Famous birthdays by year
Famous People Born in 1941
Born in 1941? 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 85 in 2026 · Chinese zodiac: Year of the Snake
The 1940s
The most famous people born in 194188
b. 1941Bob Dylan
American singer-songwriter of Blowin' in the Wind and Like a Rolling Stone, the first musician to win the Nobel Prize in Literature
MusicAge 85
Photo: Raph_PH · CC BY 2.0
b. 1941Bernie Sanders
Independent senator for Vermont and democratic socialist who twice ran strongly for the Democratic presidential nomination
PoliticsAge 85
Photo: Palácio do Planalto from Brasilia, Brasil · CC BY 2.0
1941–2011Kim Jong-il
Son of Kim Il Sung who ruled North Korea from 1994 to 2011, overseeing famine and the first nuclear weapons tests
FilmWould be 85
Photo: Presidential Press and Information Office · CC BY 4.0
b. 1941Richard Dawkins
British evolutionary biologist who wrote The Selfish Gene, coined the word meme and became a leading voice of atheism
ScienceAge 85
Photo: Steve Jurvetson · CC BY 2.0
b. 1941Sergio Mattarella
Former constitutional judge who has served as President of Italy since 2015, re-elected in 2022
PoliticsAge 85
Photo: Unknown author · Attribution
b. 1941Alex Ferguson
Scottish manager who won 13 Premier League titles and two Champions Leagues in 26 years at Manchester United
SportsAge 84
Photo: Austin Osuide · CC BY 2.0
1941–2025Dick Cheney
PoliticsWould be 85
Photo: Image from the U.S. Air Force website, but likely made by office of the President. · Public domain
b. 1941Hayao Miyazaki
Japanese animator who co-founded Studio Ghibli and directed My Neighbor Totoro and the Oscar-winning Spirited Away
FilmAge 85
Photo: Natasha Baucas at https://www.flickr.com/photos/sdnatasha/ · CC BY 2.0
Born in 1941, month by month
- January
- Hayao Miyazaki (January 5) · Japanese animator who co-founded Studio Ghibli and directed My Neighbor Totoro and the Oscar-winning Spirited Away
- John E. Walker (January 7) · Nobel Prize-winning chemist who studied energy production in cells
- Graham Chapman (January 8) · Founding member of the comedy troupe Monty Python
- Joan Baez (January 9) · Influential folk singer and prominent 1960s social justice activist
- Faye Dunaway (January 14) · Oscar-winning actress known for Bonnie and Clyde and Network
- Milan Kučan (January 14) · First President of Slovenia following its independence
- Plácido Domingo (January 21) · Spanish opera singer and member of the Three Tenors
- Dan Shechtman (January 24) · Nobel Prize-winning scientist who discovered the existence of quasicrystals
- Neil Diamond (January 24) · American singer-songwriter behind hits like Sweet Caroline
- Dick Cheney (January 30)
- February
- Ivica Osim (February 6) · Influential Bosnian football manager and player
- Nick Nolte (February 8) · Oscar-nominated actor known for The Prince of Tides and Warrior
- Kim Jong-il (February 16) · Son of Kim Il Sung who ruled North Korea from 1994 to 2011, overseeing famine and the first nuclear weapons tests
- David Gross (February 19) · Nobel Prize-winning theoretical physicist and string theorist
- March
- Mahmoud Darwish (March 13) · Influential Palestinian poet who wrote the Palestinian Declaration of Independence
- Wolfgang Petersen (March 14) · German director known for Das Boot and Hollywood action films
- Bernardo Bertolucci (March 16) · Oscar-winning director of The Last Emperor and Last Tango in Paris
- Fausto Cercignani (March 21)
- Bruno Ganz (March 22) · Acclaimed Swiss actor known for his role in Downfall
- Richard Dawkins (March 26) · British evolutionary biologist who wrote The Selfish Gene, coined the word meme and became a leading voice of atheism
- Ivan Gašparovič (March 27) · Politician who served as President of Slovakia for two terms
- Joseph Hooton Taylor (March 29) · Nobel Prize-winning astrophysicist who discovered the first binary pulsar
- April
- Vivienne Westwood (April 8) · Influential British fashion designer who pioneered the punk aesthetic
- Bobby Moore (April 12) · Captain of the England football team that won the 1966 World Cup
- Michael Stuart Brown (April 13) · Nobel Prize-winning geneticist who researched cholesterol metabolism
- Michael D. Higgins (April 18) · Ninth President of Ireland and acclaimed poet
- Ryan O'Neal (April 20) · Oscar-nominated American actor known for the film Love Story
- Richard Holbrooke (April 24) · American diplomat who brokered the peace agreement for the Bosnian War
- Fethullah Gülen (April 27) · Turkish scholar who led a global social and religious movement
- Karl Barry Sharpless (April 28) · Chemist who has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry twice
- Ann-Margret (April 28) · Actress and singer known for the film Viva Las Vegas
- May
- Nona Gaprindashvili (May 3) · Georgian chess grandmaster and former women's world champion
- Nora Ephron (May 19) · Screenwriter and director known for When Harry Met Sally
- Goh Chok Tong (May 20) · Second Prime Minister of Singapore succeeding Lee Kuan Yew
- Bob Dylan (May 24) · American singer-songwriter of Blowin' in the Wind and Like a Rolling Stone, the first musician to win the Nobel Prize in Literature
- Vladimir Voronin (May 25) · Former President of Moldova and leader of its Communist Party
- William Nordhaus (May 31) · Nobel Prize-winning economist noted for work on climate change
- June
- Charlie Watts (June 2) · Drummer for the Rolling Stones for over fifty years
- Martha Argerich (June 5) · Argentine concert pianist celebrated for her virtuosity and interpretations
- Jon Lord (June 9) · English composer and keyboardist who co-founded the band Deep Purple
- Chick Corea (June 12) · Highly influential jazz pianist and pioneer of jazz fusion
- Harry Nilsson (June 15)
- Václav Klaus (June 19) · Former President and Prime Minister of the Czech Republic
- Julia Kristeva (June 24) · Bulgarian-French philosopher and influential psychoanalyst
- Krzysztof Kieślowski (June 27) · Acclaimed Polish director of the Three Colours film trilogy
- Stokely Carmichael (June 29)
- Otto Sander (June 30) · Celebrated German actor known for Wings of Desire and Das Boot
- July
- Gloria Allred (July 3)
- Ryuichi Sugiyama (July 4) · Japanese footballer who won an Olympic bronze medal in 1968
- Robert Forster (July 13)
- Marina Oswald Porter (July 17)
- Sergio Mattarella (July 23) · Former constitutional judge who has served as President of Italy since 2015, re-elected in 2022
- Pierre Agostini (July 23) · Physicist awarded the Nobel Prize for his work on attosecond pulses
- David Warner (July 29) · British character actor known for roles in Titanic and Tron
- Paul Anka (July 30) · Singer-songwriter known for hits like Diana and Put Your Head on My Shoulder
- August
- Jules A. Hoffmann (August 2) · Nobel Prize-winning biologist known for his research into innate immunity
- Hage Geingob (August 3) · Third president of Namibia and the nation's first prime minister
- Martha Stewart (August 3) · American businesswoman and television host known for lifestyle and cooking
- David Crosby (August 14) · American singer-songwriter and founding member of The Byrds
- Slobodan Milošević (August 20) · President of Serbia and Yugoslavia during the conflict-ridden 1990s
- Cesária Évora (August 27) · Grammy Award-winning singer known as the "Barefoot Diva"
- September
- Sergei Dovlatov (September 3) · Influential Soviet journalist and writer who emigrated to the United States
- Bernie Sanders (September 8) · Independent senator for Vermont and democratic socialist who twice ran strongly for the Democratic presidential nomination
- Dennis M. Ritchie (September 9) · Computer scientist who created the C programming language
- Otis Redding (September 9) · Soul singer-songwriter famous for (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay
- Stephen Jay Gould (September 10) · Evolutionary biologist and popular science author who developed punctuated equilibrium
- Óscar Arias Sánchez (September 13) · Former President of Costa Rica and Nobel Peace Prize winner
- Ahmet Necdet Sezer (September 13) · Tenth President of Turkey and former constitutional judge
- Flórián Albert (September 15) · Only Hungarian footballer to win the prestigious Ballon d'Or award
- Viktor Zubkov (September 15) · Former Prime Minister of Russia and chairman of a major energy company
- Cass Elliot (September 19) · American singer and member of the folk-rock group The Mamas & the Papas
- Linda McCartney (September 24) · Photographer and keyboardist for the band Wings
- Jon Brower Minnoch (September 29)
- October
- Anne Rice (October 4) · American novelist whose Vampire Chronicles, beginning with Interview with the Vampire, turned the vampire into a brooding romantic antihero
- Eduardo Duhalde (October 5) · Former President of Argentina who led during the country's economic crisis
- Jesse Jackson (October 8) · Civil rights leader and two-time US presidential candidate
- Ken Saro-Wiwa (October 10)
- Paul Simon (October 13) · Singer-songwriter known for his solo work and Simon & Garfunkel
- Theodor W. Hänsch (October 30) · Nobel Prize-winning physicist known for laser-based spectroscopy
- November
- Art Garfunkel (November 5) · American singer known for his partnership with Paul Simon
- Abdullah Yusuf Azzam (November 14)
- Franco Nero (November 23) · Italian actor who played the lead role in the original Django
- Pete Best (November 24) · Original drummer for The Beatles during their early years
- Laura Antonelli (November 28)
- December
- Christine Delphy (December 9)
- Lee Myung-bak (December 19) · South Korean politician who served as President and Mayor of Seoul
- M. Stanley Whittingham (December 22) · Nobel Prize-winning chemist who developed the lithium-ion battery
- Alex Ferguson (December 31) · Scottish manager who won 13 Premier League titles and two Champions Leagues in 26 years at Manchester United