With the opening of Hawthorne High School in 1933, many “Bears” have come and gone. They all have gone on to do many things, but three of their students really made it big. Throughout HHS history, our school has had Fulvio Cecere, Ivan Sergei, and Debbie Harry as students and these people have become known by people around the world. This proves that anyone, even if they grew up in a small town, can have their name be known for generations to come.
Fulvio Cecere was born in Canada and moved to Hawthorne in his teenage years. He graduated from HHS in 1978. He attended law school for a year before deciding to change his career to become an actor. He is most known for his roles in Valentine (2001), The Age of Adaline (2015), Double Jeopardy (1999), and Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010). His first movie was Dangerous Intentions in 1995 and his latest movie was The Unspoken in 2015.
The next HHS graduate is Ivan Sergei. Ivan Sergei was born and raised in Hawthorne. He was part of the HHS class of 1989 and also played for the Hawthorne Cubs Football team. The next year in 1990, he started his acting career by getting into his first movie, Ghoul School. The movies and TV shows he is most known for consists of Crossing Jordan (2003 – 2004), Jack & Jill (1999 – 2001), and Magic Max (2020). Magic Max was also the latest movie he played in. He also directed and wrote Rebellion in 2002.
Finally, the last famous person who attended HHS (and my personal favorite) is Deborah Ann Harry. Debbie Harry was born in Miami, Florida and then was adopted as an infant and raised in Hawthorne.
She graduated as part of the class of 1963. She started out as a secretary for BBC Radio’s office, before becoming a waitress, then a dancer, then a singer/songwriter. She is best known as the lead vocalist for Blondie. 4 of their songs reached #1 on US charts between 1979 and 1981 and #1 on the UK Charts in 1979. She is one of the best known punk icons to this day. Her best known songs include Call Me, One Way Or Another, Heart Of Glass, Maria, and The Tide Is High. She has almost 12 millions monthly listeners on Spotify and has an upcoming show/concert on December 14 in England.