Even the newest newcomers to Tacoma know a few notables started here. Bing Crosby and Dale Chihuly, for example, come to mind as the most mentioned celebrities with ties to the City of Destiny and the South Sound in general. But there are many more. Any list like this will certainly be incomplete since there really are too many Tacoma notables to mention outside of a list of names, so here are some local celebrities that might not come to mind.
Notable Sports Stars from Tacoma
In the world of sports, for example, there is Point and Shooting Guard Isaiah Thomas, who attended Curtis High School until he was a junior and moved to Connecticut. He has been on a host of teams throughout his career, which included two NBA All-Star nods and is currently on the Phoenix Suns.
And there, of course, are the Trufant brothers, Desmond, Isaiah, and Marcus, who each left their marks on the NFL as cornerbacks. They attended Wilson High School, now known as Dr. Dolores Silas. Desmond was a first-round draft pick for the Atlanta Falcons in 2013. He left the NFL as a Chicago Bear in 2021. Isaiah was a journeyman with multiple teams during a five-year career, three of which were spent with the New York Jets during two stints. He left the NFL as a Cleveland Brown after a knee injury in 2014. Marcus had a ten-year career with nine seasons as a member of the Seattle Seahawks, particularly as a member of the “Legend of Boom.”
South Sound’s Famous Musicians
In the realm of music, there are the Sonics, the Wailers and the Ventures, but there is also the five-time Grammy Award-winning blues icon Robert Cray, who attended Lakes High School. His name is listed in the Blues Hall of Fame, and he received the Americana Music Lifetime Achievement Award for Performance in 2017.
Also is the late, great Jerry Miller. The Moby Grape founder was a guitar legend, number 68 on Rolling Stone Magazine’s top 100 guitarists of all time. The Lincoln High School graduate toured the world in the 1960s through the 1990s before settling back home in Tacoma, where he continued to play until he passed away in 2024. He was 81.
Famed Tacoma Authors
Writers of note include science fiction author Frank Herbert, who is best known for his Dune series, which is the best-selling science fiction novel of all time. Herbert worked on the school newspaper at Lincoln High School as well as the Tacoma Daily Ledger after classes until he ran away from home with his five-year-old sister to live with a relative in Salem, Oregon, because of their parents’ chronic drinking troubles. While he didn’t graduate as an Abe, he certainly left his mark on the city, literally. MetroParks Tacoma has since named its waterfront Dune Peninsula Park after his legacy.
Another giant of the printed word with local ties is Gary Larson, the cartoonist who brought the Far Side comics to the world. He went to Curtis High School in University Place.
Other Remarkable Tacoma Celebrities
One last entry in the locals you might not know had local ties includes David Mikkelson, who founded the fact-checking website Snopes with his then-wife Barbara from their Tacoma house. Their site started as the Urban Legends Reference Pages in the dawning age of the internet that didn’t include search engines as we know them today.
Before you start yelling, “What about ?!?…” at your screen, here’s a speed round of other notables with ties to Tacoma. There’s singer and Community World Theater alum Neko Case, NFL Hall of Famer Ahmad Rashad, and Scientology founder and science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard, who was in the City of Destiny for a bit and was apparently active in the Boy Scouts.
And, of course, there is the basketball GOAT, computer science guru, and former Lakes Lancer Kate Starbird. She used to be my neighbor.
As stated at the start, one article can’t mention everyone. Now, sound off with suggestions, and perhaps your favorite famous Tacoma celebrity will be featured.