Sure, you can rattle off Too $hort, Billie Joe Armstrong, Angela Davis, and Jack London, but did you know about these famous peeps who grew up in The Town?
Clint Eastwood
Can you believe this young hottie was walking around Piedmont in the '50s? Though born in San Francisco in 1930, the Eastwoods settled in Piedmont where Clint was supposed to attend Piedmont Junior High School. Shortly before school started, however, the born troublemaker rode his bike on the school's new sports field and tore up the wet turf. As a consequence, he was asked not to enroll that fall. Instead, The Man With No Name attended Oakland Technical High School.
Tom Hanks
The Concord-born star went to Skyline High School in Oakland before studying theater at Chabot College in Hayward. After two years he transferred to Cal State, Sacramento, where he didn't run track, sadly.
Gertrude Stein
The American novelist, poet, and playwright, was raised in Oakland before moving to Paris in 1903, where she became famous for her Sunday evening salon frequented by Pablo Picasso and Ernest Hemmingway.
Mahershala Ali
Also known as Remy Danton in House of Cards, Ali was born in Oakland and raised in Hayward.
John Lee Hooker
In the 1970s, blues legend John Lee Hooker was living in Oakland, where he teamed up with local bands like Canned Heat and Van Morrison. In 2001, his funeral services were held at the Chapel of the Chimes, and he is buried in Oakland.