Famous people born in 1923

The best-known people born in 1923, ranked by how many languages Wikipedia covers them in.

Best known

Henry Kissinger
American diplomat and geopolitical advisor, served as U.S. Secretary of State from 1973 to 1977 (1923–2023)
May 27 · d. 2023
Photo: U.S. Department of State from United States, Public domain
Nadine Gordimer
South African writer (1923–2014)
November 20 · d. 2014
Photo: Boberger . Photo: Bengt Oberger, CC BY 3.0
Shimon Peres
Israeli politician (1923–2016) –Former President of Israel (2007–2014) and Prime Minister of Israel (1977, 1984–1986, 1995–1996)
August 2 · d. 2016
Photo: Avi Ohayon, CC BY-SA 3.0
Wisława Szymborska
Polish poet, Nobel Prize winner (1923–2012)
July 2 · d. 2012
Photo: Mariusz Kubik, CC BY 3.0
Kuan Yew Lee
1st Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore (1923–2015)
September 16 · d. 2015
Photo: Robert D. Ward, Public domain
Maria Meneghini Callas
American-Greek operatic soprano (1923–1977)
December 2 · d. 1977
Photo: CBS Television, Public domain
Charlton Heston
American actor (1923–2008)
October 4 · d. 2008
Photo: 20th Century Fox studios, Public domain
Heydar Aliyev
3rd President of the Republic of Azerbaijan (1923–2003)
May 10 · d. 2003
Photo: Press Service of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, CC BY 4.0
Italo Calvino
Italian journalist and writer (1923-1985)
October 15 · d. 1985
Photo: The original uploader was Varie11 at Italian Wikipedia ., Public domain
Wojciech Jaruzelski
Polish military and political official, leader of the Polish People's Republic from 1981 to 1989
July 6 · d. 2014
Photo: Original: Unknown author Unknown author Derivative work: TharonXX, Public domain
Norman Mailer
American writer (1923–2007)
January 31 · d. 2007
Photo: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Conrad Bain
Canadian-American actor, personality, entertainer, and activist (1923–2013)
February 4 · d. 2013
Photo: CBS Television (credit seen in news clipping as release is tattered), Public domain
Jack Kilby
American electrical engineer (1923–2005)
November 8 · d. 2005
Photo: James R. Biard, CC BY-SA 4.0
Richard Attenborough
British actor (1923–2014)
August 29 · d. 2014
Photo: gdcgraphics at https://www.flickr.com/photos/gdcgraphics/, CC BY 2.0
Freeman Dyson
theoretical physicist and mathematician (1923–2020)
December 15 · d. 2020
Photo: ioerror, CC BY-SA 2.0
Philip W. Anderson
American physicist (1923-2020)
December 13 · d. 2020
Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Copyrighted free use
Alan Shepard
American astronaut, first American in space, lunar explorer (1923–1998)
November 18 · d. 1998
Photo: NASA, Public domain
Hank Williams
American singer-songwriter (1923–1953)
September 17 · d. 1953
Photo: WSM radio, Public domain
Anne Baxter
American actress (1923–1985)
May 7 · d. 1985
Photo: Modern Screen, Public domain
Joseph Heller
American writer
May 1 · d. 1999
Photo: Photograph: Thomas R. Koeniges, Public domain
Mauno Koivisto
President of Finland (1923–2017)
November 25 · d. 2017
Photo: Kuvasiskot, CC BY 4.0
Val Logsdon Fitch
American physicist
March 10 · d. 2015
Photo: ENERGY.GOV, Public domain
Rainier III, Prince of Monaco
Prince of Monaco from 1949 to 2005
May 31 · d. 2005
Photo: Robert LeRoy Knudsen, Public domain
Leonid Gaidai
Soviet film director (1923-1993)
January 30 · d. 1993
Photo: Н. В. Гнисюк / Главархив Москвы, CC BY 4.0
Marcel Marceau
French actor and mime artist (1923–2007)
March 22 · d. 2007
Photo: Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain
Rocky Marciano
American heavyweight boxing champion (1923-1969)
September 1 · d. 1969
Photo: Stanley Weston, Public domain
Bob Dole
American politician (1923–2021)
July 22 · d. 2021
Photo: President's Commission on Care for American's Returning Wounded Warriors (PCCWW), Public domain
Glynis Johns
British actress (1923–2024)
October 5 · d. 2024
Photo: Unknown photographer, Two Cities Films, United Artists, Public domain
Nguyễn Văn Thiệu
president of South Vietnam from 1965–75
April 5 · d. 2001
Photo: Carl Albert Research and Studies Center, Congressional Collection, CC BY-SA 4.0
Franco Zeffirelli
Italian director and politician (1923-2019)
February 12 · d. 2019
Photo: Alexey Yushenkov, CC BY-SA 3.0

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Month by month

January

January 1 · Ousmane Sembène, Senegalese film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and author (1923–2007)
January 1 · Valentina Cortese, Italian actress (1923–2019)
January 12 · Alice Miller, Swiss psychologist (1923-2010)
January 15 · Lee Teng-hui, 7-9th President of Republic of China(Taiwan) (1923-2020)
January 21 · Lola Flores, Spanish actress, dancer and singer (1923–1995)
January 25 · Arvid Carlsson, Swedish neuroscientist

February

February 2 · Svetozar Gligorić, Serbian and Yugoslavian chess player (1923–2012)
February 4 · Belisario Betancur, former President of Colombia (1923-2018)
February 13 · Chuck Yeager, American World War II flying ace and test pilot; first pilot to fly faster than sound (1923–2020)
February 15 · Yelena Bonner, human rights activist in the former Soviet Union; wife of dissident Andrei Sakharov
February 27 · Dexter Gordon, American jazz saxophonist (1923–1990)
February 28 · Charles Durning, American actor (1923-2012)

March

March 9 · Walter Kohn, American physicist (1923–2016)
March 11 · Agatha Barbara, Maltese politician (1923-2002)
March 12 · Wally Schirra, American astronaut (1923–2007)
March 14 · Diane Arbus, American photographer (1923–1971)
March 21 · Nizar Qabbani, Syrian diplomat, poet and publisher (1923-1998)
March 27 · Shūsaku Endō, author from Japan (1923–1996)

April

April 17 · Lindsay Anderson, British feature-film, theatre and documentary director and film critic (1923-1994)
April 20 · Tito Puente, American musician (1923-2000)
April 22 · Bettie Page, American pin-up model (1923–2008)
April 22 · Aaron Spelling, American film and television producer (1923-2006)
April 25 · Albert King, American blues musician (1923–1992)
April 29 · Irvin Kershner, American film director (1923–2010)

May

May 2 · Patrick Hillery, 6th president of Ireland (1923–2008)
May 5 · Sergey Akhromeyev, Soviet marshal (1923–1991)
May 14 · Mrinal Sen, Indian film director (1923–2018)
May 15 · Richard Avedon, American photographer (1923–2004)
May 16 · Clark Gregg, American economist (1923–2000)
May 28 · György Ligeti, Hungarian composer (1923-2006)

June

June 2 · Lloyd Shapley, American economist and mathematician
June 3 · Igor Shafarevich, Soviet and Russian mathematician (1923-2017)
June 4 · Mas Oyama, Korean-Japanese full-contact karate master, the founder of Kyokushin (1922-1994)
June 10 · Robert Maxwell, Czechoslovak-born British media proprietor and Member of Parliament (1923-1991)
June 15 · Erland Josephson, Swedish actor, film director and author (1923-2012)
June 24 · Yves Bonnefoy, French poet, essayist, translator (1923–2016)

July

July 8 · Harrison Dillard, American athlete (1923–2019)
July 11 · Richard Pipes, American historian (1923–2018)
July 21 · Rudolph A. Marcus, Canadian-American chemist (1923-2026)
July 22 · Mukesh, Indian singer (1923-1976)
July 25 · Estelle Getty, American actress (1923–2008)
July 31 · Stephanie L. Kwolek, American chemist, inventor of Kevlar (1923–2014)

August

August 3 · Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria, 117th pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church (1923–2012)
August 5 · Devan Nair, Malaysian-Singaporean politician, 3rd President of Singapore (1923–2005)
August 10 · Rhonda Fleming, American actress (1923–2020)
August 15 · Rose Marie, American actress, singer, comedian, and vaudeville performer (1923–2017)
August 19 · Edgar F. Codd, English computer scientist (1923–2003)
August 25 · Álvaro Mutis, Colombian novelist (1923-2013)

September

September 2 · René Thom, French mathematician (1923–2002)
September 6 · Peter II of Yugoslavia, last King of Yugoslavia from 1934 to 1945 (1923-1970)
September 8 · Rasul Gamzatov, Avar poet (1923-2003)
September 9 · Cliff Robertson, American actor (1923–2011)
September 13 · Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, Soviet resistance member of World War II and Heroine of the Soviet Union (1923–1941)
September 26 · Dev Anand, Indian actor, producer, director

October

October 6 · Yaşar Kemal, Kurdish writer and human rights activist (1923–2015)
October 16 · Linda Darnell, American actress (1923–1965)
October 20 · Otfried Preußler, German children's books author (1923–2013)
October 22 · Bert Trautmann, German association football player and coach (1923-2013)
October 27 · Roy Lichtenstein, American pop artist (1923–1997)
October 29 · Carl Djerassi, American chemistry professor, inventor, author, playwright (1923–2015)

November

November 1 · Victoria de los Ángeles, Catalan/Spanish opera singer
November 8 · Dmitry Yazov, Soviet minister of defence (1924-2020)
November 9 · Alice Coachman, American high jumper (1923–2014)
November 17 · Aristides Pereira, Cape Verdean politician, and first president of Cape Verde (1923-2011)
November 24 · Zlatko Čajkovski, Croatian footballer
November 28 · Gloria Grahame, American actress (1923–1981)

December

December 1 · Morris, Belgian comics artist (1923-2001)
December 3 · Stjepan Bobek, Croatian footballer (1923-2010)
December 10 · Jorge Semprún, Spanish-French writer (1923-2011)
December 12 · Bob Barker, American game show host (1923–2023)
December 13 · Antoni Tàpies, Catalan painter, sculptor and art theorist (1923-2012)
December 25 · René Girard, French historian, literary critic, and philosopher of social science

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