Baby boomer: Encyclopedia II - Baby boomer - Famous Baby-Boomers

Baby boomer - Famous Baby-Boomers

(Note that Howe and Schwartz begin the Boom Generation in 1943 -- not 1946, on grounds that the years 1943 and 1943 reflect a divide of temperament between older Silent and younger, more radical Boomers).

• 1946
  • Kathleen Casey – Born 1 second after midnight on January 1st, 1946. Generally regarded as the "First Baby Boomer"
  • Bill Clinton – 42nd President of the United States
  • Dolly Parton – country singer and songwriter, actress
  • Gregory Hines – dancer, actor - deceased
  • Donald Trump – entrepreneur, real estate developer
  • José Carreras – Spanish tenor
  • Reggie Jackson – baseball player
  • George W. Bush – 43rd President of the United States
  • Tommy Lee Jones – actor
  • Laura Bush – former Texas First Lady, and curent U.S. First Lady
  • Cher – singer and entertainer
  • Naomi Judd – country singer
  • David Lynch – surrealist film director
  • Gene Siskel – film critic-deceased
  • Colin Matthews – British composer
  • Margot Adler – NPR journalist
  • Tim Curry – British actor and vocalist
  • John Piper – theologian
  • Thelma Houston – soul and gospel singer
  • Cheech Marin – ethnic and drug comedian
  • Sylvester Stallone – actor, Rocky
  • Danny Glover – actor
  • John Wood – actor
  • Oliver Stone – film director
  • Tim O'Brien – author
  • Elfriede Jelinek – Austrian author
  • Pat Sajak – game show host, Wheel of Fortune
  • Ivan Reitman – film director and producer
  • Sally Field – actress
  • Sandy Skoglund – photographer
  • Gianni Versace – fashion designer-deceased
  • Patty Duke – actress
  • Steven Spielberg – preeminent American film director
  • Alice Aycock – sculptor
  • Jimmy Buffett – singer-songwriter
  • Patti Smith – feminist punk-rocker
  • Marianne Faithfull – British singer
  • Linda Ronstadt – singer
  • Rafi Zabor – novelist
  • Suzanne Somers – actress
  • Freddie Mercury – musician
• 1947
  • Dan Quayle – former US Vice President
  • Dave Barry – American humorist
  • Tom Daschle – US Senator
  • Hillary Rodham Clinton – New York Senator and former First Lady
  • Stephen King – author
  • Emmylou Harris – musician, singer and songwriter
  • Arnold Schwarzenegger – body builder, actor, and Governor of California
  • Arlo Guthrie – folk singer
  • Ai – poet
  • David Bowie – English rock musician
  • Warren Zevon – singer-songwriter
  • Laura Schlessinger – columnist and pop psychologist
  • Farrah Fawcett – Charlie's Angels actress; sex symbol
  • Billy Crystal – Jewish-American comedian and actor
  • Glenn Close – American actress
  • Tom DeLay – American Republican politician
  • Tom Clancy – political thriller writer
  • Martha Nussbaum – philosopher
  • David Letterman – entertainer and host
  • Salman Rushdie – Indian author
  • John Hoagland – war photographer-deceased
  • O.J. Simpson – football player
  • Larry David – comedian, television actor and producer
  • Carlos Santana – Mexican guitarist
  • Norma McCorvey – Roe v. Wade plaintiff
  • Kevin Kline – actor
  • P.J. O'Rourke – humorist and satirist
  • Thomas R. Cech – chemist
  • Ted Danson – television actor
  • Iggy Pop – rock musician
  • Marilynne Robinson – author
  • Paul Auster – playwright, poet, and novelist
• 1948
  • James Taylor – Singer-songwriter, performer, Godfather of 1970's Singer songwriter movement
  • Bobby Orr – hockey player, former member of the Boston Bruins
  • Bernadette Peters – actress, singer, entertainer
  • Andrew Lloyd Webber – composer
  • Al Gore – former US Vice President and 2000 Presidential candidate
  • Stevie Nicks – singer & songwriter (Fleetwood Mac)
  • John Carpenter – film director and composer
  • Mikhail Baryshnikov – Russian dancer and actor
  • Alice Cooper – rock musician
  • Ronnie Van Zant –Lynyrd Skynyrd
  • Christopher Guest – film actor, director, writer, and composer
  • Steven Tyler – Aerosmith
  • Brian Eno – English musician and record producer
  • Cat Stevens – singer-songwriter
  • Garry Trudeau – Doonesbury cartoonist
  • Dennis Prager – commentator
  • Robert Plant – Led Zeppelin
  • Mutt Lange – record producer
  • Johnny Ramone – The Ramones-deceased
  • Ozzy Osbourne – Black Sabbath and solo singer
  • Gerard Depardieu – French actor
  • Donna Summer – disco diva
  • Jeremy Irons – British Actor
• 1949
  • Bonnie Raitt – rock and blues musician
  • John Belushi – actor and comedian - deceased
  • George Foreman – boxer
  • Bruce Springsteen – rock and roll musician, songwriter
  • Christopher Durang – playwright
  • Wolfgang Puck – Austrian chef and restaurateur
  • Linda Lovelace – porn star and anti-porn activist
  • Brandon Tartikoff – NBC television executive
  • Robert Palmer – British singer
  • Andy Kaufman – comedian
  • Peter Agre – biologist
  • Nick Lowe – rock musician
  • Billy Joel– singer-songwriter
  • Rick Wakeman– Yes
  • Harry Turtledove – alternate history author
  • Hank Williams Jr. – country singer
  • Alan Menken – Broadway and film composer
  • Martin Amis – British author
  • Shelley Long – actress
  • Richard Gere – actor
  • Gloria Gaynor – disco singer
  • Benjamin Netanyahu – Israeli prime minister
  • Sigourney Weaver – actress
  • Jeff Bridges – actor
  • Sissy Spacek – actress
  • Meryl Streep – actress
  • Tom Waits – American singer, composer, and actor
  • Richard Russo – author
• 1950
  • Mark Spitz – Jewish-American Olympic swimmer, Gold Medal winner
  • David Cassidy – actor and singer
  • Peter Gabriel – rock and roll musician
  • Richard Dean Anderson – television actor
  • Arianna Huffington – author
  • Natalie Cole – singer
  • John Hughes – teen film producer and director
  • Neil Jordan – Irish film director and producer
  • Karen Carpenter – The Carpenters-deceased
  • William H. Macy – actor
  • William Hurt – actor
  • Ken Griffey, Sr. – baseball player
  • Lenora Branch Fulani – presidential candidate
  • Jay Leno – comedian and talk-show host
  • Howard Ashman – Broadway and film composer-deceased (AIDS)
  • Stevie Wonder – renowned musician
  • Mark Mothersbaugh – Devo
  • Bill Murray – comedian and actor
  • John Sayles – independent film director
  • Jody Williams – teacher and aid worker
  • John Candy – Canadian comedian and actor
  • Jane Pauley – news anchor and journalist
  • Leonard Maltin – film critic
  • Tom Petty – rock musician
  • John Patrick Shanley – playwright
• 1951
  • Jay T Ellis – Doctor of Physical Therapy
  • Phil Collins – musician
  • Lucie Arnaz – actress
  • Kirstie Alley – actress
  • Max Weinberg – rock and roll drummer (The "E" Street Band)
  • Anjelica Huston – actress
  • Lee Atwater – political consultant
  • Beverly D'Angelo – actress
  • Rush Limbaugh – Conservative Radio Talk Show Host, The Rush Limbaugh Show
  • Tony Danza – actor, talk show host
  • Tommy Hilfiger – fashion designer
  • Kurt Russell – actor
  • Carl Wieman – physicist
  • Karen Kain – Canadian ballerina
  • Sally Ride – astronaut
  • Dale Earnhardt – race-car driver-deceased
  • John Mellencamp – rock singer
  • Bootsy Collins – funk musician and songwriter
  • Julie Kavner – voice actress, The Simpsons
  • Cicciolina – Italian porn star and politician
  • Edward P. Jones – author
  • Mike Van Andre – quality assurance practitioner
• 1952
  • Laraine Newman – comedian and former Saturday Night Live star
  • Amy Tan – writer
  • Sally C. Ellis – Artist and Art Professor
  • Herb Ritts – photographer
  • Liam Neeson – actor
  • Marilyn Chambers – porn actress
  • Mr. T. – actor
  • Rick James – musician
  • David Byrne – The Talking Heads, etc.
  • Vikram Seth – Indian novelist
  • John Tesh – musician
  • Joe Strummer – The Clash
  • Christopher Reeve – actor-deceased
  • Dan Aykroyd – Canadian comedian
  • Roberto Benigni – Italian actor
  • Michael Cunningham – novelist
  • Carol Conners – porn star, Deep Throat
  • Tovah Feldshuh – actress
  • Bill Frist – heart surgeon and Republican senator
  • Jean-Paul Gaultier – French fashion designer
  • Jeff Goldblum – actor
  • David Hasselhoff – actor, Baywatch
  • Beth Henley – playwright
• 1953
  • Pat Benatar – musican and singer
  • Guy Verhofstadt – Prime Minister of Belgium
  • Pierce Brosnan – actor
  • Tim Allen – telelevision and film actor
  • Tony Blair – Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
  • Paul Allen – entrepreneur, Microsoft co-founder
  • Jim Jarmusch – independent film director
  • Ron Jeremy – Jewish-American porn star
  • Isabelle Huppert – French actress
  • Chaka Khan – singer
  • Danny Elfman – pop musician and film composer
  • Alfred Molina – British actor
  • Tony Shalhoub – actor, Monk
  • Alex Grey – artist
  • Kim Basinger – actress
  • Ben Bernanke – economist
  • Stanley Williams – early Crips leader
• 1954
  • Howard Stern – radio personality
  • Christie Brinkley – model
  • Bill Murray – actor, comedian
  • Patricia Hearst – heiress and former kidnapping victim
  • Nancy Wilson – musician from the rock band Heart.
  • Ron Howard – actor and director
  • Oprah Winfrey – talk show host, producer, publisher
  • Matt Groening – cartoonist (creater of The Simpsons)
  • John Travolta – actor
  • Godzilla – movie monster
  • Freddie Prinze – comedian
  • Condoleezza Rice – Secretary of State
  • Stevie Ray Vaughan – musician
  • Jerry Seinfeld – comedian
  • Michael Moore – filmmaker
  • Dennis Quaid – actor
  • Al Sharpton – activist
  • Denzel Washington – actor
  • Barry Williams – actor (aka Greg Brady)
  • Jackie Chan – actor
  • Elvis Costello – musician
  • Joan Allen – actress
  • Ang Lee – film director
• 1955
  • richard wayne mullins (rich mullins) christian music artist
  • Steve Earle – alternative contry musician, songwriter
  • Bruce Willis – film actor
  • Dana Carvey – actor, comedian
  • Reba McEntire – country singer
  • Steve Jobs – Apple Computer founder
  • William H. Gates – chairman and chief software architect of Microsoft Corporation
  • Yo-Yo Ma – cellist
  • Hank Azaria – vocal comedian
  • Kevin Costner – movie star
  • Edward Van Halen – Van Halen
  • John Grisham – popular novelist
  • Arsenio Hall – talk-show host
  • Jeff Daniels – actor
  • Dee Snider – Twisted Sister
  • Angus Young – AC/DC
  • Dave Winer – pioneering software programmer
  • Masaharu Morimoto – Japanese television chef
  • Isabelle Adjani – French actress
  • Tim Berners-Lee – English inventor of the internet
  • Billy Bob Thornton – actor
  • David Lee Roth – Van Halen
  • Maurizio Bianchi – experimental musician
  • Whoopi Goldberg – comedian
  • Ray Liotta – actor
  • Barbara Kingsolver – author
• 1956
  • Geena Davis – actress
  • Larry Bird – basketball legend
  • Bjorn Borg – tennis player
  • Paula Zahn – TV journalist
  • Joan Allen – actress
  • Andy Garcia – actor
  • Sugar Ray Leonard – boxer
  • Tom Hanks – actor
  • Tony Kushner – Jewish-American gay playwright
  • David Guterson – author
  • David Sedaris – humorist and memoirist
  • Marin Alsop – orchestra conductor and professional musician
  • Jimmie Baisden Country Western singer song writer
  • Mel Gibson – actor and director
  • Joe Montana – football legend
  • Bill Maher – commentator and comedian
  • Patricia Cornwell – detective novel author
  • Lars von Trier – Danish film director
  • Ian Curtis – British musician Joy Division-deceased
  • Fran Drescher – Jewish-American comedienne
  • Martina Navratilova – Czech tennis player
  • Warren Cuccarullo – Italian-American musician, Duran Duran
  • Kim Cattrall - Actress
• 1957
  • Katie Couric – Today Show host
  • Matt Lauer – Today Show host
  • Princess Caroline of Monaco
  • Spike Lee – film director
  • Gloria Estefan – pop singer
  • Donny Osmond – entertainer
  • Mario van Peebles – actor and director
  • Osama bin Laden – Saudi-born Islamic extremist
  • Daniel Day-Lewis – Anglo-Irish actor
  • Sid Vicious – English bassist, The Sex Pistols
  • Siouxsie Sioux – British singer, Siouxsie Sioux and the Banshees
  • Scott Adams – Dilbert cartoonist
  • Theo van Gogh – Dutch film director
  • Melanie Griffith – actress
  • Denis Leary – Irish-American comedian
  • Wolfgang Ketterle – German physicist
  • Ray Romano – actor and comedian
  • Jean-Marie Messier – French businessman
• 1958
  • Jamie Lee Curtis – actress
  • Ellen DeGeneres – actress, comedienne
  • Mary Chapin Carpenter – country singer, songwriter
  • Madonna – singer, actress
  • Michael Jackson– singer and entertainer
  • Thurston Moore – Sonic Youth
  • Prince – singer
  • Prince – singer and music deity
  • Sharon Stone – actress
  • Holly Hunter – actress
  • Gary Oldman – English actor
  • Alec Baldwin – actor
  • Benjamin Zephaniah – Jamaican-British poet, musician, and author
  • Michelle Pfeiffer – actress
  • Annette Bening – actress
  • Drew Carey – comedian
  • Jello Biafra – musician and political activist, The Dead Kennedys
  • Magnus Lindberg – Finnish composer
  • Esa-Pekka Salonen – Finnish conductor and composer
  • Kate Bush – British singer-songwriter
  • Mark Cuban – entrepreneur and business mogul
  • Andrea Bocelli – Italian tenor
  • Tim Robbins – actor
  • Simon Le Bon – Duran Duran
  • Viggo Mortensen – actor
  • Nikki Sixx – Mötley Crüe
  • Bebe Neuwirth – actress
  • Andy Gibb – The Bee Gees
  • Kayo Hatta – film director
  • Richard Greenberg – playwright
• 1959
  • Magic Johnson – basketball star
  • Suzanne Vega – singer and songwriter
  • Rosanna Arquette – actress
  • William Vollmann – author
  • Jonathan Franzen – author
  • Natassja Kinski – German actress
  • Sade – British-Nigerian singer
  • Luc Besson – French film director/producer/writer
  • Flavor Flav – rapper Public Enemy
  • Robert Smith – The Cure
  • Brian Setzer – rockabilly and swing guitarist and songwriter
  • John Linnell – They Might be Giants
  • Rudd Janssen – Dutch experimental artist
  • Kevin Spacey – actor
  • Vincent d'Onofrio – actor
  • Stephen Wolfram – British scientist
  • Benjamin Sehene – Rwandan-Canadian author
  • Ken Watanabe – Japanese actor
  • "Weird Al" Yankovic – comedy musician
  • Nadia Rus – Ukrainian-American artist
  • Val Kilmer – actor
  • Koichi Tanaka – Japanese scientist
• 1960
  • John F Kennedy, Jr
  • Hugh Grant – actor
  • Branford Marsalis – jazz musician
  • Bono – musician (U2)
  • Antonio Banderas – actor
  • Jeffrey Eugenides – author
  • John Elway – football player
  • Sean Penn – actor
  • Kenneth Branagh – Irish actor and film director

(Note that Howe and Schwartz divide the Boom Generation from the Thirteener Generation between 1960 and 1961 on the grounds of a difference of temperament. Persons born in 1961 or later could not possibly have participated in the cultural ferment of the 1960s and 1970s and were generally more hurt than helped by the tendencies of the time. Thirteeners tend to rely, furthermore, upon pure entrepreneurialism as opposed to religion or political activism for solutions to their lives and are much more politically conservative than Boomers born somewhat earlier, even if the numerical Baby Boom did not end until the mid-1960s.

• 1961
  • George Clooney – actor
  • Ann Coulter – neoconservative writer and polemicist
  • Diana, Princess of Wales
  • The Edge – rock guitarist, U2
  • Enya – new age vocalist
  • Melissa Etheridge – rock vocalist
  • k.d. lang – rock vocalist
  • Julia Louis-Dreyfus – actress
  • Michael J. Fox – actor
  • Wayne Gretzky – NHL legend
  • Sean Hannity – conservative tv/radio personality
  • Peter Jackson – filmmaker
  • Greg LeMond – cyclist, three–time Tour de France winner
  • Carl Lewis – track & field legend
  • George Lopez – actor/comedian
  • Dan Marino – NFL quarterback, Miami Dolphins
  • Dylan McDermott – actor
  • Eddie Murphy – actor/comedian
  • Dave Mustaine – rock vocalist/guitarist, Megadeth; Metallica
  • Kirby Puckett – Baseball Hall of Famer
  • Ralph E. Reed, Jr. – conservative political figure, former head of the Christian Coalition
  • Dennis Rodman – NBA forward, Detroit Pistons; Chicago Bulls; San Antonio Spurs; Los Angeles Lakers
  • Henry Rollins – rock vocalist, Black Flag; Rollins Band
  • Tim Roth – actor
  • Meg Ryan – actress
  • Isiah Thomas – NBA guard, Detroit Pistons
  • Irvine Welsh – writer
  • Reggie White – NFL defensive lineman, Philadelphia Eagles; Green Bay Packers
  • Steve Young – NFL quarterback, San Francisco 49ers
  • Rick Moody – author
  • Philip Gourevitch – Jewish-American journalist
• 1962
  • Paula Abdul – pop vocalist
  • Matthew Broderick – actor
  • Garth Brooks – country vocalist
  • Jon Bon Jovi – rock vocalist, Bon Jovi
  • Cliff Burton – rock bassist, Metallica
  • Jim Carrey – actor
  • Steven Curtis Chapman – contemporary Christian music vocalist
  • Roger Clemens – MLB pitcher
  • Tom Cruise – actor
  • Joan Cusack – actress
  • Sheryl Crow – rock vocalist
  • Clyde Drexler – NBA guard, Houston Rockets
  • Anthony Edwards – actor
  • Emilio Estevez – actor
  • Patrick Ewing – NBA center, New York Knicks; Seattle SuperSonics
  • David Fincher – filmmaker
  • Flea – rock bassist, Red Hot Chili Peppers
  • Doug Flutie – CFL & NFL quarterback, Calgary Stampeders; Toronto Argonauts; Buffalo Bills; San Diego Chargers
  • Jodie Foster – actor
  • Bobcat Goldthwait – actor
  • MC Hammer – (a.k.a. Hammer) rapper
  • John Hannah – actor
  • Steve Irwin – herpetologist and TV personality (The Crocodile Hunter)
  • Eddie Izzard – comedian
  • Bo Jackson – MLB & NFL player
  • Craig Kilborn – comedian/talk show host
  • Andrew McCarthy – actor
  • Dylan McDermott – actor, theatrical director
  • Demi Moore – actress
  • Rosie O'Donnell – comedian/actress/talk show host, "The Rosie O'Donnell Show"
  • Chuck Palahniuk – novelist
  • Jerry Rice – NFL receiver, San Francisco 49ers; Oakland Raiders; Seattle Seahawks
  • Axl Rose – rock vocalist, Guns N' Roses
  • Ally Sheedy – actress
  • Jon Stewart – comedian/actor
  • John Stockton – NBA point guard, Utah Jazz
• 1963
  • Charles Barkley – NBA forward, Phoenix Suns
  • Len Bias – NBA player (died 1986)
  • Jack Del Rio – NFL coach, Jacksonville Jaguars
  • Johnny Depp – actor
  • Eazy-E – rapper (died 1995)
  • Whitney Houston – pop vocalist
  • Randy Johnson – MLB pitcher, Seattle Mariners; Arizona Diamondbacks
  • Michael Jordan – NBA guard, Chicago Bulls; Washington Wizards
  • Garry Kasparov – chess champion
  • Julian Lennon – vocalist; son of John Lennon
  • Heather Locklear – actress
  • Karl Malone – NBA forward, Utah Jazz; Los Angeles Lakers
  • Mark McGwire – MLB player, Oakland Athletics; St. Louis Cardinals
  • Natalie Merchant – rock vocalist, 10,000 Maniacs
  • Mike Myers – actor
  • Hakeem Olajuwon – NBA center, Houston Rockets
  • Conan O'Brien – comic/talk show host, "Late Night with Conan O'Brien"; "Saturday Night Live"
  • Tatum O'Neal – actress
  • Brad Pitt – actor
  • Vijay Singh – golfer
  • Steven Soderbergh – filmmaker
  • Quentin Tarantino – filmmaker
  • Vinny Testaverde – NFL quarterback, New York Jets; Dallas Cowboys
  • Jeanne Tripplehorn – actress
  • Michael Chabon – author
  • Ann Patchett – author

The Boom Generation has as of 2005 had two U.S. Presidents:

• 1946 Bill Clinton, 1993-2001
• 1946 George W. Bush, 2001-incumbent

It is estimated that the Boom Generation will not hold a plurality in Congress until 2015, the White House until 2021, and will have a majority in the Supreme Court from 2010 to 2030.

Non-U.S. peers of the Boomers include U2 frontman Bono, Daniel Ortega, Charles, Prince of Wales, and former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Their cultural endowments have included the following:

• Doonesbury (cartoonist, Garry Trudeau)
• All the President's Men (book, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, later a movie)
• Forrest Gump (film, Robert Zemeckis)
• The Fate of the Earth (Jonathan Schell)
• The Color Purple (Alice Walker)
• Cathy (cartoonist, Cathy Guisewite)
• "American Pie" (song, Don McLean)
• Saturday Night Live (television show)
• Close Encounters of the Third Kind (film, Steven Spielberg)
• Strawberry Statement (James Kunen)
• Green Rage (Christopher Manes)
• Vietnam Veterans Memorial (Maya Lin)
• Do the Right Thing (film, Spike Lee)

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Famous Baby-Boomers", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki