Sacramento Bee: California legends from Hollywood, sports and beyond: These are 2023’s Hall of Fame inductees

By Hannah Shields, Sacramento Bee
August 14, 2023

Actress and screenwriter Carrie Fisher, Los Angeles Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully and actress and diplomat Shirley Temple Black are three of the latest inductees in the 16th Class of the California Hall of Fame.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom announced Tuesday seven icons to be inducted into California’s Hall of Fame at the California Museum in Sacramento.

The announcement marks the second time all of the inductees have been honored posthumously. The first was in 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are thrilled to announce the newest class of inductees joining some of our state’s most revolutionary, innovative and brightest in the California Hall of Fame,” the governor said in a statement. “The outstanding legacy of this group has and will continue to embody what it means to be a Californian. There is no doubt their legacies will continue to live on and inspire millions across our state for generations to come.”

“The governor and I are delighted to honor the contributions of this remarkable group of visionaries,” Siebel Newsom said. “Each one of these pioneers has uniquely impacted California through their boundless creativity, perseverance, and courage — encapsulating the California dream through their lives and legacies.”

The California Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held virtually Aug. 22. The ceremony will be livestreamed via the Governor’s Office’s Twitter and the California Museum’s YouTube channel.

These are the seven inductees.

CARRIE FISHER

Most prominently known for her role in the “Star Wars” saga as Princess Leia, Fisher was a beloved actress and producer who followed the steps of her mother, Debbie Reynolds, another Hollywood acting legend. Fisher was 60 years old when she died in her sleep Dec. 27, 2016, and is survived by her daughter, Billie Lourd.

MAGGIE GEE

Gee, born as Gee Mei Gue in 1923 in Burbank, was one of only two Chinese American pilots who served in the Women Airforce Service Pilots in World War II. After the war, Gee went on to receive both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in science at UC Berkeley — a male-dominated field at the time. She spent her career as a worker and consultant for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

ETTA JAMES

Jamesetta Hawkins, who took on the name Etta James during her career, was a Los Angeles-based singer who performed various genres including gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, rock and roll and soul. Her most popular hits included “A Sunday Kind of Love,” “At Last,” “I’d Rather Go Blind” and “I Just Want To Make Love To You.”

JOSE JULIO SARRIA

Sarria was a political activist was first known openly gay candidate to run for public office when he ran for San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors in 1961. Sarria helped found both the League for Civil Education, a nonprofit gay rights organization, and the Society for Individual Rights, an advocacy group for gay rights.

VIN SCULLY

One of baseball’s most iconic play-by-play announcers, Scully joined as the Dodgers lead broadcaster in Brooklyn in 1953 before the team made its move to Los Angeles in 1958. He expanded his career as a sports commentator and worked for CBS and NBC, covering basketball and football. Scully accrued many accolades for his distinctive voice and storytelling, including an Emmy Award for lifetime achievement in sportscasting and an induction into the National Radio Hall of Fame.

SHIRLEY TEMPLE BLACK

Known for her curly-cued hair, bright eyes and musical talent, Temple was a child actress born in Santa Monica on April 23, 1928. She performed in over 40 motion pictures during the 1930s and received an Academy Award for her appearance in Bright Eyes. In her adult life, the child prodigy continued to perform on radio and television and but was best known for her ambassadorships to Ghana and the former Czechoslovakia.

ARCHIE WILLIAMS

Williams had just finished his first year at UC Berkeley when he won an Olympic gold medal in 1936 for the 400-meter race in Berlin. Just months before, the track star had set a world record for the same race at the NCAA Championships, running 400 meters in 46.1 seconds. Upon his return to California, Williams finished his degree in mechanical engineering and notably became the school’s first Black student to run for student council.