List of people from West Virginia

This is a list of prominent people from the U.S. state of West Virginia.

Athletics

*Randy Barnes (b. 1966), professional shot putter, born in Charleston
*Larry Barnett (b. 1945), professional baseball umpire, born in Nitro
*Clair Bee, college basketball coach
*Vern Bickford, professional baseball player
*Terry Bowden, college football analyst and commentator
*Tommy Bowden, college football coach
*Rich Braham, professional football coach
*George Brett, professional baseball player
*Lew Burdette, professional baseball player
*Jesse Burkett, professional baseball player
*Necro Butcher, professional wrestler
*Eddie Cameron, college basketball coach
*Mark Canterbury, professional wrestler
*Bimbo Coles, professional basketball player
*Wilbur Cooper, professional baseball player
*Mike D'Antoni, professional basketball player and coach
*Gene Freese, professional baseball player
*Frank Gatski, professional football player
*Hal Greer, professional basketball player
*Lou Holtz, college football coach
*Jeff Hostetler, professional football player
*J. R. House, professional baseball and football player
*Chuck Howley, professional football player
*Sam Huff, professional football player
*Bob Huggins, college basketball coach
* Hot Rod Hundley, professional basketball player and broadcaster
*John Kruk, professional baseball player
*Pete Maravich, professional basketball player
*Gino Marchetti, professional football player
*Chris Massey, professional football player
*Bill Mazeroski, professional baseball player
*Leo Mazzone, professional baseball player
*Seth McClung, professional baseball player
*Randy Moss, professional football player
*Jamie Noble, professional wrestler (WWE)
*Kevin Pittsnogle, college basketball player
*Mary Lou Retton, professional gymnast
*Nick Saban, professional and college football coach
*Tamar Slay, professional basketball player
*Stephanie Sparks, professional golfer and commentator
*Emanuel Steward, boxing trainer
*Bill Stewart, current head football coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers
*Rick Tolley, college football coach
*Rod Thorn, professional basketball player
*Curt Warner, professional football player
*Jerry West, professional basketball player
*Deron Williams, professional basketball player
*Jason Williams, professional basketball player
*Steve Yeager, professional baseball player
*Fielding Yost, college football coach

Business

*John Chambers, CEO of Cisco Systems
*William Luke, businessman and entrepreneur
*William N. Page, civil engineer, entrepreneur, capitalist, businessman, and industrialist
*Harry F. Sinclair, industrialist
*Ellsworth Milton Statler, hotel businessman
*Clarence Wayland Watson, businessman

Entertainment

*Hasil Adkins, rockabilly musician
*Michael Ammar, magician
*Byzantine, progressive extreme metal band
*Charlie Barnett, actor and comedian
*Lina Basquette, actress
*Leon "Chu" Berry, jazz saxophonist
*Jean Carson, actress
*Bernie Casey, actor
*Ted Cassidy, actor
*Larry Combs, clarinetist
*John Corbett, actor
*George Crumb, composer
*Joyce DeWitt, actress
*Little Jimmy Dickens, country singer
*Hazel Dickens, bluegrass singer
*Paul Dooley, actor
*Brad Dourif, actor
*Conchata Ferrell, actress
*Jennifer Garner, actress
*Ed Haley, blind professional fiddler
*Katie Lee Joel, TV host
*Johnnie Johnson, blues musician
*Jake E. Lee, rock guitarist; formerly w/ Ozzy Osbourne, Badlands
*Kristi Lee, air personality/news director, The Bob and Tom Show
*Karma to Burn, instrumental alt-metal band
*Lesli Kay, soap actress who played Molly Conlan on As The World Turns, and now plays Felicia Forrester on The Bold And The Beautiful.
*Don Knotts, actor
*Shannon Larkin, drummer for Godsmack, former. Amen (band), Wrathchild America
*Ann Magnuson, actress
*Kathy Mattea, country and bluegrass performer
*Charlie McCoy, musician
*Garnet Mimms, soul singer
*Tim O'Brien, bluegrass musician
*Brad Paisley, country singer and songwriter
*Sam Pancake, actor
*Rachel Proctor, country singer and songwriter
*Walter E. "Jack" Rollins, songwriter
*Soupy Sales, actor and comedian
*Frank "Poncho" Sampedro, musician
*Chris Sarandon, actor, activist
*Scenes from a Movie, a Charleston based pop-punk band
*David Selby, actor
*Fred "Sonic" Smith, guitarist
*Michael W. Smith, Contemporary Christian singer, songwriter, guitarist, and keyboardist
*Red Sovine, country singer
*Morgan Spurlock, independent film director and screenwriter
*Blaze Starr, stripper and burlesque star
*Teddy Weatherford, jazz pianist
*Patty Weaver, actress
*Donald Ray White, mountain dancer
*Jesse "Jesco" White, mountain dancer
*Steve Whiteman, former Kix singer
*Melvin Wine, fiddler
*Bill Withers, singer and songwriter
*J.T. Woodruff, Hawthorne Heights singer, songwriter, guitarist
*Frankie Yankovic, polka musician
*Zao, Christian Metalcore musical group

Frontiersmen

*Patrick Gass, frontiersman
*Morgan Morgan, frontiersman
*Lewis Wetzel, frontiersman

Journalism

*Jodi Applegate, news anchor
*John S. Knight, newspaper publisher and editor
*Mike Patrick, sportscaster
*Steve Williams, news editor of the Albuquerque Journal
*Carter G. Woodson, historian, author, and journalist

Literature & Art

*Allen Appel, novelist
*John Peale Bishop, poet and man of letters
*Pearl S. Buck, writer and Nobel prize winner
*Willa Cather, novelist
*Stephen Coonts, novelist
*Che Elias, author and poet
*Henry Louis Gates, Jr., author, educator, and scholar
*Denise Giardina, author
*Linda Goodman, poet, novelist, best-selling astrology writer
*Davis Grubb, novelist
*Homer Hickam, writer
*John Knowles, novelist
*Ehrman Syme Nadal, author
*Breece D'J Pancake, author
*Roger Price, author, cartoonist, and humorist
*Jedediah Purdy, author and professor
*Mary Lee Settle, author
*David Hunter Strother (aka Porte Crayon), artist
*Timothy Truman, writer, artist, and musician
*Booker T. Washington, political leader, educator, and author

Military

*John James Abert, explorer and soldier
*Earl E. Anderson, United States Marine Corps general
*John Ashby, frontiersman and soldier
*Woodrow Wilson Barr, United States Marine
*French Ensor Chadwick, naval officer and educator
*Lynndie England, U.S. Army reservist involved in the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal
*Stonewall Jackson, soldier and teacher
*Jonah Edward Kelley, US Army soldier, Medal of Honor recipient
*Edwin Gray Lee, Confederate general
*Jessica Lynch, prisoner of war
*William E. Shuck, Jr., U.S. Marine, Medal of Honor recipient
*John Yarnall, U.S. Navy officer
*Chuck Yeager, aviation legend
*Zachery Miller,Marine

Politics & Government

*Newton D. Baker, politician
*William Wallace Barron, politician
*John J. Beckley, frontiersman and Librarian of Congress
*Ephraim Bee, frontiersman and politician
*Charles Bent, frontiersman and politician
*Arthur I. Boreman, politician
*Harry F. Byrd, politician
*Robert Byrd, politician
*Gaston Caperton, politician
*Shelley Moore Capito, politician
*Thomas R. Carper, economist and politician
*John J. Cornwell, politician
*Henry G. Davis, politician
*John W. Davis, politician and attorney
*Stephen Benton Elkins, politician
*Walter Lowrie Fisher, United States Secretary of the Interior
*Mark Funkhouser, politician Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri
*William E. Glasscock, politician
*Nathan Goff, Jr., politician
*Howard Mason Gore, politician
*Henry D. Hatfield, politician
*Ken Hechler, politician
*John J. Jacob, politician
*Chief Logan, Native American leader
*William A. MacCorkle, politician
*Joe Manchin, politician
*William C. Marland, politician
*Arch A. Moore, Jr., politician
*Dwight Morrow, businessman, politician, diplomat; father-in-law of Charles Lindbergh
*Matthew M. Neely, politician
*Bob Ney, politician
*Okey L. Patteson, politician
*Francis Harrison Pierpont, politician and Father of West Virginia
*Nick Rahall, politician
*Absalom Willis Robertson, politician
*Jay Rockefeller, politician
*Hulett C. Smith, politician
*Wayne C. Spiggle, politician
*William E. Stevenson, politician
*John Swan, politician
*Cyrus Vance, United States Secretary of State
*Charles Washington, statesman
*Erik Wells, politician and news anchor
*Bob Wise, politician
*Zack Miller,Marine

Religion

*Alexander Campbell, Restoration Movement leader
*Matthew W. Clair, Methodist Episcopal Church bishop
*T. D. Jakes, televangelist

cience

*Eugene Aserinsky, discovered REM sleep
*Maurice Brooks, ornithologist
*Mahlon Loomis, inventor of the wireless telegraph
*John Forbes Nash, mathematician
*James Rumsey, inventor and mechanical engineer

Other

*James J. Andrews, espionage agent
*Belle Boyd, espionage agent
*Nancy Hanks, mother of Abraham Lincoln and relative of actor Tom Hanks
*Devil Anse Hatfield, Hatfield-McCoy feud
*Glen and Bessie Hyde, disappeared raftsmen
*John Henry, the steel driving man of folklore
*Julia Neale Jackson, mother of Stonewall Jackson
*Anna Jarvis, founder of Mother's Day
*Mother Jones, labor and community organizer
*Randal McCloy, lone survivor of the 2006 Sago Mine disaster
*John Marshall, last person in the United States to be executed by being hung in chains (April 4, 1913)
*Patsy Paugh Ramsey, former Miss West Virginia and mother of slain beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey
*Walter Reuther, labor leader
*Harry Truman, volcano victim
*Jack Whittaker, lottery winner