LACC: Famous Alumni

Frank Gehry is a Canadian-American architect known for his use of bold, postmodern shapes and unusual fabrications. His iconic works include Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the Guggenheim Museum in Spain, The Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle, and more. Gehry came to Los Angeles in 1949 and enrolled at LACC before transferring to USC. In 1963, he founded his own firm, Gehry Associates. The avant-garde style of architects in Venice Beach influenced Gehry as he became known as one of the leaders in Deconstructivist style. Unusual materials, shapes, and gravity-defying architecture became his trademark.

Lawrence Klein studied mathematics at LACC during the onset of World War II. He completed his undergraduate studies in economics and mathematics at UC Berkeley before earning his Ph.D. in Economics at M.I.T., studying under Paul Samuelson. He was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1980 “for the creation of econometric models and their application to the analysis of economic fluctuations and economic policies.” The tools he created are still used by the Federal Reserve Bank and other central banks today.

As the son of a single mother, Alvin Ailey moved from Navasota, Texas to Los Angeles at the age of 12. Ailey excelled in his educational pursuits, particularly in the areas of languages and athletics. He began studying modern dance in 1949. In 1958, Ailey founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, which would go on to perform for over 20 million people worldwide.

Susan Ahn Cuddy was a Los Angeles native, born to the first Korean couple to immigrate to the United States. Her parents were activists, working to liberate Korea from Japanese colonization. Their family’s home, the Ahn House, became a safe haven for Korean immigrants in Los Angeles. While at LACC, Cuddy lead the women’s baseball team and the softball team. She transferred to San Diego State University before enlisting in the US Army following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Not only was she the first Asian American woman in the Navy, but she then became the first female aerial gunnery officer. Later, she became a Lieutenant and worked for the US Navy Intelligence and the Library of Congress.

Odetta Holmes earned a degree in classical music from LACC. After a trip to San Francisco in 1950, she learned an appreciation for folk music. She was known for a blend of folk, blues, ballads, and spiritual songs, inspired by the music of the Deep South. She moved to New York City later in the 1950s, and her career quickly took off. She became involved in the civil rights movement, singing at the March on Washington in 1963.

Murray Fromson was an international news reporter and professor at the USC Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism at USC. As a longtime news correspondent and reporter, Fromson was an advocate for freedom of the press and journalistic integrity. He covered events around the world from the Korean and Vietnam Wars to the Civil Rights Movement in the US. For reporting on the fall of Saigon, he and his colleagues at CBS were awarded two Overseas Press Club awards. Fromson was one of the founders of the Committee for Freedom of the Press.

Les McCann’s first television appearance was on the Ed Sullivan Show after winning a Navy talent contest for his singing. He moved to Los Angeles and attended LACC in the late 1950s. McCann later signed with Pacific Jazz in 1960, becoming famous for his talent as a jazz pianist. In 1969, his performance of the anti-Vietnam War song, “Compared to What” by Eugene McDaniels became a pop chart success.

Nick Beck was the editor of the LACC Collegian newspaper during his time at LACC. He started school with the goal of becoming a sports journalist, hoping to cover boxing matches at the Olympic Auditorium and Hollywood Legion Stadium. After transferring to what is now known as Cal State LA, he earned a master’s degree at UCLA. He went on to teach at CSULA while in graduate school at UCLA, earning a Ed.D. in history of education. He wrote about more than boxing during his journalism career, covering the Tokyo and Mexico City Olympics, the Watts Riots, and more.

Mark Hamill, best known for playing Luke Skywalker, started school at LACC in 1969. He studied drama while working as a janitor to make ends meet. Hamill had a recurring role on General Hospital, as well as guest appearances on The Bill Cosby Show, The Partridge Family, and One Day at a Time before he landed the role in Star Wars through a routine cattle call audition.

Albert Hughes of the Hughes brothers studied Cinema/TV at LACC and graduated in 1991. The brothers are known for directing American Pimp (1999), Dead Presidents (1995), Menace II Society (1993), From Hell (2001), and Book of Eli (2010). Having studied the technical side of movie-making at LACC, he handled those aspects while his brother worked more closely with the actors.

After attending LACC, Terry McMillan earned a B.A. in journalism from UC Berkeley. Her first book, Mama, was published in 1987. It sold out its first printing after McMillan marketed the book herself, unhappy with the publicity it received from the publisher’s promotion. Her third novel, Waiting to Exhale, made the New York Times bestseller list and sold over 3 million copies. Two of her novels, Waiting to Exhale and How Stella Got Her Groove Back, have been adapted into successful movies.

Tony Valdez began working at KTTV Channel 11 in 1981. He had previously had stints in writing, producing, and reporting at KCET and KTLA. At the beginning of his 35 year run at KTTV, he was one of the very few faces of color on TV. Now that he is retired, he is happy to see that news reporters look more like the people watching at home. Valdez is the recipient of multiple Emmy, Golden Mike, and LA Press Club awards.

Richard Pink is the current co-owner of Pink’s Hot Dogs. The company started as a push cart in 1939, run by his parents, Paul and Betty Pink. Since then pushcart has expanded across the globe with locations in the Philippines, Las Vegas, Ohio, and Connecticut. True to its Hollywood roots, Pink’s has appeared in several movies and offers menu items named after celebrities, like the “Martha Stewart Dog” and the “Rosie O’Donnell Long Island Dog.” In addition to running Pink’s Hot Dogs, he is the president of Richard Pink & Associates.

In a career spanning more than five decades, John Williams has become one of America’s most accomplished and successful composers for film and for the concert stage. He has served as music director and laureate conductor of one of the country’s treasured musical institutions, the Boston Pops Orchestra, and he maintains thriving artistic relationships with many of the world’s great orchestras, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mr. Williams has received a variety of prestigious awards, including the National Medal of Arts, the Kennedy Center Honors, the Olympic Order, and numerous Academy Awards, Grammy Awards, Emmy Awards and Golden Globe Awards. He remains one of our nation’s most distinguished and contributive musical voices, and has composed the music and served as music director for more than one hundred films.