Famous people born in 1936

The best-known people born in 1936, ranked by how many languages Wikipedia covers them in.

Best known

Pope Francis
266th pope of the Catholic Church from 2013 to 2025 (1936–2025)
December 17 · d. 2025
Photo: Korea.net / Korean Culture and Information Service (Jeon Han), CC BY-SA 2.0
Silvio Berlusconi
Italian media tycoon and politician (1936–2023)
September 29 · d. 2023
Photo: European People’s Party, CC BY 2.0
Václav Havel
Czech statesman, playwright, and former dissident, the last president of Czechoslovakia and the first president of the Czech Republic (1936–2011)
October 5 · d. 2011
Photo: Ondřej Sláma, CC BY-SA 3.0
John McCain
American politician (1936–2018)
August 29 · d. 2018
Photo: United States Congress, Public domain
Mario Vargas Llosa
Peruvian, Spanish and Dominican novelist and writer (1936–2025)
March 28 · d. 2025
Photo: Bernard Gotfryd, Public domain
Robert Redford
American actor and director (1936–2025)
August 18 · d. 2025
Photo: U.S. Embassy photographer JP Evans, Public domain
Sepp Blatter
8th President of the International Federation of Association Football
March 10
Photo: Пресс-служба Президента России, CC BY 4.0
F. W. de Klerk
7th state president of South Africa from 1989 to 1994
March 18 · d. 2021
Photo: Walter Rutishauser, Photographer, CC BY-SA 4.0
Ismail Kadare
Albanian writer (1936–2024)
January 28 · d. 2024
Photo: Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
Tunisian politician
September 3 · d. 2019
Photo: No mention, CC BY 2.0
Glenda Jackson
British actress and politician (1936–2023)
May 9 · d. 2023
Photo: Studio Publicity, Public domain
Robert Wilson
American astronomer (born 1936)
January 10
Photo: Victor R. Ruiz from Arinaga, Canary Islands, Spain, CC BY 2.0
Dennis Hopper
American actor and film director (1936–2010)
May 17 · d. 2010
Photo: Georges Biard, CC BY-SA 3.0
Mikhail Tal
Soviet-Latvian chess player (1936-1992)
November 9 · d. 1992
Photo: Croes, Rob C. for Anefo, CC BY-SA 3.0 nl
B. J. Habibie
3rd President of Indonesia (1998—1999) and 7th Vice President of Indonesia (1998)
June 25 · d. 2019
Photo: Office of the Vice President The Republic of Indonesia, Public domain
Yasuo Fukuda
Prime Minister of Japan from 2007 to 2008 (1936-2026)
July 16 · d. 2026
Photo: 内閣官房内閣広報室, CC BY 4.0
Yves Saint Laurent
French fashion designer (1936–2008)
August 1 · d. 2008
Photo: L'Espresso, Public domain
Burt Reynolds
American actor (1936–2018)
February 11 · d. 2018
Photo: Alan Light ( https://www.flickr.com/people/alan-light/ ), CC BY 2.0
Richard Bach
American spiritual writer (born 1936)
June 23
Photo: Corsair133693, CC BY-SA 3.0
Buddy Holly
American rock and roll singer (1936–1959)
September 7 · d. 1959
Photo: Buddy_Holly_Brunswick_Records.jpg : Brunswick Records derivative work: GD uwen Tell me!, Public domain
Wilt Chamberlain
American basketball player (1936–1999)
August 21 · d. 1999
Photo: Wilt_Chamberlain2.jpg : Fred Palumbo, World Telegram staff photographer derivative work: JoeJohnson2, Public domain
Kenneth G. Wilson
Nobel prize winning US physicist
June 8 · d. 2013
Ursula Andress
Swiss actress
March 19
Photo: John Jason Junior, Public domain
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela
South African activist and politician (1936-2018)
September 26 · d. 2018
Photo: Rotational, Public domain
Harald zur Hausen
German virologist and professor emeritus (1936–2023)
March 11 · d. 2023
Photo: Kuebi = Armin Kuebelbeck, CC BY-SA 3.0
Alan Alda
American actor (born 1936)
January 28
Margaret Hamilton
American mathematician and designer of embedded computer systems (1936–2026)
August 17 · d. 2026
Photo: Daphne Weld Nichols, CC BY-SA 3.0
Yury Luzhkov
Russian politician (1936–2019)
September 21 · d. 2019
Photo: mos.ru, CC BY 4.0
Roy Orbison
American musician (1936 –1988)
April 23 · d. 1988
Photo: Jack de Nijs for Anefo, CC0
Samuel C. C. Ting
Chinese-American physicist
January 27
Photo: 中国新闻社, CC BY 3.0

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Month by month

January

January 6 · Julio María Sanguinetti, 35th and 37th President of Uruguay
January 11 · Masashi Watanabe, Japanese association football player and manager (1936–1995)
January 12 · Émile Lahoud, 11th President of Lebanon
January 19 · Ziaur Rahman, Chief of Army Staff and President of Bangladesh (1936-1981)
January 22 · Alan J. Heeger, American chemist, physicist
January 27 · Barry C. Barish, American physicist

February

February 14 · Anna German, Polish singer, popular in Poland and in the Soviet Union (1936-1982)
February 17 · Jim Brown, American football player and actor (1936–2023)
February 18 · Jean M. Auel, American novelist of Finnish descent
February 21 · Barbara Jordan, American politician (1936-1996)
February 22 · J. Michael Bishop, American immunologist and microbiologist who specialized in cancer research
February 26 · Adem Demaçi, Albanian politician (1936-2018)

March

March 4 · Jim Clark, British racecar driver (1936–1968)
March 5 · Canaan Banana, 1st President of Zimbabwe (1936-2003)
March 7 · Georges Perec, French novelist, filmmaker, documentalist, and essayist (1936–1982)
March 11 · Antonin Scalia, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1986 to 2016
March 24 · David Suzuki, Canadian popular scientist and environmental activist
March 28 · Amancio Ortega, Spanish business tycoon

April

April 1 · Abdul Qadeer Khan, Pakistani nuclear engineer (1936–2021)
April 9 · Ghassan Kanafani, Palestinian writer (1936–1972)
April 9 · Valerie Solanas, American radical feminist and author (1936-1988)
April 22 · Glen Campbell, American musician (1936–2017)
April 29 · Zubin Mehta, Indian conductor
April 29 · Alejandra Pizarnik, Argentinian poet (1936-1972)

May

May 2 · Engelbert Humperdinck, British singer
May 9 · Albert Finney, British actor (1936–2019)
May 14 · Bobby Darin, American singer and actor (1936–1973)
May 16 · Karl Lehmann, German theologian, Bishop of Mainz, catholic Cardinal (1936-2018)
May 21 · Günter Blobel, German American biologist (1999 Nobel Prize)
May 27 · Louis Gossett Jr., American actor (1936–2024)

June

June 4 · Bruce Dern, American actor
June 17 · Ken Loach, English film director and screenwriter (born 1936)
June 18 · Denny Hulme, New Zealand racing driver (1936–1992)
June 22 · Kris Kristofferson, American country singer, songwriter and actor (1936-2024)
June 23 · Costas Simitis, Greek jurist, economist, academic and politician (1936–2025)
June 30 · Assia Djebar, French Algerian writer, translator and film director (1936-2015)

July

July 2 · Omar Suleiman, Egyptian head of intelligence and vice president (1936–2012)
July 5 · James Mirrlees, Scottish economist (1936-2018)
July 5 · Shirley Knight, American actress (1936-2020)
July 23 · Anthony Kennedy, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1988 to 2018
July 24 · Ruth Buzzi, American actress, comedian, and singer
July 30 · Buddy Guy, American blues guitarist and singer

August

August 5 · John Saxon, American actor (1936-2020)
August 13 · Vyjayanthimala, Indian actress, dancer and parliamentarian
August 18 · Gulzar, Indian poet, lyricist and author (1933- Present)
August 20 · Hideki Shirakawa, Japanese scientist (1936–2026)
August 24 · A. S. Byatt, British writer (1936–2023)
August 26 · Benedict Anderson, American political scientist (1936-2015)

September

September 1 · Valery Legasov, Soviet nuclear chemist, chief of the commission investigating the Chernobyl disaster (1936-1988)
September 2 · Andrew Grove, Hungarian-born American businessman, engineer and author (1936–2016)
September 14 · Ferid Murad, American physician and pharmacologist (1936–2023)
September 19 · Al Oerter, American athlete (1936-2007)
September 23 · Valentín Paniagua, Peruvian politician (1936-2006)
September 24 · Jim Henson, American puppeteer (1936–1990)

October

October 1 · Duncan Edwards, English footballer (1936-1958)
October 3 · Steve Reich, American composer (born 1936)
October 10 · Gerhard Ertl, German physicist
October 13 · Christine Nöstlinger, Austrian children's and young adult's writer (1936-2018)
October 24 · Bill Wyman, British musician, former bassist of the Rolling Stones
October 31 · Michael Landon, American actor and filmmaker (1936–1991)

November

November 3 · Roy Emerson, Australian tennis player
November 5 · Uwe Seeler, German association football player (1936–2022)
November 8 · Virna Lisi, Italian actress (1936–2014)
November 13 · Dacia Maraini, Italian writer (1936)
November 19 · Yuan T. Lee, Taiwanese chemist
November 20 · Don DeLillo, American novelist, playwright and essayist (born 1936)

December

December 3 · Saburo Kawabuchi, Japanese association football player and manager
December 8 · David Carradine, American actor (1936–2009)
December 12 · Iolanda Balaș, Romanian high jumper (1936-2016)
December 13 · Aga Khan IV, 49th Imam of Nizari Isma'ilism Muslims
December 17 · Klaus Kinkel, Chairman of the FDP (1936-2019)
December 29 · Mary Tyler Moore, American actress and television producer (1936-2017)

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