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- Bill Walsh – football coach
- Laurie Walters – actress (Eight Is Enough)
- Bill Walton – Hall of Fame basketball player
- Luke Walton – basketball player
- Andre Ward – 2004 Summer Olympics gold-medal-winning boxer
- Earl Warren – 30th Governor of California 14th Chief Justice of the United States (1953-1969)
- Caspar Weinberger – United States Secretary of Defense
- Bob Weir – musician (Grateful Dead)
- Jill Whelan – actress Airplane!
- Brandon Whitt – NASCAR driver
- Emily Williams – early-20th-century architect
- John Williams – composer
- Venus Williams – tennis player
- Serena Williams – tennis player
- Paul Williams – architect
- Ted Williams – Hall of Fame baseball player
- Dontrelle Willis – baseball player (Florida Marlins)
- Rita Wilson – actress
- Tamara Witmer – model
- Victor Wong – actor
- Beatrice Wood – artist
- Natalie Wood – actress (This Property Is Condemned)
- Tiger Woods – golfer
- Steve Wozniak – inventor of the Apple Computer
- Kevin Woo – member of U-Kiss
Read more about this topic: List Of People From California