Famous birthdays by year
Famous People Born in 1920
Born in 1920? Meet the well-known people who share your birth year, from the biggest names to the ones you might not expect, month by month.
Turning 106 in 2026 · Chinese zodiac: Year of the Monkey
The 1920s
The most famous people born in 192053
1920–2005John Paul II
Polish pope from 1978 to 2005, the first non-Italian pope in 455 years, who helped inspire the fall of communism in Eastern Europe
Photo: Unknown author · CC BY 3.0 pl
1920–1993Federico Fellini
Italian director of La Strada, La Dolce Vita and 8½ whose dreamlike films won four Oscars for best foreign-language film
Photo: Walter Albertin, World Telegram staff photographer · Public domain
1920–1992Isaac Asimov
American science-fiction writer of the Foundation series and I, Robot, who formulated the Three Laws of Robotics
Photo: Phillip Leonian [ 1 ] from New York World-Telegram & Sun. [ 2 ] · Public domain
1920–1997Toshirō Mifune
Japanese actor of Rashomon, Seven Samurai and Yojimbo, famed for his intense collaborations with Akira Kurosawa
Photo: 映画世界社 (Eiga Sekai Publications, Inc.) · Public domain
1920–2012Ray Bradbury
American writer of Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles and Something Wicked This Way Comes, a giant of science fiction
Photo: Alan Light · CC BY 2.0
1920–1958Rosalind Franklin
English chemist whose X-ray image Photo 51 was key to discovering the double-helix structure of DNA
Photo: MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology · CC BY-SA 4.0
1920–1994Charles Bukowski
American poet and novelist known for his gritty depictions of life
Photo: Artgal73 · CC BY 2.5
1920–2012Ravi Shankar
Indian sitar virtuoso who popularised Indian classical music worldwide
Photo: Markgoff2972 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Born in 1920, month by month
- January
- Isaac Asimov (January 2) · American science-fiction writer of the Foundation series and I, Robot, who formulated the Three Laws of Robotics
- Clive Dunn (January 9) · Actor best known for playing Corporal Jones in Dad's Army
- Javier Pérez de Cuéllar (January 19) · Fifth Secretary-General of the United Nations from Peru
- Federico Fellini (January 20) · Italian director of La Strada, La Dolce Vita and 8½ whose dreamlike films won four Oscars for best foreign-language film
- February
- Farouk I of Egypt (February 11) · Last reigning King of Egypt before the 1952 revolution
- Pran (February 12) · Iconic Indian actor celebrated for playing legendary film villains
- Michèle Morgan (February 29) · Renowned French film actress who starred in cinema for seven decades
- March
- Boris Vian (March 10) · French writer and musician who wrote the novel Froth on the Daydream
- Nicolaas Bloembergen (March 11) · Physicist who shared a Nobel Prize for developing laser spectroscopy
- E. Donnall Thomas (March 15) · Physician who pioneered bone marrow transplantation as a cancer treatment
- Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (March 17) · Founding leader and first President of independent Bangladesh
- Éric Rohmer (March 21) · French film director and key figure of the New Wave movement
- April
- Toshirō Mifune (April 1) · Japanese actor of Rashomon, Seven Samurai and Yojimbo, famed for his intense collaborations with Akira Kurosawa
- Edmond H. Fischer (April 6) · Nobel Prize-winning biochemist who discovered how proteins are regulated
- Ravi Shankar (April 7) · Indian sitar virtuoso who popularised Indian classical music worldwide
- Emilio Colombo (April 11) · Former Italian Prime Minister and President of the European Parliament
- Richard von Weizsäcker (April 15) · President of Germany during the country's reunification
- May
- Richard Adams (May 9) · Author of the classic adventure novel Watership Down
- John Paul II (May 18) · Polish pope from 1978 to 2005, the first non-Italian pope in 455 years, who helped inspire the fall of communism in Eastern Europe
- Peggy Lee (May 26) · Jazz and popular music singer known for the hit song Fever
- John Harsanyi (May 29) · Nobel Prize-winning economist and pioneer in the field of game theory
- June
- Alberto Sordi (June 15) · Celebrated Italian actor and icon of national comedy cinema
- François Jacob (June 17) · Nobel Prize-winning French biologist who discovered how genes are regulated
- July
- Owen Chamberlain (July 10) · Nobel Prize-winning physicist who helped discover the antiproton
- Yul Brynner (July 11) · Oscar-winning actor known for The King and I
- Amália Rodrigues (July 23) · Portuguese singer widely known as the Queen of Fado
- Rosalind Franklin (July 25) · English chemist whose X-ray image Photo 51 was key to discovering the double-helix structure of DNA
- August
- Charles Bukowski (August 16) · American poet and novelist known for his gritty depictions of life
- Maureen O'Hara (August 17) · Irish-American actress known for films like The Quiet Man
- Shelley Winters (August 18) · Two-time Oscar-winning American actress known for The Diary of Anne Frank
- Ray Bradbury (August 22) · American writer of Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles and Something Wicked This Way Comes, a giant of science fiction
- Prem Tinsulanonda (August 26) · Thai statesman who served as Prime Minister and military chief
- Charlie Parker (August 29) · Influential jazz saxophonist and a leading figure in bebop
- September
- Lawrence Klein (September 14) · Nobel Prize-winning economist who created mathematical models for forecasting
- Mickey Rooney (September 23) · American actor whose professional career lasted nearly ninety years
- Sergei Bondarchuk (September 25) · Soviet filmmaker and actor who directed the epic War and Peace
- October
- Walter Matthau (October 1) · Oscar-winning actor known for The Odd Couple and Grumpy Old Men
- Frank Herbert (October 8) · American author of the influential science-fiction novel Dune
- Mario Puzo (October 15) · Author and screenwriter best known for The Godfather
- Montgomery Clift (October 17) · American actor known for playing sensitive and intense film characters
- Melina Mercouri (October 18) · Greek actress and politician who campaigned for the Parthenon Sculptures
- Timothy Leary (October 22) · Psychologist and writer known for advocating the use of psychedelic drugs
- Gianni Rodari (October 23) · Italian writer known for his children's literature
- K. R. Narayanan (October 27) · First person from the Dalit community to serve as President of India
- Baruj Benacerraf (October 29) · Nobel Prize-winning immunologist who discovered immune system genes
- Fritz Walter (October 31) · Captain of West Germany's 1954 World Cup winning team
- November
- Douglass North (November 5) · Nobel Prize-winning economist known for his work on economic history
- Paul Celan (November 23) · Influential German-language poet and Holocaust survivor
- December
- Dave Brubeck (December 6) · American jazz pianist and composer of Take Five
- George Porter (December 6) · Nobel Prize-winning chemist and President of the Royal Society
- Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (December 9) · Italian statesman who served as President and Prime Minister
- Clarice Lispector (December 10) · Highly acclaimed Brazilian novelist known for her introspective writing style
- George Shultz (December 13) · US statesman who served as Secretary of State