25 notable alumni

Notable Alumni of Pasadena City College

Notable alumni of Pasadena City College include Charles Manson (Criminal and leader of the Manson Family), William Holden (Actor and Academy Award winner) and Nick Nolte (Actor with three Academy Award nominations).

College data and admissions

Alumni list

Science and academia

Robert Bruce Merrifield 1921–2006

Biochemist, 1984 Nobel laureate in Chemistry

Also attended: University of California-Los Angeles
Jack Parsons 1914–1952

Rocket engineer, co-founder of JPL and Aerojet

Also attended: Stanford University

Arts and media

William Holden 1918–1981

Actor and Academy Award winner
Nick Nolte 1941–

Actor with three Academy Award nominations

Also attended: Arizona State University-Tempe, Eastern Arizona College, Phoenix College
Eddie Van Halen 1955–2020

Guitarist and founder of the rock band Van Halen

Sibling: Alex Van Halen (Pasadena City College)
Octavia E. Butler 1947–2006

Science fiction author and MacArthur Fellow

Also attended: California State University-Los Angeles
Armie Hammer 1986–

Film and television actor

Father: Michael Armand Hammer (University of San Diego, Columbia University in the City of New York)
David Lee Roth 1954–

Rock singer and lead vocalist of Van Halen
Kim Carnes 1945–

Singer-songwriter known for Bette Davis Eyes
Michael Dorn 1952–

Actor best known as Worf in Star Trek
Clive Cussler 1931–2020

Adventure novelist and underwater explorer

Child: Dirk Cussler (University of California-Berkeley)
John Singleton 1968–2019

Director of Boyz n the Hood

Also attended: University of Southern California
Nicholas Brendon 1971–2026

Actor, known as Xander in Buffy the Vampire Slayer
George Reeves 1914–1959

Actor who played Superman in Adventures of Superman
James Deen 1986–

Former pornographic actor and director
Wolfgang Reitherman 1909–1985

Disney animator, one of the Nine Old Men

Child: Bruce Reitherman (University of California-Berkeley)
Kenny Loggins 1948–

Singer, songwriter and guitarist
Alex Van Halen 1953–

Drummer of the rock band Van Halen

Sibling: Eddie Van Halen (Pasadena City College)
Dustin Lance Black 1974–

Screenwriter, Oscar winner for Milk

Also attended: University of California-Los Angeles
William Hung 1982–

Hong Kong-born singer famous from American Idol audition

Also attended: University of California-Berkeley, Marist University

Sports

Jackie Robinson 1919–1972

Baseball player who broke MLB's color line

Also attended: University of California-Los Angeles

Spouse: Rachel Robinson (University of California-Los Angeles, New York University)

Sibling: Mack Robinson (Pasadena City College, University of Oregon)
Yura Movsisyan 1987–

Armenian former professional footballer

Other fields

Charles Manson 1934–2017

Criminal and leader of the Manson Family
Sirhan Sirhan 1944–

Assassin of Senator Robert F. Kennedy
Fred Phelps 1929–2014

Pastor of Westboro Baptist Church

Also attended: Washburn University

Child: Shirley Phelps-Roper (Washburn University)

From Wikidata “educated at” records (including people who attended without graduating), ordered by the number of Wikipedia language editions. Degrees and years follow Wikidata and are left out where it has none.

Alumni network

Colleges that share the most alumni with Pasadena City College (people who attended both).

University of California-Los Angeles 3