Distinguished Alumni

Actors, athletes, coaches and artists fill the list of the college’s many celebrated alumni. Here is a sampling:

Brian Asselstine, Retired major league baseball player, Atlanta Braves

Kathy Bates, Academy Award-winning TV, stage and screen actress (Misery; Fried Green Tomatoes; Night, Mother; Roe v. Wade)

Mike Bratz, former NBA player with the Phoenix Suns, Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings

Jeffrey Combs, actor, stage, screen and television (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)

Gunther Cunningham, assistant head coach-linebackers for the NFL's Tennessee Titans; former head coach of the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs

Boyd Gaines, 3-time Tony award-winning actor, stage, screen and television (The Heidi Chronicles, Cabaret, Contact, Heartbreak Ridge, Evergreen)

Jim Grce, cinematographer and lighting director (The Patriot, Austin Powers-The Spy Who Shagged Me)

Harry Groener, 3-time Tony-nominated stage actor (Oklahoma, Cats, Crazy for You)

Harry Hamlin, actor, stage, screen and television (L.A. Law, Clash of the Titans)

Mark Harelik, playwright (The Immigrant) and actor, stage, screen and television (Prison Break, Wings, The Hollow Lands, The Heidi Chronicles)

Winifred Hervey, Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning television producer and writer (The Steve Harvey Show, Golden Girls, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air); selected as an AACC Alumni of the Year (2001)

Kathleen Lloyd Jenvay, TV and screen actress (Magnum, P.I.; The Missouri Breaks)

Kenneth Kring, founder of the world's leading executive search firm; 1999 national champion and U.S. record holder in men's masters indoor pentathlon (45+ age range)

Tim Kring, television executive producer and writer (Heroes, Providence, Chicago Hope, Crossing Jordan)

Lawrence Lester, designer and producer of special effects shows in Las Vegas and worldwide (Buccaneer Bay pirate ship battle, Atlantis, MGM bronze lion)

John Marshall, assistant coach-defensive line, NFL's Detroit Lions; former assistant head coach/defensive coordinator, NFL's Carolina Panthers

Jeff McCarthy, Broadway and movie actor whose roles have included the "Beast" in Disney's Beauty and the Beast

Kelly McGillis, award-winning film and stage actress (Top Gun, Witness, A Seagull, Twelfth Night)

Chuck Negron, rock star, former lead singer of Three Dog Night

Phillip Norwood, Hollywood storyboard artist specializing in special effects and live-action sequences (True Lies, Terminator 2, The Abyss)

Ronald Omberg, nationally-recognized nuclear engineer

Leslie Parsons, Emmy-nominated production designer and art director (Murder, She Wrote; Falcon Crest; Star Trek: Voyager)

Owen Siler (deceased), former Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard; member of Joint Chiefs of Staff under Presidents Nixon, Ford and Carter; received California Community College Distinguished Alumni Award for 2002 from the California Community College League; Adm Siler passed away July 17, 2007, at the age of 85

Bryn Smith, retired major league pitcher for the Colorado Rockies, Montreal Expos, and St. Louis Cardinals

David Stone, 5-time Emmy-winning instructional TV producer

Cynthia Lauren Tewes, TV actress ("Julie" on The Love Boat)

Robin Williams, actor and comedian, winner of Academy Award and two Screen Actors Guild awards (Good Will Hunting; The Birdcage; Good Morning, Vietnam)

Milford Zornes (deceased), artist whose work can be seen in permanent and private collections including the White House, the Pentagon, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Zornes passed away Feb. 24, 2008, at the age of 100.