Notable People from Long Beach, California

Long Beach is a classic American beach town. Beauty is the outdoors and the sun-kissed, active people who are willing to push the status quo and take risks. This, along with the healing elements in the salt air that permeates everything, it’s little wonder some of Long Beach’s most notable folks go on to do great things.

Snoop Dogg fans know the actor and rapper was born in Long Beach, California to parents who were from Mississippi. His father was a mail carrier and entertainer and his mother was a homemaker.

Classic film fans might know that Richard Cromwell, best known for his work with Bette Davis and Henry Fonda (Jane Fonda’s father) in Jezebel, was also born in Long Beach. The handsome fellow was born LeRoy Melvin Radabaugh, and while he had a few more roles in Hollywood, he might mostly be remembered by who he was married to Angela Lansbury.

Perhaps the most recognizable face from Long Beach is Nicolas Cage. One of the more interesting facts about Cage is that he changed his name. He was born into the Coppola family (yes, as in Francis Ford Coppola, who is his uncle). Cage’s father is a well known and respected literature professor. His mother is a renowned choreographer and dancer. The argument could easily be made that acting is in his DNA.

James Blaylock fans might know that the popular fantasy writer was born in Long Beach, California.

Did you know that Tiger Woods, the gifted, though troubled, golf player was born in Long Beach? He is the only child of Earl and Kulida Woods.He was so talented on the golf greens that he convinced his family to allow him to put his educational pursuits on hold to pursue his golfing career. Later, he opted to add Stanford University classes to his already busy schedule. His decisions paid off from a career perspective. His private life, however, has been a bit rocky.

And speaking of sports greats, let’s not forget the formidable tennis champion, Billy Jean King. During her long tennis career, King claimed twelve Grand Slam titles as a single player with another 16 in the women’s doubles game, and mixed doubles brought her an additional 11 Grand Slam titles. What had women cheering from their living rooms was the hard-won tournament, ‘The Battle of the Sexes’ in 1973. She defeated former Wimbledon men’s singles champion, Bobby Riggs, to claim the $100,000 prize. Ultimately, she won 696 matches. That is more than 80 percent of the matches she played during her career with her Grand Slam record being slightly higher than this at 82% or 190 wins. Impressive, yes?

For those fans of Saved by the Bell and Beverly Hills, 90210, in the 1990s, you will remember Tiffani-Amber Thiessen (though these days, she’s dropped her middle name of Amber), who played bad girl Valerie Malone for several seasons. She too is a Long Beach girl.

As you can see, there is plenty of beauty and talent in the notable people from Long Beach, California.