San Diego People

Athletes

Archie Moore

Between 1952 and 1959, Moore held the title of World Light Heavyweight Boxing Champion and he held one of the longest successful careers in the sport.

Bill Beane

Beane played on the New York Mets, Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers and Oakland A's before he moved into the manager position of the Oakland A's.

Bill Walton

After his professional basketball career ended, Walton began work as a television sportscaster, which he still does to this day.

Bob Burnquist

Burnquist started skateboarding in San Paulo Brazil at age 11 and turned pro by age 14, in his first run in the X Games, he was known for making announcer Tony Hawk go hoarse with excitement at his many new moves.

Dan Fouts

Fouts is the career passing yards and career touchdowns leader for the San Diego Chargers and a 6-time MVP winner.

Danny Way

Way created and rode the first Megaramp and set two new skateboarding records with it, the ramp record and highest air record.

Greg Louganis

As an Olympic diver, Louganis is best known for winning the gold medal for both the 10m platform and the 3m springboard in 1984 and again in 1988.

Junior Seau

Seau currently plays for the Patriots, but his career and life started here in San Diego, along with his Seau's restaurant and clothing company, Say-Ow.

Lance Alworth

Alworth ranked #31 on the 100 greatest football players, making him the highest ranked Charger.

Marty Smith

Smith has won 3 AMA National Motocross Championships and is a favorite with fans for his long hair and surfer looks.

Reggie Bush

Bush is a past Heisman trophy winner who plays on the Saints. His career has been so successful that he has been nicknamed “The Human Highlight Reel.”

Rob Machado

Machado is known for his “laid back” style both in and out of the water.

Ted Williams

Williams was the last player to achieve a .400 batting average in a season, was a 2 time MVP and was 5 time Major League Player of the Year.

Terrell Davis

Davis has been named the Offensive Player of the Year 2 times, been a Superbowl champion twice and received 3 MVP awards.

Tony Gywnn

Gwynn was never known for hitting home-runs, but instead he was one of the best consistent contact hitters in MLB history, never having a season batting average under .300.

Tony Hawk

Before selling Doritos and his own video games, Tony Hawk rose to fame with some exceptional skills, he was able to do a full 900 (two and a half turns) degree landing and created a number of other aerial tricks as well.

Comedians

Dat Phan

Due to his relative inexperience in the comedy world, Phan was disliked by many of the Last Comic Standing participants, however he still won the competition and has since been cast in a number of film and tv roles.

Harold Lloyd

One of the greatest silent comedians of all time, Lloyd rivaled Charlie Chaplin in his day, he was best known for his “glasses character” a go-getter very in tune with 1920's American society.

Costume Desingers

Dorothy Jeakins

Jeakins has won the Academy Award for costume design three times, including the first costume award ever given out in the ceremony in 1948 -she won for her designs in Jean of Arc.

Directors and Writers

Anita Loos

One of the top screen-play writers of her time, she later worked on a set of stories for magazines known as “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” which later became a very popular movie staring Marilyn Monroe.

Carol Dempster

Dempster was one of legendary director D.W. Griffith's favorite actresses in the silent era and beyond, after retirement, she settled down in La Jolla.

Budd Boetticher

One of the most talented directors in the Western Genre, one of Boetticher's early films was produced by John Wayne and based on Wayne's experiences in Mexico, known as Bullfighter and the Lady, the film launched him into notoriety.

Kathleen Kennedy

Kennedy had produced a number of Hollywood's biggest films, including Jurassic Park, E.T. The Extra Terrestrial and Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Dr. Seuss/ Theodor Seuss Geisel

Dr. Seuss started as a political cartoonist before finding a skill for rhymes where he would make his most notable mark, his books “Cat in the Hat” and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” are some of the most famous children's books ever written.

W.S. Van Dyke

By the time talking pictures came out, Van Dyke found himself to be one of MGM's most reliable directors. He received an academy award nomination for best director for his film San Francisco, which contained one of the best special-effect sequences ever made.

Graphics Artists

Robert Clampett

Clampett drew the original Tweety bird and his Bugs Bunny cartoons had notable differences with most of the other animators, in that Bugs frequently met with an unhappy ending the other animators shied away from

Ron Bushy

Bushy is a skilled graphic artist and has personally created most of the artwork seen on Iron Butterfly merchandise, he is also the only original member left in the band.

Movie Stars

Annette Bening

Bening's first major film role was in the Great Outdoors with John Candy and Dan Aykroyd, but her most prominent role thus far was in American Beauty.

Anita Page

Anita stared in a number of films in the silent era, co-staring with Buster Keaton and Clark Gable. She is the last person alive that attended the first ever Academy Awards ceremony in 1929.

Benicio Del Toro

Del Torro says that Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was a low point in his career, yet he still developed a cult following from the film and a close friendship with Hunter S. Thompson, his next role in Traffic earned him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Bing Crosby

Crosby was a popular writer, singer, actor and more, his most famous song was “White Christmas.” In 1937 he joined the Board of Directors and was a co-founder of the Del Mar fairgrounds and Del Mar Thoroughbred Club

Cameron Diaz

Diaz started her career as a model, before auditioning for the female lead in The Mask. Shortly after, she landed a main character leads in There's Something About Mary, Shrek, and Charlie's Angels.

Cameron Crowe

Almost Famous was Crowe's early autobiography, where he portrayed how he started writing for Rolling Stone. The film stopped short of showing his rise to success as a Hollywood screen play writer with such hits as Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Say Anything and Jerry Maguire.

Carl Weathers

Carl Weathers is best known for playing Apollo Reed in the Rocky films and Major George Dillion in Predator, but he was also a professional football player.

Cleavon Little

After his roles in the cult film Vanishing Point and popular Temperatures Rising, Little got a role starring opposite Gene Wilder in Mel Brook's Blazing Saddles, after which, he mostly starred in stage roles.

Cliff Robertson

Robertson has starred in films since 1955, and has been in movies as varied as The Naked and The Dead, Star 80 and Spider Man.

Dana Ashbrook

Ashbrook's most notable roles are in the cult David Lynch series Twin Peaks and the prequel film, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me and has also played a recurring character on Dawson's Creek.

Danica McKellar

McKellar has publicly said that making the move from child star to adult has been a bumpy road, recently though, she starred in a Life Time miniseries and made for TV movie called “Inspector Mom.”

Faye Emerson

Considered one of the “first ladies” of television, Faye Emerson attended school at SDSU before getting recruited into the movies. It wasn't until she entered the world of television that she found her niche.

Fred Ward

Once an Alaskan lumberjack, Ward found his niche after exploring his comedic side off-set during the filming of “Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins,” he has since played in Tremors, Naked Gun 33 1/3, Joe Dirt and a number of other films

George Brent

Brent frequently starred beside Bette Davis and other leading Hollywood ladies of the day.

Gregory Peck

Born in La Jolla, Peck was quite a star in Hollywood, starring beside Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday and playing Atticus Finch in the film of To Kill a Mocking Bird.

Heather O’Rourke

O'Rourke was a beloved child actress who delivered the famous line “They Baaaacck.” She tragically died young shortly after the filming of Poltergeist 3.

Johnny Downs

Downs was in the original Little Rascals series of films, known as Our Gang, he later moved to San Diego and hosted “The Johnny Down's Show” a children's TV show on KOGO, Channel 10.

Joseph Kane

Kane directed over 125 movies before his death, many of which were some of the most classic westerns ever made.

Julie Kavner

Outside of her voice work with The Simpsons, Kavner has also been in a number of Woody Allen films.

Kathy Najimy

Najimy has starred in a number of hit films, from Sister Act to Rat Race to Hocus Pocus, she also played on the show Veronica's Closet.

Lew Ayres

Ayres was gaining quite a bit of notoriety from his roles, including the very popular “All Quiet on the Western Front” but fell from popular favor after becoming a “conscientious objector” to World War Two.

Margaret O’Brien

At only 7 years old, O'Brien had her most memorable role as “Tootie” in “Meet Me In St. Louis” where she played opposite Judy Garland. Ross was named SDSU's most outstanding actress before entering a series of films in the 50's and then her most memorable role as “Mrs. C” in Happy Days

Mario Lopez

After playing A.C. Slater on Saved By The Bell, Lopez has played in a number of other television shows including staring in Dance With the Stars, the host of Pet Star on Animal Planet and more.

Marion Ross

Voted “Most likely to succeed” by classmates at Helix High School in La Mesa, Hopper proved them right by starring in numerous films aside such big names as Sandra Bullock, James Dean, Marlon Brando and Kevin Costner

Mayim Bialik

After Blossom went off the air, Bialik attended UCLA and earned a degree in neuroscience and Hebrew and Jewish studies and is working on completing her PhD in neuroscience.

Mercedes McCambridge

McCambridge won an academy award for Best Supporting actress for her role in All The Kings Men, she was also known for being the voice of the demon in The Exorcist.

Milburn Stone

In 1968, Stone won an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Doc in the television series Gunsmoke.

Nanette Fabray

Fabray is still performing today and has been improving and redirecting her skills for her whole life. Her most famous movie was “The Bandwagon” where she starred aside Fred Astaire, and her most famous show performance was as Sid Caesar's partner in”Caesar's Hour.”

RuPaul

While many drag queens carry a catty attitude, RuPaul is known for having a positive attitude to all, it payed off with a TV show, a number of albums and quite a few roles in movies.

Raquel Welch

Welch filled the “sex goddess” void left by the death of Marilyn Monroe and proved that women did not need to be blonde to capture the hearts of men. Her role in One Million Years B.C. portrayed her in a barely-there bikini made of animal furs that enamored men around the country.

Robert Duvall

Acting in films such as The Godfather, To Kill a Mockingbird, Apocalypse Now and the TV series Lonesome Dove, Duvall has earned six academy award nominations and a number of Emmy and golden globe nominations as well.

Robert Hays

Hays attended Grossmont college before starting his acting career, where he played his most famous roles as Ted Striker in Airplane and Airplane II: The Sequel

Ted Danson

Danson is most famous for playing Sam Malone on Cheers, though he has played in lots of roles since then.

Tony Bill

After starring in films directed by big names such as Spielberg and Coppola, Bill went on to direct his own films, which included one of the top-grossing films of all time, The Sting.

Victor Mature

Though Mature was known as one of Hollywood's first “beefcake” men, he is notable for always having an air of doubt and venerability in his characters. His most famous role was in Cecil B. DeMille's film version of “Samson and Delilah.”

Whoopi Goldberg

Goldberg is one of the only ten people who has won an Oscar, Emmy, Tony Award and a Grammy, as well as the second African American actress to receive an Academy Award. She is the second African American female performer to win an Academy Award for acting

Music Artists

Doug Ingle

Ingle has claims In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida was an alcohol-slurred way of saying “In The Garden of Eden” however, this is disputed my many rock enthusiasts. He also has said he had no intention of making the song 17 minutes long.

Eddie Vedder

While living in San Diego, Vedder played in a band called Bad Radio, during this time, he wrote the music and lyrics to Better Man, which would later become a hit for Pearl Jam.

Frank Zappa

Zappa was an American musician, hippy and cultivator of weird. His music is known for being strange and eclectic.

Frankie Laine

Laine's singing career lasted over 75 years and included over 20 gold records including “Rawhide,” and “Your Cheatin' Heart.”

Jewel Kilcher

Jewel played in coffee houses throughout San Diego where she met friend and local musician Steve Poltz, who later collaborated on many of her singles with her.

Mark Hoppus

After the break up of Blink 182, Hoppus and Travis Barker started +44.

Nick Cannon

Cannon started performing at the age of 8, since then he has recorded a number of albums, opened for groups like Will Smith and LFO and stared in a number of successful films.

Tom DeLounge

Tom DeLonge and two other high school friends started Blink 182 in 1992, upon their break up in 2005, DeLonge began working on music for Angels & Airwaves debut album.

Rob Halford

Rob Halford is a native Englishman, however he loves San Diego and is frequently seen strolling the streets of Hillcrest. Since his retirement from Judas Priest, he released a well-received solo album.

Rosie Hamlin

By the age of 13, Hamlin was performing at various clubs around San Diego, she wrote Angel Baby at the age of 14 that she recorded in San Marcos in 1961.

Steve Poltz

Poltz wrote the #1 Jewel song “You Were Meant for Me,” and prefers to play acoustic only music during his solo performances.

TV STARS

Adam Brody

The LA Times named Brody “TV's Sexiest Geek” for his role as Seth Cohen on the O.C.. Since the show's cancellation, Brody has been focusing his energies on a fully film based acting career.

Amy Finley

Since winning the Next Food Network Star competition, Finley now hosts a show titled The Gourmet Next Door.

Art Linkletter

Linkletter was host of two of the longest running shows on television, House Party and People Are Funny, he also hosted the still-popular Kids Say The Darnedest Things

Charlene Tilton

After playing Jock Ewing's grand daughter on the long-running show, Dallas, Tilton did a number of commercials for the Abdominizer in the 90's.

James Avery

Avery's character in The Fresh Prince was ranked #34 in TV Guide's “50 Best TV Dad's of All Time,” he also did the voice of Shredder in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series.

Jolene Blalock

Blalock is best known for her role as Sub-Commander T'Pol, a Vulcan, in Star Trek Enterprise, a role she initially considered rejecting.

Kendra Wilkinson

Wilkinson is a Playboy Playmate that made it big by staring on the reality TV show The Girls Next Door, portraying her real-life relationship as one of Hugh Hefner's girlfriends.

Holly Marie Combs

Before landing a major character role in Charmed, Combs played Tom Skerritt's daughter on Pickett Fences.

Influential People in San Diego

Junipero Serra

Important year: 1769
Life: 1713 – 1784
Lived: Old Town
Father Junipero Serra founded the first mission in San Diego when he was 56.

Stephen W. Kearny

Important year: 1812
Life: 1794 – 1848
Lived: Did not live in San Diego
Kearney was an important Army officer in the Spanish American war and was instrumental in the U.S. acquisition of California.

Francisco María Alvarado

Important year: 1833
Life: 1793 – missing
Lived: Rancho Penasquitos
In 1833, Alvarado was one of 6 men who approached the governor to establish a San Diego pueblo (town) government. He was very active in the early San Diego government and one of the owners of “Rancho Los Penisquitos,” the area that is now known as simply Ranch Penisquitos.

John Judson Ames

Important year: 1851
Life: 1821 – 1861
Lived: San Diego
Ames was the editor and proprietor of the San Diego Herald, the first newspaper in San Diego.

Matthew Sherman

Important year: 1865
Life: 1827 – 1898
Lived: Sherman Heights
Sherman was a major land developer in early San Diego and was instrumental in getting the Texas and Pacific line to come to San Diego.

Mary Chase Walker

Important year: 1865
Life: 1828 – 1899
Lived: Old Town
Walker was the first teacher in the Mason Street Schoolhouse.

Alonzo E. Horton

Important year: 1867
Life: 1813 – 1910
Lived: San Diego
Horton realized businesses and residences were confined in “Old Town,” far away from where the merchant ships pulled into the Bay. He purchased a large quantity of land by the bay and created “New Town,” which ended up becoming San Diego's current downtown area.

Alfred Seely

Important year: 1868
Life: 1822 - ?
Lived: Old Town
Seeley operated the stage coach line from San Diego to Los Angeles.

E.W. Bushyhead

Important year: 1870
Life: 1832 – 1907
Lived: Alpine
Bushyhead, a Cherokee Indian relocated across the”Trail of Tears,” was the first publisher of the San Diego Union Tribune.

Daniel Cleveland

Important year: 1870
Life: 1838 - 1923
Lived: San Diego
Cleveland was an active member of early San Diego political life. He helped prevent the privatization of Balboa Park and helped to found the city's first bank, hospital and library.

Douglas Gunn

Important year: 1871
Life: 1841 - 1891
Lived: San Diego
Gunn bought the Union Tribune and moved it to Downtown, then known as “new town.” While mayor, he helped establish a police department and got the Santa Fe Railroad company to expand their tracks to San Diego.

Wyatt Earp

Important year: 1879
Life: 1848 – 1929
Lived: San Diego
Wyatt Earp is a legendary western hero. Years after the fight at the famed O.K. Corral, Earp and his wife moved into San Diego, where they speculated on land during San Diego's first real estate boom.

John J. Montgomery

Important year: 1883
Life: 1858 – 1911
Lived: Otay Mesa
On a hill in Otay Mesa, Montgomery made the first manned, controlled, heavier-than-air flights in the U.S. Three San Diego schools, an airport, a freeway section and a historical landmarks are named for him.

Elisha S. Babcock Jr.

Important year: 1885
Life: 1849 – 1922
Lived: San Diego
Babcock bought the land now known as Coronado and auctioned it of for houses as well as took construction crews to help build the Hotel Del Coronado.

William Carlson

Important year: 1887
Life: 1864 - 1937
Lived: Ocean Beach
Carlson created a real estate firm after moving to San Diego, soon after, the firm founded Ocean Beach. He also served as the youngest mayor of San Diego county and helped bring naval interest to the county during his term.

Ed Fletcher

Important year: 1888
Life: 1872 – 1955
Lived: San Diego
Fletcher was a partner in the real estate firm that developed Del Mar, Grossmont and Mount Helix. He donated the land where the Mount Helix services are performed. Fletcher Hills and Fletcher Parkway are both named for him.

Katherine Sessions

Important year: 1892
Life: 1857 – 1940
Lived: Balboa Park
Known as the Mother of Balboa Park, Sessions was a prominent horticultural in early California and planted and planned much of the plant life in Balboa Park.

E. W. Scripps

Important year: 1989
Life: 1854 – 1926
Lived: Miramar
Scripps started a large newspaper chain in Chicago, then later moved to San Diego, where he bought the property currently known as Scripps Ranch. He was one of the founding donors to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Ellen Scripps

Important year: 1989
Life: 1836 – 1932
Lived: La Jolla
Ellen helped her brother E.W. develop his newspaper chain and in doing so, pioneered the concept of the “feature story.” After moving to La Jolla, she became an active philanthropist, most notably for her donation to the Scripps Memorial Hospital and Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Ulysses S. Grant Jr.

Important year: 1905
Life: 1852 – 1929
Lived: San Diego
Grant was a model citizen and after building the U.S. Grant Hotel, he helped push for the creation of a city park, which would end up becoming Balboa Park.

John D. Spreckels

Important year: 1906
Life: 1852 – 1929
Lived: San Diego
Spreckels was part of the real estate boom in San Diego, his greatest contributions, The Hotel Del Coronado and The San Diego and Arizona Railroad Company, helped San Diego develop into a major commerce center.

Edward Harvey Davis

Important year: 1907
Life: 1862 – 1951
Lived: San Diego
At a time when most Americans were avoiding Native Americans or holding them in contempt, Davis sought out their company, life styles and artifacts. Worried the Native American culture was going to be erased by the dominant white culture, he began documenting their lives and collecting artifacts from different tribes.

William Kettner

Important year: 1908
Life: 1864 – 1930
Lived: San Diego
Kettner was instrumental in getting the Navy and Marines to come to San Diego, despite much competition amongst other Pacific Coast cities.

Dr. Harry M. Wegeforth

Important year: 1916
Life: 1882 – 1941
Lived: Coronado
Wegeforth had the idea to found the zoo in San Diego and did so shortly after starting the San Diego Zoological Society.

Buren Roscoe Schryock

Important year: 1920
Life: 1881 – 1974
Lived: Old Town
Roscoe founded the San Diego Opera and conducted the San Diego Symphony. He is one of the forgotten heroes of San Diego music culture.

Laurence Klauber

Important year: 1923
Life: 1883 – 1968
Lived: San Diego
Klauber is credited for identifying over 50 new species of reptiles and amphibians and helped donate attractions to the early San Diego Zoo reptile house.

Appleton Bridges

Important era: 1920’s
Life: 1848 – 1929
Lived: San Diego
Donations from Appleton helped make the San Diego Symphony and the San Diego Museum of Art realities.

The Talmadge Sisters: Norma, Constance, Natalie

Important year: 1927
Life: 1893 – 1957, 1897 – 1973, 1899 – 1969
Lived: Did not live in San Diego
Norma, Constance and Natalie were all famous silent film stars. Norma, who's voice destroyed her career and influenced the voice-over character in “Singing in the Rain,” married a real estate developer, who named the area in East San Diego after the girls, and a street after each of them.

Philip David Swing

Important year: 1927
Life: 1884 - 1963
Lived: Imperial Valley
By 1928, the wells in San Diego had dried up. Swing got a major dam built in the Imperial Valley, promising San Diego water for the rest of its years.

Nino Marcelli

Important year: 1927
Life: 1890 – 1967
Lived: San Diego
Marcelli was the creator of the San Diego Symphony orchestra and staged the first performance in Spreckels Theater.

T. Claude Ryan

Important year: 1927
Life: 1898 – 1982
Lived: San Diego
Ryan's company was the first to offer daily passenger flights with a regular schedule. When Lindbergh needed a plane to fly across country and then the Atlantic, Ryan's company built it.

William Templeton Johnson

Important year: 1932
Life: 1877 – 1957
Lived: San Diego
Templeton designed a number of famous buildings in San Diego, including The San Diego Museum of Art, the San Diego Trust and Savings Bank and the San Diego Natural History Museum.

Reuben Fleet

Important era: 1940’s
Life: 1887 – 1975
Lived: San Diego
Fleet owned a large airplane company in San Diego, which hired up to 41,000 people in the city. Later in his life, he donated a large gift of money to establish one of the world's best planetariums, the Reuben H. Fleet Space Theater and Science Center.

Walter Munk

Important era: 1940’s
Life: 1917 - ?
Lived: La Jolla
Considered one of the world's greatest oceanographers, Munk played a lead role in tracking the overall climate changes associated with global warming.

Ray Kroc

Important era: 1950’s
Life: 1902 – 1984
Lived: La Jolla
Ray Kroc was the owner and franchiser of McDonald's Restaurants, as well as an active philanthropist. Up until his death, he was the owner of the San Diego Padres.

Dr. Roger Revelle

Important year: 1954
Life: 1909 – 1991
Lived: La Jolla
Aside from fighting to get UCSD's general campus built and funded, Revelle helped recruit very reputable scientists to the school, sealing its reputation forever on.

Jonas Salk

Important era: 1950’s
Life: 1914 – 1995
Lived: La Jolla
Salk developed not only a vaccine for polio, but also the concept of a vaccine that used a dead virus. Prior to his work, it was believed that an individual had to experience a mild form of the virus.

Bea Evenson

Important year: 1967
Life: 1900 – 1981
Lived: City San Diego
At the age of 65, Evanson began working as a civic leader in San Diego. She was instrumental in the creation of Spanish Landing Park.

Sol Price

Important era: 1970’s
Life: 1916 - ?
Lived: City Heights
Sol Price is the founder of Price Club/Costco. Aside from pioneering the warehouse model of retail stores, Price created the Price charities, committed to improving San Diego, particularly City Heights.

Joan Embery

Important era: 1970’s
Life: 1952 – n/a
Lived: Lakeside
Embery founded the American Association of Zoo Keepers, serves as the goodwill ambassador to The San Diego Zoo and makes appearances to keep up education about endangered species and other animals.

Ruth E. Norman

Important era: 1970’s
Life: 1900 – 1993
Lived: El Cajon
Ruth Norman and her husband founded the Unarius Academy of Sciences after Ernest, who was convinced he was psychic, began touring sharing his own philosophical practices.

Bob Baker

Important era: 1970’s
Bob Baker Auto Group Founder
Baker lives up to his company slogan “it's so nice to be nice,” by donating to a variety of San Diego charities, everything from health to education.

Joan B. Kroc

Important era: 1980’s
Life: 1928 – 2003
Lived: La Jolla
Kroc was married to Ray Croc, the founder of McDonalds. After his death, she took to philanthropy and donated to the Salvation Army, USD, St. Vincent De Paul Charities and the Ronald McDonald House charities.

Robert Horsman

Important year: 1981
Lived: San Diego
As president of San Diego National Bank, Horsman donates his time and money to a number of causes, such as the San Diego International Sports Council and the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Father Joe Carroll

Important year: 1982
Lived: San Diego
Joe Carroll is head of Father Joe Village charity. Father Joe Village helps the homeless and needy throughout San Diego county.

Roger Hedgecock

Important era: 1980’s
Lived: Point Loma
Hedgecock was the Mayor of San Diego from 1983 to 1985, and he became a talk show host only 4 days after his Mayoral resignation.

Ralph Rubio

Important era: 1980’s
Lived: San Diego
Ralph Rubio is the founder of Rubio's Fresh Mexican Grill.

David Cohn

Important era: 1990’s
David runs the Cohn restaurant group, which includes the Prado, Corvette Dinner, Indigo Grill and more, he also donates considerable money to political campaigns he deems worthy, such as the “Californians Against Government Ran Health care” group.

Dean Spanos

Important era: 1990’s
Spanos has led the Chargers for over a decade, helping bring the Superbowl to San Diego in 1998 and score big money for the city of San Diego.

John Moores

Important era: 1980’s
As the owner of the Padres and a philanthropist, Moores has donated $21 million to UCSD.

Peter Hall

Important era: 1990’s
Hall, now retired, played a major role in getting Petco Park into San Diego. He is nicknamed “Mr. Downtown.”

Kimberly Hunt

Important era: 1990’s
Hunt is notable not only for her excellent work as a news anchor on KUSI, but for her activity in the local community supporting AIDs research, Cerebral Palsy research and the San Diego Burn Institute.

Ned Israelsen

Important era: 1990’s
Israelsen is a medical advancements patent lawyer. Israelsen has been involved with some of today's most groundbreaking patents, including the Human Papilloma Virus vaccine,and has obtained seminal patents on DNA vaccines now in development that will revolutionize treatment of HIV, Ebola, cancer, malaria, and hepatitis.

Daniel Tucker

Important era: 1990’s
As chairman of the Sycaun Indians, Tucker has helped an impoverished community defeat alcoholism, increase college educations and more.

Frank Riolo

Important era: 2000’s
Frank Riolo is the CEO of Viejas Enterprises. Riolo oversees the Viejas Casino, outlet center and entertainment.

Charles LiMandri

Important era: 2000’s
LiMandri has been at the forefront of the battle to keep cross center piece on the Mt. Soledad memorial.

Cathy Anderson

Important era: 2000’s
As San Diego's film commissioner, Anderson helps acquire grants for local developing directors and recruits film crews from National productions to film in the city.