Palo Alto High School - Notable Alumni

Notable Alumni

• Rink Babka (1954), Olympic discus thrower
• Joan Baez (1958), folk singer
• Ron "Money B" Brooks (1988), rapper (Digital Underground)
• Whitfield Crane (1986), lead singer (Ugly Kid Joe)
• Aarón Díaz (2001), Mexican telenovelas actor
• Tim Dickinson (1992), political journalist (Rolling Stone, Mother Jones)
• The Donnas (1997), rock band (Brett Anderson, Maya Ford, Allison Robertson, and Torry Castellano)
• Margot Early (1982), romance author
• Dave Feldman (1983), Sportscaster, San Francisco, CA
• Karen Joy Fowler (1968), author (The Jane Austen Book Club)
• Dave Franco (2003), actor (Scrubs, Do Not Disturb, Charlie St. Cloud,)
• James Franco (1996), actor (Spider-Man trilogy, Pineapple Express, Milk, 127 Hours)
• Erle Stanley Gardner (1909), detective fiction author and creator of Perry Mason
• Charles Haid (1961), actor/director, (played Andy Renko on the 1980s TV series Hill Street Blues)
• Jim Harbaugh (1982), football player and coach, current head coach of the San Francisco 49ers
• Peter Hansen (1997), football coach
• Jon Huntsman, Sr. (1955), billionaire founder of Huntsman Corporation
• Ollie Johnston (1930), Academy Award-winning Disney animator (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Fantasia)
• Morris Kirksey (1913), gold medal-winning sprinter and rugby player at the 1920 Summer Olympics
• Bill Kreutzmann (1965), drummer (Grateful Dead)
• Jeremy Lin (2006), basketball player; currently with the Houston Rockets; formerly with the New York Knicks
• Jim Loscutoff (1948), basketball player, won seven NBA championships with the Boston Celtics
• John Markoff (1967), New York Times journalist/author
• Ron "Pigpen" McKernan (1963), musician (Grateful Dead) (didn't graduate)
• Rob Minkoff (1980), film director/animator, (The Lion King, Stuart Little)
• Sean Nolan (1990), Olympic Water Polo Team, Sydney 2000
• Teresa Noyola (2008), soccer player
• Téa Obreht (2002), novelist, (The Tiger's Wife)
• Luke Paquin (1996), guitarist (Hot Hot Heat)
• Bill Pidto (1983), ESPN anchor, class of 1983
• Tom Ritchey (1974), (Ritchey Design) Cycling engineer and pioneer of the mountain bike
• Dave Schultz (1977), Olympic and World Champion wrestler
• Mark Schultz (1978), Olympic and World Champion wrestler
• Joe Sebok (1995), professional poker player
• Joe Simitian (1970), California State Senator (2004– ) & former California State Assemblyman (2000–2004)
• Grace Slick (1958), rock singer (Jefferson Airplane) (attended as an underclassman, but eventually graduated from Castilleja)
• Tom Stern (1964), Oscar-nominated cinematographer (Million Dollar Baby, Mystic River, Changeling)
• Dink Templeton (1915), multi-sport athlete, 1920 Olympic gold medalist and hall of fame Stanford track and field coach
• Christopher Tin (1994), Grammy Award winning composer
• Tad Williams (1975), author (Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, Otherland, and Shadowmarch science fiction/fantasy series)
• Kirk Wise (1981), film director/animator, (Beauty and the Beast, Atlantis: The Lost Empire)
• Ron Wyden (1967), U.S. Senator for Oregon (1996– ) & former U.S. Representative of Oregon's 3rd congressional district (1981–1996)