text: Martin Tytell – owner of the Tytell Typewriter Company who became known as "Mr. Typewriter, New York"
  U
  Leon Uris – author (Exodus, Trinity)
  V
  J.D. Vance – writer and venture capitalist known for his memoir Hillbilly Elegy
  Bill Veeck – baseball team owner, baseball Hall of Famer
  W
  Ralph Waite – Emmy Award-nominated actor (The Waltons)
  Walter Walsh – FBI agent, award-winning shooter
  Joseph Wambaugh – bestselling American writer (The Onion Field)
  John Warner – former Secretary of the Navy, U.S. Senator from Virginia
  Charles Waterhouse – artist
  Mike Weaver – world boxing champion
  James E. Webb – second Administrator of NASA
  James H. "Jim" Webb – U.S. Senator (D-VA), former U.S. Secretary of the Navy, author
  Robert Webber – actor (12 Angry Men, The Dirty Dozen)
  Chuck Wepner – boxer, often named as the inspiration for the Rocky movie series
  Bing West – author, former Assistant Secretary of Defense in the Reagan Administration
  Floyd "Red Crow" Westerman – Dakota Sioux musician, country music singer, political activist and actor
  Jo Jo White – former NBA basketball player with the Boston Celtics
  Charles Whitman – University of Texas clocktower sniper
  James Whitmore – Oscar-nominated actor (Give 'em Hell, Harry!, The Shawshank Redemption)
  Larry Wilcox – actor (CHiPs)
  Steve Wilkos – TV host, Chicago Police Department veteran