Famous birthdays by year
Famous People Born in 1931
Born in 1931? 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 95 in 2026 · Chinese zodiac: Year of the Goat
The 1930s
The most famous people born in 193157
1931–2022Mikhail Gorbachev
Last leader of the Soviet Union, whose glasnost and perestroika reforms helped end the Cold War and won him the Nobel Peace Prize
PoliticsWould be 95
View profile Photo: Leo Medvedev/Лев Леонидович Медведев · CC BY-SA 4.0
1931–2007Boris Yeltsin
First President of Russia, who stood on a tank to defeat the 1991 coup and led the country through the Soviet collapse
PoliticsWould be 95
View profile Photo: Presidential Press and Information Office · CC BY 4.0
1931–2019Toni Morrison
American novelist of Beloved, Song of Solomon and The Bluest Eye, the first Black woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature
LiteratureWould be 95
View profile Photo: John Mathew Smith ( celebrity-photos.com ) · CC BY-SA 2.0
1931–2024Alice Munro
Canadian short-story writer of Dance of the Happy Shades and Runaway, hailed as a master of the form and a Nobel laureate
LiteratureWould be 95
View profile Photo: MacDowell · CC BY-SA 3.0
1931–2021Desmond Tutu
South African Anglican archbishop who campaigned against apartheid, won the Nobel Peace Prize and chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
ReligionWould be 95
View profile Photo: Benny Gool · Public domain
b. 1931Raúl Castro
Cuban revolutionary who succeeded his brother Fidel as president in 2008 and restored relations with the United States
PoliticsAge 95
View profile Photo: [1] · CC BY 2.0
1931–1955James Dean
American actor of East of Eden, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant who became an icon of youth after dying at 24
FilmWould be 95
View profile Photo: In-house publicity still · Public domain
1931–2015Tomas Tranströmer
Nobel Prize-winning Swedish poet noted for his works about nature
LiteratureWould be 95
View profile Photo: Pia Nordlander / bildN · CC BY 3.0
Born in 1931, month by month
- January
- Toshiki Kaifu (January 2) · Former Prime Minister of Japan during the early 1990s
- Robert Duvall (January 5) · Oscar-winning actor known for roles in The Godfather and Apocalypse Now
- Johannes Rau (January 16) · Former President of Germany and longtime regional political leader
- James Earl Jones (January 17) · Actor known for voicing Darth Vader and Mufasa
- Chun Doo-hwan (January 18) · Military leader who served as the President of South Korea
- David Lee (January 20) · Nobel Prize-winning physicist who discovered superfluidity in helium-3
- Sam Cooke (January 22) · Pioneering singer and songwriter known as the King of Soul
- February
- Boris Yeltsin (February 1) · First President of Russia, who stood on a tank to defeat the 1991 coup and led the country through the Soviet collapse
- Iajuddin Ahmed (February 1) · Former President of Bangladesh and respected soil scientist
- Isabel Martínez de Perón (February 4) · First female president of Argentina and wife of Juan Perón
- Rip Torn (February 6) · Award-winning American actor known for The Larry Sanders Show
- James Dean (February 8) · American actor of East of Eden, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant who became an icon of youth after dying at 24
- Thomas Bernhard (February 9) · Influential Austrian novelist and playwright of the post-war era
- Toni Morrison (February 18) · American novelist of Beloved, Song of Solomon and The Bluest Eye, the first Black woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature
- March
- Lamberto Dini (March 1) · Former Prime Minister of Italy and economist
- Mikhail Gorbachev (March 2) · Last leader of the Soviet Union, whose glasnost and perestroika reforms helped end the Cold War and won him the Nobel Peace Prize
- Rupert Murdoch (March 11) · Media mogul and founder of the global News Corp empire
- William Shatner (March 22) · Actor best known for playing Captain James T. Kirk
- Burton Richter (March 22) · Nobel Prize-winning physicist who co-discovered the J/psi meson particle
- Viktor Korchnoi (March 23) · Grandmaster widely considered the greatest player never to be world champion
- Leonard Nimoy (March 26) · Actor famous for his role as Spock in Star Trek
- April
- Tomas Tranströmer (April 15) · Nobel Prize-winning Swedish poet noted for his works about nature
- May
- Carroll Baker (May 28) · Actress who starred in Baby Doll and How the West Was Won
- John Robert Schrieffer (May 31) · Nobel Prize-winning physicist who explained the mechanics of superconductivity
- June
- Raúl Castro (June 3) · Cuban revolutionary who succeeded his brother Fidel as president in 2008 and restored relations with the United States
- João Gilberto (June 10) · Brazilian musician and a founding father of bossa nova
- Fernando Henrique Cardoso (June 18) · Former President of Brazil who oversaw major economic reforms
- Olympia Dukakis (June 20) · Oscar-winning actress known for Moonstruck and Steel Magnolias
- V. P. Singh (June 25) · Seventh Prime Minister of India and champion of social reform
- Martinus J. G. Veltman (June 27) · Nobel Prize-winning physicist who studied subatomic particles
- July
- Alice Munro (July 10) · Canadian short-story writer of Dance of the Happy Shades and Runaway, hailed as a master of the form and a Nobel laureate
- August
- Takashi Takabayashi (August 2) · Japanese international footballer who played for the national team
- Roger Penrose (August 8) · Nobel Prize-winning physicist known for his work on black holes
- Mário Zagallo (August 9) · Brazilian football player and manager who won four FIFA World Cups
- Richard F. Heck (August 15) · Nobel Prize-winning chemist who developed the Heck reaction
- Chinmoy Kumar Ghose (August 27) · Indian spiritual teacher who promoted meditation and peace worldwide
- September
- Ian Holm (September 12) · British actor who played Bilbo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings
- Anne Bancroft (September 17) · American actress who won an Oscar for The Miracle Worker and played the unforgettable Mrs Robinson in The Graduate
- Anita Ekberg (September 29) · Swedish actress and model iconic for her role in La Dolce Vita
- James Cronin (September 29) · Particle physicist and Nobel Prize winner
- Angie Dickinson (September 30) · Golden Globe-winning actress known for the TV series Police Woman
- October
- Riccardo Giacconi (October 6) · Nobel Prize winner considered the father of X-ray astronomy
- Desmond Tutu (October 7) · South African Anglican archbishop who campaigned against apartheid, won the Nobel Peace Prize and chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
- Raymond Kopa (October 13) · French footballing legend and three-time European Cup winner
- A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (October 15) · Aerospace scientist who served as President of India
- John le Carré (October 19) · British author of espionage thrillers including Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
- Sofia Gubaidulina (October 24) · Prolific composer of modernist and sacred music
- Annie Girardot (October 25) · Celebrated French actress known for Rocco and His Brothers
- Nawal El Saadawi (October 27) · Egyptian doctor, feminist and author of Woman at Point Zero
- November
- Monica Vitti (November 3) · Iconic Italian actress known for her roles in Michelangelo Antonioni films
- Mike Nichols (November 6) · Award-winning director of The Graduate and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
- Mwai Kibaki (November 15) · Former President of Kenya who served for over a decade
- Adolfo Pérez Esquivel (November 26) · Nobel Peace Prize winner and Argentine human rights activist
- December
- Osho (December 11) · Indian mystic and founder of the Rajneesh spiritual movement
- Rita Moreno (December 11) · Award-winning actress known for the musical film West Side Story
- John Charles (December 27) · Versatile Welsh footballer who played for Leeds and Juventus
- Guy Debord (December 28) · French Marxist theorist and founder of the Situationist International