Famous birthdays by year
Famous People Born in 1943
Born in 1943? 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 83 in 2026 · Chinese zodiac: Year of the Goat
The 1940s
The most famous people born in 194381
b. 1943Lech Wałęsa
Gdańsk shipyard electrician who led the Solidarity trade union against communism, won the Nobel Peace Prize and became Poland's president
PoliticsAge 83
Photo: MEDEF · CC BY-SA 2.0
1943–1971Jim Morrison
Lead singer and poet of the Doors, the self-styled Lizard King behind Light My Fire and Riders on the Storm
MusicWould be 82
Photo: Elektra Records · Public domain
b. 1943Robert De Niro
American actor of Taxi Driver and Goodfellas who won Oscars for The Godfather Part II and Raging Bull
FilmAge 83
Photo: Harald Krichel · CC BY-SA 4.0
1943–2001George Harrison
Lead guitarist of the Beatles who wrote Something and Here Comes the Sun and organised the Concert for Bangladesh
MusicWould be 83
Photo: David Hume Kennerly · Public domain
1943–2008Bobby Fischer
American chess prodigy who became world champion by beating Boris Spassky in the 1972 Cold War match in Reykjavík
SportsWould be 83
Photo: Bert Verhoeff for Anefo · CC0
b. 1943Mohammad Khatami
Reformist cleric who served as President of Iran from 1997 to 2005 and called for a dialogue among civilisations
PoliticsAge 83
Photo: Farzad Khorasani · CC BY-SA 4.0
1943–2023Pervez Musharraf
Pakistani army chief who seized power in a 1999 coup and ruled as president until 2008
MilitaryWould be 83
Photo: World Economic Forum · CC BY-SA 2.0
b. 1943John Kerry
Vietnam veteran and Massachusetts senator who was the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee and later Secretary of State
PoliticsAge 82
Photo: United States Congress · Public domain
Born in 1943, month by month
- January
- Ralph Steinman (January 14) · Nobel Prize-winning biologist who discovered dendritic cells
- Janis Joplin (January 19) · Iconic rock and soul singer known for her raspy, powerful voice
- Kenzo Yokoyama (January 21) · Former Japanese footballer who managed his national team
- Sharon Tate (January 24) · American actress and fashion icon of the nineteen sixties
- February
- Rosemarie Frankland (February 1)
- Ken Thompson (February 4) · Computer science pioneer who co-designed the Unix operating system
- Michael Mann (February 5) · Film director known for stylish crime thrillers such as Heat
- Joseph Stiglitz (February 9) · Nobel Prize-winning economist and former Chief Economist of the World Bank
- Joe Pesci (February 9) · Academy Award-winning actor known for Goodfellas and Home Alone
- Horst Köhler (February 22) · Former President of Germany and head of the IMF
- Eduard Limonov (February 22)
- George Harrison (February 25) · Lead guitarist of the Beatles who wrote Something and Here Comes the Sun and organised the Concert for Bangladesh
- Carlos Alberto Parreira (February 27) · Brazilian football manager who won the 1994 FIFA World Cup
- March
- Lynn Redgrave (March 8) · British actress and member of the Redgrave acting dynasty
- Bobby Fischer (March 9) · American chess prodigy who became world champion by beating Boris Spassky in the 1972 Cold War match in Reykjavík
- David Cronenberg (March 15) · Canadian director known for body horror films like The Fly
- Mario Monti (March 19) · Former Prime Minister of Italy and European Commissioner
- Mario Molina (March 19) · Nobel Prize-winning chemist who discovered the threat of CFCs
- John Major (March 29) · British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister
- Vangelis (March 29) · Greek composer famous for the Chariots of Fire film score
- Eric Idle (March 29) · Comedian and writer best known as a member of Monty Python
- Christopher Walken (March 31) · Academy Award-winning American actor known for his distinctive voice
- April
- Robert Lefkowitz (April 15) · Nobel Prize-winning biochemist known for his research on cell receptors
- Edie Sedgwick (April 20)
- Louise Glück (April 22) · American poet and essayist who won the Nobel Prize in Literature
- May
- Michael Palin (May 5) · Monty Python star and television travel documentarian
- Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson (May 14) · Former President of Iceland who served for twenty years
- Albano Carrisi (May 20)
- Betty Williams (May 22) · Northern Irish peace activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate
- June
- Richard Smalley (June 6) · Nobel Prize-winning chemist who discovered the buckminsterfullerene molecule
- Malcolm McDowell (June 13) · English actor famous for his role in A Clockwork Orange
- Johnny Hallyday (June 15) · French singer who popularised rock and roll music in France
- Newt Gingrich (June 17) · American politician who served as Speaker of the House
- Raffaella Carrà (June 18)
- J. Michael Kosterlitz (June 22) · Nobel Prize-winning physicist known for studying phase transitions in matter
- Vint Cerf (June 23) · Internet pioneer who co-developed the web's fundamental architecture
- Klaus von Klitzing (June 28) · Nobel Prize-winning physicist who discovered the integer quantum Hall effect
- July
- Toto Cutugno (July 7) · Italian singer-songwriter best known for the hit song L'Italiano
- Arthur Ashe (July 10) · American tennis champion and winner of three Grand Slam singles titles
- Howard Gardner (July 11) · American psychologist who developed the theory of multiple intelligences
- Jocelyn Bell Burnell (July 15) · Astrophysicist who discovered the first radio pulsars as a student
- Thomas J. Sargent (July 19) · Nobel Prize-winning economist who specialised in macroeconomics
- Mick Jagger (July 26) · Lead singer and founding member of the Rolling Stones
- Richard Wright (July 28) · Founding member and keyboardist of the rock band Pink Floyd
- August
- Pervez Musharraf (August 11) · Pakistani army chief who seized power in a 1999 coup and ruled as president until 2008
- Robert De Niro (August 17) · American actor of Taxi Driver and Goodfellas who won Oscars for The Godfather Part II and Raging Bull
- Gianni Rivera (August 18) · Legendary Italian footballer and Ballon d'Or winner
- Arthur B. McDonald (August 29) · Nobel Prize-winning astrophysicist who studied neutrinos
- September
- Roger Waters (September 6) · Co-founder, bassist and primary songwriter for the rock band Pink Floyd
- Gloria Gaynor (September 7) · American singer known for the disco anthem I Will Survive
- Sani Abacha (September 20) · Former Nigerian military leader who served as head of state
- Julio Iglesias (September 23) · Best-selling Spanish singer and songwriter with a career spanning decades
- Antonio Tabucchi (September 24) · Italian writer and scholar known for his work on Portuguese literature
- Nikos Anastasiades (September 27) · Former President of Cyprus who served two terms
- Lech Wałęsa (September 29) · Gdańsk shipyard electrician who led the Solidarity trade union against communism, won the Nobel Peace Prize and became Poland's president
- Johann Deisenhofer (September 30) · Biochemist who won the Nobel Prize for mapping membrane proteins
- October
- Jean-Jacques Annaud (October 1) · French film director known for Quest for Fire and The Bear
- Chevy Chase (October 8) · American comedian and original cast member of Saturday Night Live
- R. L. Stine (October 8) · Author of the best-selling Goosebumps horror book series
- Mohammad Khatami (October 14) · Reformist cleric who served as President of Iran from 1997 to 2005 and called for a dialogue among civilisations
- Penny Marshall (October 15) · Director of hit films including Big and A League of Their Own
- Tariq Ali (October 21) · British-Pakistani political activist, writer and public intellectual
- Catherine Deneuve (October 22) · Iconic French actress known for films such as Belle de Jour
- November
- Salvatore Adamo (November 1)
- Sam Shepard (November 5) · Playwright and actor known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Buried Child
- Joni Mitchell (November 7) · Influential Canadian singer-songwriter known for her poetic lyrics and visual art
- Wallace Shawn (November 12) · American character actor and playwright known for The Princess Bride
- Billie Jean King (November 22) · American tennis champion and pioneer for gender equality in sport
- Denis Sassou-Nguesso (November 23) · Long-serving President of the Republic of the Congo
- Takaji Mori (November 24) · Japanese footballer who won an Olympic bronze medal in 1968
- Marilynne Robinson (November 26) · Pulitzer Prize-winning author of novels including Gilead and Housekeeping
- Terrence Malick (November 30) · American filmmaker known for movies like The Thin Red Line
- December
- Finn E. Kydland (December 1) · Nobel Prize-winning economist who studied business cycles and monetary policy
- Jim Morrison (December 8) · Lead singer and poet of the Doors, the self-styled Lizard King behind Light My Fire and Riders on the Storm
- John Kerry (December 11) · Vietnam veteran and Massachusetts senator who was the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee and later Secretary of State
- Keith Richards (December 18) · Co-founder and lead guitarist of the rock band The Rolling Stones
- Queen Silvia of Sweden (December 23) · Long-serving Queen consort and wife of King Carl XVI Gustaf
- Tarja Halonen (December 24) · First female President of Finland
- Hanna Schygulla (December 25) · German actress known for her work in the New German Cinema
- Ben Kingsley (December 31) · Oscar-winning actor who played Mahatma Gandhi
- John Denver (December 31) · American singer and songwriter known for Take Me Home, Country Roads