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- Daryl Sabara – actor (Spy Kids film series
- CC Sabathia – baseball player
- Pierre Salinger – White House Press Secretary (under John F. Kennedy)
- Andy Samberg – comedian (Saturday Night Live)
- Eugene Schmitz – Mayor of San Francisco
- Rob Schneider – actor and comedian
- Liev Schreiber – actor
- Charles R. Schwab – businessman and philanthropist
- Cathy Scott – true-crime author (The Killing of Tupac Shakur)
- Junior Seau – American football player
- Tom Seaver – Hall of Fame baseball player
- Eugene Selznick – Hall of Fame volleyball player
- Richard Serra – sculptor
- Tony Serra – civil-rights attorney
- Tupac Shakur – rapper
- Harry Shearer – actor and comedian (Spinal Tap)
- Larry Sherry – major league baseball 1959 World Series MVP
- Mike Shinoda – painter, musician, producer, singer and rapper (Linkin Park and Fort Minor)
- Too Short – rapper
- Alicia Silverstone – actress
- O.J. Simpson – football player
- Charles Martin Smith – actor (American Graffiti)
- Roger Smith – actor (77 Sunset Strip)
- Samuel H. Smith – president emeritus of Washington State University
- Duke Snider – baseball player
- Gary Snyder – poet
- Suzanne Somers – actress (Three's Company)
- Brenda Song – actress
- Gary Soto – poet
- Robert Stack – actor (Airplane!)
- Walt Stack – first Nike "Just Do It" advertisement subject (San Francisco)
- Leland Stanford, Jr. – namesake of Stanford University
- Steven Stayner – kidnap victim
- Danielle Steele – author
- Gwen Stefani – singer
- John Steinbeck – author (Of Mice and Men)
- George Stevens – film director, producer and writer
- Cynthia Stevenson – actress (Dead Like Me)
- Ted Stickles – world-class swimmer
- Terri Stickles – Olympic swimmer
- Saleisha Stowers – model
- David Strathairn – actor
- Robert W. Straub – Governor of Oregon (1975–1979)
- Darryl Strawberry – baseball player
- Lynn Swann – football player
- Jodie Sweetin – actress (Full House)
- Bob Swenson – football player
- Jessica Sanchez – American Idol contestant
Read more about this topic: List Of People From California