San Pedro, Los Angeles - Notable Residents

Notable Residents

Art

• Elmer Batters, nylon/foot fetish photographer
• Mister Cartoon, Mexican American tattoo artist and graffiti artist
• Jay Meuser, Abstract Expressionist Artist lived in San Pedro from 1944 until his death in 1963. A bronze plaque is mounted on a building in his honor in the heart of the art gallery district on 7th Street in San Pedro.
• Scott Stantis, Editorial cartoonist for the Chicago Tribune and USA Today and creator of the comic strips "The Buckets" and "Prickly City". Lived in San Pedro 1977–1986 and married a woman from San Pedro.
• Misty Copeland, First African American Soloist in the American Ballet Theater.

Acting

• Mike Lookinland, who played the youngest brother, Bobby Brady, on The Brady Bunch television series from 1969 until 1974, lived in San Pedro while a child actor.
• Dewey Martin, who played, among others, in Howard Hawks films of the 1950s.
• Patrick Muldoon, had regular recurring roles in the well-known soap operas Days of Our Lives and Melrose Place. Starred in 1997 film Starship Troopers.
• Sharon Tate, actress and wife of Roman Polanski, brutally murdered by the "Manson Family".
• D. L. Hughley, comedian and actor. Attended San Pedro High School.
• Kirk Harris, actor and filmmaker. Starred in Chamaco with Martin Sheen and Michael Madsen, among other films. Lives in South Shores, San Pedro.
• Anthony Head, actor. Owns a home in San Pedro.

Music

• Ambrosia: Well-known classic rock band with top 40 hits including "You're the Biggest Part of Me" and "(That's) How Much I Feel".
• John Bettis: Lyricist for many big artists including: Michael Jackson, Madonna, The Carpenters, Whitney Houston and others. He has won an Emmy award and has been nominated for an Oscar for his work on the Godfather III theme song.
• Minutemen: the members of this influential and eclectic punk rock trio grew up in San Pedro, and the band was formed there. The surviving members, bassist/songwriter Mike Watt and drummer George Hurley still live in San Pedro, and Watt is still active in its music scene.
• Krist Novoselic, the bassist of Nirvana, grew up in San Pedro before moving to Aberdeen, Washington.
• Art Pepper, Jazz saxophonist, was born in nearby Gardena, but was raised in San Pedro.
• Brenton Wood, singer and songwriter, his biggest hit "Gimme Little Sign" reached No. 9 on the pop charts in 1967.
• Eric Erlandson, co-founder of and lead guitarist for 1990s rock/grunge band Hole. 1981 graduate of San Pedro High School. He also attended Holy Trinity Catholic School, Dana Junior High School (now Middle School) and Los Angeles Harbor College.
• Blu, Los Angeles based rapper and record producer, born in San Pedro
• Jim Korthe, vocalist for rap-metal group 3rd Strike, grew up in San Pedro. He died in his San Pedro home in January 2010.
• Miguel (singer), grew up and went to high school in San Pedro

Politics

• John S. Gibson, Jr., a Los Angeles City Councilman, lived there until his death in 1981.
• James Hahn, former Mayor of Los Angeles, is a current resident.
• Janice Hahn, current City Councilwoman for the 15th district.
• A.E. Henning, Los Angeles, California, City Council member, 1929–33
• Joe Hill, a radical songwriter, labor activist, and member of the Industrial Workers of the World, lived and worked in San Pedro in the early years of the 20th century and here began his labor organizing years.
• Yuri Kochiyama, civil rights activist &Nobel Peace prize nominee. held a dying Malcolm X in her arms after an assassin had shot him.
• Mike Lansing, school board member for the Los Angeles Unified School District. Also the Executive Director of the Los Angeles Harbor Boys and Girls Club.
• Vincent Thomas, California Assemblyman representing the 68th (later redrawn as the 52nd) Assembly district from 1940 through 1978. The famous Vincent Thomas Bridge is named after him. Thomas lived in San Pedro until his death in 1980,

Science

• John Olguin, director of the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium from 1949 until 1987. Founder member of the American Cetacean Society and the "father of recreational whale watching."

Sports

• Joe Amalfitano, long-time third base coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Part of the 1981 and 1988 World Series championship teams.
• Alan Ashby, Catcher for the Houston Astros and Toronto Blue Jays in the 1970s–1980s.
• Denise Austin, Fitness personality
• James Cotton, ex-CSULB basketball standout. Sharpshooting guard was selected in the second round by the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1997 NBA Draft. Played two seasons for Seattle.
• Joe Danelo, ex-kicker for the New York Giants
• Mario Danelo, record-setting ex-placekicker for the 2006 NCAA national champion USC Trojans fell to his death in the cliffs overlooking Santa Catalina Island in San Pedro in 2007.
• Gary Gabelich, set the Guinness Book of World Records driving his rocket-powered "Blue Flame" vehicle for a world land speed record of 622.287 M.P.H. at Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah on October 23, 1970. Record stood for 13 years.
• Bob Gross, starting small forward for the Portland Trail Blazers 1977 NBA championship team.
• Brian Harper, former starting catcher for the 1991 World Champion Minnesota Twins. Manager of Los Angeles Angels triple-A affiliate Salt Lake City Bees.
• Dennis Johnson, Boston Celtic and Seattle SuperSonics basketball great in the 1970s and 1980s. Won three NBA championship rings.
• Richard Johnson, former USFL and Detroit Lion wide receiver.
• Ed Jurak, utility infielder for the Boston Red Sox in the 1970s and 1980s.
• Garry Maddox, 8-time golden glove winning and starting center fielder for the 1980 World Champion Philadelphia Phillies.
• Haven Moses, former starting wide receiver for the Denver Broncos in the 1970s. Started in Super Bowl XII versus the Dallas Cowboys.
• Willie Naulls, ex-UCLA basketball great. Played power forward/center for New York Knicks and the Boston Celtics. 4-time NBA All-Star with the Knicks in the 1950s. Won 3 NBA Championships with the Celtics in the 1960s.
• Robb Nen, former relief pitcher for the Texas Rangers, Florida Marlins, and San Francisco Giants
• Angela Nikodinov has finished in the top five in the U.S. National Figure Skating Championships 7 times (1996–2004) and placed 4th in the World in 2002.
• Norm Schachter, three time Super Bowl referee in the National Football League.
• Tim Wrightman, ex-UCLA star and starting tight end for the dominant 1985 Super Bowl XX Champion Chicago Bears.
• Petros Papadakis, Former Captain of USC Trojans Football Team

Writers and poets

• Louis Adamic, 1899–1951 Slovenian-American novelist and journalist who wrote about American minorities and immigrants.
• Richard Armour, poet and author who wrote over sixty books, was born in San Pedro on July 25, 1906.
• Charles Bukowski, author and poet, lived there in his later years.

"San Pedro is real quiet. It used to be a seaport full of whorehouses and bars. I like the quietness. They ask you how you're doing, they really want to know."

• Richard Henry Dana, Jr. author of the famous memoir Two Years Before the Mast. Dana was not a resident but rather a famous visitor to San Pedro, who wrote about the experience in his memoir. San Pedro's first middle school is named after him.

"Two days brought us to San Pedro, and two days more (to our no small joy) gave us our last view of that place, which was universally called the hell of California and seemed designed in every way for the wear and tear of sailors. Not even the last view could bring out one feeling of regret. No thanks, thought I, as we left the hated shores in the distance, for the hours I have walked over your stones barefooted, with hides on my head, – for the burdens I have carried up your steep, muddy hill, --for the duckings in your surf; and for the long days and longer nights passed on your desolate hill, watching piles of hides, hearing the sharp bark of your eternal coyotes, and the dismal hooting of your owls." Excerpt from Two Years Before the Mast

• Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, author of the popular memoir Farewell to Manzanar on the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. She briefly lived in East San Pedro (Terminal Island).

"In those days it was a company town, a ghetto owned and controlled by the canneries. The men went after fish, and whenever the boats came back-day or night-the woman would be called to process the catch while it was fresh. One in the afternoon or four in the morning, it made no difference...I can still hear the whistle—two toots for French's, three for Van Camp's—and she and Chizu would be out of bed in the middle of the night, heading for the cannery." Excerpt from Farewell to Manzanar

• Louis L'Amour, Western Fiction Writer.

"The worst times were when he was "on the beach" – on shore, in San Pedro, California, between ships and broke. "I slept in boxcars and under piles of lumber, and took jobs no one else wanted. I was 18 and looked 24. There were several times I went three and four days without eating. I didn't beg or steal, just went without. I'd like to recover for my readers what it's really like to be hungry. I have a penchant for stories about survival, lessons in survival. I've been a survivor most of my life." L'Amour chronicled some of his experiences on the beach in San Pedro in is 1980 book Yondering.."

• Scott O'Dell, author of young-adult literature, lived in East San Pedro (Terminal Island) during his childhood.

"Island of the Blue Dolphins, though it is based upon the true story of a girl who lived alone on a California island for eighteen years, came from the memory of my years at San Pedro and Dead Man's Island, when, with other boys my age, I voyaged out on summer mornings in search of adventure."

• John Shannon, Mystery Novelist

"It was interesting. San Pedro may have been the last great place to grow up in the L.A. area – a harbor, a real sense of community, a real Left, even a literary history: Charles Bukowski, Louis Adamic, even Richard Henry Dana stayed for a time. I could ride the ferry across to Terminal Island, hang out at the docks, walk down the harbor among the commercial fishing boats with old Sicilians and Croatians mending their nets, catch crawdads in Averill Park."

Film and television

• Tony Scott, producer, director, actor, cinematograther, writer, editor. On August 19, 2012, it was reported that Scott had committed suicide by jumping off the Vincent Thomas Bridge in the San Pedro port district at around 12:30.
• Robert Towne, writer, director, producer, actor. Raised in San Pedro. His father owned a popular dress shop that was on 6th Street. One of the best script doctors in Hollywood, he contributed crucial scenes to such films as Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and The Godfather (1972). Also wrote Chinatown (1974), Mission: Impossible (1996), Mission: Impossible II (2000), The Last Detail (1973), Shampoo (1975). The Writers Guild of America, west recently ranked Chinatown, behind only Casablanca and The Godfather, as the third greatest English language screenplay of all time.

The Infamous

• Joe "Pegleg" Morgan, ex-godfather of the Mexican Mafia prison gang. Joe, who was of Croatian-American heritage spent his early years in San Pedro. Moved to East L.A. in his teens. He was the link between the Mexican Mafia and the West Coast Italian crime syndicates criminal activities of the 1970s. Joe Morgan was the character " JD " in Edward James Olmos 1992 movie American Me.