Famous birthdays by year

Famous People Born in 1944

Born in 1944? 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 82 in 2026 · Chinese zodiac: Year of the Monkey

The 1940s

The most famous people born in 194487

b. 1944

Ban Ki-moon

South Korean diplomat who served two terms as Secretary-General of the United Nations, from 2007 to 2016

Ban Ki-moon (Korean: 반기문; born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was the South Korean minister of foreign affairs and trade between 2004 and 2006.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

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Photo: World Economic Forum · CC BY-SA 2.0

b. 1944

George Lucas

American filmmaker who created Star Wars and Indiana Jones and founded Lucasfilm and Industrial Light & Magic

George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker, philanthropist, and entrepreneur.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

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Photo: Kevin Payravi · CC BY-SA 4.0

b. 1944

Gerhard Schröder

Social Democrat who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005 and later worked for Russian energy firms

Gerhard "Gerd" Fritz Kurt Schröder (born 7 April 1944) is a German former politician and lobbyist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. From 1999 to 2004, he was also the Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

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Photo: Пресс-служба Президента Республики Казахстан · CC BY 4.0

1944–1991

Rajiv Gandhi

Former Prime Minister of India who served during the late 1980s

Rajiv Ratna Gandhi (20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991) was an Indian aircraft pilot and politician who served as the prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989 for two terms. He took office after the assassination of his mother, then–prime minister Indira Gandhi, to become the youngest Indian prime minister at the age of 40.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

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Photo: Bart Molendijk / Anefo · CC BY-SA 3.0 nl

b. 1944

Michael Douglas

Oscar-winning actor and producer known for Wall Street and Fatal Attraction

Michael Kirk Douglas (born September 25, 1944) is an American actor and film producer. He has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, the Honorary Palme d'Or and the AFI Life Achievement Award.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

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Photo: Jan Beránek · CC BY-SA 4.0

b. 1944

Alice Walker

Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the novel The Color Purple

Alice Malsenior Tallulah-Kate Walker (born February 9, 1944) is an American novelist, short story writer, poet, and social activist. In 1982, she became the first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, which she was awarded for her novel The Color Purple.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

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Photo: Liberty Media for Women, LLC · CC BY-SA 4.0

b. 1944

Omar al-Bashir

Former President of Sudan who ruled for thirty years

Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir (born 1 January 1944) is a Sudanese former military officer and politician who served as head of state of Sudan under various titles from 1989 until 2019, when he was deposed in a coup d'état. He was subsequently imprisoned, tried and convicted on multiple corruption charges.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

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Photo: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jesse B. Awalt · Public domain

b. 1944

Alexander Van der Bellen

Current President of Austria and former leader of the Green Party

Alexander "Sascha" Van der Bellen (born 18 January 1944), also referred to by the abbreviation VdB, is an Austrian politician serving as the president of Austria since 2017. He was previously a professor of economics at the University of Vienna, and after joining politics, the spokesman of the Austrian Green Party.

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Photo: Christophe Licoppe / European Commission · CC BY 4.0

Born in 1944, month by month

January
- Omar al-Bashir (January 1) · Former President of Sudan who ruled for thirty years
- Abdul Hamid (January 1) · Longest-serving President of Bangladesh
- Jimmy Page (January 9) · Guitarist and founder of the rock band Led Zeppelin
- Joe Frazier (January 12) · Heavyweight boxing champion who first defeated Muhammad Ali
- Françoise Hardy (January 17) · Influential French singer and icon of the yé-yé movement
- Alexander Van der Bellen (January 18) · Current President of Austria and former leader of the Green Party
- Paul Keating (January 18) · Former Prime Minister of Australia who led during the nineties
- Rutger Hauer (January 23) · Dutch actor famous for his role in the film Blade Runner
- Angela Davis (January 26) · American political activist, philosopher and university professor
- Mairead Maguire (January 27) · Northern Irish peace activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner
February
- Alice Walker (February 9) · Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the novel The Color Purple
- Alan Parker (February 14) · British director of films including Bugsy Malone and Evita
- Dzhokhar Dudayev (February 15) · First President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
- Jonathan Demme (February 22) · Director who won an Oscar for The Silence of the Lambs
- David J. Wineland (February 24) · Nobel Prize-winning physicist and pioneer of quantum computing
- Roger Scruton (February 27) · English philosopher known for his work on aesthetics and political conservatism
- Dennis Farina (February 29) · American actor known for his roles in Law & Order and Get Shorty
- Ene Ergma (February 29) · Estonian astronomer and former Speaker of the Parliament
March
- David Gilmour (March 6) · Lead guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the rock band Pink Floyd
- Andrew S. Tanenbaum (March 16) · Computer scientist who created the MINIX operating system
- Erwin Neher (March 20) · Nobel Prize-winning biophysicist who co-developed the patch-clamp technique
- Timothy Dalton (March 21) · British actor best known for playing secret agent James Bond
- R. Lee Ermey (March 24) · Actor and former Marine known for playing Gunnery Sergeant Hartman
- Vojislav Koštunica (March 24) · Last president of Yugoslavia and former Prime Minister of Serbia
- Diana Ross (March 26) · Motown star and lead singer of The Supremes
- Nana Akufo-Addo (March 29) · Ghanaian politician who served as the president of Ghana
- Jane Hawking (March 29)
April
- Gerhard Schröder (April 7) · Social Democrat who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005 and later worked for Russian energy firms
- Makoto Kobayashi (April 7) · Nobel Prize-winning Japanese physicist who studied subatomic particles
- Nguyễn Phú Trọng (April 14) · General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam
- Kunishige Kamamoto (April 15) · Record-breaking striker who is the all-time top scorer for Japan
May
- John Rhys-Davies (May 5) · Welsh actor who played Gimli in The Lord of the Rings
- George Lucas (May 14) · American filmmaker who created Star Wars and Indiana Jones and founded Lucasfilm and Industrial Light & Magic
- Ulrich Beck (May 15) · Influential sociologist known for his theory of the risk society
- Danny Trejo (May 16)
- Peter Mayhew (May 19)
- Joe Cocker (May 20) · Gravel-voiced English singer known for his soulful rock covers
- Mary Robinson (May 21) · First female President of Ireland
- Frank Oz (May 25) · Puppeteer and director known for voicing Yoda and Miss Piggy
- Rudy Giuliani (May 28) · Former Mayor of New York City during the September 11 attacks
- Maurice Bishop (May 29)
June
- Ban Ki-moon (June 13) · South Korean diplomat who served two terms as Secretary-General of the United Nations, from 2007 to 2016
- Corinna Tsopei (June 21)
- Gérard Mourou (June 22) · Nobel Prize-winning physicist and pioneer in laser technology
- Jeff Beck (June 24) · Influential rock guitarist who played with The Yardbirds
- Gennady Zyuganov (June 26) · Long-serving leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation
July
- Bernhard Schlink (July 6) · German lawyer and author of the international bestseller The Reader
- Jürgen Grabowski (July 7) · German international footballer and World Cup winner with West Germany
- Ernő Rubik (July 13) · Hungarian architect and inventor who created the Rubik's Cube
- Carlos Alberto Torres (July 17) · Brazilian football captain who won the 1970 World Cup
- John Evans Atta Mills (July 21) · Former President of Ghana and respected legal scholar
- Jimmy Cliff (July 30) · Reggae musician and actor known for The Harder They Come
- Geraldine Chaplin (July 31) · Multilingual actress known for her roles in international cinema
August
- Robert Mueller (August 7) · Former Director of the FBI and Department of Justice Special Counsel
- Abdul Latif Rashid (August 10)
- Larry Ellison (August 17) · American billionaire and co-founder of the software giant Oracle
- Rajiv Gandhi (August 20) · Former Prime Minister of India who served during the late 1980s
- Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester (August 26)
September
- Serge Haroche (September 11) · Nobel Prize-winning physicist known for quantum research
- Barry White (September 12)
- Leonard Peltier (September 12)
- Jacqueline Bisset (September 13) · British actress known for roles in Bullitt and Day for Night
- Yoweri Museveni (September 15) · Long-serving President of Uganda who took power in 1986
- Reinhold Messner (September 17) · Mountaineer who first climbed Mount Everest without using supplemental oxygen
- Michael Douglas (September 25) · Oscar-winning actor and producer known for Wall Street and Fatal Attraction
- Miloš Zeman (September 28) · Former President and Prime Minister of the Czech Republic
October
- Kuniya Daini (October 12) · Japanese footballer and former president of the national football association
- Sali Berisha (October 15) · First non-communist President of Albania and former Prime Minister
- David Trimble (October 15) · First Minister of Northern Ireland and Nobel Peace Prize winner
- Peter Tosh (October 19) · Reggae singer and founding member of the Wailers
- Jean-Pierre Sauvage (October 21) · Nobel Prize-winning chemist who pioneered the development of molecular machines
- Coluche (October 28) · French comedian and actor who founded the Les Restos du Cœur charity
November
- Rafiq Hariri (November 1) · Businessman and former Prime Minister who led the reconstruction of Lebanon
- Gigi Riva (November 7) · Legendary Italian striker and all-time leading goalscorer for Italy
- Askar Akayev (November 10) · First President of Kyrgyzstan following its independence from the Soviet Union
- Danny DeVito (November 17) · American actor and filmmaker known for the series Taxi
- Rem Koolhaas (November 17) · Pritzker Prize-winning Dutch architect and influential urban theorist
- Harold Ramis (November 21) · Writer and actor known for Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day
December
- Ibrahim Rugova (December 2) · First President of Kosovo and advocate for peaceful independence
- Andris Bērziņš (December 10) · Latvian politician who served as the President of Latvia
- Chico Mendes (December 15)
- Nǃxau (December 16)
- Richard Leakey (December 19) · Kenyan paleoanthropologist known for significant fossil discoveries
- Jairzinho (December 25) · Brazilian footballer who won the 1970 World Cup
- Bill Ayers (December 26)
- Kary Mullis (December 28) · Nobel Prize winner who invented the PCR DNA amplification technique
- Iêda Maria Vargas (December 31)

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