List of Berkeley High School (Berkeley, California) people

The following is a list of individuals associated with Berkeley High School (California) through attending as a student, or serving as a member of the faculty or staff.

Peter Apfelbaum

Raymond Burr

Timothy Hutton

Shelley Jackson

Ursula K. Le Guin

Phil Lesh

Billy Martin

Joshua Redman

Rebecca Romijn

Bobby Seale

Kyle Vincent

Thornton Wilder

Bill Woodcock

Notable alumni

Activists

• Bob Avakian, 1960, head of Revolutionary Communist Party
• David Brower, 1928, president of Sierra Club; founder of Friends of the Earth
• John Froines, 1957, Chicago Seven defendant, state track title team member, UCLA professor
• Bobby Seale, 1954, co-founder of Black Panther Party[1]

Actors

• Raymond Burr, 1935, actor
• Justin Chu Cary, 2000, actor
• Robert Culp, 1947, actor
• Aaron Davidman, 1985, actor, writer, Wrestling Jerusalem
• Daveed Diggs, 2000, actor, rapper (Hamilton)[2]
• Richard Gant, 1961, television and film actor
• Nina Hartley, 1977, adult film actress
• Timothy Hutton, 1978, film and television actor
• Eli Marienthal, 2004, actor
• Paul Mooney, 1959, actor, comedian
• Rebecca Romijn, 1990, model, actress
• Andy Samberg, 1996, actor, former cast member of Saturday Night Live
• Akiva Schaffer, 1996, comedy writer and director, Saturday Night Live writer and director
• Jorma Taccone, comedy writer-actor, Saturday Night Live writer
• Adivi Sesh, Tollywood actor

Artists and photographers

• Michael Heizer, 1962, specializes in large-scale sculptures and earth art (or land art)
• Galen Rowell, 1958, wilderness photographer; did much work for the Sierra Club
• Bruce Ryan, 1971, production designer
• Ariel Schrag, 1998, cartoonist/graphic novelist
• Patsy Krebs, 1958, abstract painter (Art in America, Sept. 1999; Artspace, May/June 1992; Art Croissance, Winter 2013)

Athletes

• Chidi Ahanotu, 1988, football defensive end for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the NFL
• Shooty Babitt, 1977, Major League Baseball player, Oakland A's
• Don Barksdale, 1941, All-American basketball player at UCLA; first African-American on US Olympic basketball team (1948); first African-American to play in NBA All-Star game (1953)
• Brittany Boyd, 2011, basketball player[3]
• Glenn Burke (1970 Athlete of the Year), Major League Baseball player[4]
• Phil Chenier, basketball player for the Washington Bullets in the 1970s
• Je'Rod Cherry, football player; won three Super Bowls with the New England Patriots
• Bill Durkee, 1939, National Basketball League player for the Minneapolis Lakers
• Chick Hafey, 1921, Major League Baseball player; won two World Series with St. Louis Cardinals; had first hit in All-Star Game history
• Kamani Hill, 2004, soccer player; forward for Colorado Rapids
• Helen Jacobs (1908–1997), tennis player ranked world #1
• Ruppert Jones (1973 Athlete of the Year), Major League Baseball player; 2-time All-Star
• Jack LaLanne, 1935, fitness educator
• John Lambert, basketball player at University of Southern California and in NBA
• Ari Libenson, 2020, kicker for UCLA Bruins
• Billy Martin, 1946, Major League Baseball player; second baseman for five New York Yankees World Series teams in the 1950s, and manager of four playoff teams (Twins, Yankees, Detroit, A's), including one championship
• Lawrence McGrew, 1975, football player, linebacker for New England Patriots, New York Giants 1980–1991
• Walter Murray, gridiron football player
• Hannibal Navies, 1995, football player
• Steve Odom, football player, wide receiver for Green Bay Packers 1974–1977
• Claudell Washington, Major League Baseball outfielder
• Rich Barry, Major League Baseball outfielder for Philadelphia Phillies

Authors, journalists, and poets

• Shannon Wheeler, c. 1984, Cartoonist, author of Too Much Coffee Man among others; published in The Onion, The New Yorker, and Mad Magazine.
• Miguel Almaguer, c. 1995, correspondent, NBC News
• Anastasia M. Ashman, 1982, author
• Alexandra Berzon, 1997, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist for Wall Street Journal
• Belva Davis, 1951, journalist
• Philip K. Dick, 1947, author of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, on which the movie Blade Runner was based, and many other books
• David Gordon, 1961, editor of Harvard Crimson, economist, syndicated columnist
• Sandra Gulland, 1962, novelist
• Shelley Jackson, author of Patchwork Girl
• Ursula K. Le Guin, 1947, science fiction author of the Earthsea series, The Left Hand of Darkness, and many other books
• Thomas Levenson, 1958, science writer, author of Newton and the Counterfeiter, Einstein in Berlin and other books
• Leza Lowitz, 1980, author, poet, editor, journalist
• Ariel Schrag, 1998, autobiographical graphic novelist
• Joel Selvin, 1967, rock music critic and author
• Frank Somerville, 1976, television news anchor, KTVU Oakland
• Ricardo Sternberg, 1967, poet
• Tess Taylor, poet and CNN contributor
• Elizabeth Treadwell, 1985, poet
• Charlotte Wilder, c. 1915, poet, sister of Thornton Wilder
• Thornton Wilder, c. 1915, novelist and playwright
• Mark London Williams, 1977, author
• Catherine Yronwode, 1965, author, editor, publisher, graphic designer

Entrepreneurs

• Jonathan Daniel, 1979, talent agent, representing major musical acts including Green Day, Jewel, Lorde...
• Ben Horowitz, c. 1984, businessman, investor, blogger, and author
• Paul Budnitz, 1985, founder of Kidrobot and Ello[5]

Filmmakers

• Amir Bar-Lev, 1990, documentary director/producer
• Gregory Hoblit, 1962, television and film director
• Ian Inaba, 1989, music video/film director
• Leah Meyerhoff, 1997, Student Academy Award-nominated filmmaker
• Dave Meyers, 1990, music video/film director
• Michael Ritchie, 1956, film director
• Colin Tilley, 2006, music video/film director (including music videos for Chris Brown and Justin Bieber)

Mathematicians, scientists and inventors

• Richard Bolt, 1928, physics professor at MIT with an interest in acoustics; created BBN ("modem" and "e-mail")
• John Brillhart, 1948, mathematician, author of books on large-number factorization
• Andrew Gleason (graduated elsewhere), mathematician
• Albert Gjedde 1965, neuroscientist, co-inventor of Gjedde-Patlak plot; McGill University Montreal Canada, University of Copenhagen Dennmark
• Sam Ruben, 1931?, co-discoverer of C14, a radioactive isotope of carbon, in 1940; the isotope led to many advances in the fields of biochemistry and medicine as well as its use in carbon dating for archeology
• Pei-Yuan Wei, 1986, (魏培源, pinyin: Wèi Péiyuán), created ViolaWWW, one of the first graphical web browsers
• Bill Woodcock, 1989, developed anycast DNS, and built more than 100 Internet exchange points around the world

Media

• Sam "Kobe" Hartman-Kenzler, 2004, esports commentator
• Dawn Monique Williams, 1996, theatre director

Musicians

• Ambrose Akinmusire, 2000, jazz trumpet player
• Peter Apfelbaum, 1978, multi-instrumentalist/composer of Hieroglyphics Ensemble
• Steven Bernstein, 1979, jazz trumpeter, slide trumpeter, arranger/composer and bandleader
• Will Bernard, 1977, guitarist
• Stephen Bishop, 1958, classical pianist known as Stephen Bishop-Kovacevich and Stephen Kovacevich
• Kevin Cadogan, 1988, rock guitarist, formerly of Third Eye Blind
• The Cataracs, indie-pop duo
• KSHMR, electronic musician, record producer
• Aaron Cometbus, drummer in punk bands Crimpshrine and Pinhead Gunpowder, author of Cometbus fanzine
• DJ Fuze, hip hop DJ and record producer
• Gabriela Lena Frank, 1990, classical composer and pianist
• G-Eazy, 2007, rapper, songwriter
• Benny Green, 1980, jazz pianist
• Charlie Hunter, 1985, jazz guitarist
• David Immerglück, 1979, multi-instrumentalist/guitarist for Counting Crows, Camper Van Beethoven and the Monks of Doom
• Joe and Eddie (Joe Gilbert and Eddie Brown), folk singers
• Greg 'Curly' Keranen, 1973, bassist, The Rubinoos, Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers
• Stephen "Doc" Kupka, 1964, founding member/baritone saxophone of Tower of Power
• Phil Lesh, 1957, Grateful Dead bass player
• Jesse Michaels, singer of the East Bay punk band Operation Ivy, Common Rider; son of writer Leonard Michaels
• Johnny Otis (1921–2012), musician, record producer, disc jockey
• The Pack, some members attended Berkeley High School
• Lenny Pickett, Saturday Night Live saxophone player
• Julian Waterfall Pollack, 2006, jazz pianist
• Thomas Pridgen, drummer for The Mars Volta
• Joshua Redman, 1986, jazz musician
• Ed Rounds, 1966, musician (17 instruments), composer, songwriter, playwright, actor
• Timex Social Club, contemporary R&B group
• Geoff Tyson, guitarist and record producer
• The Uptones, ska band
• Kyle Vincent, contemporary pop recording artist/singer-songwriter, producer
• Donald Weilerstein, 1958, classical violinist, founder of Cleveland String Quartet, faculty member at Juilliard School
• Michael Wolff, 1970, Jazz Piano, music director for Nancy Wilson, band leader for Arsinio Hall
• Kelly Bryan, 1959, jazz and rock bassist, Vince Guaraldi, Grootna, Jesse Colin Young, Dieter Reith
• Dave Ellis, 1985, Saxophone, played with Charlie Hunter, Bob Weir, Black Crowes [6]

Politicians

• Audie Bock, 1963, California politician and film scholar
• Shirley Dean, 1950, Berkeley City Council member 1975–1982 and 1986–1994, and mayor 1994–2002
• Matthew Denn, 1984, Lieutenant Governor of Delaware 2009–2014, Attorney General of Delaware 2015—
• Elihu Harris, 1965, Mayor of Oakland, California, 1991–99
• George Livingston, first elected African American Mayor of Richmond 1985–1993[7]
• Karyl Matsumoto, 1961, Mayor of South San Francisco, 2000, 2004, 2009 and 2014—
• Aaron Peskin, 1982, former president, San Francisco Board of Supervisors
• Nick Sinai, former Deputy Chief Technology Officer of the United States and gov-tech pioneer[8]

Notable faculty

• Pumpsie Green, first black player for the Boston Red Sox; coached baseball at Berkeley High for many years
• Edgar Manske, member of the College Football Hall of Fame, former assistant football coach at Cal under Pappy Waldorf; taught biology at Berkeley High for 20 years (1955–1975)

Notes

1. "Seizing the Time with the Black Panther Founder". aalbc.com. Retrieved February 19, 2011.
2. Pereira, Alyssa (June 13, 2016). "'Hamilton' star Daveed Diggs says he 'throws up a W' for Oakland at every performance". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved July 5, 2018 – via sfgate.com.
3. "Cal's Brittany Boyd is a Naismith semifinalist". San Jose Mercury News. March 3, 2015. Archived from the original on June 13, 2015.
4. Zwikel, Toby (1977-06-09). "Basketball remains first love of Dodgers' Burke". The Valley News (Van Nuys). Retrieved 2007-01-29.
5. Ellen Lee, Special to The Chronicle (25 April 2010). "Monster toys are latest designer must-have". SFGate. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
6. Davellis.com
7. Jones, Carolyn (2012-01-11). "George Livingston, Richmond's 1st black elected mayor". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2012-01-20.
8. https://www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty/nick-sinai

External links

• "Berkeley Alumni Association". berkeleyalum.org. Berkeley Alumni Association. Archived from the original on November 21, 2008.