Famous birthdays by year

Famous People Born in 1947

Born in 1947? 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 79 in 2026 · Chinese zodiac: Year of the Pig

The 1940s

The most famous people born in 194786

b. 1947

Hillary Clinton

American politician who served as Secretary of State, U.S. Senator, and became the first woman nominated for president by a major party

Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton (née Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsAge 78

View profile

Photo: United States Department of State · Public domain

b. 1947

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, film producer, politician, and former professional bodybuilder who served as the 38th governor of California from 2003 to 2011. Schwarzenegger began lifting weights at the age of 15 and won the Mr.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

FilmAge 79

View profile

Photo: DHSgov · Public domain

b. 1947

Stephen King

American author of Carrie, The Shining, It and The Stand, known as the King of Horror, with hundreds of millions of books sold

Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror fiction and has also explored other genres, among them suspense, crime, science-fiction, fantasy, and mystery.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureAge 79

View profile

Photo: Kevin Payravi · CC BY-SA 4.0

1947–2016

David Bowie

English musician who reinvented himself as Ziggy Stardust and more, recording Space Oddity, Heroes and Let's Dance

David Robert Jones (8 January 1947 – 10 January 2016), known as David Bowie, was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as among the most influential musicians of the 20th century, he was known for his frequent reinvention and visual presentation, and is often referred to as the "chameleon of rock".

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MusicWould be 79

View profile

Photo: Adam Bielawski · CC BY-SA 3.0

b. 1947

Dilma Rousseff

Former guerrilla and economist who became Brazil's first female president, serving from 2011 until her impeachment in 2016

Dilma Vana Rousseff (Brazilian Portuguese:; born 14 December 1947), known mononymously as Dilma, is a Brazilian economist and politician who served as the 36th president of Brazil from 2011 until her impeachment and removal from office on 31 August 2016.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsAge 78

View profile

Photo: Vice-Presidência da República · CC BY 2.0

b. 1947

Paulo Coelho

Brazilian novelist of The Alchemist, a fable about following your dreams that is one of the best-selling books of all time

Paulo Coelho de Souza ( KWEL-yoo, koo-EL-yoo, -⁠yoh, Portuguese:; born 24 August 1947) is a Brazilian lyricist and novelist. He has been a member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters since 2002.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureAge 79

View profile

Photo: Lula Oficial · CC BY-SA 2.0

1947–2016

Johan Cruyff

Dutch footballer and coach who won three Ballons d'Or, embodied Total Football and built Barcelona's passing style

Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016), internationally known as Johan Cruyff was a Dutch professional football player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest players in history and as the greatest Dutch footballer ever, he won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973, and 1974.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

SportsWould be 79

View profile

Photo: Nationaal Archief · CC BY-SA 3.0 nl

b. 1947

Salman Rushdie

Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British and American novelist. His work often combines magical realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and Western civilizations.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureAge 79

View profile

Photo: Elena Ternovaja · CC BY-SA 3.0

Born in 1947, month by month

January
- David Bowie (January 8) · English musician who reinvented himself as Ziggy Stardust and more, recording Space Oddity, Heroes and Let's Dance
- Afeni Shakur (January 10)
- Carles Rexach (January 13) · Spanish footballer and manager associated with FC Barcelona
- Martin Chalfie (January 15) · Scientist who shared a Nobel Prize for green fluorescent protein research
- Apasra Hongsakula (January 16)
- Takeshi Kitano (January 18) · Japanese filmmaker and actor known for hosting Takeshi's Castle
- Megawati Soekarnoputri (January 23) · First female president of Indonesia and daughter of the nation's founder
- Michio Kaku (January 24) · Theoretical physicist and science communicator specialising in the future of technology
- Linda B. Buck (January 29) · Nobel Prize winner who discovered how our sense of smell works
February
- Farrah Fawcett (February 2) · Actress known for her role in the series Charlie's Angels
- Paul Auster (February 3) · American novelist best known for The New York Trilogy
- Dan Quayle (February 4) · Vice President of the United States under George H. W. Bush
- Yukio Hatoyama (February 11) · Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister
- Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale (February 12)
- Deniz Gezmiş (February 27)
March
- Rob Reiner (March 6) · Director of Hollywood films including This Is Spinal Tap and Misery
- Florentino Pérez (March 8) · President of Real Madrid and chairman of the ACS Group
- Kim Campbell (March 10) · Politician who was the first female Prime Minister of Canada
- Mitt Romney (March 12) · American politician and 2012 Republican presidential nominee
- Glenn Close (March 19) · Acclaimed actress known for her roles in Fatal Attraction and The Wife
- Ali Abdullah Saleh (March 21) · Long-serving first president of the Republic of Yemen
- James Patterson (March 22) · Prolific American author known for the Alex Cross thriller series
- Elton John (March 25) · English singer and pianist of Your Song, Rocket Man and Candle in the Wind, one of the best-selling musicians in history
April
- Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (April 5) · Fourteenth President of the Philippines and former academic
- Robert Kiyosaki (April 8) · Author of the personal finance book Rich Dad Poor Dad
- David Letterman (April 12) · Long-running American late-night talk show host and comedian
- Tom Clancy (April 12) · Bestselling author of military thrillers including The Hunt for Red October
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (April 16) · Basketball legend and six-time NBA Most Valuable Player
- James Woods (April 18) · Actor known for intense roles in Casino and Salvador
- Iggy Pop (April 21) · American singer and frontman of the influential rock band The Stooges
- Josep Borrell (April 24) · Spanish politician and former European Union foreign policy chief
- Roger D. Kornberg (April 24) · Nobel Prize-winning biochemist who studied how DNA is converted into RNA
- Johan Cruyff (April 25) · Dutch footballer and coach who won three Ballons d'Or, embodied Total Football and built Barcelona's passing style
May
- Richard Jenkins (May 4) · Character actor nominated for an Oscar for the film The Visitor
- Michael Levitt (May 9) · Nobel Prize-winning biophysicist who pioneered computational biology
- Hawa Abdi (May 17)
June
- Jonathan Pryce (June 1) · Versatile Welsh actor known for stage and screen roles
- Laurie Anderson (June 5) · Innovative American musician and artist who created the hit O Superman
- Alain Aspect (June 15) · French physicist awarded the Nobel Prize for work on quantum entanglement
- Salman Rushdie (June 19)
- Carlos Santana (June 20) · Grammy-winning Mexican-American guitarist and leader of the band Santana
- Shirin Ebadi (June 21) · Iranian lawyer and former judge who defended human rights and became the first Muslim woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize
- Jerry Rawlings (June 22) · Former President of Ghana and military leader
July
- Larry David (July 2) · Co-creator of Seinfeld and star of Curb Your Enthusiasm
- Gyanendra of Nepal (July 7) · Last reigning King of Nepal before the monarchy was abolished
- O. J. Simpson (July 9) · American football star and actor acquitted of double murder
- Assata Shakur (July 14)
- Queen Camilla (July 17) · Queen of the United Kingdom and wife of King Charles III
- Brian May (July 19) · Lead guitarist of the rock band Queen and astrophysicist
- Gerd Binnig (July 20) · Nobel Prize-winning physicist who co-invented the scanning tunnelling microscope
- Adolfo Rodríguez Saá (July 25) · Argentine politician who served as President for one week
- Arnold Schwarzenegger (July 30)
- Françoise Barré-Sinoussi (July 30) · Virologist who won the Nobel Prize for co-discovering HIV
- Richard Griffiths (July 31) · British character actor known for Harry Potter and Withnail and I
August
- Mohammad Najibullah (August 6) · President of Afghanistan who served during the late Soviet occupation
- Sofia Rotaru (August 7) · Renowned Ukrainian singer with a massive career across Eastern Europe
- Roy Hodgson (August 9) · English football manager who led the England national team
- Anwar Ibrahim (August 10) · Malaysian politician serving as the country's tenth Prime Minister
- Danielle Steel (August 14) · Prolific American author of numerous bestselling romance novels
- Mary Simon (August 21)
- Paulo Coelho (August 24) · Brazilian novelist of The Alchemist, a fable about following your dreams that is one of the best-selling books of all time
- Temple Grandin (August 29) · Animal scientist and advocate for the humane treatment of livestock
September
- Mario Draghi (September 3) · Former Prime Minister of Italy and President of the ECB
- Sam Neill (September 14) · New Zealand actor internationally famous for his role in Jurassic Park
- Stephen King (September 21) · American author of Carrie, The Shining, It and The Stand, known as the King of Horror, with hundreds of millions of books sold
- Norma McCorvey (September 22)
- Meat Loaf (September 27) · Rock singer and actor known for the Bat Out of Hell trilogy
- Dick Advocaat (September 27) · Dutch coach who managed the Netherlands, won the UEFA Cup with Zenit and in 2025 took Curaçao to its first World Cup
- Sheikh Hasina (September 28) · Bangladeshi politician and daughter of the country's founder who served as prime minister for over 20 years until ousted in 2024
October
- Aaron Ciechanover (October 1) · Israeli biologist and Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry
- Brian Johnson (October 5)
- France Gall (October 9) · French pop singer who won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1965
- Loukas Papademos (October 11) · Former Prime Minister of Greece and Vice-President of the ECB
- Kevin Kline (October 24) · Oscar-winning American actor known for A Fish Called Wanda
- Hillary Clinton (October 26) · American politician who served as Secretary of State, U.S. Senator, and became the first woman nominated for president by a major party
- Richard Dreyfuss (October 29) · Oscar-winning actor known for Jaws and The Goodbye Girl
- Herman Van Rompuy (October 31)
November
- Michel Sogny (November 21) · French pianist who created a unique method for teaching piano
- Ismail Omar Guelleh (November 27) · The long-serving second President of Djibouti
December
- Geoffrey Hinton (December 6) · Computer scientist widely regarded as the godfather of artificial intelligence
- Thomas Cech (December 8) · Nobel Prize-winning chemist who discovered the catalytic properties of RNA
- Dilma Rousseff (December 14) · Former guerrilla and economist who became Brazil's first female president, serving from 2011 until her impeachment in 2016
- Mykola Azarov (December 17) · Former Prime Minister of Ukraine who served under Viktor Yanukovych
- Judith Heumann (December 18)
- Gigliola Cinquetti (December 20) · Italian singer who won the 1964 Eurovision Song Contest
- Paco de Lucía (December 21) · Influential Spanish flamenco guitarist and composer

← 1946 1948 →