long forgotten, and has published extensively on appreciating African-American literature as part of the Western canon.

Chris Sarandon Jr. is an American actor. He is best known for playing Jerry Dandrige in Fright Night (1985), Prince Humperdinck in The Princess Bride (1987), Detective Mike Norris in Child's Play (1988), and for providing the speaking voice of Jack Skellington in The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993). He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Leon Shermer in Dog Day Afternoon (1975).

George Howard Brett is an American former professional baseball player who played 21 seasons, primarily as a third baseman, in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals.

Thomas William Bennett was a United States Army medic who was killed in action during the Vietnam War and the second conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor.