# Famous people who went to your otherwise unheralded school **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 19, 2003, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050 "2003-02-19T03:02:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![cadolphin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c37758/32.png) [@cadolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cadolphin)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050/81 "2003-02-20T05:16:03Z")
[John Marshall High School, Los Angeles, California](http://www.lausd.k12.ca.us/Marshall_HS/) **Lance Ito** , Superior Court Judge (the judge in the O.J. Simpson case) **Rosemary La Planche** , 1949 Miss America **Julie Newmar** , actress **John Browning** , pianist **Michael Haynes** , 1997 NFL Hall of Famer of the Los Angeles Raiders **David Ho, MD** , Magic Johnson’s physician **Michael Antonovich** , Los Angeles County Supervisor **Barnett Cooperman** , Judge **Carter Powell** , Admiral **Leonardo Di Caprio** , Actor **John Paul DeJoria** , the CEO of Paul Mitchell Systems hair care products **Michelle Phillips** , actress and one of the original “Mamas” in the 60’s rock group The Mamas and the Papas \ **Dejoria and Phillips** were caught talking in class by their business teacher (Mr. Wachs) and were told that if they didn’t pay attention, they wouldn’t amount to anything. \ [Los Angeles City College, Los Angeles, California](http://www.lacc.cc.ca.us/) **James Coburn** , Actor **Michael Antonovich** , Los Angeles County Supervisor **Rick Tuttle** , former Los Angeles City Controller **Dianne Watson** , former State Senator **Bernard Parks** , Los Angeles Police Department Chief [Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah](http://www.byu.edu) I bet there are more then this, but their site wasn’t very friendly about finding famous alumni. I had to rely on my memory. YIKES :eek: **Jim McMahon** , colorful quarterback for the Chicago Bears **Steve Young** , stupendous quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers. A sportscaster since his retirement. He also has a JD degree. The dude is an Attorney. :wally **Andy Reid** , Head coach for the Philadelphia Eagles I was a couple years ahead of Andy. He also attended 2 other schools I did… Thomas Starr King Jr. High [it’s now a middle school] and John Marshall High School. [University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah](http://www.utah.edu/) Honest! I deleted some that I had no clue who they were nor did I understand what made them so famous. A _very_ user friendly alumni site. 😃 **Rocky Anderson** , Mayor of Salt Lake City. **Alan Ashton** , Co-founder of WordPerfect Corp. **Terrel H. Bell** , Acting U.S. Commissioner of Education 1970-71, U.S. Commissioner of Education 1974-76 and U.S. Secretary of Education 1981-85. **Nolan Bushnell** , The father of the video game industry as co-founder of Atari and inventor of Pong. Founder of Chuck E. Cheese pizza and video game restaurants. **Ed Catmull, PhD** , Co-founder and president of Pixar Animation Studios. **Jim Clark, PhD** , Co-founder of Silicon Graphics Inc. and Netscape, and founder of Healtheon (which later merged with WebMD), [Shutterfly.com](http://Shutterfly.com) and MyCFO Inc. **Stephen Covey** , Business consultant, best-selling author of “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” founder of the former Covey Leadership Center, and vice-chairman of FranklinCovey Co., a management and leadership development firm. **Keene Curtis** , Tony Award-winning actor **Kevin Dyson** , University football player, wide receiver who started in the 2000 Super Bowl for Tennessee. **LaVell Edwards** , Brigham Young University head football coach 1972-2000. I think this is the funniest thing I have learned this week! I had no idea he attended the U. For those of you who don’t understand, the U of U and BYU have a cutthroat rivalry. Who woulda thunk it? The school colors for BYU are blue and white. U of U is red and white. 😛 **David Evans** , Founded the computer graphics department at the University of Utah, and later co-founded Evans & Sutherland, a pioneer in computer graphics, aircraft flight simulators and other virtual reality products. Evans and Ivan Sutherland are credited for building the foundation for modern computer graphics. **Arnie Ferrin** , basketball player for the Minneapolis Lakers. **E.J. “Jake” Garn** , Republican U.S. Senator from Utah, 1975-93, and first public official to fly aboard the space shuttle - a seven-day flight of Discovery in November 1984. **E. Gordon Gee** , Former president of the University of Colorado, the Ohio State University and Brown University, and chancellor of Vanderbilt University. **Wilbert (Bill) Gore**, A DuPont chemist (now deceased) who founded W. L. Gore & Associates in 1958 and invented GORE-TEX fabric. **Gordon B. Hinckley** , President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. **Mickey Ibarra** , Served as White House director of intergovernmental affairs and an assistant to President Bill Clinton. **Robert K. Jarvik, MD** , Inventor of the Jarvik-7 artificial heart. **Alan Kay, PhD** , Kay played a major role in the development of the personal computer while at Xerox Corp.'s Palo Alto Research Center in the 1970s. He also has been credited for the concept of the first laptop computer, known as the Dynabook, and as an architect of the now ubiquitous “graphical user interface” in which overlapping windows appear on a computer screen, making PCs easy to use. Earlier, Kay was a member of a University of Utah team that developed 3-D graphics. He participated in early design of ARPANet, which became the Internet. **Missy Marlowe** , Gymnast, 1992 NCAA All Around Champion. **J. Willard Marriott** and **J. Willard Marriott, Jr.**. The senior Marriott, who died in 1985, founded Marriott International, Inc. J. Willard Marriott, Jr. succeeded his father as chief executive officer of Marriott Corp. in 1972. **Andre Miller** , University basketball player and 1999 NBA draft pick for the Cleveland Cavaliers. **John Naisbitt** , Author of the best-selling “Megatrends” and other books. **Keith Van Horn** , University basketball player and, in 1997, the NBA’s No. 2 draft pick for the Philadelphia 76ers. Now with the New Jersey Nets. **John Warnock, PhD** , Co-founder and board chairman of Adobe Systems Inc., developer of Postscript software that helped launch desktop publishing by enabling desktop computers to handle graphics and page layouts for the first time. **Evelyn Wood** , Speed-reading innovator. ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050/82 "2003-02-20T06:01:35Z")
I just found out that a girl who went to my high school a number of years after I graduated is now a porn star. On her website, she says she was AVN Best New Starlet of 2002 and is in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the first to be filmed having sex on top of a moving car. There are also photos of her stripping out of her cheerleading outfit from our school.:eek: Considering that the school has about 200 students in all 4 grades combined, one barely famous person is pretty good. We also had one alumnus go on to be elected State Auditor. ---
**Author:** ![lamafish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@lamafish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lamafish)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050/83 "2003-02-20T06:39:14Z")
JFK went to my HS but only until Easter breeak of freshman year then he left. There are letters in the library that he wrote home to his family saying how much he hated it. It was a Boarding school. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.A.Nemo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/94ad74/32.png) [@Mr.A.Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.A.Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050/84 "2003-02-20T07:25:59Z")
**Rowdy “Roddy” Piper** the Pro wrestler went to my middle-school in Toronto. **John Kenneth Galbraith** the famous Economist got his first degree at my alma mater in Ontario. **Laura Bertram** of _Ready or Not_ and _Andromeda_ attended University at the same time as me. ---
**Author:** ![rackensack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@rackensack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rackensack)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050/85 "2003-02-20T07:26:11Z")
It’s a fairly short list, but then [Hendrix College](http://www.hendrix.edu) is a fairly small (~1000 students) school: [ul] [li] **Sarah Caldwell** , former director of the NY Metropolitan Opera, is a graduate[/li][li]actress **Mary Steenburgen** attended Hendrix for one term before her drama professor essentially told her that she’d be better off moving to New York, as there wasn’t anything they could teach her[/li][li]actor **William Ragsdale** (_Fright Night_, _Mannequin 2_, the TV series “Herman’s Head” and “My Brother’s Keeper”) was a senior my freshman year[/li][li]actress **Natalie Canerday** (best known as Linda Wheatley, the mother of the young boy befriended by Billy Bob Thornton’s Karl Childers in _Sling Blade_; also as Homer Hickam’s mother Elsie Hickam in _October Sky_) was a contemporary of mine at Hendrix[/li][li]TV garden show host **P. Allen Smith** was there just before my time (I’m told he’s famous, though you couldn’t prove it by me).[/li][/ul] Then there’s the people who probably ought to famous, or who are close to famous, like Dr. Harry Meyer, who developed the vaccine for German measles; Harvard history professor Steven Ozment, who’s published several readable and well-regarded books on renaissance life; Craig Leipold, the owner of the NHL Nashville Predators, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050/86 "2003-02-20T07:46:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by racer72 \* > My first wife went to Lakes High School too. Many years before Ms. Starbird though. I’ll be darned. Do you know what years she was there? I was class of '83. ---
**Author:** ![japatlgt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df705f/32.png) [@japatlgt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/japatlgt)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050/87 "2003-02-20T08:07:30Z")
Mark David Chapman, the wastrel that shot John Lennon, went to the rival school in Atlanta that was just across district lines from mine. He was about 3 or 4 years behind my class and a total loser but his school (Columbia High) was a big rival of ours. Decatur, Ga’s most shameful product. ---
**Author:** ![sheepi83](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@sheepi83](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sheepi83)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050/88 "2003-02-20T09:23:48Z")
Dan Marino and Gene Kelly - The University of Pittsburgh, but waaaaaay many more years before I got here. Unfortunately, I am still stuck here, but it’s only been two years. Sigh…☹ ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050/89 "2003-02-20T12:26:38Z")
My family has this thing about NFL quarterbacks whose careers flame out early. Rick Mirer went to my high school 10 years after I did (Goshen High School, Goshen IN) Rick’s dad was one of my teachers, FWIW. Jeff George went to my son’s high school (Warren Central, Indianapolis). ---
**Author:** ![herwono](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/9f8e36/32.png) [@herwono](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/herwono)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050/90 "2003-02-20T13:19:20Z")
I used to go to Fort Street High School in Sydney. Edmund Barton, the first prime minister of Australia went there. ---
**Author:** ![irkenDoom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c2a13f/32.png) [@irkenDoom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irkenDoom)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050/91 "2003-02-20T14:36:01Z")
Bob Knight graduated from Orrville High School in Orrville, Ohio, in 1958. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050/92 "2003-02-20T14:45:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by twickster47 \* > \*\*Undergrad at UC Santa Barbara: Michael Douglas > > Grad at Drew University (New Jersey): Soon-Yi Previn; James van der Beek (the latter didn’t graduate) \*\* Hey, I went to Drew too. But I’m not famous. And I graduated even before Woody was casting a lustful eye upon Soon-Yi. OK, maybe not. ---
**Author:** ![merge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9f8e36/32.png) [@merge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/merge)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050/93 "2003-02-20T14:50:19Z")
People that came from my high school include. Max Weinberg - (E street band, Connan O’Brien) Roy Schieder - Jaws Zack Braff(sp?) Scrubs Andrew and Elizabeth Shue Lauren Hill The voice…(and body in some scenes) of Jar Jar Binks… I forget his name… I think there are a few others that I forget now… I am still waiting for someone to turn up in porn somewhere on the internet… in a school with over 1600 people… it is bound to happen eventually… ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050/94 "2003-02-20T14:56:33Z")
I forgot about my grad school… University of Tennessee Peyton Manning Chamique Holdsclaw Ali Hussein Abu Ragheb, Prime Minister of Jordan Astronauts: Jeff Ashby Alex Dunlap Joe Edwards Jr. Dominic Gorie Chris Hadfield Henry Hartsfield Charles Hobaugh Scott Kelley Donald Peterson Rhea Seddon Barry Wilmore My high school doesn’t have many people of note, but the guy who played the principal on _Saved by the Bell_ is an alumnus. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050/95 "2003-02-20T15:04:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ol’Gaffer \* > \*\ ***Kyla** , Camryn Mannheim (sp?) of The Practice graduated from UC Santa Cruz (Porter College, I think). \*\* Oh yeah, I forgot about her. And yes, she was at Porter. ---
**Author:** ![Skelji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Skelji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skelji)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050/96 "2003-02-20T15:07:15Z")
Fellow graduates of Stuyvesant High School in NYC include: James Cagney Tim Robbins One of the Beastie Boys…um, Adam Horowitz I think. Lucy Liu Frank McCourt was my English teacher. There are other notables, but that’s all I can think of for now. ---
**Author:** ![Breezy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b3f665/32.png) [@Breezy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Breezy)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050/97 "2003-02-20T16:03:06Z")
I’ve been told that Sheryl Crowe attended the college in my hometown, although I don’t believe she graduated from there. Also WWE wrestler Cain went to college in my hometown. He actually worked at Golden Corral with my aunt! ---
**Author:** ![Breezy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b3f665/32.png) [@Breezy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Breezy)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050/98 "2003-02-20T16:07:56Z")
**Skelji** I just read your post. I just finished Frank McCourt’s book _'tis_ about a month ago! Have you read his books? Did you find them to be true at all? When was he your teacher?? How INTERESTING!!! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![merge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9f8e36/32.png) [@merge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/merge)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050/99 "2003-02-20T16:15:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Breezy \* > \*\*Also WWE wrestler Cain went to college in my hometown. He actually worked at Golden Corral with my aunt! \*\* Don’t you mean Kane??? The 7’0" redhead? or as some of you may have previously known him as Dr. Isaac Yankem DDS, or the new Diesel? I am a dork… ---
**Author:** ![Breezy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b3f665/32.png) [@Breezy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Breezy)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050/100 "2003-02-20T16:40:19Z")
Yes, I meant Kane! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-people-who-went-to-your-otherwise-unheralded-school/156050.md?page=6)