List of people from Oakland, California

This is a list of people from Oakland, California, people born in Oakland or who lived in Oakland for a significant time.

Academics

* Robert Harvey – comparative literature, philosophy
* Gail Mahood – geology (born in Oakland)
*Nanos Valaoritis – comparative literature, poetry

Artists and designers

*Natalia Anciso – artist and educator
*Olive Ayhens – painter
* Steven F. Arnold – filmmaker, photographer, painter, illustrator, set and costume designer, and assemblage artist
* Garry Knox Bennett – woodworker, metalworker, furniture maker, artist
* Bernice Bing – artist, activist
*Warrington Colescott – artist and educator
* Henry Doane – landscape painter, commercial artist
*Janet Doub Erickson artist and author
* Roger C. Field – industrial designer, graduated from California College of the Arts
* Liz Hernández – painter, sculptor, graphic designer
*Oliver Lee Jackson – painter, printmaker, sculptor
* Walter J. Mathews – architect, designed the First Unitarian Church of Oakland
*Bernard Maybeck – architect
* Jeremy Mayer – sculptor
*Julia Morgan – architect, raised and buried in Oakland
*Willis O'Brien – animator
*Nathan Oliveira – painter, printmaker, sculptor, professor
* Adrienne Keahi Pao; photographer, artist
* Lisa Quinn – artist, author, designer
* Mel Ramos – painter
* Favianna Rodriguez – painter, artist
*Galen Rowell – photographer
* J. Otto Seibold – artist, illustrator, author
*Elizabeth Sher – documentary and short filmmaker, artist
*Seasick Steve – blues musician
* Betty Swords – cartoonist
*Morrie Turner – artist, illustrator, author of the ''Wee Pals'' comic strip
*Wendy Yoshimura – artist

Athletes

* Zack Andrews – baseball player
* Ron Allen (skateboarder) – professional skateboarder
*Pervis Atkins – NFL football player, Los Angeles Rams, Washington Redskins, Oakland Raiders, actor, '' The Longest Yard''
* Don Barksdale – basketball player
* Drew Barry – basketball player
*Jon Barry – basketball player and sportscaster
* Charlie Beamon – baseball pitcher
* Charlie Beamon Jr. – baseball player
*Davion Berry (born 1991), basketball player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
*Davone Bess – football player
* Will Blackwell – football player
* Linc Blakely – Major League Baseball player, Cincinnati Reds
*Marlin Briscoe – football player
* John Brodie – football player and sportscaster
*Jabari Brown – basketball player
* Steve Brye baseball player, No. 1 pick of Twins, played nine years in majors
*Don Budge – tennis player
*Chris Burford – football player
* Glenn Burke – baseball player
*Steve Clark – swimmer, won five Olympic gold medals
* Ray Crouse – football player
*Bruce Cunningham – Major League Baseball player, Boston Braves
*Jared Cunningham - basketball player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
* Antonio Davis – basketball player
*Steve DeBerg – football player
* Bernie DeViveiros – Major League Baseball player, Chicago White Sox, Detroit Tigers
*Taylor Douthit – Major League Baseball player, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds
* Forey Duckett – football player
*Dennis Eckersley – baseball player
* Manny Fernandez – football player
*Eric Fernsten – basketball player, NBA, CBA, and Europe
*Curt Flood – Major League Baseball player, Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals, Washington Senators known for challenging the Reserve clause
* Greg Foster – basketball player
* La Vel Freeman – baseball player
* Len Gabrielson – Major League Baseball player, Philadelphia Phillies
* Len Gabrielson – Major League Baseball player, Milwaukee Braves, Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants, California Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers
* Joe Gaines – Major League Baseball player, Cincinnati Reds, Baltimore Orioles, Houston Astros
*Derrick Gardner – football player
*Kiwi Gardner – basketball player
*Brad Gilbert – tennis player and coach
*John Gillespie – Major League Baseball player, Cincinnati Reds
* Jesse Gonder –baseball player
*Drew Gooden – basketball player
*Alexis Gray-Lawson – basketball player, Phoenix Mercury
* Bob Greenwood – Major League Baseball player, Philadelphia Phillies
* Bud Hafey – Major League Baseball player, Chicago White Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies
*Tom Hafey – Major League Baseball player, New York Giants, St. Louis Browns
* Roger Harding – football player
*Rickey Henderson – baseball player
* Jan Henne – swimmer, two-time gold medalist at 1968 Summer Olympics
*Steve Hosey – baseball player
* Al Hrabosky – baseball pitcher and sportscaster
* Proverb Jacobs – NFL football player, Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants
*Jackie Jensen – baseball player
*Brian Johnson – baseball player
* Josh Johnson – Quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals
* Maurice Jones-Drew – football player
*Robert Jordan – football player
* Bobby Kemp – football player
*Jason Kidd – basketball player and coach
*MacArthur Lane – football player
* Cookie Lavagetto – baseball player and manager
*Tony Lema – golfer
*Bill Lester – NASCAR driver
*Damian Lillard – basketball player
*Ernie Lombardi – baseball player
*Don Lofgran – professional basketball player
* Terrell Lowery – baseball player
*Lorenzo Lynch – football player
*Marshawn Lynch – football player
*Eddie McGah – baseball player, part-owner of Oakland Raiders
*Bill McKalip – college All-American football player, NFL player, Portsmouth Spartans / Detroit Lions
* Joe Mellana – Major League Baseball player, Philadelphia Athletics
* Demetrius "Hook" Mitchell – streetball player
*Joe Morgan – baseball second baseman and sportscaster
*Kirk Morrison – football player
*Hank Norberg – football player
* Mike Norris – baseball player
*Lee Norwood – ice hockey player
* Zoe Ann Olsen – olympic diver
*Gary Payton – basketball player, born and raised in Oakland
*Gary Pettis – baseball player and coach
*Paul Pierce – basketball player
*Vada Pinson – baseball player and coach
*Jim Pollard – basketball player
* Damon Powell – basketball player
* Leon Powe – basketball player
*Jarrod Pughsley – football player
* John Ralston – football player and coach
* Isiah Rider – basketball player
* Chris Roberson – baseball player
*Frank Robinson – baseball player and manager
*Jimmy Rollins – baseball player
*Bill Russell – basketball player and coach
*Brian Shaw – basketball player and coach
* Paul Silas – basketball player and coach
*Fred Silva – football official
* Marvel Smith – football player
* Dave Stewart – baseball player and executive
*John Sutro – football player
* Ron Theobald – baseball player
*Jim Tobin – baseball player
* Marviel Underwood – football player
*Kwame Vaughn (born 1990), basketball player for Maccabi Haifa in the Israeli Basketball National League
* Langston Walker – football player
*Andre Ward – professional boxer
* George Wells – professional wrestler
* Ray Wells – football player
*Bill Werle – baseball player
*Archie Williams – runner
*Dontrelle Willis – baseball player
* Rodney Williams – American football player

Businesspeople, entrepreneurs and industrialists

*Stephen Bechtel – engineer, president, CEO of Bechtel Corporation, 1933-1960
*Anthony Chabot – entrepreneur, father of hydraulic mining, namesake of Chabot Space & Science Center, Lake Chabot, and Chabot College, buried in Oakland
*Charles Crocker – railroad tycoon, buried in Oakland
*Debbi Fields – entrepreneur, founder of Mrs. Fields cookies
* Domingo Ghirardelli – founder of the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company based in San Francisco, buried in Oakland
*Ken Hofmann – former owner of the Oakland Athletics
* Henry J. Kaiser – entrepreneur, businessman, founder of Kaiser Permanente and Kaiser Family Foundation, buried in Oakland
*Mark Mastrov – founder of 24 Hour Fitness, partial owner of the Sacramento Kings
* Jonah Peretti – founder of BuzzFeed
*Francis Marion Smith (also known as "Borax" Smith) – miner, business magnate

Chefs

* Tanya Holland – chef, restaurateur, podcast host, and cookbook author.
* Nelson German – chef
*Nite Yun - chef and restaurateur.

Entertainment

* Mahershala Ali – Academy Award-winning actor
* Eddie Anderson – actor
*Max Baer Jr. – actor, film director
*Matt Bettinelli-Olpin – filmmaker and musician
* Pamela Blake – actress
*True Boardman – silent film actor
* Alex Bretow – film producer, director, and screenwriter
*David Carradine – actor
* Rafael Casal – actor, writer
*Connie Cezon – actress
*Angus Cloud – actor
*Keyshia Cole – musician
* Tracie Collins – actress, writer, theatre director and producer
*Ryan Coogler – director
*Buster Crabbe – actor
* T. D. Crittenden – silent film actor
*Robert Culp – actor
* Mark Curry – actor/comedian
* Gloria Dea – actress, dancer and magician
* Walter DeLeon – screenwriter
*Daveed Diggs – actor and rapper
*Rockmond Dunbar – actor, mixed-media artist
* Michael Earl – puppeteer
*Clint Eastwood – actor, Academy Award-winning film producer, and director
*Lyndsy Fonseca – actress
*Squire Fridell – actor
* Cary Fukunaga – Emmy Award-winning director
*Sylvia Gerrish – musical comedy and light opera
* Sumner Getchell – actor
*Gary Goldman – filmmaker
*Michael A. Goorjian – actor and filmmaker
* R. Henry Grey – silent film actor
*Khamani Griffin – child actor
*MC Hammer – rapper
*Mark Hamill – actor
*Bernie Hamilton – actor, ''Starsky and Hutch''
*Tom Hanks – Academy Award-winning actor, raised in Oakland
* Susan Seaforth Hayes – actor
* Claude Heater – opera singer and actor, ''Ben-Hur (1959 film)''
*Russell Hornsby – actor
*Moshe Kasher – comedian, actor, and author/writer; raised in Oakland
*Kehlani – singer
* Joe Knowland – newspaper publisher, actor
* David Labrava – actor, writer, tattoo artist
*Remy Lacroix – adult actress
*Ted Lange – actor
*Brandon Lee (son of Bruce Lee) – actor, born in Oakland
*Bruce Lee – actor, martial artist
*Nnegest Likké – film director
*Caryl Lincoln – actress
*Delroy Lindo – actor
* Dakin Matthews – actor
*Russ Meyer – film director
*Jefferson Moffitt – screenwriter, film director
* Paul Mooney – comedian
*Shemar Moore – actor, model
*Mitch Mullany – actor
* Kali Muscle – actor
* Roger Nichols – recording engineer
*Natalie Nunn – television personality
*Laura Oakley – silent film actress
* Orunamamu (Marybeth Washington-Stofle) – storyteller
*Frank Oz – actor, director, puppeteer for Bert, Cookie Monster and Grover on ''Sesame Street''
*Chelsea Peretti – comedian, actress
*Dorothy Revier – silent film actress, dancer
*Cherie Roberts – adult model, photographer
*Raphael Saadiq – singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer
* Timothy B. Schmit – singer, bassist of The Eagles, born in Oakland
*G-Eazy – rapper
* Sheila E. – percussionist
*Kellita Smith – actress and model
* Jack Soo (Goro Suzuki) – comedian, actor, ''Barney Miller''
*George Stevens – Academy Award-winning film director
*Cynthia Stevenson – actress, born in Oakland
*Ethel Grey Terry – silent film actress
*Colin Trevorrow – film director
*Jo Van Fleet – actress
*Matt Vasgersian – actor, sports broadcaster
* Mills Watson – actor
*Robert Webber – film and TV actor, ''12 Angry Men''
* Will Wright – game designer
*Daniel Wu – actor
*Bassem Youssef – satirist
*Zendaya – Emmy Award-winning actress

Leaders (activists and politicians)

* Richard Aoki – activist
*William P. Baker – politician
*Sonny Barger – founder of the Hells Angels motorcycle club
* Henry G. Blasdel – first governor of Nevada; resident of Oakland
*Jerry Brown – politician, former governor of California and mayor of Oakland
*Albert E. Carter – politician
* Frank Chu – eccentric street protester
* William Clark Jr. – diplomat, ambassador
* C. L. Dellums – organizer and leader of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
*Ron Dellums – politician, former U.S. Congressman and Representative, mayor of Oakland
* Frank M. Dixon, politician, former governor of Alabama
* Warren B. English – Confederate war veteran, politician, realtor
*Heather Fargo – politician, mayor of Sacramento, California
*Lydia Flood Jackson, businesswoman, club woman, suffragist, an oldest living native of Oakland when she died in 1963
* Marcus Foster – educator, the first African-American Superintendent of the Oakland Unified School District
*Alicia Garza – co-founder of Black Lives Matter
*Elihu Harris – politician, former mayor of Oakland
* Juju Harris – food-affordability activist
*Kamala Harris – politician, U.S. Senator, first female African-American attorney general of California; first female, African-American, and Asian-American Vice President of the United States
*Van Jones – founder, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and Special Advisor for Green Jobs under US President Barack Obama
*Fred Korematsu – Japanese-American who fought forced internment, testing the law in Korematsu v. United States
*Joseph R. Knowland – former U.S. Representative and former owner of the ''Oakland Tribune'', cremated in Oakland
* William F. Knowland – former U.S. Senator
*Barbara Lee – U.S. Representative
*Charles Goodall Lee – dentist, civic leader, benefactor of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance
* Clara Elizabeth Chan Lee – activist, first Chinese-American woman voter in the U.S.
* Richard Lee – horticulturist, activist for the legalization of marijuana
* Joseph McKenna – former Congressman, Justice 9th US Circuit, Attorney General and Associate Justice US Supreme Court.
*Edwin Meese III – former U.S. Attorney General
* Victor H. Metcalf – politician, attorney, banker
*Jessica Mitford – writer, activist, former Communist
*Paul Montauk – Communist politician and two-time candidate for Oakland mayor
Ethel Moore – civic, education, and national defense work leader
*Anca Mosoiu – technology activist
* Nancy Nadel – member of the Oakland City Council
*Huey P. Newton – activist, co-founder of the Black Panther Party
* Andrew Nisbet Jr. – member of the Washington House of Representatives and United States Army officer
* Pat Parker – black lesbian poet and activist
*Ed Rosenthal – horticulturist, publisher, activist for the legalization of marijuana
* Byron Rumford – pharmacist
* John A. Russo – Oakland city attorney, former city councilman
*Bobby Seale – activist, co-founder of the Black Panther Party
* Hettie B. Tilghman – African-American activist and suffragist
*Robert Treuhaft – activist for labor and leftist causes, attorney, writer
* Charles Stetson Wheeler – attorney, Regent of the University of California
*Earl Warren – Assistant Attorney City of Oakland, District Attorney of Alameda County, Attorney General of California, Governor of California and U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice
* Lionel J. Wilson – politician, first African-American mayor of Oakland
* Mother Wright – anti-hunger activist

Military

*Bud Anderson – USAF (served 1942-1972) fighter pilot and commander, triple ace who retired at the rank of colonel
*Jeremiah C. Sullivan – Civil War general in the Union Army and staff member of Ulysses S. Grant, buried in Oakland

Musicians, composers and dancers

* 3XKrazy – male rap group
*Thomas Lauderdale – musician and pianist
* A-Plus – rapper
*Billie Joe Armstrong – co-founder of Green Day
*Tim Armstrong – musician, lead vocalist of punk rock band Rancid
* Paul Baloff (d. 2002) – former lead singer of thrash metal band Exodus
*Ant Banks – rapper, producer
* Gaylord Birch – musician
*Carla Bley – composer, musician
*Boots Riley – rapper, filmmaker
*Mike Botts – studio musician, drummer for rock band Bread
* Bobby Brackins – rapper, songwriter
* Ian Brennan – Grammy Award-winning record producer and author
* Antonia Brico (born Wilhelmina Wolthius) classical pianist, first woman conductor of New York Philharmonic
*Chris Broderick – musician, lead guitarist for the heavy metal band Megadeth
*Peter Buck – musician, guitarist and co-founder of the alternative rock band R.E.M.
*Aaron Burckhard – musician, first drummer of the grunge band Nirvana
*Kevin Cadogan – musician, original lead guitarist of Third Eye Blind
*Emilio Castillo – musician, a founding member of Tower of Power
* Casual – rapper
* Mike Clark – musician
* Cold Blood – rock, soul, jazz band
*Keyshia Cole – Grammy Award-nominated R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, born and raised in Oakland
*The Coup – hip hop group
*Jason Cropper – original band member of Weezer
*Del tha Funkee Homosapien – musician
*Daveed Diggs – rapper and actor
*Mike Dirnt – co-founder of Green Day
*Digital Underground – rap group
* Sue Draheim – fiddler
*Mac Dre – rapper, born in Oakland, raised in Vallejo
*Dru Down – rapper
*Isadora Duncan – dancer
* Sheila E. – drummer, born in Oakland
*E-A-Ski – rapper, record producer
*En Vogue – Grammy Award-nominated female R&B singing group, originated from Oakland in 1990
*Pete Escovedo – musician, born in Oakland
*Robb Flynn – musician best known as rhythm guitarist and vocalist for Machine Head
* Michael Franti – musician
*Fred Frith – improvisational musician, guitarist, composer, professor of music
*Nils Frykdahl – musician, a founding member of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum and Idiot Flesh
* David Garibaldi – musician, member of Tower of Power
*G-Eazy – rapper and producer
*Mic Gillette – musician, a founding member of Tower of Power
*Goapele – soul and R&B singer
*Guapdad 4000 – rapper, musician
*Larry Graham – musician
*MC Hammer – musician, born in Oakland
* Jeff Hanneman – former guitarist for heavy metal band Slayer
*Shawn Harris – musician; former member of The Matches
*Davey Havok – musician, lead singer for AFI
*Edwin and Walter Hawkins – gospel singers
*Hieroglyphics – rap group, originated from Oakland
*Earl Hines – jazz pianist
*John Lee Hooker – blues singer
* Paul Jackson – musician
* Henry Kaiser – musician, grandson of Henry J. Kaiser
*Keak da Sneak – musician
*Kehlani – singer
*Kid 606 – musician
*Sharon Knight – Celtic musician, founding member of pagan rock band Pandemonaeon
*Kreayshawn – rapper
*Stephen "Doc" Kupka – musician, founding member of Tower of Power
* LaToya London – singer; born in San Francisco, raised in Oakland
*Pep Love – rapper
* The Lovemakers – pop band
*The Luniz – Grammy Award-nominated rap duo
*MC Lars – rapper; post-punk laptop rap
*Michael Manring – bassist, born in D.C., lives in Oakland
*Adrian Marcel – singer
* Jim Martin – musician
* Tony Martin – singer, actor
* Dave Mencetti – rock musician; born and raised in Oakland; lead singer/lead guitarist for Y&T
*Seagram Miller – rapper
*Mistah F.A.B. – rapper
* David Murray – musician
*mxmtoon – singer/songwriter
*Fantastic Negrito – musician
* Noaccordion – multimedia project of Onah Indigo
*Numskull – rapper
*Ray Obiedo – musician
*Marty Paich – pianist, composer, arranger, producer, director, conductor
*Harry Partch – composer
* The Phenomenauts – science and space band, refer to Oakland as "Earth's capital"
*Phesto – rapper, producer
*Matt Pike – guitarist of Sleep and High on Fire
*The Pointer Sisters – Grammy Award-winning R&B singing group
* Pooh-Man – rapper
*PopLyfe – pop group
*Francis Rocco Prestia – musician
*Perri "Pebbles" Reid – singer-songwriter, manager of TLC
*San Quinn – rapper, born in Oakland, raised in San Francisco
* Richie Rich – rapper
* Cynthia Robinson – musician
*Raphael Saadiq – musician
*Arion Salazar – musician in Third Eye Blind
*Pharoah Sanders – musician
* Timothy B. Schmit – rock musician, bassist for the Eagles
* E.C. Scott – blues singer, songwriter and record producer; television host
*Tupac Shakur – rapper, lived in Oakland
*Shock G – rapper
* Sharon Shore – ballet dancer, model
* Calvin E. Simmons – symphony orchestra conductor, namesake of Calvin Simmons Theatre, born in San Francisco
*Souls of Mischief – rap group
* J. Stalin – rapper, co-founder of Livewire Records
*Steady Mobb'n – rap duo
* Jamie Stewart – frontman of the experimental group Xiu Xiu
*Shakir Stewart – record producer, Senior Vice President of Island Def Jam Music Group
*Freddie Stone – musician
*Rose Stone – musician
*Sly Stone – musician
* Bill Summers – musician
* The Team – rap group
*Tony! Toni! Toné! – R&B singing group
*Too Short – rapper, born in Los Angeles, lived in Oakland from 1980 to 1994
*Tower of Power – band, formed and based in Oakland
* Tune-Yards – band; indie, afro-funk
*Weasel Walter – progressive rock and free jazz musician/composer
* Freddie Washington – musician
*Lenny Williams – musician, early member of Tower of Power
* Y&T – rock band, formed in Oakland 1974
*Yukmouth – rapper
*Baba Zumbi – co-founder of hip hop group Zion I

Physicians

* Eric Andrew Coleman – physician, practiced in Denver, recipient of MacArthur Foundation Fellowship ("Genius Grant") and Director of Care Transitions Program
* Samuel Merritt – physician, practiced in San Francisco, namesake of Merritt College, Merritt Hospital, and Lake Merritt, buried in Oakland
* Virginia Prentiss - nanny to Jack London, midwife and former slave

Religious leaders

* Emma Pow Bauder – Conference Missionary of the United Brethren's California Conference
*David A. Bednar – LDS Apostle, born in Oakland
*David Berg – controversial cult leader, founder of Children of God
*Yusuf Bey – controversial Black Muslim activist
*Mose Durst – author, educator, former president of the Unification Church
*James Ishmael Ford – Zen Buddhist priest and Unitarian Universalist minister
*Ray Frank – female Jewish leader
*Jack Hayford – minister, chancellor, songwriter
*Judah Leon Magnes – prominent Reform rabbi, first President of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
* Carol Anne O'Marie – Roman Catholic nun, mystery fiction writer
*Bebe Patten – evangelist and founder of Patten University
*Clarence Richard Silva – Catholic bishop from Oakland, current bishop of Honolulu
* Richard B. Stamps – anthropologist, archeologist, president of the Taipei Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
*Allen Henry Vigneron – Catholic bishop, leader of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland

Scientists and inventors

*Harold C. Bradley – professor of biochemistry
*Dean Burk – medical researcher
* Fernando J. Corbató – computer scientist
* Frederick Cottrell – inventor
* Kim Eric Drexler – engineer, molecular nanotechnology theorist
* Frank Epperson – popsicle inventor
*Alexei Filippenko – astrophysicist, professor of astronomy
* Lloyd N. Ferguson – first African American to earn a Ph.D. in chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley
* Heinz Fraenkel-Conrat, biochemist and virologist; died in Oakland
*Ansel Franklin Hall – first park naturalist for Yosemite National Park, first Chief Forester for the National Park Service
* Richard F. Johnston – ornithologist, academic and author
*Ingemar Henry Lundquist – inventor and mechanical engineer
*Stanley Miller – chemist
* Sten Odenwald – NASA Astrophysicist
* Wendell Phillips – archaeologist and oil magnate
* Lydia Weld, first woman to get a degree in engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and naval architect in World War II
* William Shurtleff, researcher, technical writer, bibliographer, historian, and popularizer of soyfoods

Writers and poets

* Daniel Alarcón – writer, currently resides in Oakland
*Catherine Asaro – writer
*Chauncey Bailey – journalist assassinated by an agent of Your Black Muslim Bakery
* Delilah L. Beasley – first African-American columnist to be published in a major newspaper
* Charles Borden – writer, sailed around the globe four times
*Anthony Boucher – writer
* GenHalley Kretschmer Brice – Poet laureate of Vallejo, California
* Garrett Caples – poet, writer
*Jon Carroll – columnist for the ''San Francisco Chronicle''
*Frank Chin – writer
*Daniel Clowes – comic book writer, Academy Award-nominated screenwriter, currently resides in Oakland
* Robert Duncan – poet
*Sarah Webster Fabio – African-American writer, poet, educator; born in Nashville, lived in Oakland 1955-1979
* Robert Harvey – literary theorist, born in Oakland
*Bruce Henderson – author, born in Oakland
*Sidney Howard – Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, Academy Award-winning screenwriter
*Daedalus Howell – writer, currently resides in Oakland
*Maxine Hong Kingston – writer, currently resides in Oakland
* Richard Lange – Los Angeles-based author, born in Oakland
*Yiyun Li – writer, former creative writing instructor at Mills College
*Jack London – writer, raised in Oakland, namesake of Jack London Square
* Anthony Marra – writer
*Rod McKuen – poet, composer, singer
*Joaquin Miller – poet, lived in Oakland from 1886–1913
*Jessica Mitford – author
* Leila Mottley – author and poet
*Jess Mowry – writer
* Ray Nelson – science-fiction writer
*Frank Norris – author, buried in Oakland
* Colleen Patrick-Goudreau – author, speaker, and podcaster
*Ishmael Reed – writer, currently resides in Oakland
*Mary Roach – science writer, currently resides in Oakland
*William Saroyan – dramatist, author, lived in Oakland from 1913-1918
* Jason Shiga – author, cartoonist, puzzle designer
*Emji Spero – writer, poet, performance artist
* Jan Steckel – poet, writer, bisexual activist
*Alex Steffen – writer, born in Oakland
*Gertrude Stein – writer
*Robert Louis Stevenson – writer
*Tina Susman – journalist, ''Time'' senior editor, former national editor of BuzzFeed News
*Amy Tan – writer, born in Oakland
* Ben Fong-Torres – rock journalist
*Jack Vance – science fiction writer
*Nellie Wong – poet and activist, born in Oakland
*Shawn Wong – writer, English professor
*Helen Zia – writer, journalist, and activist, currently resides in Oakland

Criminals

*Felix Mitchell – notorious drug lord and gang leader of the 1970s and early 1980s
* Hans Reiser – computer programmer, owner of Namesys, convicted of murdering his wife
*Tommy Lynn Sells – murderer and suspected serial killer

References

See also

*List of people from San Francisco
* List of people from Palo Alto
* List of people from San Jose, California
* List of people from Santa Cruz, California
* List of people from Berkeley, California
* List of mayors of Oakland, California

{{Oakland, California

Oakland
Oakland, California
People