Famous people born in 1921

The best-known people born in 1921, ranked by how many languages Wikipedia covers them in.

Best known

Satyajit Ray
Indian filmmaker and writer (1921–1992)
May 2 · d. 1992
Photo: Dinu Alam Newyork, CC BY-SA 4.0
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
consort of Elizabeth II from 1952 to 2021 (1921-2021)
June 10 · d. 2021
Photo: Allan Warren, CC BY-SA 3.0
Suharto
2nd President of Indonesia (1968—1998) and Acting President of Indonesia (1967—1968)
June 8 · d. 2008
Photo: State Secretariat of the Republic of Indonesia, Public domain
Andrei Sakharov
Soviet nuclear physicist and human rights activist (1921–1989)
May 21 · d. 1989
Photo: Vladimir Fedorenko / Владимир Федоренко, CC BY-SA 3.0
Nancy Reagan
First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989
July 6 · d. 2016
Photo: Official White House photographer, Public domain
Stanisław Lem
Polish science fiction author, philosopher and futurologist, studied medical doctor (1921–2006)
September 12 · d. 2006
Photo: Courtesy of Lem's secretary, Wojciech Zemek. Resize and digital processing by Masur., CC BY-SA 3.0
Charles Bronson
American actor (1921–2003)
November 3 · d. 2003
Photo: Herald American, Public domain
Peter Ustinov
British actor, writer and director (1921–2004)
April 16 · d. 2004
Photo: Allan Warren, CC BY-SA 3.0
Rosalyn Sussman Yalow
American medical physicist (1921-2011)
July 19 · d. 2011
Photo: US Information Agency (see image credits at the end), Public domain
Alexander Dubček
first Secretary of the Czechoslovak Communist Party (1921-1992)
November 27 · d. 1992
Photo: Fortepan/Szalay Zoltán, CC BY-SA 3.0
John Rawls
American political philosopher (1921–2002)
February 21 · d. 2002
Photo: Published by the Belknap Press of Harvard University Press . Photograph taken by Alec Rawls, John's , Public domain
Friedrich Dürrenmatt
Swiss author and dramatist (1921–1990)
January 5 · d. 1990
Photo: Elke Wetzig ( elya ), CC BY-SA 3.0
John Glenn
American astronaut and politician (1921–2016)
July 18 · d. 2016
Photo: U.S. Senate Historical Office, Public domain
Simone Signoret
French actress (1921-1985)
March 25 · d. 1985
Photo: Studio Harcourt, Public domain
Sophie Scholl
German resistance fighter during the Nazi regime, member of the White Rose (1921-1943)
May 9 · d. 1943
Photo: Unknown german police officer, Public domain
Yves Montand
French-Italian actor and singer (1921–1991)
October 13 · d. 1991
Photo: Studio Harcourt, Public domain
Yoichiro Nambu
American theoretical physicist (1921-2015)
January 18 · d. 2015
Photo: Betsy Devine, CC BY-SA 3.0
Arthur Leonard Schawlow
American physicist
May 5 · d. 1999
Photo: Jose Mercado / Stanford News Service, CC BY 3.0
Kenneth Arrow
American economist (1921–2017)
August 23 · d. 2017
Photo: Linda A. Cicero / Stanford News Service, CC BY 3.0
Deborah Kerr
British actress (1921–2007)
September 30 · d. 2007
Photo: Allan warren, CC BY-SA 3.0
Betty Friedan
American feminist writer and activist (1921–2006)
February 4 · d. 2006
Photo: Fred Palumbo , World Telegram staff photographer. Restored by Adam Cuerden, Public domain
Hua Guofeng
2nd Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, 2nd Premier of the People's Republic of China (1921–2008)
February 16 · d. 2008
Photo: Bibliothèque de l'Hôtel de Ville - Bibliothèques spécialisées de la Ville de Paris, Public domain
Michael I of Romania
last king of Romania (r. 1927–1930, 1940–1947)
October 25 · d. 2017
Photo: Jozef Trylinski, Public domain
Vasily Smyslov
Soviet chess grandmaster (1921–2010)
March 24 · d. 2010
Photo: Koen Suyk / Anefo, CC0
Jack Steinberger
German-American physicist, Nobel laureate (1921-2020)
May 25 · d. 2020
Photo: Sigismund von Dobschütz, CC BY-SA 3.0
Lana Turner
American actress (1921–1995)
February 8 · d. 1995
Photo: MGM, Public domain
Paulo Freire
Brazilian educator and philosopher (1921–1997)
September 19 · d. 1997
Photo: Slobodan Dimitro, CC BY-SA 3.0
P. V. Narasimha Rao
Prime Minister of India (1991-1996)
June 28 · d. 2004
Photo: Christian Lambiotte - European Commission, CC BY 4.0
Thomas Schelling
American economist (1921-2016)
April 14 · d. 2016
Photo: Alvaro conde, CC BY-SA 4.0
Marija Gimbutas
Lithuanian-American archaeologist
January 23 · d. 1994
Photo: Monica Boirar, CC BY-SA 3.0

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Month by month

January

January 1 · Ismail al-Faruqi, Palestinian-American Muslim philosopher and scholar (1921–1986)
January 14 · Murray Bookchin, American libertarian socialist author, orator, and philosopher (1921–2006)
January 19 · Patricia Highsmith, American novelist and short story writer (1921–1995)
January 26 · Akio Morita, Japanese businessman (1921-1999)
January 27 · Donna Reed, American film and television actress
January 31 · Carol Channing, American actress (1921–2019)

February

February 3 · Ralph Asher Alpher, American cosmologist (1921–2007)
February 4 · Lotfi A. Zadeh, American electrical engineer and computer scientist (1921–2017)
February 21 · Zdeněk Miler, Czech animator and illustrator (1921–2011)
February 22 · Giulietta Masina, Italian actress (1921–1994)
February 24 · Abe Vigoda, American actor (1921–2016)
February 26 · Betty Hutton, American actress (1921–2007)

March

March 8 · Cyd Charisse, American dancer and actress (1921–2008)
March 11 · Astor Piazzolla, Argentine tango composer, bandoneon player and arranger
March 21 · Abdul Salam Arif, Iraqi politician (1921-1966)
March 22 · Nino Manfredi, Italian actor, screenwriter, and film director (1921–2004)
March 25 · Mary Douglas, British anthropologist (1921–2007)
March 28 · Dirk Bogarde, British actor (1921–1999)

April

April 3 · Jan Sterling, American actress (1921–2004)
April 8 · Franco Corelli, Italian operatic tenor (1921-2003)
April 9 · Mary Jackson, American mathematician and aerospace engineer
April 9 · Isaac Navon, 5th President of Israel (1978–1983), Israeli Cabinet minister, Member of the Knesset, author, playwright, and educator (born 1921–2015)
April 15 · Georgy Beregovoy, Soviet cosmonaut (1921–1995)
April 25 · Karel Appel, Dutch painter, sculptor, and poet (1921-2006)

May

May 3 · Sugar Ray Robinson, American boxer (1921–1989)
May 6 · Erich Fried, Austrian writer (1921–1988)
May 12 · Joseph Beuys, German artist, teacher, and theorist of art (1921–1986)
May 20 · Wolfgang Borchert, German playwright, and short story writer (1921–1947)
May 30 · Franklin J. Schaffner, American film director (1920–1989)
May 31 · Alida Valli, Italian actress (1921–2006)

June

June 11 · Michael Cacoyannis, Greek Cypriot filmmaker, playwright and actor (1921–2011)
June 12 · Luis García Berlanga, Spanish film director and screenwriter (1921–2010)
June 19 · Louis Jourdan, French actor (1921–2015)
June 21 · Jane Russell, American actress (1921–2011)
June 21 · Judy Holliday, American actress, comedian and singer (1921-1965)
June 26 · Violette Szabo, French-British SOE spy

July

July 1 · Seretse Khama, First President of Botswana (1921–1980)
July 4 · Gérard Debreu, French economist and mathematician (1921–2004)
July 14 · Geoffrey Wilkinson, British Nobel laureate in Chemistry
July 15 · Robert Bruce Merrifield, American biochemist
July 18 · Aaron Beck, American psychiatrist, researcher, therapist
July 31 · Peter Benenson, English human rights activist (1921-2005)

August

August 8 · Esther Williams, American swimmer, actress and singer (1921–2013)
August 11 · Alex Haley, American biographer, screenwriter, and novelist (1921–1992)
August 18 · Lydia Litvyak, Soviet flying ace
August 19 · Gene Roddenberry, American television screenwriter and producer (1921–1991)
August 28 · Lidia Gueiler Tejada, President of Bolivia (1921-2011)
August 29 · Iris Apfel, American interior designer and fashion icon (1921–2024)

September

September 1 · Willem Frederik Hermans, Dutch writer (1921–1995)
September 14 · Zizinho, Brazilian footballer (1921–2002)
September 16 · Ursula Franklin, Canadian metallurgist, research physicist, author, and educator (1921–2016)
September 17 · Virgilio Barco Vargas, President of Colombia (1986-1990)
September 27 · Miklós Jancsó, Hungarian film director and screenwriter (1921–2014)
September 29 · Lizabeth Scott, American actress and singer (1921–2015)

October

October 1 · James Whitmore, American actor (1921–2009)
October 9 · Tadeusz Różewicz, Polish poet, dramatist and writer (1921–2014)
October 10 · James Clavell, American novelist (1921-1994)
October 19 · Gunnar Nordahl, Swedish association football player (1921-1995)
October 21 · Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld, Dutch astronomer (1921–2015)
October 22 · Georges Brassens, French singer-songwriter and poet (1921–1981)

November

November 1 · Ilse Aichinger, Austrian writer (1921–2016)
November 5 · Princess Fawzia Fuad of Egypt, queen consort of Iran from 1941 to 1948
November 6 · James Jones, American author (1921–1977)
November 22 · Rodney Dangerfield, American stand-up comedian (1921–2004)
November 26 · Françoise Gilot, French painter, art critic, writer and beloved of Pablo Picasso (1921–2023)
November 30 · Virginia Mayo, American actress (1920–2005)

December

December 4 · Deanna Durbin, Canadian singer and actress (1921-2013)
December 18 · Yuri Nikulin, Soviet and Russian actor and clown (1921-1997)
December 20 · George Roy Hill, American film director (1921–2002)
December 21 · Maila Nurmi, Finnish American actress (1922–2008)
December 29 · Dobrica Ćosić, Serbian politician and writer (1921-2014)
December 31 · Maurice Yaméogo, Burkina Faso President (1921-1993)

People from Wikidata (CC0), photos from Wikimedia Commons; each photo shows its author and licence.