From Hollywood actors to Olympic athletes to politicians, the newest generation of the California Hall of Fame spans the gamut of talents and achievements.
Academy Award-winning actress Jamie Lee Curtis and former governor and action star Arnold Schwarzenegger, Olympic champions Janet Evans and Carl Lewis, authors Riane Eisler and Terry McMillan, chef Nobuyuki Matsuhisa, innovative ensemble Mariachi Reyne of Los Angeles and former state Democratic leader John L. Burton earned a spot in the caucus of various Californians. Governor Gavin Newsom announced Tuesday.
This class, the 19th in state history, will be formally enshrined during a ceremony at the Museum of California in Sacramento on March 19 as a “celebration of their contributions to civic life, creativity and social progress,” according to Newsom's office.
The new members “have reshaped our culture and our communities. Resilient and innovative, these leaders and luminaries represent the best of the California spirit,” Newsom said in a statement.
To be inducted, candidates must have lived in California for at least five years and “have made achievements to benefit the state, the nation and the world,” according to the California Hall of Fame website. To date, 166 Californians have been selected by three governors since 2006.
Schwarzenegger, 78 years old, served as the state's 38th governor and last Republican head of state from 2003 to 2011. His biography as a renaissance man includes a career as a bodybuilder, highlighted for his Mr. Universe titles, action movie hitpolitical stardom and even the infidelity that is published in the tabloids.
Santa Monica native Curtis, 67, is among Hollywood's elite and teamed with Schwarzenegger in the action hit. “True lies” in 1994. His performance His career dates back to 1977, and won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2023 for “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”
Evans, 54, is a swimmer who has won four Olympic gold medals. and Fullerton native He attended Placentia El Dorado High School, Stanford University and USC. She serves as athletic director for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
Lewis, 64, is considered by many one of the best athletes of the 20th century. The track and field star won 10 medals, nine of them gold, in four Olympic Games.
Eisler, 88, and McMillan, 74, added several bestsellers to this Hall of Fame class.
Eisler's critically acclaimed “The Goblet and the Sword: Our History, Our Future” examines rApproximately 20,000 years of collaboration between men and women and male domination during the last 5,000 years. The futurist, cultural historian and Holocaust survivor who has degrees in sociology and law from UCLA said she was informed of the honor by Jennifer Siebel Newsom last year and was recently honored by the Austrian government with its Cross of Honor for Science and Art, First Class.
“I am very honored at this point in my life to be inducted into the California Hall of Fame,” Eisler wrote in an email. “I have worked tirelessly to help create a better world and firmly believe that a new paradigm, a new way of seeing our world and our place in it, is crucial.”
McMillan has written a string of big hits, including a couple that became major studio films in the '90s, “Waiting to Exhale” and “How Stella Got her Groove Back.” focused on the voices of black women.
Matsuhisa, 76, known for his iconic Japanese restaurant Nobu, which has six locations in California and has businesses on five continents.
Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles, founded in southern El Monte, rewrote the rules of music, becoming the first all-female mariachi ensemble to entertain for more than three decades.
Burton, the former chairman of the California Democratic Party who died last year at age 92, boasted great political ability. race that included time in the California State Assembly and Senate and in the United States House of Representatives.
“This year's class embodies the best of California: creativity, resilience and community spirit,” Siebel Newsom said in a statement. “These honorees remind us that innovation and courage flourish when people are encouraged by those around them.”
