Famous People

Every city has their famous (or infamous) former and current residents. Some are well known because they were in the news regarding some insurance scandal involving a resale home, Mississauga killing spree, or political cover-up; others are simply at the top of their game in sports or the arts. If you're moving to Ontario, California, you might get left out of the loop if you don't know who their famous people are, since they'll be the hot topic of discussion around Ontario water coolers. To fix this discrepancy and help you fit in at your new job, we've created this quick overview of well known persons who were born in or once resided in Ontario, California.

SPORTS

Cities and towns in the United States, especially ones with warm climates, turn out large numbers of professional sports players. Many of them end up living in Arlington, TX homes and playing for the Dallas Cowboys instead of their hometown, but they don't forget their roots. Some of Ontario's sports heroes are: Rodrigo Barajas, catcher for the Toronto Blue Jays (major league baseball), Landon Donovan, forward for the Los Angeles Galaxy (major league soccer), Anthony Munoz, an offensive tackle who made the Football Hall of Fame, and Douglas Northway, a freestyle swimmer who won a bronze medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.

ENTERTAINMENT

The entertainment industry is one a lot of youngsters (and oldsters!) aspire to enter, especially if they've grown up in California surrounded by the business. Some make a grand success of themselves and end up marrying a supermodel and living in Toronto condos with fifteen servants; others meet only modest success. Perhaps you've heard of some of these famous Ontarians in the entertainment business: Henry Bumstead, a cinematographer and production designer who won two Academy Awards, Christina T. Lopez, an actress and singer who has appeared on The Suite Life of Zach and Cody and recorded Latin Pop music as part of the group Soluna, and Joey Scarbury, a singer/songwriter best known for the song 'The Greatest American Hero.'

Many people often forget that there's more to the entertainment business than just singing and making movies, because those who do it often live quiet lives and buy Scarborough homes for sale instead of huge mansions. Entertainment includes composing and conducting music as well as writing in all its various forms. These Ontarians have made themselves known in those fields: Beverly Cleary, a Newberry Award-winning children's author who lived in Ontario as a child, Joseph Wambaugh, who made a successful career writing crime novels and attended Chaffey College, and Robert Shaw, a conductor who won 14 Grammys.

BUSINESS

Some Ontarians aspired to a kind of greatness that couldn't be achieved simply by running fast or entertaining people. They would need innovative ideas that would change the way the world works. Some towns have web programmers who revolutionized the way Toronto condo real estate listings are displayed. Ontario has Hobie Alter, one of the most successful surfboard shapers in surfing history, and Harry Chamberlain, an inventor who created tape-based musical instruments that would eventually evolve into the Mellotron and sample-based music.