Freddie Letuli was the pioneer of the world-famous Polynesian fire knife dance. He toured across the United States and Europe, appearing in TV shows and movies. Letuli died in 2003. The annual World Fire Knife competition is held each year in his honor.
Al Harrington is a Hollywood character actor best known for playing Detective Ben Kokua on the original Hawaii Five-O.
Hollywood actor Eric Stoltz lived with his family in American Samoa. His father was the principal of Leone High School in the late 1960s.[2]
Gary Scott Thompson is a Hollywood screenwriter, television producer and director. He is best known for his work on the Fast & the Furious film series.
Author Sia Figiel was an educator for Fa'asao-Marist and Samoana High School. Figiel was a special liaison for the congressman's office for several years.
Fofó Iosefa Fiti Sunia founded American Samoa's first newspaper in the 1960s and was later elected as a non-voting delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives, serving from 1981 to 1988. Sunia published a series of books, among them The story of the legislature of American Samoa: 1948–1998 and Puputoa: A Host of Heroes.[citation needed]
Music
The Katinas is a famed contemporary Christian music group composed of brothers.
Politics
Tulsi Gabbard is a member of the United States congress representing Hawaii's 2nd congressional district.
Arieta Enesi Mulitauaopele is the first Samoan woman to run for election as Lieutenant Governor of American Samoa.
Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen is a member of the United States House of Representatives representing American Samoa. Her father was the first democratically elected governor of American Samoa. Coleman Radewagen is a Republican, and she serves on the Committee on Natural Resources, the Committee on small business and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
High Chief Peter Maivia, a blood brother to the Anoaʻi family, was also a professional wrestler, promoting a National Wrestling Alliance territory out of Hawaii and becoming a folk hero among the Samoan population of San Francisco. He is the grandfather of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who posthumously inducted him into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2008.
Jack Thompson, "The Throwin' Samoan", was a backup quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals and the first Samoan member of a team that made it to the NFL Super Bowl, in 1982, although Thompson did not play in that game.
Cocoa Samoa was a professional wrestler in the 1980s. He held several championship titles.
Jonathan Fanene became the first NFL player to be appointed to a cabinet position in the American Samoa government in 2014.[8]
Olympic Diver Greg Louganis was born in El Cajon, California, and is of Samoan and Swedish descent. His teenage biological parents placed him for adoption when he was eight months old and he was raised in California by his adoptive parents, Frances and Peter Louganis. His adoptive father was of Greek descent.[9] Louganis reconnected with his biological father, Fouvale Lutu, in 1984. Through the help of DNA tests and his half-siblings, he found his biological mother in 2017.[10]
