Famous People from Hawaii

Benny Agbayani (1971 - ) A professional baseball player. He formerly played with the New York Mets, Colorado Rockies and Boston Red Sox. Born in Honolulu, HI (789)

Christine Keiko Agena (1973 - ) A Japanese American actress. She is known professionally as Keiko Agena. Born in Honolulu, HI (790)

George Ryoichi Ariyoshi (1926 - ) George Ryoichi Ariyoshi served as the third Governor of Hawaiʻi from 1974 to 1986. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He assumed the governorship when John A. Burns was declared incapacitated. When he was elected, Ariyoshi became the first American of Asian descent to be elected governor of a state of the United States. He also holds the record as the longest-serving state governor in Hawaiʻi, a record that will likely never be broken because of term limits. Ariyoshi is now considered an elder statesman of the Democratic Party of Hawaii. Born in Honolulu, HI (1420)

Kimberly Jonelle Balmilero (1979 - ) Is an American actress. Born in Kaneohe, HI (1421)

Sasha Barrese (1981 - ) Sasha Barrese is an American actress known for her role in the film The Hangover. Born in Maui, HI (1422)

Tia Carrere (1967 - ) Singer and actress. She is most well-known for her role as Wayne's girlfriend in the "Wayne's World" movies. Born in Honolulu, HI (122)

Benjamin Jerome Cayetano (1939 - ) Benjamin Jerome "Ben" Cayetano served as the fifth Governor of the State of Hawaiʻi from 1994 to 2002. He is the first Filipino American to serve as a state governor in the United States. Born in Honolulu, HI (1423)

Mark Alan Dacascos (1964 - ) Is an American actor and martial artist. He won numerous karate and various styles of kung fu championships between the ages of 7 and 18. Born in Honolulu, HI (1424)

Ronald Maurice Darling Jr. (1960 - ) Is an American former right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the New York Mets, Oakland Athletics and Montreal Expos. Born in Honolulu, HI (1425)

Sanford Ballard Dole (1844 - 1926) Was a lawyer and jurist in the Hawaiian Islands as a kingdom, protectorate, republic and territory. Serving as a friend of both Hawaiian royalty and the elite immigrant community, Dole advocated the westernization of Hawaiian government and culture. Born in Honolulu, HI (1426)

Yvonne Marianne Elliman (1951 - ) Is an American singer who performed for four years in the first cast of Jesus Christ Superstar. She scored a number of hits in the 1970s and achieved a #1 hit with "If I Can't Have You." After declining success, she dedicated herself to her family, and after a long hiatus made a come-back album as a singer-songwriter in 2004. Born in Honolulu, HI (1427)

Sid Fernandez (1962 - ) Pitcher for the New York Mets that won the World Series in 1986. Born in Honolulu, HI (116)

Hiram L. Fong (1906 - 2004) The first Chinese-American senator. Born in Honolulu, HI (123)

Bethany Meilani Hamilton (1990 - ) Is an American surfer. She is known for surviving a shark attack in which she lost her left arm, and for overcoming the serious and debilitating injury to return to surfing. Born in Kauai, HI (1428)

Don Ho (1930 - 2007) Hawaii's most famous entertainer. Born in Honolulu, HI (119)

Kamehameha I (1758 - 1819) Ruler that unified the Kingdom of Hawaii; born in Kohala. Born in Kohala district, HI (120)

Daniel K. Inouye (1924 - ) First member of the U.S. Congress from Hawaii, and the first Japanese American to serve in either the House of Representatives or the Senate. Born in Honolulu, HI (118)

Duke Paoa Kahanamoku (1890 - 1968) Hawaii's first Olympic medallist in swimming. Born in Waikiki, HI (117)

Bette Midler (1945 - ) Actress and singer made famous in Beaches. Born in Honolulu, HI (121)

Barack Obama (1961 - ) Elected a US Senator from Illinois in 2004. Four years after winning his Senate seat, Obama won the Presidency in an electoral college landslide. Barack Obama is the first African-American president of the United States of America. Born in Honolulu, HI (739)

Danny Ongais (1942 - ) Danny Ongais is simply a racer's racer. "The Flyin' Hawaiian" has earned the reputation as someone who can drive nearly any type of race car as hard as it can possibly be driven. Born in Maui, HI (791)

Ellison Shoji Onizuka (1946 - 1986) Successfully flew into space with the Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-51-C, before losing his life to the destruction of the Space Shuttle Challenger. Born in Kona, HI (792)

Harold Sakata (1920 - 1982) Actor, famous in his role as Oddjob in the James Bond film Goldfinger. Born in Holualoa,, HI (124)

Bob Shane (1934 - ) Born as Robert Castle Schoen, is an American singer and guitarist and, the only surviving founding member of The Kingston Trio. In that capacity, Shane became a seminal figure in the revival of folk and other acoustic music as a popular art form in the U.S. in the late 1950s through the mid 1960s. Born in Hilo, HI (793)

James Shigeta (1933 - ) Is an American film and television actor. He is also a standards singer, musical theatre and nightclub performer, and recording artist. He is a Nisei or second-generation American of Japanese ancestry. Born in Honolulu, HI (1429)

Shannon Marie Kahoolani Sossamon (1978 - ) Is an American actress, dancer, model, and musician. She starred in the film A Knight's Tale, which gained her wider fame and praise. She has since established herself in Hollywood after starring in several films such as 40 Days and 40 Nights, Wristcutters: A Love Story, and One Missed Call. Sossamon also had a starring role in the CBS's vampire drama Moonlight. Born in Honolulu, HI (1431)

Donald Lee Stroud (1943 - ) Is an American actor and surfer who appeared in many films in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, and has starred in over 100 movies and 175 television shows to date. Born in Honolulu, HI (1430)

Michelle Sung Wie (1989 - ) Is an American professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour. In 2006, she was named in a Time magazine article as "one of 100 people who shape our world. At age 10, she became the youngest player to qualify for USGA amateur championship. Wie would also become the youngest winner of the US Women's Amateur public links and the youngest to qualify for a LPGA tour event. Born in Honolulu, HI (1432)