Below follows a list of notable people from the metropolitan area of San Antonio, Texas.
Politics Glenn A. Abbey, U.S. diplomat Hope Andrade, secretary of state of Texas William P. Atkinson, Wisconsin state assemblyman Claude W. Black Jr., Baptist minister, civil rights leader, city councilman and mayor pro tempore Augustus Belknap, Union Army officer, railway executive, and city alderman Bill Blythe, member of the Texas House of representatives Mario Cantu, Chicano activist Julian Castro, U.S. secretary of housing and urban development; mayor of San Antonio; San Antonio city councilman; brother of U.S. Representative Joaquin Castro Joaquin Castro, U.S. representative from Texas's 35th congressional district since 2013; member of the Texas House; brother of San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro Henry E. Catto Jr., ambassador to the United Kingdom John Cornyn, U.S. senator since 2002; attended Trinity University and St. Mary's University Law School in San Antonio Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th president of the United States; stationed at Fort Sam Houston in 1916 Rick Galindo, member of the Texas House of Representatives from Bexar County; born in 1981 and reared in San Antonio Alberto Gonzales, U.S. Attorney General under President George W. Bush Tony Gonzales, U.S. representative for Texas Henry B. Gonzalez, U.S. representative for Texas's 20th congressional district, the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio is named in his honor John W. Goode, attorney and Republican politician; lost the 1961 special election for Congress to Henry B. Gonzalez Maria L. de Hernández, Mexican-American rights activist Barbara Hervey, Place 7 judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Rita Jenrette, wife of U.S. Congressman John W. Jenrette Jr., of South Carolina, posed for Playboy magazine in 1981 Lyndon B. Johnson, 36th President of the United States, retired to San Antonio Cyndi Taylor Krier, state senator and Bexar County administrative judge Lyle Larson, member of the Texas House of Representatives 2011–2023; member of the San Antonio City Council 1991–1995 Robert N. Lemen, Minnesota state legislator and businessman"Bob Lemen (1943–2021)", Grand Rapids Herald Review (Minnesota), January 5, 2022 Ruth Jones McClendon, member of the Texas House of Representatives and City Council member 1993–1996 Tom Mechler, former Texas Republican Party state chairman Susan Pamerleau, retired United States Air Force major general and the Republican sheriff of Bexar County, first woman elected, 2012 Brad Parscale, political strategist and founder of Giles–Parscale; Washington Post stated that he could "justifiably take credit" for Donald Trump's 2016 victory Francisco Antonio Ruíz, alcalde and city alderman 1836–1841 Joe Sage, member of the Texas House of Representatives from Bexar County, 1973–1975 Mario Marcel Salas, city councilman for District 2, Judson Independent School District vice president William S. Sessions, former FBI director 1987–1993; longtime attorney for the Russian Mafia's "Boss of Bosses" Semion Mogilevich Sally Shelton-Colby, ambassador of the United States to Barbados, Grenada and Dominica; minister to St. Lucia, 1979–1981, under Jimmy Carter John Thomas Steen Jr., San Antonio lawyer and 108th secretary of state of Texas G. J. Sutton, state representative, first black elected official in Texas Lou Nelle Sutton, wife of G. J. Sutton; succeeded him in the Texas House Percy Sutton, Manhattan borough president in New York City; civil rights attorney with such high-profile clients as Malcolm X; owner of the Apollo Theater in Harlem and several radio stations Susan Weddington, former Texas State Republican Party chairman Jeff Wentworth, state senator from San Antonio; unseated in 2012 by Donna Campbell John H. Wood Jr., federal judge in San Antonio until 1979, when he was assassinated by convicted murderer-for-hire Charles Harrelson, father of actor Woody Harrelson John C. Woods, executioner of the Nuremberg Trials; master sergeant in United States Army
Notable mayors Gina Ortiz Jones, 2025–present Ron Nirenberg, 2017–2025 Ivy Taylor, 2014–2017 Julián Castro, 2009–2014, 16th U.S. secretary of housing and urban development under President Barack Obama Phil Hardberger, 2005–2009 Edward D. Garza 2001–2005 Howard Peak, 1997–2001 Bill Thornton 1995–1997 Nelson Wolff, 1991–1995 Henry Cisneros, 1981–1989, secretary of HUD under President of the United States Bill Clinton Lila Cockrell, 1976–1981, 1989–1991 Maury Maverick Sr., 1939–1941 Bryan Callaghan Jr., 1885–1892, 1897–1899, 1905–1912 Francois P. Giraud, 1872–1875 Wilhelm Carl August Thielepape, 1867–1872 Daniel Cleveland, 1861–1865 Juan Seguin, 1841–1842 Sam Maverick, 1839–1840 Antonio Menchaca, 1838–1839 William H. Daingerfield, 1838 John William Smith, 1837–1838, 1840–1841, 1842–1844
Artists Bryan Willis Hamilton, music producer Mari Hernandez, photographer Carl Hoppe Deborah Kass, painter Austin Mahone, singer Martha Mood, tapestry, ceramic, photography Julian Onderdonk, landscape painter Al Rendon, photographer Porfirio Salinas Pendleton Ward, creator of cartoon Adventure Time Todd White, former lead character designer for SpongeBob SquarePants (John Marshall High School) Verner Moore White
Architects O'Neil Ford (1905–1982), nationally renowned architect; only individual ever to be declared a national landmark (1974) Alfred Giles (1853–1920), designed many historic homes and courthouses, including the Pershing House Robert H.H. Hugman (1902–1980), civil engineer; saved San Antonio after 1921 floods; designed River Walk (1922–38); astute urban planner, indefatigable prophet of civic rebirth David Lake, founding partner of Lake|Flato architects
Astronauts John E. Blaha, retired United States Air Force colonel, former NASA astronaut, veteran of five space missions aboard the Space Shuttle and Mir David Scott, NASA astronaut who flew on Gemini 8, Apollo 9, and, as commander of the Apollo 15 Moon mission, became the seventh man to walk on the Moon Ed White, NASA astronaut who flew on Gemini 4, when he became the first American spacewalker, and was set to fly on Apollo 1, but died in an accident during a plugs-out test
Film and television Poni Adams, actress Gil Birmingham, Comanche actor (Twilight film series) Dustin Lance Black, screenwriter (Milk) Pat Boyette, KENS-TV news anchor, comic book artist, actor, composer, film director Lara Flynn Boyle, actress (Twin Peaks), married San Antonio businessman Donald Ray Thomas in 2006 Paul Briggs, animator (Big Hero 6: The Series, Zootopia , and Frozen) Carol Burnett, Emmy Award-winning actress and comedian Wendell Burton, actor (The Sterile Cuckoo) Cass Ole (d. 1993), Arabian stallion from films The Black Stallion and The Black Stallion Returns; buried at his owner's home in San Antonio Hilary Duff, actress (Lizzie McGuire, Agent Cody Banks, Cheaper by the Dozen) author and singer Elizabeth Chambers, TV personality, founder of BIRD Bakery Ricardo Antonio Chavira, actor (Desperate Housewives) Jessica Collins, actress (Heroes) Joan Crawford (1904–1977), Academy Award-winning film actress (Mildred Pierce) David Cruz (journalist), news anchor, radio host, and spokesperson for LULAC Madison Davenport, actress (Sharp Objects, From Dusk till Dawn: The Series) Dayna Devon, TV presenter Ignacio Estrada, ventriloquist Jade Esteban Estrada, actor, comedian Al Freeman, Jr., Emmy Award-nominated actor (One Life to Live) Thomas Gibson, actor (Dharma & Greg, Criminal Minds) Summer Glau, actress (Firefly) Nicholas Gonzalez, actor (Resurrection) Pedro Gonzalez-Gonzalez, actor (Rio Bravo) Jackie Earle Haley, Academy Award-nominated actor (Little Children) Armie Hammer, actor (Call Me by Your Name) Jim Hill, sportscaster Ann Harding, actress Stephen Herek, director Daisy and Violet Hilton, British-born conjoined twins (Freaks) iDubbbz, YouTuber Coffeezilla, YouTuber and investigator Tommy Lee Jones, Academy Award-winning actor; his ex-wife Kimberlea Moser is the daughter of San Antonio's former mayor, Phil Hardberger Jonathan Joss, actor (King of the Hill) Callie Khouri, Academy Award-winning screenwriter (Thelma and Louise) Katie Leclerc, actress (Switched at Birth) Jim Lehrer, anchor of PBS NewsHour Hal LeSueur, actor; brother of Joan Crawford Chris Marrou, TV personality and news anchor at KENS Bruce McGill, actor (MacGyver, National Lampoon's Animal House) Ashley Austin Morris, actress (The New Electric Company) Marcia Nasatir, film producer and executive Pola Negri, silent-film actress John Allen Nelson, actor (24) Derek Lee Nixon, actor (When in Rome) Oliver North, Fox News commentator and presenter, Marine colonel who assisted opponents of Nicaragua's Sandinista government Norah O'Donnell, CBS News correspondent Jared Padalecki, actor (Gilmore Girls, Supernatural) Fred Parker Jr., actor (The Best Man, I Saw the Light) Pedro Pascal, actor (Narcos, The Last of Us) Scott Pelley, broadcast journalist and author Grace Phipps, actress (Fright Night (2011), The Nine Lives of Chloe King (2011), The Vampire Diaries (2012), Teen Beach Movie (2013), and Teen Beach 2 (2015)) Ann Prentiss, actress, died in prison Paula Prentiss, actress (The Stepford Wives, What's New Pussycat?), wife of actor-director Richard Benjamin and sister of Ann Prentiss John Quiñones (born 1952), TV journalist and presenter Sendhil Ramamurthy, actor (Heroes) Kevin Reynolds, film director and screenwriter (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves) Emilio Rivera, actor (Lie to Me) James Roday Rodriguez, actor (Psych) Michelle Rodriguez, actress (Lost) Robert Rodríguez, film director (Spy Kids) Jayne Walton Rosen, entertainer with Lawrence Welk Karen Sharpe, actress and wife of producer-director Stanley Kramer Ginny Sims, singer with Kay Kyser orchestra (1938–1942) Kim Spradlin, television personality; winner of Survivor: One World Andy Stahl (born 1952), actor Robert Stanton (born 1963), actor Henry Thomas, actor (Gangs of New York, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial) Kathy Vara, TV journalist Pendleton Ward, creator of Adventure Time, Bravest Warriors and The Midnight Gospel Peter Weller, actor (RoboCop, Star Trek Into Darkness) Noël Wells, actress (Star Trek: Lower Decks, Mr. Roosevelt)
Scientists and academics Michael Brame, professor of linguistics Elsa Salazar Cade, educator, entomologist Robert Cade, medical doctor and inventor of Gatorade William H. Cade, insect behaviorist, cricket expert Daniel Dumitru, physiatrist and electromyographer; born in San Antonio Thomas Callister Hales, mathematician, born in San Antonio Maria Hernandez Ferrier, former president of Texas A&M University–San Antonio; former advisor to the United States secretary of education on bilingual education Forrest Mims, amateur scientist, educator, engineer, author William Esco Moerner, Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry Marie Charlotte Schaefer, physician Cynthia Teniente-Matson, president of Texas A&M University–San Antonio
Athletics
Baseball Gary Bell, 12-year MLB pitcher; four-time All-Star, one World Series appearance
Randy Choate, MLB relief pitcher Alva Jo Fischer, All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player inducted into the San Antonio Sports Hall of Fame and the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame Cito Gaston,12-year MLB outfielder; one All-Star game; managed Toronto Blue Jays for 12 seasons, including consecutive World Series championships (1992–93); first African-American manager to win WS title; elected to Canada's BB HOF (2002) Jerry Grote, MLB, New York Mets World Series catcher and two-time All-Star catcher Bob Heise, MLB player for the Mets, Giants, Brewers, Cardinals, Angels, Red Sox and Royals Joe Horlen, MLB All-Star pitcher for Chicago White Sox and Oakland A's Cliff Johnson, MLB catcher