Famous birthdays by year
Famous People Born in 1936
Born in 1936? 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 90 in 2026 · Chinese zodiac: Year of the Rat
The 1930s
The most famous people born in 193659
1936–2025Pope Francis
Argentine Jesuit who led the Catholic Church from 2013 to 2025 as the first pope from the Americas, known for his focus on the poor
ReligionWould be 89
View profile Photo: Korea.net / Korean Culture and Information Service (Jeon Han) · CC BY-SA 2.0
1936–2023Silvio Berlusconi
Italian media tycoon and AC Milan owner who served as prime minister four times amid many scandals and trials
PoliticsWould be 90
View profile Photo: European People’s Party · CC BY 2.0
1936–2011Václav Havel
Dissident playwright who led the Velvet Revolution and became the last president of Czechoslovakia and first of the Czech Republic
LiteratureWould be 90
View profile Photo: Ondřej Sláma · CC BY-SA 3.0
1936–2018John McCain
US Navy pilot and Vietnam prisoner of war who became a senator for Arizona and the 2008 Republican presidential nominee
PoliticsWould be 90
View profile Photo: United States Congress · Public domain
1936–2025Mario Vargas Llosa
Peruvian novelist of The Time of the Hero and Conversation in the Cathedral who ran for president and won the Nobel Prize
LiteratureWould be 90
View profile Photo: Bernard Gotfryd · Public domain
1936–2025Robert Redford
Oscar-winning actor, director and founder of the Sundance Film Festival
FilmWould be 90
View profile Photo: U.S. Embassy photographer JP Evans · Public domain
1936–2021F. W. de Klerk
South African president who oversaw the end of apartheid
PoliticsWould be 90
View profile Photo: Walter Rutishauser, Photographer · CC BY-SA 4.0
b. 1936Sepp Blatter
Long-serving former president of the global football body FIFA
PoliticsAge 90
View profile Photo: Пресс-служба Президента России · CC BY 4.0
Born in 1936, month by month
- January
- Robert Wilson (January 10) · American astronomer who discovered the echo of the Big Bang
- Masashi Watanabe (January 11) · Japanese footballer and manager who won an Olympic bronze medal
- Ziaur Rahman (January 19) · Former President of Bangladesh and founder of the Nationalist Party
- Alan J. Heeger (January 22) · Nobel Prize-winning physicist and chemist known for developing conductive polymers
- Samuel C. C. Ting (January 27) · Nobel Prize-winning physicist who co-discovered the J/psi subatomic particle
- Barry C. Barish (January 27) · Nobel Prize-winning physicist who detected gravitational waves in space
- Ismail Kadare (January 28) · Albanian novelist and winner of the International Booker Prize
- Alan Alda (January 28) · American actor best known for the television series M*A*S*H
- February
- Burt Reynolds (February 11) · Hollywood leading man known for Smokey and the Bandit and Deliverance
- Alex Rocco (February 29) · Character actor best known for playing Moe Greene in The Godfather
- Jack R. Lousma (February 29) · NASA astronaut who served on the Skylab space station
- March
- Jim Clark (March 4) · Double Formula One World Champion from Scotland
- Georges Perec (March 7) · French novelist known for his experimental writing techniques
- Sepp Blatter (March 10) · Long-serving former president of the global football body FIFA
- Harald zur Hausen (March 11) · Virologist who discovered the link between HPV and cervical cancer
- Antonin Scalia (March 11) · Influential Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court
- F. W. de Klerk (March 18) · South African president who oversaw the end of apartheid
- Ursula Andress (March 19) · Swiss actress famous for playing the first James Bond girl
- Mario Vargas Llosa (March 28) · Peruvian novelist of The Time of the Hero and Conversation in the Cathedral who ran for president and won the Nobel Prize
- Amancio Ortega (March 28) · Spanish billionaire businessman and founder of the fashion chain Zara
- April
- Roy Orbison (April 23) · Rock and roll singer known for his distinctive voice and sunglasses
- Tariq Aziz (April 28) · Former Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Iraq
- Zubin Mehta (April 29) · Orchestra conductor and former director of the Israel Philharmonic
- May
- Glenda Jackson (May 9) · Double Oscar-winning actress who later served as a British MP
- Albert Finney (May 9) · Five-time Oscar-nominated actor who starred in Tom Jones and Skyfall
- Dennis Hopper (May 17) · Actor and director known for the counterculture classic film Easy Rider
- Günter Blobel (May 21) · Biologist who discovered how proteins are transported within cells
- June
- Bruce Dern (June 4) · Oscar-nominated actor known for playing villains and complex characters
- Kenneth G. Wilson (June 8) · Nobel Prize-winning physicist who studied how matter changes state
- Ken Loach (June 17) · Acclaimed British director known for socially conscious and realistic films
- Kris Kristofferson (June 22) · Influential country music songwriter and Hollywood film actor
- Richard Bach (June 23) · Writer who achieved international fame with Jonathan Livingston Seagull
- B. J. Habibie (June 25) · Third President of Indonesia and renowned aeronautical engineer
- Assia Djebar (June 30) · Algerian novelist and filmmaker known for her feminist perspective
- July
- Yasuo Fukuda (July 16) · Former Prime Minister of Japan and diplomat
- August
- Yves Saint Laurent (August 1) · Influential French fashion designer who founded his own luxury label
- Margaret Hamilton (August 17) · Computer scientist who developed flight software for Apollo missions
- Robert Redford (August 18) · Oscar-winning actor, director and founder of the Sundance Film Festival
- Hideki Shirakawa (August 20) · Nobel Prize-winning chemist who discovered conductive polymers
- Wilt Chamberlain (August 21) · Basketball player who holds the record for scoring 100 points
- A. S. Byatt (August 24) · Booker Prize-winning novelist known for her book Possession
- John McCain (August 29) · US Navy pilot and Vietnam prisoner of war who became a senator for Arizona and the 2008 Republican presidential nominee
- September
- Zine El Abidine Ben Ali (September 3) · Long-serving President of Tunisia who ruled for over twenty years
- Buddy Holly (September 7) · Pioneering rock and roll musician known for hits like Peggy Sue
- Yury Luzhkov (September 21) · Long-serving Mayor of Moscow who oversaw the city's modernisation
- Jim Henson (September 24) · Puppeteer and filmmaker who created the Muppets
- Winnie Madikizela-Mandela (September 26) · South African activist who was a prominent leader in the anti-apartheid movement
- Silvio Berlusconi (September 29) · Italian media tycoon and AC Milan owner who served as prime minister four times amid many scandals and trials
- October
- Václav Havel (October 5) · Dissident playwright who led the Velvet Revolution and became the last president of Czechoslovakia and first of the Czech Republic
- Gerhard Ertl (October 10) · Nobel Prize-winning physicist known for his work on surface chemistry
- November
- Uwe Seeler (November 5) · Prolific German striker and captain of the national team
- Virna Lisi (November 8) · Italian actress who starred in European and Hollywood films
- Mikhail Tal (November 9) · Grandmaster and eighth World Chess Champion known for his attacking style
- Don DeLillo (November 20) · American novelist known for White Noise and Underworld
- December
- Saburo Kawabuchi (December 3) · Football administrator who founded the Japanese professional J.League
- David Carradine (December 8) · Actor famous for the television series Kung Fu and Kill Bill
- Aga Khan IV (December 13) · Spiritual leader of the Nizari Ismaili Shia Muslims
- Pope Francis (December 17) · Argentine Jesuit who led the Catholic Church from 2013 to 2025 as the first pope from the Americas, known for his focus on the poor
- Mary Tyler Moore (December 29) · Award-winning actress and star of The Mary Tyler Moore Show